Catching up again .....

                     Well dad is more or less back to where he was before he got the sickness bug. The only thing now is he is refusing to eat or drink anything just relying on the food and liquid he is getting through his peg. This will keep him alive etc but the longer he goes without swallowing anything the less likely he will be able to come off the peg.  Mum keeps trying to push him to eat but he is stubborn and refuses so we still have a way to go before he will be allowed home.
                      Had Rosie stay Friday night and all day yesterday, she is an angel to be with. She is into everything, crawls so fast now and climbs up anything she can. She won't be long before she takes her first steps then there will be no stopping her.
                      Well I broke my self imposed rule of not watching the Eurovision song contest. What a waste of my time! I stopped watching years ago as the voting was far to political. This year Blue represented us (my daughter and I are big Blue fans) and the voting system is supposed to be different - 50% public based. Well same old, same old! Countries voting for their neighbours and allies so predictable so we came 11th even Jedward (Ireland) were above us in 8th place. So I will not be watching again as it is still political and not about the music.
                      On the garden front the replacement bean plants have germinated so when big enough will get planted out. The tomato plants have been potted on, have bought 2 sweet pepper plants and re-potted them, could do with a couple more. The chilli's are growing but really slowly probably  because the temperature has dropped a few degrees since we have had some rain over the past week or so. I just hope the hot spell we had wasn't our summer! Well must get on, still so much more to tidy and clear in the garden.

                                                     Tracy x

Where did April go .......

           So April disappeared in a blur of hospital visits and trying to keep on top of the house and garden. Not doing a very good job of this!! Dad was doing really well, starting to try eating and drinking in very small amounts. The consultant had said as soon as he could swallow a bit better and a care package put in place he would be able to go home. Then 2 weeks ago the Norovirus ( sickness and diarrhoea) bug hit the ward. The ward has been closed, you were allowed to visit but at your own risk. Mum got the bug and couldn't visit until 72 hours after stopping being sick, she said it was the worst she had felt in her life.
           Dad got it, was sick for 24 hours then needed to be put on a drip again to rehydrate him. The last 3 days have seen him recover from the bug but now he doesn't seem to know where he is, he keeps saying things like he's coming home and who's coming to pick me up. On Thursday he was insistent that he had to get out of bed and look at a tree that he needed to cut down. When I went to visit in the evening he was sat on the bed with he feed pump in his hand waiting for me to pick him up. I don't know how long he had been sat there but he was really cold and it took quite a while to settle him into bed and warm him up. He was so cold that they couldn't get the machine to register his pulse when they did the blood pressure checks.
             Mum eventually got to talk to a doctor yesterday, they said they aren't sure what is wrong, his blood is ok, he isn't dehydrated, they checked his urine and that's fine. He has lost so much weight he now looks like a walking skeleton. The doctor says she will get the nutritionist to up his food intake through the peg and send him for a full scan next week. So we play the waiting game yet again. It's really upsetting and worrying (especially for mum as he has even started swearing at her telling her to leave him alone) he has never been like this before. Hope he's better tonight when we visit.
             So the garden and house get done as and when. I have lost a few beans due to a couple of sharp frosts so have planted more seeds (hopefully they will catch up quickly) this was even after having covered them. Today I hope to get some more compost ready for potting up the tomatoes. I will also have to buy some sweet pepper plants as I've planted 2 lots now and had no success with germination, never had a problem before. It rained (at last) overnight so that's 1 less job to do, need to catch up on loads more though. Must get on or nothing will get done, will try and update more often if hopefully life gets a bit less hectic.


                                                Tracy x

Improving slowly ......

                Well Saturday saw dad on oxygen, on intravenous antibiotics and with a fan trying to cool him down. He looked a little better but still felt really ill. We went to see him again yesterday and what a huge difference dad was sat up in bed no oxygen and he looked a far better colour than he has for ages. He is still on the antibiotics but he was talking and even cracking a few jokes ( this he hasn't done in weeks). Lets hope this signals the start of the long recovery period.
                I got the lawns cut and some of the lawn edging done (more still to do), got the majority of the washing caught up with unfortunately our very (in)considerate neighbour decided to light a very smokey barbecue even though he could see the washing out for both me and his other neighbour. So both of us had to rush to get damp washing in before they stank of smoke. So that will need finishing off today then the mountain of ironing to do. Hope to get more of the garden sorted today as well before visiting dad again tonight (fingers crossed for even more improvement) it would be nice to get him back home but only when he is fit enough. Well must get washing dry before the rain comes in later this morning.
                                        
                                                        Tracy x

Can't take much more.....

         Went to visit dad tonight. The hospital have given him celery soup to eat then sent him to a different ward for the weekend and after twenty minutes of being there (and us arriving for visiting) he was being sick. He has not swallowed food of any sort for over 6 weeks (fed through peg) because he struggles to swallow. He should be supervised if he tries to eat or drink as there is a risk of food/drink going to his lungs. So they feed him, he's sick and now he has liquid in his right lung (pulmonary aspiration). He is on intravenous antibiotics and if he doesn't respond quickly he will have a 50/50 chance of surviving. So much for saying he was well enough to be sent home!!!  All we can do is wait and hope for better news tomorrow.

                                        Tracy  x
    
    

Lack of communication ......

        This was between the hospital and our local district nurse. So instead of dad going into the hospice for respite care until back on his feet he was discharged from the hospital and sent home (Wednesday afternoon). Mum is still struggling to walk and was left with dad to look after, put his medicines through the peg (tube in his stomach), and connect his feed up with the district nurse coming once a day in the morning to do the early meds and a carer to help dress him. Well mum was up most of the night with dad coughing and nearly chocking (lots of sputum due to radiotherapy). Yesterday morning the district nurse came did dads meds and helped him to his chair as dad felt faint and unstable walking. District nurse then came back at lunch to do his meds again and brought a doctor to check on dad. The doctor said he had been discharged to soon and sent for an ambulance to re-admit him into hospital. So last night we were at a&e until 10:00 pm when they admitted dad onto a ward. So now we're back to square one trying to get him respite care.
      
        On the up side of things I have Rosie again for the day, her smile always cheers me up no matter how tired or down hearted I feel. So today will be spent catching up on chores, playing games with Rosie and visiting again. Hopefully I will get some more seed planting and tidying the garden done over the weekend (fingers crossed) and visiting dad.

                                             Tracy  x

At last.....

At last my first seeds are growing, 1 tomato seed and lots of beans. just need the weather to warm up again to get more things planted. Got the washing almost done, its outside drying and fingers crossed it stays on the line as its blowing a gale out there. Got grandaughter  Rosie here today with her mum. Rosie will be staying tonight when mum goes home after tea. I get to have all the cuddles and smiles to my self, she is such a lovely baby. Must get lunch now whilst Rosie has her nap.
          
                                             Tracy x

Time to catch up

      Ok, its been a long time since I last blogged. Too much time spent helping and visiting others not enough time to write. My grandaughter Rosie is 9 months old now and a pleasure to have stay as often as mum will allow. This has to be around visiting my dad in hospital ( he's had radiotherapy for his cancer)  and taking my mum for physiotherapy for a trapped nerve, she's use to walking at least 8 miles+ most days and now can't walk more than a few yards because of the pain. So when we visit my dad we have to take her in a wheelchair. Dad needs 24hr care at the moment until he recovers more from his treatment so will need to go to a hospice for respite care to get stronger. Hopefully by then mum will be back to normal and able to cope (with our support) with looking after him. So it looks like we will be visiting for a while to come. This means long days for OH as he works all day until 5pm then we go visiting mostly not eating until 9/9:30pm. So I seem to be trying to do the house and garden in dribs and drabs when I can.
     The veg patch has been prepared and so far have got the following in the ground
  * Red onion sets
  * Garlic
  * Spring Onions
  * Radishes
  * Peas
 Also the canes are up for the runner beans and french beans. These are planted in trays indoors along with all the tomato seeds, sweet peppers, chilli peppers, courgettes and some herbs. I still need to get some salad leaves in. It rained overnight here so that saves me having to water the veg patch. It means drying the washing indoors though as everywhere outside is still wet and it looks like we have more to come, well the garden needs it as this month has been quite dry. Well must go and sort the cleaning, ironing and dinner to get ready for the kids to cook while we are at the hospital. Hope to blog more regularly as time permits.
                                        
                                                Tracy x