In an attempt to regulate pain relief for John, I got up early this morning to make sure that his regular dose of the slow-release morphine and paracetamol were administered early enough so that pain wouldn’t emerge during the morning. Ha! In my dreams.
John had slept through and not picked up his night-time paracetamol, which meant that he’d gone ten hours without anything. He felt fine for an hour or so but then pain kicked in and so the morphine bottle came out – a similar pattern to yesterday, really, with a top-up half-way through the morning. “We need to chat to Julie,” said John, referring to the MacMillan nurse, “to check on doses and what to expect. I am not enjoying this….”
No, it’s not best to be struggling, is it?
Anyway, the ol’ man felt a bit better by the time that Dave and Chris arrived, and we spent a very enjoyable few hours in their company. A spot of lunch, a good old natter and cake! Once again, Chris came up trumps and brought us coffee and walnut cake – one of my favourites. She had been thinking of us, too, and trying to read between the lines. What do the Sleaths need? She came up with a chicken casserole – well, what a good idea! Saves me having to think or cook from scratch for a day or two.
Dave acted as chauffeur this afternoon and transported John to the surgery for his hormone injection, leaving Chris and me to have a good gossip. That was nice for me – not so nice for John.
Naturally, John was keen to show Dave the Lotus, and Dave was keen to see it, so they spent a little while in the garage admiring the handiwork and generally re-living their youth.
Once Dave and Chris left, the slump set in and pain emerged with a vengeance. Poor John has been struggling most of the evening and finally, at half past eight, said he was off to bed. I conned my list of drugs to make sure I’d done everything that could be done, and offered a half-dose of morphine as he settled into bed. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that that will settle things down. We’ll see.
Another day of ups and downs really, but so lovely to see dear friends who offer us so much support.
Take care everyone. God bless.