Isolation Day 55

Well, a better day today – except that the dishwasher is on the blink. For some reason, it is objecting to emptying out the mucky water at the end of the cycle. We haven’t had the thing that long, but it seems to me that manufacturers are now building obsolescence into their products and nothing lasts as long as you expect it to. I’ve given it a Paddington Bear hard stare, just as I did to the cat-trespassser the other day, and I’ve given it a talking to, so we’ll see what happens next. Watch this space for the next instalment on the dishwasher, folks.

And, probably, at this point, you might find that that story is as interesting as it gets today……… oh, wait! There’s excitement at the end of the day!! Wait for it…….

We have done nothing very much at all throughout the day. John was so exhausted after yesterday’s escapades that, after he’d had his early morning dose of antibiotics (which behaved), he went back to bed and slept all morning. I ‘went to church’ and was uplifted by the wonderful piece currently doing the rounds called ‘The UK Blessing’. Actually, this piece is international, with its origin in the USA, where choirs have rendered it there, as well as in South Africa so far, that I know of.

The link is here for your delectation if you haven’t heard it. I recommend that you watch it on a big screen if you can and turn the volume up!

After church, I spent a good hour making up John’s tablets which Mum said looked ‘very pretty’ as she wandered into the kitchen and hung about in the middle of it, wondering what to do next, bless her. I was thrilled to see she had got herself up, but really, she has again been a bit dopey today, not sure where anything is or forgetting what she is doing. I think the weekly effort of a ‘wash and brush up’ takes its toll for a day or two, so am hoping it’s that and nothing else.

So, she’s been fairly happy to sit in the lounge and watch whatever we’ve had on TV. I suggested she might like to come to bed a bit earlier (it would help me…….) so that her sleep pattern is improved. At the time, she thought it quite a good idea, but come this evening when I suggested she might start her move upstairs at 10.00, I was met with incredulity that I’d had the audacity to suggest such a thing! I gently reminded her that we’d talked about her coming to bed a bit earlier, but she was set that she wasn’t going just yet. “I’ll go up about half past ten,” she said, which made me laugh, “That’s the time you normally start going up, Mum!” She looked startled, “Is it?” she replied. Ah well, never mind…..

As uneventful as the day has been, in which we have generally relaxed a bit, John has begun to feel the futility of it all again, and there have been several moments when he’s muttered, “What’s it all about?” or, “What’s the point?”. A reaction, no doubt, to the troubles of the last ten days or so, when he’d been feeling so much better in the weeks beforehand, and it’s another uphill fight to be fit(ter) both physically and mentally.

All I feel I can do is maintain the pilot fish approach of hovering (and sometimes hoovering!) around him and my Mum, cleaning, tidying, feeding/watering and nurturing, and praying that things will look up soon.

Mid-afternoon meds went well with nothing untoward reported and we began to relax a bit. And, despite his fatigue, John tidied the kitchen, which I’d left a mess again – I really don’t know how to cook without leaving a trail behind me – and kept me company while I prepped the evening meal. A meal which we thoroughly enjoyed, of roast lamb, mint sauce and all the trimmings. Mum struggled with the meat. She is struggling to cut up her food now and everything has to be soft. I thought the meat was soft – it was just right for us – but not soft enough to cut through and chew for Mum. Another: Ah, well…….

The evening passed uneventfully, and I thought I’d write early this evening so that I could go to bed a little bit earlier. But hang on a minute…… I hadn’t reckoned on the ‘Sleath factor’ where just as things are going swimmingly there’s a spanner in the works.

Late shift nurses arrived and took one look at John’s arm where the cannula is and decided it was a bit iffy. Our hearts sank. Oh, no….. not again……

This was nurse number one from yesterday, who has yet to gain more experience in fitting cannulas after returning to work from maternity leave. She flushed the line through and it was OK. But she was concerned about the redness of the vein, suggesting it might be phlebitis. She thought she ought to perhaps leave it and ask another nurse from the overnight team to come and re-cannulate. She phoned a senior colleague who thought it would be OK to continue, without seeing it for herself but going on the description provided.

So, she continued but we have clear instructions that if there is any pain whatsoever in the night, we have to phone them up. Fingers crossed it’ll be OK until tomorrow. Honestly, you can’t make it up!! And if you did, no-one would believe you!!

I suppose, in a way, it’s a bit like the current situation with the virus – there are people who don’t believe that there is one and certainly not people being ill or dying. They are thinking it’s all made up and a conspiracy. Well, it’s one helluva conspiracy if it is…..with today’s official figures of 3,923 infectees and 269 deaths as at 9 o’clock this morning.

Keep safe everyone……or should I say, stay alert???….and peace be with you all.