Firstly, what my husband likes to call my loo-backer-inner! It’s the frame that goes around the toilet seat so you can lever yourself up and down whenever you need to go. Without it I would have been completely stuck – literally. Unable to get off the toilet I would have ben stranded until my husband came home from work. I even take it with me when I visit people as modern loos are soooo low.

Secondly, an across the body bag.  This is absolutely a life saver. The first time I made myself a drink I realised that I couldn’t carry it whilst using both crutches. But if I make it in a flask, I can pop it into my bag and carry it anywhere. In fact I can carry all sorts of things in my bag and I wouldn’t be without it. Even men can get a satchel type bag to use. The most used item in my bag is the house phone which always has a habit of ringing when I’ve just sat down, or am as far away from it as possible, yet in my bag it’s accessible all the time. Remember when you’ve had an op, everyone rings you – constantly. It’s very nice of them but can be inconvenient, if you didn’t have a bag that is.