Month: September 2023

The morning cuppa has moved to 7am, much better. Mal is stretching his cuppas out as he can’t have too much caffeine.

I took Ellie for a run around the cricket pitch, she tried chasing squirrels up trees!

Another glorious day weather wise, a shame we have missed a lot of the good weather.

In the afternoon  we watched Hammers and then Spurs. I had to make sure Mal didn’t get too excited!

Thought for the Day – Happiness is the only thing that multiplies when you share it.” ~ Albert Schweitzer

Another 5 am cup of tea for Mal! I think this will stretch to later very soon. As soon as it was light again Ellie and I went over the fields and she had a good run even though it was drizzling with rain.

Mal had the appointment at the surgery for tests again for kidney function , bp etc and so I drove him down there. His blood pressure was still high and so he has to take his own at home four times a day and send it in.

My other tasks for the day were to go to Margate to get Tris’s birthday present and also to M&S to buy tinned biscuits to take to the hospital for the staff on the ward Mal was on. If I’d have known he would be out so quick, I would have been a bit more organised, maybe! A bit late but better late than never!

Mal slept all the time I was out.

A quiet evening as we are both determined to get his blood pressure lowered.

Thought for the Day – “Live life to the fullest and focus on the positive.” ~ Matt Cameron

Another 5 am cup of tea for Mal! This time I went back to bed until it was light and then Ellie and I went over the fields and she had a good run.

I think a day of getting accustomed to all the changes and the fact the consultant said Mal’s body won’t ever be the same again because of the kidney damage eg no heavy lifting so the allotment will be gone. You just have to learn to adjust and he will.

At least now he knows what to do with the catheter and looking through the “passport” he was given, if there is an emergency I take him straight back to Canterbury hospital so that is reassuring. I know for a fact there are consultants there 24/7. I also rang the GP’s surgery and he goes for tests there tomorrow. In fact the GP called him back yesterday for a quick chat. Maybe the paramedics complaint about the doctor who saw him 4 days before the dash to hospital has filtered through.

All in all a much calmer day and Mal tends to sleep in the afternoon, so I did a quick shop in Deal.

Thankfully Mal slept really well and everything was fine! He was asking for a cup of tea at 5am! I don’t think I said but he said hospital tea was awful so I had to take him in some “Yorkshire tea bags”. Of course he has to watch his fluid input/output. Total relief we have got through the first night.

I took Ellie for a long walk and then Mal came downstairs and started to do things gently, very little but by the afternoon he fell asleep on the settee.

An early evening appointment with my dentist for a fitting for a new plate. It should have three teeth on it and she disagreed and said no only 2 and denied Juliet taking the other one out when I had the nose bleeds. Unlike me, I just wasn’t going to stand there and argue. I am well aware they are trying to get rid of their NHS patients. At this moment in time I can’t stand any more stress.

Early night for Mal again but he now has a play list sorted and some audio books and is getting into a bit of a routine.

Lots of phone calls and messages from Mal who sounds a lot livelier, he was even messaging Tariq and joking.

I took Ellie out and saw Slav. He is such a lovely fella and again offered to do anything to help. He said he is almost running the Jubilee centre (voluntarily), they really don’t deserve him, he is such a hard worker.

Ellie and I went over the fields. She did a lot of running and then came home and relaxed with her teddy!

Amazon came and delivered a parcel. This is  what it was….

I knew as soon as I opened it who it was from, my friend Zoe who I was at college with, she is such a lovely girl.

The big surprise of the day came when about 1pm I had a message from Mal to say they were letting him out, his levels had lowered enough to let him home. There is still some way to go but they were getting there. I arrived and he had everything packed, including catheters and “passport” which he now has to take to every appointment. The GP should see him in 3 days, his op will be at Maidstone and probably not until the new year. A leaflet full of do’s and don’ts but nothing telling you how to put the night catheter on. Of course they showed him but he didn’t take it in. It’s amazing what you find on Youtube and then I spent all night worrying I had done it  the right way.

He was so glad to be home. I was very relieved too but then realised I was responsible for him, hoping nothing went wrong!

It is lovely having Ellie back home, which meant we go for a walk in the mornings, trying to get back to some sort of normality. Well, the walk took so long as people kept stopping and asking where Mal was. Even the lady in the card shop when I went to buy a birthday card! It’s nice people care but I know they will all notice a huge difference when he comes out. He has already been told no heavy lifting, so that is the two allotments gone.

Positive is, his levels are going down, he is eating and obviously drinking but still on a drip but still lying in bed. He is in the best place being well looked after. I stayed for 2 hours, back home and another walk for Ellie. Quite early to bed, shattered!

Another 3 am wake up and wide awake. Made a cup of tea, felt so shattered went back to bed.

Mal text later saying he hadn’t slept well, someone screaming in pain all night ….ouch!

I sorted a lot of summer clothes out to put away now we won’t be holidaying in Madeira, also put the cases away which I hadn’t got round to. Then back to the hospital again. Mal asked me to tell people he doesn’t want visitors yet, not even his sons, he just wants to sleep and relax. I told them and they are trying to ignore the fact Mal has asked they go through me. Have they no respect for their father? I don’t care if they don’t have respect for me but Mal is the centre of the universe at the moment, not them, time they realised it and stopped being so selfish.  I am not their mother she may have been weak, I am not!!

It was Mal’s worst day, I just sat there for 5 hours holding his hand while he was in and out of sleep, in fact I was quite worried about him.

I was invited to Lou and Rhys’s for an evening roast. I sat in the hospital and Rhys phoned absolutely choking with cold, he had to go home from work he felt so ill and they didn’t have any Covid tests left. He offered to eat away from me in the living room or they would  plate up my dinner…….I can’t believe it, can something go right please? I can’t risk getting any infection and taking it into Mal. So, Rhys waited in the car while I collected my Sunday roast!! What a shame. I did however bring Ellie back with me to try and get back into some sort of “normal”, like taking her for a walk in the morning instead of walking round in circles wondering what I am doing!!

So lovely to have her home, just need Mal  now! She ran upstairs to find him, remember she had sat next to him all the time when the paramedics were here knowing something was wrong. I think she was happy to be home.