Severe matron syndrome

I have to be on my best behaviour today after a massive fo- par late last night, adequately dealt with by Lynne and house guests. I did my usual of eating half a Bramley apple for tea, testing my blood sugar (a reasonable 8.6 ) and fuzzy-headedly collapsing into bed at some ridiculously early hour, only to awake around midnight on the floor of "the office" ( back bedroom ) with my legs somehow wrapped around the office chair , and lots of voices. Eventually I discovered Lynne had popped-up to administer my night pills with a glass of water, I had managed to spill the water on the bed, in my dozy state and made a trip to the toilet to the rear of the back bedroom, somehow ending up on the floor. It turned-out my blood sugar had been 1.8.  It is supposed to be between 4 and 8 so I had had a hypo. Lynne and Margaret managed to administer the necessary Lucozade, dry out the bed, and extricate me from the chair (not necessarily in that order) peace was restored. Quite correctly, Lynne has turned into the severe matron this morning and ordered I get a grip of my diabetes control, have a shave and generally get a grip of myself, quite rightly too.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone will have/is having/had a good Christmas, depending on your location around the globe. We are scheduled for a quiet day with the usual Xmas dinner, Morcambe and Wise on the TV and a little booze. The former I have no appetite for and the latter is forbidden with my treatment, but to hell with it for one day.

Communication

A freezing cold day and my last radiotherapy before Christmas, but further progress on my leg. The leg doctor has actually spoken to the oncology guy and the leg op is likely to be mid-January. Considerable progress for Leicester hospitals. What could possibly go wrong ?

Jaw drop

Another day blogging lost due to reasons beyond my control, but full praise to Sky who fixed it quickly once again.. Apologies.

Rain forecast for the next few days and it has just arrived right on cue, following several very sunny days.

Yesterday was full-on with a mid-morning visit from our eldest son and two youngest granddaughters and the afternoon arrival of my sister and husband. Roll on Christmas.

I managed to fall over and graze my head (indoors, fortunately). The result resembles being hit on the head with a mallet, which gives me ample opportunity to blame Lynne, if asked.

A visit to my leg doctor and radiotherapy today but at different hospitals, just to break the monotony. Christmas Eve tomorrow then a two-day break.

As usual radio treatment progressed smoothly, as did the rush across city to Leicester General where we waited a very long time to see the leg specialist who interpreted my scan results. Not good news but it could be worse. I now have chronic osteomyelitis, which basically means the shin- bone is internally infected and will require surgery to cure. Continuing with antibiotics is pointless. It is now necessary for the doctors associated with my current treatments to decide amongst themselves when surgery can take place.

Righting writes

Yesterday was cold but sunny. I managed to speak to the asst consultant regarding my current bout of sickness, hoping he could up my anti-sickness pills. The answer was no but he put me back on steroids which he assured me would help, and so far they have. Lynne managed to speak to a senior nurse who confirmed a) any hair loss will be temporary and b) once the treatment is over my brain and I will retrain myself to write legibly, replacing the current doctor's style and  c) because the cells on our tongues are the most frequently replaced my sense of taste will quickly return .  My leg continues to make good progress ( it is still attached to me of course ). Each day I try to walk further although I have yet to try a village return trip.  All positive news.

Still after storm

A bright, sunny morning has followed a very stormy night. Everything seems OK.

 And very calm. Lynne has even managed to finish our Xmas cards ( the traditional posted kind ). They will not arrive till after Christmas but hey-ho, it is a Herculean achievement all the same. The job fell to Lynne as I have discovered I can't write anymore, yet another function lost, but I am assured taste returns quickly.

Zipidy do da 2

Yesterday was a much brighter day in all respects.  Brilliant sunshine and warm for the time of year. So confident was I in this new walking lark I pushed the boat out more than I should and even managed a shopping trip to Waitrose for the first time in months. ( strictly speaking I sat in the coffee lounge whilst Lynne zipped round with the trolley ). I did help pack the shopping  and get it back to the car though.

Once again my leg complained at midnight but after a couple of paracetamol I had a good nights sleep. Treatment and a blood test went well so all was good with the world. I even belatedly managed to write a few Christmas cards even though my concentration span is now smaller than a Scotsmans wallet.

Today was one of those terminally long days at the hospital. We beat the long wait to see the chemo doctor by arriving 2 hours late. We reckoned it is better to wait in the comfort of our own home rather than the hard waiting room chairs. However, one of the radiotherapy machines had broken down so long queues for the two remaining. 4 hours overall  we considered a success. No problems worth discussing.

I have Sussed-out the footwear code for hospital staff. Pretty nurses/admin staff wear clickety-clacky shoes so  they get noticed whilst rushing around carrying clipboards or patient notes. Frumpy staff wear soft shoes, but unfortunately they tend to squeak on Lino, defeating the object of wearing them in the first place. People who consider themselves to be very important  also go clickety- clacky.