A NEW LIFE BEGINS

Sunday morning, 26th August. As mentioned in my previous post, Janet was indeed discharged from Hay Lodge hospital, a week past Friday (the 17th). I picked her up at 1.30pm and just to get her quickly back into the swing of things, or maybe because we had no food in the house, we came home via Tescos. Janet managed great walking with her stick round the food aisles and soon got back into her "advising me what to do" mode. 😜 Got back home at 2.30pm and had a quiet time. We enjoyed a takeaway for tea. Janet back in the house for the first time in over 7 weeks The next day, I drove down to Tweed Green (behind the High Street) and parked the car. Janet had to walk up School Brae (a very steep incline) to reach the High Street, but managed fine and after visiting Sara, her hairdresser, to make an appointment, we had coffee at Costa and then picked up some veg to restock the fridge. Janet was very tired afterwards and rested for the remainder of the day. A quiet...

Thursday night, 16th August. Tuesday's physio went very well in the gym and Janet walked up and down the 4 step stairs there a few times, with only a stick. She'd had Sara cut her hair in the morning and with us having lunch with our very old friends, Derek and Karen Rorrison, at Osso in Peebles, we had had a very good day indeed. Lunch at Osso's Wednesday saw Janet's physio again go really well, with the result that the Occupational Therapist at Hay Lodge is coming to the house tomorrow (Thursday) to gauge what is needed for Janet to come home on a permanent basis. The O.T. and a physiotherapist will be here for an hour or so, with Janet, and it is the intention for Janet to stay on thereafter at the house until about 5pm. Despite all the good news from Wednesday, I felt distinctly depressed and in some despair. Why? I don't really know, but it's only good news that Janet will be home soon. Come Thursday, the O.T. and physio, with Janet, arrived at 9...

Monday evening, 13th August. Looks like things are on the up. Friday saw Janet in a better mood and she had more physio, walking with just a stick. Later that day, when I was having my haircut by Sara, at The Daft Dug (don't ask) hairdressers shop in Peebles, I mentioned to Sara that I had been looking online for a hand-warmer, particularly for Janet's right hand which seemed to benefit from and be a bit more supple when it was warmed up. Amazingly enough, Sara said that she had a pair of unused hand-warmers from when she moved to her new shop, some 5 years ago or so. She found them and gave them to me. Janet was certainly surprised - and delighted - when I went back to the hospital with the hand-warmers. She immediately put them to use. I was only there in the afternoon though as I was picking up Julie from the airport in the evening. On Saturday lunchtime, Julie, Janet and I went to The Park Hotel, at the top of the High Street in Peebles, for a spot of lunch. Very good f...

Friday morning, 10th August. Not a great week so far - physically Janet is still progressing slowly, but after 6 weeks in hospital her mood has become blacker, with very few bright moments. She has had physio every day this week and the physiotherapists are very happy with her progress. On Monday though, she was very depressed and was in the frame of mind that she was never going to get better. By Tuesday, she was slightly better in mood, but still down. When I visited on Wednesday lunchtime, she was a bit cheerier and Dr Young, from the GP practice next door, had examined her right leg and told Janet that she did not have cellulitis. The swelling in her leg is perfectly normal after having had a blood clot and the swelling will go down in its own good time. No timescale placed on this. Her prescription of penicillin will stop immediately and the physio is to continue. Her walking continues to improve and she has been down to the gym each day this week - she walks with a stick to t...

Monday morning, 6th August. Well, last week was the first week Janet had physio for a full five days, and I feel she has certainly benefited from it. She is able to go to the toilet on her own (with the benefit of the "pulpit" (a device where Janet stands up and puts her hands and arms across a support at shoulder height and is able to walk forward)), can stand up herself and can maneuver herself from a standing position into a wheelchair. The only slight concern is that the swelling in her right leg doesn't seem to be going down, although she is only half way through her penicillin treatment, so hopefully by the middle of this week a noticeable difference will be seen. Over last week, she had visits from friends and neighbours, Elizabeth, from across the road, Louise, from next door and Sara, our hairdresser. Also my sister Joyce visited on Saturday afternoon. I had taken Janet out to the Tontine Hotel on Wednesday, for a coffee and a sandwich and her son, Ale...

Wednesday evening, 1st August. Five weeks have now gone by and at last it seems we, by which I mean Janet and her care / treatment, are moving forward apace . She had good bouts of physio on both Monday and Tuesday. And although she had received no physio when I visited on Wednesday afternoon, after we returned from having a coffee and a snack at The Tontine Hotel in Peebles High Street, the physios were waiting and she was taken to the gym (in the basement at Hay Lodge) and walked with the parallel bars - and also went on to walking with just a stick (with a physio steadying her), which is absolutely fantastic news and shows just how well she is progressing. The only downside is that she seems to have cellulitis , which is a bacterial infection of the skin and tissues beneath the skin. This, it would seem, is what has been causing her swollen right leg, although it was initially thought that the blood clot was the origin of the swelling. In any event, a doctor from ...

Sunday evening, 29th July. Janet moved to Hay Lodge Hospital in Peebles, early afternoon on Friday and wasn't particularly happy about it. She is still thinking she would have received better care and physio at the BGH. Quite down when I visited her in the evening, although she had had a visit from the doctor standing in for Dr. Donkers (our own doctor), the Occupational Therapist and the physiotherapist. I think she just needs to give the new environment a chance. Hay Lodge Hospital, Peebles I visited again just after Saturday lunch and found she was in much better fettle. She had a visit from our neighbour, Frances, in the morning and she seems happy with the nurses there, so fingers crossed it all goes well. She is in a 6 bed ward with the other women all older than Janet - and she didn't get much sleep on Friday night, as at least two of the women snored noisily. Hopefully this will get better. Neil and family drove up on Sunday and we all went to the Golf ...