The Daily Echo: Day 227

We began the day early as John had to be at Heartlands for 9 a.m. for the planned infusion of immunoglobulin, so we set off not long after eight, and gloried in the gorgeous morning. Sun shining, the leaves a-glowing in carpets all along the verges and spread out under the trees like crinolines. It was lovely. Lovely for me, I suppose, as I didn’t have a ‘procedure’ to look forward to, but nonetheless, John thought the daylight shone nice and bright today.

We arrived at the back entrance to Heartlands where a big notice said: ‘CAR PARK FULL’, so we pulled up in front of the gate. The car park attendant nodded cheerfully at us and said we probably could have pulled in for a drop-off, but it wasn’t too far for John to walk, so he hopped out and made his way towards the clinic. I called through the car window to him as he walked away, “Phone me and let me know when you want picking up,” whereupon the car park attendant said, “I knock off at three and I’ll be ready for you to collect me then.” We all grinned at his jolly joke and then went our separate ways. Tee-hee.

I had a few errands to run this morning so I got on with them while John snoozed (apparently) through the infusion. I dropped some spare bits for the fish tank in to Michael and Danielle’s and then did a spot of shopping in Kenilworth. I was on a mission to find hazelnut milk for John. I’d already tried at the Co-op to no avail, and the online Tesco shop didn’t have it in our locality either. I tried Sainsbury’s and Waitrose in Kenilworth but drew a blank. Plan B, I think, tomorrow.

After I’d picked John up just after one o’clock we nipped into Solihull to buy a tin of paint. Next project: paint the new-to-us bookshelves that we’d got from the Kenilworth Sleaths. But did I start painting them today? Did I heck. I painted something else instead.

Keen to sort the porch out to decorate it with Halloween bits and pieces, I remembered that I’d only put one coat of paint on the windowsill earlier in the year. It was on the ‘to do’ list but I’d let it slip down. Not essential after all. However, after I’d cleaned up in the porch this afternoon it seemed an opportune moment to get the job finished – so that’s what I did. John, meanwhile, was resting in the lounge watching TV. He was tired after his visit to the hospital, and I don’t blame him.

Just before I started the blitz on the porch, I popped over to Mum’s to fit a bulb to her reading lamp. Well, that was hilarious. Deaf as a post, she was. “That’s a nice brooch,” she said, admiring the sparkly, jewelled flower on my coat. “Yes,” I responded, “it’s a poppy.” She looked puzzled for a minute, then said, “A copy? A copy of what?” No…. a poppy! “A copy?” I shook my head and shouted a bit louder – a POPPY! The penny dropped. Ohhhhhh…… a poppy. And, because it was all so silly we both giggled our heads off.

Naturally, once we’d stopped giggling, the next question was, did she need the batteries changing on her hearing aids. “Honestly, Mum, I am shouting as loud as I can, and you can’t hear me, can you?” Well, she said, “I can hear you a bit. But you’ll have to speak up.” More giggling and holding of tummies as we rocked to and fro with laughter. It doesn’t seem so funny now, but it was at the time.

Once we’d eaten this evening, the time had galloped away with us and it was quiz time. John was very tired, but game, and he joined in like a trooper. The quiz took a little longer than usual though, as there were lots of lovely questions that required lots of lovely debate. By 10.30, John was pooped. “Sorry, folks,” he said, “I’m going to bed.” No worries, only one more round to go…… Great quiz and great fun as usual.

Apparently, the infusion John had today is a three-weekly procedure. There is an option to self-administer at home weekly, but perhaps not yet. We were debating the pros and cons of this approach on our drive home from the hospital, and concluded that it would be the less risky option from the COVID point of view, so we’ll see.

The appointments that are coming through for John now are mostly telephone appointments as the hospital is really not keen to have him in there and, with 24,701 people infected and 310 dead in the last twenty-four hours, not counting the recent hospital deaths, we are grateful for their consideration. It ain’t gettin’ no better, is it folks…….

Take care everyone. God bless.