David has lived at Meath Supported Living accommodation with his housemates in central Godalming for 7 years. He lives with epilepsy and has dystonia which he acquired at the age of 17 months following a stroke. David takes medication to help manage his epilepsy, but he also works hard at maintaining a busy but balanced lifestyle. He’s adept at managing his nocturnal seizures and dystonia while also enjoying a fulfilled life. Both epilepsy and dystonia cannot be cured, so David is pleased to make the most of the many opportunities he has, to benefit from the holistic care and support on offer at The Meath while also finding time to volunteer and hone his considerable artistic skills in drawing and painting.
“I’m very happy with my current lifestyle and home in Godalming. Godalming is great for charity shops which I’m a big fan of and it’s also well situated for trips to the seaside. I have a very close family with plenty of contact and I get on well with my housemates. I love working on my drawings and art work and going on local walks which are quieter, self-reflective activities. I also enjoy volunteering and taking part in lots of activity sessions at The Meath. Outside of The Meath, my volunteering at Brooklands Museum keeps me busy and it indulges my lifelong love of cars and mechanics. I am also a keen art lover and am proud to volunteer at Watts Gallery. “
Attending The Meath gym for regular, tailored workouts has been a great support to David since he moved to Meath Supported Living. As David has a weaker side to his body and limited use of his right arm, building up and maintaining core strength is of particular importance. His workouts at the onsite gym include vital muscle stretching and are a great support to him for pain management and in helping him to maintain an active lifestyle.
David also finds The Meath’s the dedicated sensory and treatment room of huge benefit. David commented that “having a dedicated space is so relaxing, I really benefit from my Indian Head Massage appointments each week. Often, I can go in feeling quite stressed, but I always feel more relaxed afterwards. It won’t help with the muscle pain and tension directly caused by my dystonia but often my other side is tense from compensating for my weaker side, so it helps with that. I’m grateful for all the support I get and having the sensory room and complementary therapies has made such a difference. My dystonia and epilepsy won’t ever go away but my sessions in the sensory room help take my mind off them.”
While maintaining an active lifestyle and benefiting from the support of the Health Care team is important to David’s wellbeing, so too is having mental and physical space for art and creativity. Drawing and painting play an integral role in David’s wellbeing, and he enjoys a broad range of creative activities in different settings. While much of David’s work is created individually at home, he also enjoys using creative session time at the Skills Centre. David is proud to have his works exhibited at Godalming Museum, Cranleigh Arts Centre and for Meath Patron Michael More-Molyneux, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey to have commissioned him to create a design for his official Christmas Card. David commented “It was a real privilege to design the card, as Michael More-Molyneux is the King’s representative it’s funny to think that my design might have found it’s way to the King’s mantlepiece!”