Isolation Day 65

So…. the bindweed lives to fight another day!! How did that happen, I hear you ask? Well, it was like this…

It’s been a day of two halves. This morning was most delightful and enjoyable. We got up with the sunshine, breakfasted like kings, and looked forward to the day. I busied myself, rummaging in the attic, to extricate soft furnishings for the garden furniture in anticipation of two of our oldest friends, Dave and Chris, calling in. I set the garden up beautifully – with chairs well-spaced; some in shade, some in sunshine, for every eventuality, including the obligatory social distancing……and then…….. they were here!!!

Excitedly, I ran in from the garden and woke John from his slumber on the settee to let him know. He’d had a bit of a bad night – hadn’t slept well – and was struggling with his cough. But we welcomed our dear friends into the garden, keeping our distance, and chose where best to sit – among the shade of the trees, as it was already about 27°C even at 11 o’clock in the morning – and chatted away.

I was thrilled when Chris presented us with a bag of goodies, too. Inside, there was cake! Chris is famed for her cake where she lives in Rugby, and so we were delighted and felt graced to have one her fabulous Victoria Sponges. Not only that, there was chocolate as well. Oh, alleluia!!

Dave and Chris had planned to spend 10 minutes saying ‘hello’, maybe on the path at the front; but we have such a big garden, so how lovely to sit and chat there instead of on the drive?

As usual, I was like a ‘jack-in-box’. Up and down, to check on Mum – making sure she was dressed; she’d made it downstairs in one piece; had her breakfast; had taken her tablets; felt safe; didn’t want to come outside/did want to come outside?

And then, I thought that John wasn’t feeling great, so ran upstairs to get the thermometer. “What are you doing that for?” he asked. “Well, I can feel something going on as I sit beside you, dear……” Temperature: 37.8°C. Hmmm……. well, that’s bit higher than a) yesterday; and b) I would like to see.

Once Mum was downstairs, I let her know that friends from my teenage years were here and would she like to meet up with them? Oh, yes, please. And, with that, she was up and fairly scampered down the garden to greet them. She sat with us and enjoyed the to-and-fro chat, even contributing to it herself, calling up memories that weren’t quite as we remembered them. No-one minded. It was just nice to enjoy each other’s company.

Having enjoyed seeing their wonderful, smiling faces and hearing about what’s happening in their lives we bade Dave and Chris a fond farewell, at last. Then we planned to tuck into cake…..

Before cake and after lunch, John was tired, so he went to bed. Just before you go…. can I take your temperature, please? Oh, it’s now 37.9°C. Take your jumper off and make sure you lie down on top of the covers. I’ll check your temperature in an hour.

After being bothered about John’s chest over the last day or two, I phoned the respiratory nurses this morning, who suggested leaving off the nebulised antibiotic for a day or two as it may not be agreeing with him.

However, it was clear to me that he wasn’t well and his temperature was increasing. At 38.2°C, I said, “John? I’m going to phone the hospital to see what they advise.” “Yeah, whatever.” I left a message for the respiratory nurses. Then I phoned the Triage nurse on Haematology and her advice was to dial 999. I queried it as an ambulance wouldn’t take John to Heartlands. She repeated the advice. I discussed it with John, “Yeah, whatever.” I thought about it for a bit. In the end, I dialled 999. The respiratory nurse phoned back just as the ambulance crew arrived. “Yes, good, I’d have advised calling them, too.”

So, that’s it. The ol’ man is hospital again, just not the hospital he’s used to and one which doesn’t have his records. I’ve wondered, over and over, whether I should have dialled the ambulance service or whether I should have bundled him into the car and taken him to Heartlands. However, everyone tells me, including Moira who phoned at tea-time to offer support, that The University Hospital Coventry has good nurses and doctors, so I think it’s OK and he’ll be out in a day or two. And John tells me that they are going to touch base with Heartlands tomorrow – yessss…..

I went out into the garden after John left, and thought maybe I’d tackle the bindweed then. But really, the mood didn’t take me, so it’s lived to see another day. Maybe tomorrow?

Mum was upset by the ‘doings’ of this afternoon and she wore her worried face. I regret that, although I was kind, I didn’t feel that I could sympathise. I was too worried myself, and was very grateful for lovely Margaret and her husband, Chris’s visit, offering me a bottle of wine to ‘keep me going’. They caught me just after John had left, and I was never more pleased to see someone who brought love with them than they did just then. Livia also passed by, and I felt blessed again.

Obviously, I chatted to the children (each 39, 33 and 30 years old respectively) to let them know that their Dad was at leisure in a hospitalised environment again, and was eternally grateful for their love and support, too.

Finally, as luck would have it, I chatted for over an hour to my dear friend Anita, who offered words of wisdom like no other could.

And so, today, I haven’t taken note of the situation with the Corona-virus as, a) I was too busy enjoying myself this morning, and b) I was too preoccupied with our situation at home this afternoon, so I shall look at all that tomorrow.

God bless and thank the Lord for medical staff, dear family and friends.