Friday, January 9 – Rain all day and pretty cold. No street meet: Mary in Spain, Mark in Brazil. Rang Ray Fiske in morning: sounds pretty bad. Judy offered to help us because I “looked tired”. Trouble is, I would have to explain what needs doing, which would probably take longer than doing it. Usual lunch for the two of us. Anne came at 3 and stayed a couple of hours. Dot seems much better – taking far fewer pills. In the evening cooked salmon and washed rags and a tea cloth, though not necessarily in that order. Watched a bit of TV – Christmas University Challenge and an Australian drama, plus Would I lie to you? which is very funny.
Saturday – Dampness gradually dried out, and the afternoon was quite bright, though still cold. I didn’t have a very good night and felt quite odd today – took paracetamol. Well, someone has to. Janet Smith came go see Dot just after 10.30, and brought a plant. After she went I had a bath to try to feel better, but went to sleep and got one of my books wet. Spent some time later putting kitchen paper between pages, which Dot tells me is a Howard remedy.
Had egg on avocado on toast for lunch during which we watched Macclesfield (Northern Division) beat Crystal Palace (Premier League and holders) 2-1 in the FA Cup, followed by the usual hysteria from commentators. Saw a bit of Spurs v Aston Villa, which Spurs lost 2-1, though they looked much better in the second half. Had soup for supper, followed by fruit salad. Watched three episodes of The Little Drummer Girl (Dot has already seen four), which was pretty good.
Sunday – Dry at first but rain later. Cold. Listened to radio service, then Songs of Praise later. Also plenty of football, the rest of The Little Drummer Girl and another episode of The Night Manager. Usual lunch, and duck for supper. Felt pretty rubbish most of the day, either cold or itchy or both. Dot still making progress, I think. Put out rubbish.
Monday – Mainly dry; much warmer. Hospital day. Got up early after difficult night, possibly because alarms set. Always seems to happen. Roger and Debbie arrived at 10am to take us to the hospital. Roger’s height and weight very helpful on slope. Took push bar. Arrived in good time, to find the fracture clinic was just inside the East door. Picked up wheelchair, checked in and after a while (not too long) were told that she needed an x-ray (some doubt about whether she had plaster); so we went round there – not far – booked in at radiology and walked down to the x-ray rooms.
Waited quite a while, and I was not allowed to go in, but it went OK. Back to the fracture clinic and were eventually called: I did go in that time. Liked the doctor, who was very reassuring and said Dot was making good progress. Dot waited outside while I looked for the dermatology clinic and the gastro clinic, the second of which was not where it was stated to be on the internet. Eventually found it. Dermatology clinic was easier, being almost next door to the restaurant – our next stop.
Bit cool, but I got us a scone, sandwiches and sweet to share, as well as drinks. I was due a call from the gastro clinic; so we left early for dermatology and had not got settled when my phone rang. I went out into corridor for quite a long chat. The doctor was keen to know as much as possible and seemed sorry not to be able to see me in person. He seemed to think there was some urgency, and has promised an appointment for a proper scan of my liver and abdomen as soon as possible. Meanwhile I had had a call from urology, who are going to get in touch again tomorrow morning. It seems they may be taking some notice of my progress. However the urgency is a little worrying.
I returned to dermatology where Dot was sitting stranded in a wheelchair but had managed to check in. We actually got to see a doctor early, and after some discussion Dot agreed to have a photo of her mole taken and to get it checked after three months. The doctor didn’t seem worried though. We made our way back to the fracture clinic seating, where I got Dot a coffee. She rang Roger, and he said he could get back to the hospital in about 40 minutes. That is what happened. We got Dot back into the car, and I dumped the wheelchair back where I found it. (Happily Roger’s car was big enough for us and for the walking frame.)
Traffic worse, but we were home well before 4.30pm, and Roger and Debbie came in for tea/coffee and Christmas cake, during which we heard a big sonic boom. Annoyingly, the gastro guy had told me to drink minimum alcohol before the scan. In the evening I cooked pies and we watched some. Christmas Uni Challenge and Call the Midwife. I cleared up and we went to bed quite early.
Tuesday – Much damper, but not constant rain. Urology woman rang as scheduled about 10am, and we had a chat, but not a terribly productive one. Later I had a bath, and in the afternoon I went to Morrisons and stocked up. While bringing food in I met Phoebe, who sent her best wishes to Dot. Dot made it downstairs, and we washed some clothes etc. Watched Pointless, which was. Towards evening, as I cooked a ready meal lasagne, I realised we hadn’t had lunch, but it didn’t seem to matter. Finished off fruit salad. Watched Lynley, which was quite good.
Just before that, Angela rang to say her brother John had died. He had been ill for a while, but it was a bit unexpected. He was in hospital. Always liked John when he was younger – he reminded me of his father Walter, and he had a great sense of humour – but something went wrong later on. Bit of a drink problem in the end. Very sad, especially for his daughter Donna, who was with him when he died. Her mother died not long ago.
