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Gosh, it’s only two minutes since the last Monday. isn’t it? That’s what it feels like this week, anyway! Time is galloping away – and not to my pleasing, either!

The weekend was an uphill struggle for John. He is still not clear of the alimentary hindrance and no amount of coaxing and cajoling so far has done the trick. Visits from District Nurses, although they are all cheery and good fun, have nonetheless been met with an intestinal stubborn refusal.

We had a quiet day on Saturday and lived in hope – but not a lot else went on, other than watching the Rugby World Cup. On Sunday, I went to church for a change, leaving John in bed, and then when I got back, I informed him that the Kenilworth Newbies had decided to call in and bring Brunch.

Well, that was very nice and we were settling in nicely to family chaos when the doorbell rang and Linda and Bryan called in, full of great advice on how one might get things to shift. Linda had brought some sparkling water and ginger cordial. “It might help,” she said, with her fingers firmly crossed. We all crossed our fingers too. We think it might be helping a bit as John is no longer in discomfort from that particular part of his anatomy.

After Linda and Bryan had left, we finished our family Brunch and generally nattered and played with the children before the Kenilworth Newbies were on their way to Danielle’s brother’s house for a barbecue.

John, Andrew and I settled down to watch wall-to-wall rugby for the rest of the day – something we all enjoyed. As the early evening drew in, I suddenly felt under the weather. I glanced up and found that some of the TV screen was missing. Oh, bother! I lay down on the sofa with my eyes closed for a while. Nah – that didn’t help. “I think I’ll lay down on my bed for a bit,” I said, and removed myself from the lounge and the Scotland vs South Africa match.

I lay down for about half an hour, and the weird stuff in front of my eyes went off – only to be replaced by a massive headache. I came downstairs, had a couple of paracetamol, fully intending to help sort John’s medication out at bedtime, but no – by half past nine I was done for – and I missed the rest of the Wales vs Fiji match. Andrew played nanny at bedtime instead – he, he!

John was up and at ’em this morning, bringing me a cup of tea in bed. Great ideas on how he was going to spend the day and what he was going to do on the car. Alas, the plans went to dreamland. John has been woozy from his medication all day and spent most of it asleep on the sofa. He’s trying to avoid taking too much medication, but what can you do? In pain down his hip, thigh and lower leg, the prescribed dose keeps the discomfort at bay – but it doesn’t help keep the sand man away!

Let’s see what tomorrow brings – we’ve got various consultations: the oncologist, the GP and an assessment by the MacMillan Nurse – which might bring us closer to compos mentis. Hope so anyway.

Take care everyone. God bless.

What a day! It’s been ‘orrible! If you don’t like a horror story, look away now.

The lovely sunshine and the thought of spending time with George and Sue, either in the garden or tinkering with the car, before they went home, beckoned delightfully this morning. First job though, was to call the doctors’ surgery to see if the Community Nurses could call and administer a ‘special something’ to John to ease his alimentary stoppage. Seemed a simple enough task.

Ha! That was at half past eight this morning. I didn’t stop with the running about up and down the hill to the surgery and over to the pharmacy, phoning other pharmacies, phoning the surgery and answering the door to doctors and nurses until six-thirty this evening. And all that time, John was, and still is, in a poor state.

Honestly, it has felt like an obstacle course. “Oh, we don’t arrange the visits from the Community Nurses,” said the receptionist at the surgery. “You’ll have to phone them.” Oh? Okay, then. “Oh, we don’t have the product you need,” said the nurses. “You have to ask the GP for it.” Oh? Okay, then. “Phone us back when you’ve got it,” they said. Right.

At the GP surgery, they seemed nonplussed that I should be asking for help. “I’ll put a message on the system,” says the receptionist. “I’ll red-flag it.”

Then the wait began. After an hour or so, and no reply, I tried phoning the surgery. Oh, chortle, chortle – here’s a good wheeze – we won’t answer the phone. I hopped in the car and ran down to the surgery to have a conversation. “You should have flagged this to us before ten o’clock this morning,” says the receptionist. Eh? I did!!!! “Oh? Ah, well, we’ve put a message on the system. It’s red-flagged….” Please, could somebody, anybody just knock on the doctor’s surgery door and ask? “I’ll put another message on the system……”

And so it went on. And on.

We finally got the prescription about one o’clock. I phoned the Community Nurses. “We’re on,” I said, “I’m going to the chemist’s now to collect what we need.” Ha! That’s what you think!! The chemist didn’t have item in stock, did they? “We can order it for tomorrow…..” But he needs it today. “Oh….. well, you’ve missed the deadline for an order for this afternoon.” Great. Thanks.

How do you get said product then, folks? You have to phone round every chemist within a 15-mile radius. “No…. sorry, we don’t have it. Have you tried Boots/Dudley Taylor/Meadows Pharmacy, etc etc?” Yep, tried all of ’em.

Tried to phone the surgery to tell them I couldn’t get the product. They were playing that game of not answering the phone again. I hopped in the car….. The doctor finally said she’d change the prescription for another product if there was a pharmacy that had an equivalent in stock. Started phoning the pharmacies again. Lovely.

The doctor did come out to visit John – that was hilarious cos he was on the loo. The doctor stood in the bedroom talking to him through the doorway. “I would like to examine you,” she said. Poor John had to struggle from the loo to the bed for her to check him over. I wasn’t awfully impressed tbh. And it felt like she couldn’t wait to get away.

The Community Nurse also came after I’d tracked down said replacement product to a pharmacy on Banner Lane. She administered it, wrote up her paperwork and left us to it. “See you tomorrow,” she said cheerfully. Poor John didn’t feel cheerful at all. He was/is in pain so has had morphine all day, which has knocked him out. He’s as dopey as anything, bless him.

John’s regular doctor and the one on call both prescribed some laxatives for John to take. I toddled up the road to collect the prescription. Brought it home, triumphant. Then I read the leaflet. It contains potassium. The last thing the hospital doctor said to John was, “Your potassium levels are still a bit raised so no bananas, beans or nuts. We want to try and keep the potassium levels a bit lower.” Hmmm….. I wondered whether the product was suitable. I phoned the surgery. I played the game of holding on four times – ‘you are number six in the queue’ until I was number one in the queue when the line mysteriously cut off. I hopped in the car and explained to the receptionist what I was concerned about. “I’ll put a note on the system,” she said.

This time it worked and John’s regular doctor phoned us. He was a little bit contradictory – first he seemed to be saying the product would be OK and then as he talked it through it seemed he changed his mind and sent another prescription through to the pharmacy for a different stuff. I toddled up to the pharmacy again….

In between times, there have been lots of visits to the loo. “Any luck?” I would ask, and there’d be a grim face and a shake of the head. Poor John, it’s been very difficult for him. He had a minor success this evening, however, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that another go at it tomorrow might start the motions again. Oh, I do hope so. Wish us luck and send us lots of healing vibes please!!

Oh, and there’s been lots of swearing……

Take care everyone. God bless.

Wow! How nice to see the sunshine today and not to be in a hospital ward. It meant that we could enjoy the day and feel the warmth at our backs for a change!

John certainly felt the warmth at his back. He had brought the Lotus out of the garage and was tinkering away with it all morning with George, who had come to help out. I think they managed to get a few things done but John was very tired by the afternoon and went to bed for a couple of hours. George tinkered on.

Meanwhile, the other car was loaded with stuff for the tip and Paul came over to help me with that. It was lush (as much as a trip to the tip can be) in that Paul commanded me to stay in the car, open the boot and relax while he threw the stuff away. That’s the first time I’ve been to the tip when I haven’t had to work hard!!! Smashing.

We came back home and picked up Sue before travelling into Kenilworth for a mini-visit to the tip there as well, with some brash from the pond clear-out the other week. Then we toddled across to Boots for more medication for the ol’ man to try on the stubborn digestive system.

On the way back from the Kenilworth jaunt and nearly home, Paul pulled the car into The White Horse car park. Well, that felt exciting! And sure enough it was!! We sat in the garden and out came Paul with two glasses of Prosecco for me and Sue. How lovely was that? We were thrilled with the treat.

We were just gathering ourselves together to make it home when Danielle phoned wondering where we were. Darn it! She’d missed out on a pub visit…. “We’re on our way,” I said.

Danielle had come round with the two youngest children for the afternoon and that was lovely too. We got the little splash pool out and Thomas and Oliver thoroughly enjoyed themselves playing with the water and the sand pit – and generally running about the garden with not a lot on.

Sue and I continued with the Prosecco theme and enjoyed ourselves playing in the splash pool with the children too!!

Regrettably, the medication I had bought was the wrong one…… Paul undertook to have another go at buying the right thing and finally found some in a chemist’s in Leamington. However, it transpires that that hasn’t worked either, so it’s a call to the doctor’s tomorrow morning……

John got up after his snooze and joined us in the garden, in the balmy late afternoon air, to have a good old chat about progress on the car. Lovely. This is how it should be, isn’t it?

Take care everyone. God bless.

John is home at last! No matter what they said today, he was determined to leave. He stated it clearly to everyone and anyone who would listen. So they took him at his word and pulled out all the stops to get him home. We only had to wait four hours for the paperwork to be done and the medication to be sorted.

I must admit, they were pretty thorough – the pain management team and the physio people came to check on him. The palliative care team, who’d also been requested to come, had no slots today. Maybe tomorrow? ‘On your bike,’ said John, ‘I’m off! Not hanging about any longer!’ Or words to that effect, anyway.

The physio couldn’t find out much though, as John was in the loo and the conversation was held through the wooden door. “Do you have a walker, Mr Sleath?” No – as if!! “What about a stick?” Yes, got one of those and a stairlift. Happy now? The physio toddled off, satisfied.

The pain management team agreed that co-codamol was a great constipater. Not the best thing for a man with a gippy hip. “We’ll prescribe morphine and paracetamol instead,” they said, and they toddled off, also satisfied.

One of the consultants turned up to ask if John wanted be resuscitated if he should collapse. Er…. yes, please. Not quite ready to give up yet, thank you very much. “Well, I have to ask,” he said, “just to be sure of your wishes.” And he toddled off as well.

And then we waited. John slept for most of it, but dived into the loo every twenty minutes or so to see there was any movement in that department. He always came back, shaking his head. “Any luck?” I’d say. “Nope,” he’d reply. Might need to get the big guns out.

We arrived home at about 7.30 p.m. John was relieved to be home. Dived straight into the loo. “Any luck?” I said, as he emerged. He shook his head, ruefully. So I went up to the shops to see what I could buy to do the trick. I bought something that neither of us think will work, but we’ll see…..

Fun and games, isn’t it? Well, it would be if we weren’t so exhausted……

Take care everyone. God bless.

The ol’ man is still in clink. “I’m going to hang onto to you, John, until tomorrow,” smiled the lovely doctor as she delivered the bad news. “We’ll do one more check to make sure your bloods are OK; and we’ll get in touch with the pain management team to see how best to deal with the pain your hip, but we’re aiming for ‘home tomorrow’.” Oh, gosh, we have heard that a few times this week.

John groaned and slumped in the bed. I inwardly groaned and slumped a bit lower in the chair. We’re both a bit jaded. And, of course, we were both a bit irritable. It’s a big ask to be constantly cheerful and always looking on the bright side.

John had been reasonably upbeat when I arrived, as he’d had a visit from Paul this morning, in the hopes of keeping John’s spirits up. The trouble is, I suppose, one visitor followed by another is tiring. So John was fast asleep when I got there and only woke up when the lovely doctor roused him to tell him that the orthopaedic department had had a look at his x-rays and concluded that there was no pathological break in his hip or upper leg. That was good news. The pain could be related to a trapped nerve maybe.

After the initial disappointment of not coming home today, John resigned himself once more. “It’s not so bad as it used to be,” he said, “I used to be climbing the walls when I was in a side room, desperate to get out, but there’s enough going on in the ward to keep me entertained.” I have to say that, for the most part, John is a very patient patient. But he has a rather impatient spouse.

I came home at tea-time with plans to potter in the garden, or do a bit of tidying, or a bit of admin. Nope. Too knackered for anything. Sat and watched trashy, mindless TV all evening before climbing up the wooden hill.

Here’s to us feeling better tomorrow.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Crikey, today was a belter, wasn’t it? Really hot sunshine, all day. John was very jealous. We had a chat at breakfast-time, just as I was sitting outside to eat my fruit and yoghurt. “Big blue skies, then?” he marvelled. I agreed – it was a fabulous morning. “Pity I can only see concrete here though….” he grumbled. “I might be able to see a spot of sunshine later, but I can’t just now.” Hmmm…… that’s the problem with the ward he’s in. Nothing to see outside at all.

The upshot of the conversation was that he might be home today. I visited this afternoon and, by then, it was looking less likely. For a start, John had explained to the staff that he was expecting an x-ray on his leg on Wednesday afternoon. “We’ll see if we can bring that forward, shall we?” suggested the nurse and, sure enough, they did. However, it wasn’t the x-ray that kept him in. It was the result of another blood test. “Your potassium levels are still a bit high, John, so we’ll keep you in another night.”

Nevertheless, they started the process of getting him ready for home. The drip has gone; the oxygen is off; and the catheter contraption was changed for more civilised equipment. Home? Maybe tomorrow?

I came home mid-afternoon so that I could have a catch-up with the GP to set the ball rolling for some support in the long term. Andrew was home and he and Michael, who had called in to collect the spare potty for Thomas, were having a good old brotherly chat.

“Do you want me to come with you, Mum?” he asked. Yes, please. Two sets of ears are better than one. We saw Doctor Horsley – whom I’ve always thought was a bit off with me – who was actually very good and explained lots of stuff very kindly and very clearly. Spot on, in fact. “Ha!” said John when I told him, “You see? Dr Horsley is OK.”

We now have a list of things to follow up. First stop tomorrow: the consultant’s secretary to see if they can bring forward John’s appointment now that the x-ray has been done.

I went back to visit John this evening and we spent a cosy hour or so together. John’s leg wasn’t quite so painful and he was a bit more relaxed – and resigned to another night in clink.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Well, it wasn’t quite what we’d planned to do on Friday, but there we are. Another trip to hospital. We thought we’d be in and out again, but no. John is still languishing in a ward-with-no-view – unless you count the concrete wall with a few windows in it?

The day had started all so swimmingly. We were getting on with a few jobs and John was looking forward to getting a catheter change – the one he’d got was playing up. All hunky-dory then, until the change was made. The nurse arrived just after lunch, all bright and breezy, but was unable to finish the job and regrettably injured John in the process.

She called a colleague, who arrived all bright and breezy, too. It didn’t take long for her to admit defeat as well though. Neither of them were very bright and breezy after that. “I’m really sorry,” she said,” but you’ll have to go to A a& E.” Oh, great.

We were there hours, of course. The nurse at the hospital had a couple of goes at getting the catheter sorted. No luck. “We’ll have to get a doctor to try,” he pronounced, after the third unsuccessful attempt.

The doctor was successful and we thought that would be it, we’d be on our way again. We waited. And waited. John was uncomfortable. I asked if there was anywhere he could lie down. No, sorry.

Anyway, the upshot was that at ten o’clock at night, the doctor came round and said they were admitting John. His potassium levels were a bit high. We groaned. John was resigned. “You go home,” he said, “there’s no point in you staying, I’ll be going up to the ward soon.” So I came away and John got up to the ward a 12.15 in the morning. It’s nuts, isn’t it?

Each day we have thought John would be discharged. However, each day there is something else. They weren’t so worried about his potassium levels now, they were worried about his output. “You’re not drinking enough,” they said. And then today, they were worried about too much urine production. Apparently, the trauma inflicted has stimulated John’s kidneys to go into overdrive. Just got to wait for it all to calm down. Oh, and by the way, here’s a drip for you and some oxygen….. bless him, he’s plugged in at all ends! Not a happy bunny.

Mind you, I wasn’t great company myself today either. I felt exceedingly grumpy all day – and even grumpier when I got to the hospital to find John pre-occupied with the Grand Prix on his laptop. But then, I thought to myself, it’s his pleasure so why not?

We had a bit of a chat but it wasn’t top quality. John was tired and kept falling asleep – missing my stimulating conversation and the action on the Grand Prix. After the racing had finished, I suggested he might want to watch the cricket. That turned out to be a poor suggestion. England were being slaughtered.

All in all, we’re a bit down in the dumps just at the moment – but maybe he’ll be out tomorrow?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Mostly, Mr Sleath has been resting on the sofa today – either watching telly, snoozing, chatting to Paul or watching telly some more. Clearly, his exertions with the Lotus have caught up with him and some tranquility was required.

He was able to enjoy his rest time uninterrupted. I was over at the Kenilworth Sleaths this morning looking after the oldest and youngest grandsons while Thomas had another crack at a pre-school settling-in day.

It turned out that Thomas wasn’t so keen on another ‘settling-in day’ today. No thank you – he didn’t want to go. Nope – he wasn’t going in. Nope – he wasn’t getting out of the car. Danielle brought him home again, tried soothing talk and a bribe before going back again. Even his big brother, William, gave him sage advice: “When I started pre-school, I was scared as well,” he declared, “But I pushed through and you can do the same.” Out of the mouths of babes, eh? Made my heart leap to hear such brotherly love.

Once Thomas returned to pre-school, he went in and enjoyed the hour or so that he was there. Amazing what a marshmallow treat can do! It gave him ‘super powers’ apparently. Fingers crossed he’ll find the super power to go again tomorrow.

On my way home, I stopped off in Kenilworth Town to drop a charity bag into Oxfam, and then joined the mile-long queue at the Thursday Market fishmongers for some fresh fish. We had sea bream tonight and it was absolutely delicious.

I also made a detour to the crematorium where I dropped off some blurb about Mum to put in the Book of Remembrance. Nice chat to the girl who dealt with it – it seems everyone in the bereavement business is very nice indeed.

When I got home, John said he wasn’t very hungry, so I busied myself with a bit of a tidy up before I started thinking about lunch. But before I could get going on any food, who should come through the door, but Freddie and Paul!! Ooh, it was lovely to see them. “Daddy was going to phone you but he dropped his phone in the hot tub so it doesn’t work,” announced Freddie, as he came into the kitchen. Chuckle, chuckle – eeeh, the dangers of a hot tub, eh?

Paul and John spent much of the afternoon chatting while Freddie and I made a cake. Then Paul, Freddie and I nipped up to the shops to buy strawberry jam for the filling. Paul and Freddie dived into the Barbers on the way back and came home looking very smart indeed with their new haircuts.

The cake looked lush when it was finished. Unfortunately, I had put the cake into the cake tin upside down, sitting it on the lid, so that it would be easy to cut when they got home. Freddie picked the tin up and, as I called out, “Hold it by the bottom!” out plopped the cake onto the hall carpet. Great work ensued in scraping off the fluff and dirt that had attached itself to the icing. I think we sorted it out – I would have eaten it – but whether the Kenilworth Sleaths will agree is yet to be seen.

This evening, we have both sat quietly on the sofa watching telly. John’s leg is paining him a bit though, so painkillers ahoy as the evening wore on and an early night. Looking forward to a better day tomorrow for him. He’s threatening to buy a can of petrol and get the car on the road!

Take care everyone. God bless.

.

We’re nearly back in the groove. We had a little bit of childcare, a medical appointment, a-snoozing in the afternoon, tinkering with the Lotus and Quiz Night today.

After the sleepover last night, Freddie and I were up an’ at ’em fairly early on. “Look at that!” I exclaimed to Freddie as we got up. “There’s some sunshine,” Couldn’t quite believe it – clear blue skies. By the time we got downstairs for breakfast though, the clouds had moved in and it was another day of checking for impending rain.

John had a slow start and I left him at home to drop Freddie at his home before shooting round to the Kenilworth Newbies. First day of pre-school for Thomas with Mummy in attendance, so child care was needed for William and Oliver. Freddie arrived a bit later on to join in too, and we all had a lovely morning playing and chatting and singing. Incredibly good company and happy faces all round. And Thomas had enjoyed pre-school, too, so that was a bonus.

Mind you, we had fun and games of a different kind early on. Danielle texted to say that William had nits. Oh, crikey! I remember those days of frequent infestations with our own kids. Fortunately, these days, it’s a much simpler process in dealing with the darned things. I took my trusty nit comb round and Danielle did the business on William’s hair. It’ll be interesting to see if any have ‘jumped’ to anyone else, won’t it? Watch this space!!!

Home again and I found John in the garage tinkering. He’d had a good morning getting on with things – one of which was to fit the horn to the car. I knew he’d done it, and it was working, as there were a few ‘toot, toot, toot’ sounds emerging from the depths of the garage. Success!!

I toddled down to the doctor’s surgery for a physio appointment. While we were on holiday my hip played up a bit. I thought it was the old ‘Arthur-itis’ rearing its ugly head, but apparently it’s not. It’s the much more glamorous-sounding, but less threatening, ‘Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome’ (GTPS). That would be bursitis-on-the-side-of-the-hip-bone to you and me. I’ve got exercises.

John went back into the garage to tinker. I sat on the settee to relax. I woke up a couple of hours later…… hehe. John came in and sat down ready for a bite to eat. After tea, he thought he’d sit on the sofa and relax. He woke up about an hour later – just in time for the Quiz. I tell you what, those settees are seeing some action (or not)!

Quiz Night was great. Lovely to see everyone. We all bemoaned the fact that we’re not as young as we were and recovery time is slower than it used to be. I feel a bit comforted by that. It’s not just us, then!!!

And half-way through the quiz I exclaimed, “Look at that! There’s a gorgeous full moon!” Hehe – ended the day pretty much as I started it!!

Take care everyone. God bless.

Donkeys years ago, I started the Blog to keep everyone updated on John’s health. Over the years, it has morphed into ‘an every day story of village folk’ and John’s health has sort of been a side-show to the daily family and friends fun and dramas that have unfolded.

This morning, as we waited for a phone call from John’s oncologist, I was reminded as to why I’d started the Blog – to document and share the anxious times, the frequent visits to hospital(s), the pronouncements of the various specialists and how John was an interesting case.

John has been in pain with his hip and leg in recent weeks, so we have both been wondering separately, whether it was the cancer spreading or whether it was something else. “I’ll ask her today,” John said, stoutly. I nodded in agreement. We need to know. “But I’m surprised at how quickly it’s going if it is the cancer,” he continued. Well, the answer is that neither of us knows because we haven’t asked the difficult question.

Anyway, the consultant couldn’t say one way or another over the phone, naturally. She has arranged for an x-ray and we’ll see. But she had other suggestions insomuch as she was keen to make sure that there was no break/hairline crack in the bone. And she was more interested in whether John had pain in his back. So we were encouraged a little bit. But she did talk about getting in touch with MacMillan nurses, so we were cast down again a bit by that.

Nevertheless, there is life to be lived. For a start, there’s the Lotus to be finished. John is now tunnel-visioned and determined to get the car on the road as soon as he can. I had to laugh though – I’d been pottering about and went into the garage to see if he’d like a cuppa. He was lying under the car…..tinkering? Erm, no – he was having a little doze while he thought about how to go about a difficult bit. Chortle, chortle. And yes, please, he did fancy a cuppa.

And so, if you want to know where John is at any time, you’ll find him cuddling his car, all hands on deck to try and finalise all the niggly bits.

Meanwhile, we continue to make the most of it. We’re (mostly, except when we’re irritable) enjoying each others’ company; and we’re taking opportunities as they come, if we’re able. For example, could we look after Freddie overnight, please? Paul and Harriet’s babysitter had let them down at the last minute. Of course we could! Freddie is always good company and great fun to be around when he’s with us.

I missed taking a photo of Freddie snuggling into Grandpa though, as they watched a Minecraft video together (honestly, it’s beyond me). But I did get a lovely one of Freddie’s cheesy grin as we played with the Lego before bedtime. He’s a card, that boy!

Thank goodness for the uplift of kids to take away your anxieties, eh?

Take care everyone, God bless.