Hope things go OK for your wife and you today, Charles. Glad you all enjoyed the panto
Annie, a visit from your Mother will be so good for you, am pleased to hear that she will be there and you can take your ‘trip’. Hope OH’s x ray gets sorted out today with least possible hassle.
Ex, I so agree with you about Thatcher! The most damaging politician in recent history.
Busy day yesterday as daughter came round early so we all spent the day jawing and eating
Today was dental check-up for son and I - son was an absolute dream, bless him and I was a total wimp! My ‘bad tooth, take it out’ turned out to have a bone wedged between it and it’s neighbour, so dentist removed bone and cleaned area - ouch, ouch, ouch! Poor dental nurse’s hand was pulp by the end. Am hoping for pain-free hot drinks and cold water rinsing soon!
On for a blood test for my lad - phlebotomist, who we have known for many years, knew my Mother very well and it was our first visit since Mother’s death. I thought I was going to be fine, but blubbed all over her - she is such a kind lady and so fond of my Mum. It’s kindness that always does for me. My son was so shocked to see me upset (he thought all that was done and dusted now) that he even forgot to jump when jabbed! Felt bad being an emotional heap in front of him, but couldn’t be helped.
Dropped him and his worker off at the plant centre, bought my seed potatoes and came home for a warm up…it’s snowing out there and bitterly cold again. But seed potatoes? Spring must follow
No snow, but really cold here and don't wish it on me as we have a wheelchair assessment on Friday that I would like to get to!
Potty I hate the dentist too, just to walk in the door if only to make the appointment turns me into a total wimp with raging toothache which is gone the second I walk out
Thinking of you Charles. _________________ problems are solutions waiting to be found.
"Life is not how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."
Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
Thanks everyone. Had a long session with the neurologist and she seemed to think that the majority of Gill's problems are stress-related. Unsurprising given the last year. Now we've got to do some hard thinking to find ways to cut the stress. _________________ There are two modes of establishing our reputation: to be praised by honest men, and to be abused by rogues. It is best, however, to secure the former, because it will invariably be accompanied by the latter.
Charles Caleb Colton
Well in one way that is a relief, just hope you find the ways to cut the stress. _________________ problems are solutions waiting to be found.
"Life is not how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."
Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
Whilst pleased that it appears to be nothing irreversible, Charles, I am sorry that it is caused by stress and just hope that you can both find a way to alleviate it, not easy when you are caring and working.
The OH sat up in a wheelchair for three hours yesterday, I was thrilled but also a little concerned because he was unsupervised and his BP can plummet without warning as it did last Thursday and he starts losing consciousness which caused the original fall, I will mention it again when I ring the ward this morning, he looked absolutely shattered and I told him that I was very, very proud of him . And the OH is having a haircut today, a hairdresser visits the ward every Tuesday, his hair is longer than mine at the moment but I have more of it
The orthopaedic appt was cancelled, no transport, and moved to Friday, my mother is coming on Saturday and I have managed to get five people out of six in the right place at the right time for Tuesday, I had five out of six for Monday but the missing person was my taxi driver so I wasn't going anywhere . So I will be out all day from early am on Tuesday morning until late pm and my mother is husband-visiting in my place . That is if the weather permits and I have to keep telling my mother that there is no point worrying about it at this stage and I can go another time, this morning she was worried that it might be icy here and I would fall , it is not, the sun is shining and the ground is damp, I have the cat footprints on my carpet to prove it . I sometimes worry that she should worry less and I should worry more .
Now I have to sort out a delivery slot for my shopping, I am ashamed to admit that my diet yesterday was two Weetabix, four packets of Mini Cheddars, one plain Bounty and a small bar of Bourneville, nice but hardly nourishing, must try harder . I am hoping to grab a hot lunch at the hospital today before visiting, a bit pricey but it looked OK.
The sun is really beautiful again today after yesterday's cold and snow, I hope that you have similar weather and that you all have a really good day
Annie _________________ Harassment is the weapon of the congenitally inadequate, libel is the currency of the terminally boring (Parsifal)
I suppose it is good news, Charles, that your wife’s problems aren’t more deep rooted - but alleviating stress can be hard to do, esp in a carer‘s life. It is scary just how damaging stress can be I hope you both manage to work out some solutions and ones that don’t just transfer the stress from one to another.
Annie, your husband is making such good progress and the unit sounds like a dream compared to the ward he was on - the two faces of the NHS methinks. I hope you are getting more sleep and you really should try and sort your diet out a bit, if only it was that easy
Hope everyone else is doing ok.
Today I sort out my son’s ipod - I hope. So there will be masses of puter crashings as I update drivers and lots of shouts of triumph when his ipod loads - I wish! If you never hear from me again, it’s cos I shot the puter and got put away for abuse of a vulnerable machine
Phone call from the school at 9:10 am. Son has sniffles and is "unwell". Drive to school to pick him up. Send him to bed, no cuddles, no sympathy. 10:30 am. Son can be heard having a shower. 11 am. Son is miraculously cured. Arrange to drop him off back at school for lunchtime.
Nothing to do with having PE on Tuesday mornings, is it? _________________ There's a guy down at the Chip Shop swears he's Elvis.. but he's a liar and I'm not sure about you!
Had a lovely time with family
Now I have loads of work to catch up on
Charles I am pleased that everything went well, however
sorry that Gill is stressed, a lot of people do not understand how stress can harm your health, so I do
hope that you can overcome this.
Annie so pleased you had your Mum come to stay, and that
your OH seems to be improving
Potty I hope you sort that Ipod out, even if I dont understand what you mean
As for young J.....that reminded me of my daughter, always
on PE days too!!!!
Take care everyone
love
Krys
xxxxx _________________ Do not compare your life to others-you have no idea what their journey is all about.
Hi All,
Bright, cold day here again.
Shattered today as we stayed up very late to watch grandson open his first birthday presents (we bought him a bike, well his dad did with the money we sent..............postage on a bike is more than the bike ).
Oh woke up and needed turning when it was too early to get up and too late to go back to sleep He went back to sleep no problem, so then I had to wake him up
Glad you had a good time Chris
Really glad oh is now doing so well and in a much better bit of the NHS, Annie
Good luck with the ipod Potty _________________ problems are solutions waiting to be found.
"Life is not how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."
Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
Thanks again, all. The hard part now is trying to find ways to reduce the stress in a multiple caring situation. The only thing we can do for now is to take Gill out of the workplace in the hope that this will help. She handed in her notice yesterday but as she's on unpaid leave at the moment anyway she has effectively stopped working and is back on Carers Allowance.
Fortunately we are both aware of stress management techniques, and have been using them - but Gill finds it difficult to use some of them. Got a few more up my sleeve to try out though. One advantage of offering relaxation and stress management training... _________________ There are two modes of establishing our reputation: to be praised by honest men, and to be abused by rogues. It is best, however, to secure the former, because it will invariably be accompanied by the latter.
Charles Caleb Colton
Hope everything works out Charles, and sending Gill loads
of ((((((((((hugs))))))))))
Feeling very tired this morning and I have no idea
why
We had snow first thing yesterday, however it vanished more or less straight away so we were able to return home, the sun is trying to peep through the clouds this morning and
I am hoping for a dry day, and maybe and hang some washing on the line.
Apart from washing, loads of it, I do not need to go
shopping as daughter did all our shopping on Monday
Hope you have a nice day
Love
Krys
xxxx _________________ Do not compare your life to others-you have no idea what their journey is all about.
It is snowing here too . And settling . I have still got to do the banking and visit the OH so I hope that the hint of sunshine in the distance is heading this way. _________________ Harassment is the weapon of the congenitally inadequate, libel is the currency of the terminally boring (Parsifal)
Puter not crashed but ipod officially knackered so will be taking a trip to the Apple Shop (a very good excuse to get into the West End where my feet haven’t trod for far too long now)
What a shame, in some ways, that your wife has had to give up work, Charles - it can be so good to get away from caring but multiple caring is stressful to the nth degree I am only now starting to regain weight that has gradually (then rapidly) been lost over the last few years. Hope the stress management techniques start to work and soon.
Excalibur - loved the PE story my daughter hated PE for the whole of her secondary school life - we were the masters of the ‘can’t do PE this week’ letters.
Annie, hope you have a decent day.
Isn’t modern technology wonderful, Jean? Amazing that you could be a part of your grandson’s first birthday
Krys, hope you get less tired as the day goes by.
With the ipod officially dead, I have a free day today so have already cooked up a huge pan of Greek sausage in tomatoes which will last us a while, sorted out paperwork, had some coffees and cigs (giving up is on the agenda, but not quite yet) and generally pootled about - I can’t go out as am expecting a delivery for my neighbour - and can’t say I’m too pushed as it’s so darned cold out there again, with snow flurries.
Hi All,
Glad the computer didn't crash Potty and yes, technology is wonderful...........when it works
Hope some of the techniques work Charles. it might make Gill feel a little less stressed finishing work rather than being off sick, as then you are stressed about how long you have been off as well as having to go back and get back into routine.
No snow, but a heavy frost this morning and freezing all day. Hope for anyone that has snow that it goes quickly _________________ problems are solutions waiting to be found.
"Life is not how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."
Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
Nice evening. Went to GMAC (Glasgow Media Access Centre) with my boy, to see the first viewing of the films made by his mixed-ability teenagers class last autumn. They were mostly fairly goofy efforts, funny, Monty Pythonesque, derivative. J's was different - he had made a visually very sharp retro-gothic cartoon of a mechanical werewolf howling at the moon, complete with sound effects and brilliant lighting effects, all from puppets he made himself and using low tech materials like torches and silver foil. It was fairly awesome actually - I mean he is only 15. Sure he got some help to do it, but every single thing about it screamed J to me. He got a very good and well deserved reception and applause from the audience of his non-disabled peers - I think they realised that they had seriously underestimated his creative ability and total immersion in film history. This wasn't a kids nativity play where your kid gets shoved into the front to sing "Silent Night" so you can weep a silent tear - it was actually totally age-appropriate teenage material. Way to go, Jo!
When you next look at someone with Downs, dont see the obvious disability - look for the potential that lies beneath. _________________ There's a guy down at the Chip Shop swears he's Elvis.. but he's a liar and I'm not sure about you!
I really love reading about J, just goes to show what children can achieve when brought up in a loving and supportive household where they are encouraged and helped to achieve their ambitions, I would love to see the video, can it be posted on Facebook?
At the other end of the age-scale the OH is making amazing progress, he has walked the length of the parallel bars which he walked one way yesterday and back , had supper yesterday and lunch today in the dining room and got up and was assisted to wash in the en-suite bathroom. It was all a bit too much for him today and apparently his BP plummeted, although he looked better than on the first day he was got up, and he slept for a while whilst I was visiting. The ward is still trying to have his broken arm dealt with where he is rather than the OH having to be stretchered to the other hospital on Friday, as I am supposed to be going with him it is a bit of a nuisance not knowing where I am supposed to be and when, hopefully it will be sorted out tomorrow.
Shopping to be delivered early tomorrow morning, food at last although I grabbed a Chinese take-away on the way home tonight, and it was grabbed, ordered in the taxi when I left the hospital and ready by the time that I got to the restaurant to collect it, which will do for tomorrow as well because I do actually need to eat more than the occasional sandwich, I suppose that this is one way to lose weight but it does help if you have excess weight to lose . Rumour has it that my mother is going to bring a shepherd's pie and a ham to cook so that I will stocked up with something which I can eat without doing too much cooking .
The first flurry of snow this morning melted but just before I left the hospital this evening another, heavier snow storm left a blanket of snow which did not, it was still safe to walk on, I just hope that it does not freeze overnight because we are on a hill and the taxis cannot reach us when the roads are bad, no-one can, I do not fancy having to try to walk to reach the taxi some distance away. I really do not know how people living in Scotland have coped, this snow is not as bad in the East of England but it has caused us real problems, the ambulance could not get to our home the night the OH broke his arm, it must be dreadful where it has been around for so long, roll on spring and summer!
Potty, I have never come across an indoor tortoise before, is he house-trained ?
Time to put the OH's vests on and return to bed I think, hungry and tired best describes me these days, makes a change from just tired, see you in the morning, ooops! it is the morning
Annie _________________ Harassment is the weapon of the congenitally inadequate, libel is the currency of the terminally boring (Parsifal)
I'll see what I can do about the video, don't have a copy yet and there may be copyright or Arts Council/funders issues... what I do know is that they want to continue working with J to help him achieve his vision, and that augers well.
We aren't some kind of Mary Poppins ideal family, and dont pretend to be; we have lots of major stresses and strains too, but I think kids need to grow up being aware of those, not wrapped in cotton wool. In some ways J's imagination is enhanced by the relative social isolation he has experienced; kids of 13, 14, 15 dont want to spend time texting and socialising with kids who have significant learning needs and poor literacy. But then you look at the biogs of major authors and artists, film directors too, and many of them have experienced illness or isolation during their teen years: they are also outsiders: it can enhance the inner, creative world during a key phase of development and remove some of the distractions of teen socialising. Swings and roundabouts, isnt it? _________________ There's a guy down at the Chip Shop swears he's Elvis.. but he's a liar and I'm not sure about you!
Your son is fantastic Excalibur - add me to the list of those who want to see the video
Annie, your husband is doing so well and trying so hard. Well done you for inspiring him Bet you can’t wait for your mother’s visit and some ready cooked meals.
Krys, hope you don’t have to work too hard - but it’s not long now, is it? Looking forward to joining the march this year and, hopefully, will get to meet you.
Tortoise is 95 years old and a male marginated. He lives outside in the summer, though we do bring him in every night as he has been the football for some local foxes. He is sort of house trained: bath, food on newspaper, eat and hey presto, change of newspaper needed He rarely makes mistakes! Probably more intelligent than the two cats together
Trip to Regents Street this morning to the Apple Store and a replacement ipod quickly handed over. Son will be a very happy bunny indeed, especially if I get it synched before he gets home. Haven’t been to Oxford Street for years and clearly haven’t missed much - not my scene at all
Potty I am so pleased you are hoping to attend the protest,
and I look forward to meeting you _________________ Do not compare your life to others-you have no idea what their journey is all about.
Next battle scheduled for 10.00 am 22 February when a pre-discharge meeting will be held with the OT, physio, more of her later, social services and the consultant. I have made it very, very clear that I will not have the OH home to a permanent care package with no rehab input when I know that, unless there is good clinical reason why the BP problem cannot be controlled and that is still under investigation, that he has the potential for an extremely good recovery, I have also made it clear that I would expect the ICT to continue the rehab if there is an early discharge and the OT had to admit that carers are not trained to rehabilitate service users.
Apparently the fact that the OH has no stamina when washing using a perching stool, he has only tried twice, is a sign of his lack of potential for recovery , he is also 85, has been in bed for over four weeks, has made amazing progress under the circumstances already, has lost muscle mass due to being in bed but is still able to increase his capacity to walk,etc. after only three days of trying and I just happen to know him better than they do and also what he could do and is capable of better than them not least because I have been here before and seen him wrongly written off, he has already exceeded the original ward's assessment of his capacity for recovery.
Which brings us to his physio, she is the physio who last year when working with the ICT told me in front of the OH that, because he was too slow in meeting his targets, rehabilitating him was a waste of NHS resources , I did in fact get his ICT input reinstated despite her, and another week in addition, and fortunately it was not a waste of my resources and he was, before his fall, more able than before his stroke.
I came into the OH's room when she was helping him back to bed, she put him down again in front of me, disbelieved what I told her, well I suppose that she would, and really is not the right person to work with him which I already realised from what he had been saying. I have told the OH that he should see proving her wrong as a challenge to be met but I will see about him being given another physio, I find her attitude unprofessional and her inability to hide her dislike of the OH is unacceptable although I doubt that he is the only patient she dislikes, she seems to be target-driven and I have no idea what targets she has set the OH and in what timescale as she is the only person who has not bothered to discuss him or his prefall ability with me.
Other than the physio's attitude the OH is being extremely well cared for, he was moved to a four-bed bay under protest , there had been some confusion about the new arrival's gender and he had been about to move, was not moving, did move, not the staff's fault but the referrer's, so he was not a happy bunny and to be fair to him he has been moved around a lot over the past 2 1/2 weeks, once in the bay he was perfectly OK and seemed to like the company. So I arrived feeling happy to a grumpy husband and left a happy husband feeling grumpy .
I am, though, sick of having to fight for everything, aren't we all and I found it quite amusing when the OT asked me if I wanted anyone with me at the meeting, I think that I can make our views known without help, I have plenty of practice and not a few successes.
I am absolutely shattered, now have a headache and my bed calls, so do the cats but they will have to wait a while
Annie _________________ Harassment is the weapon of the congenitally inadequate, libel is the currency of the terminally boring (Parsifal)
Annie please go and rest, and then have something to eat.
I am please your OH is progressing, and sorry that you are
still having problems with rehab, I do hope that the meeting on 22nd sorts everything out. You will be exhausted because
fightening makes you stronger in one sense however when you
arrive home you will be worn out.
((((((((((hugs))))))))) _________________ Do not compare your life to others-you have no idea what their journey is all about.
Hope all goes well on the 22nd Annie and that you get enough rest to be on top form in the meantime.
((((((((((((((((((((((hug))))))))))))))))))))))))
_________________ problems are solutions waiting to be found.
"Life is not how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."
Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
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. So I will be out all day from early am on Tuesday morning until late pm and my mother is husband-visiting in my place 
. I am hoping to grab a hot lunch at the hospital today before visiting, a bit pricey but it looked OK.
. And settling 
