An interesting day so far but first we need to catch up on the events of yesterday. In the afternoon, there were meant to be two carers turning up at 3.15 but after a phone call to the agency, they did turn up after a delay of an hour and three quarters. The individual carers are generally helpful and supportive but the information system behind them is practically non existent. They are not allowed to contact their clients directly but are meant to report any delays back to the office who is then meant to inform the clients of any delays. But by common consent, the carers report delays back to the office who seem never to contact the client subsequently but express what I think is a feigned surprise when you report that nobody has turned up. But the doctors at the surgery are evidently a bit worried about Meg because one of them phoned up this afternoon and was appalled that the medication, prescribed a week ago had not been delivered because it was ‘out of stock’ This was not an exotic drug but a a fairly standard penicillin so the young doctor was going to raise ‘issues of concern’ with the pharmacy and was then so concerned himself that he was going to prescribe a much stronger antibiotic than originally planned. He was then going to get it the the pharmacy and pick ip up personally before bringing it around in the late afternoon. The doctor was pretty concerned about some inflammation markers in Meg’s blood analyses which might have indicated an infection and that was several days ago. He was almost inclined to recommend that Meg be admitted to hospital where perhaps some IV antibiotics would get quicker into her system. I must say, I very strongly resisted this suggestion after our recent hospital experiences but he went along with my wishes that the antibiotics he was bringing along this afternoon should be allowed to work. Meg is very sleepy in the mornings and has been for a day or so now but whether this is a result of the disease process or the effects of the inflammation, it is hard to say. The doctor said he was going to bring along their updated DNR form which, as the doctor had made two unscheduled phone calls in two days and then suggested a DNR form, made me wonder if they had secret suspicions to which I was not a party. In a bit of a panic, I emailed an Admiral nurse and got a very calming and soothing Admiral nurse who called me back and gave me some words of reassurance and comfort, of which I was certainly in need.
Now we come to this morning. Meg was her usual sleepy self when the carers called but as we have seen this pattern for the last couple of days, we are leaning to cope with this scenario. The two carers (and myself) helped to get Meg up, washed and dressed but she is so floppy and a dead weight, it actually takes three of us on occasions to do what is required, two of us holding her up and the third washing or what have you. But we did get Meg downstairs and a smidgeon of breakfast inside her. When I last shopping, I bought myself one of those exotic drinks (I think it was guava, pineapple and peach) but I gave this to Meg and I was relieved to see that she was drinking it fairly readily, as I suspected that with the heat and other things, she is quite dehydrated. So Meg having been put into the transit wheelchair, we were just preparing to go down to Waitrose when the parishioner called around from church with a card for me and a box of chocolates. Then we progressed down the hill and although there are one or two uphill sections, it is mainly a downhill run and therefore quite easy. The minute we got inside the store, I got a big hug from one of the Asian partners I have known for years and then we progressed to our usual table. There prepared for us was the chocolate cake that had been put on one side for me yesterday together with four plates and a knife. Whilst I was in the store and thinking about breakfast experiences, I bought Meg some more of the specialised fruit juices and then went to order my coffee and pay for this and the cake. To my considerable surprise, the store insisted that I have the coffee and the huge birthday cake ‘on the house’ and so with two of my friends we tucked in with gusto. Another of one our friends was very disappointed not to be there but she had a very hard day yesterday and may have experienced one or two falls – anyway, she did not feel well enough to come round today but there will be plenty of cake left for nest Tuesday when, no doubt, I shall see her again. Later on this afternoon, my son and daughter-in-law are due to come around so the various cards and prezzies that I have received in the last day or so can wait until we have a more communal opening ceremony this afternoon.
There is a mass of sunspot activity today today and for the next day or so. Apparently the ‘Aurora borealis’ normally seen only in the Arctic regions was seen in many parts of the UK last night. So given that I have never seen this before, I am minded once Meg is fast asleep and to pop out pretty late tonight, probably after the Eurovision Song contest is completed, to see if I manage to see anything at all from our back garden. Politics is intruding massively into the Eurovision contest this year with many protests against the Israelis from being part of the competition and this is not really a surprise. This afternoon my son and daughter-in-law called around so I had a very happy afternoon opening my cards, presents and boxes of chocolates. In the late afternoon I received a FaceTime called from my sister and niece so this helped to round off a really pleasant and memorable day.
© Mike Hart [2024]