THE FIRST 10 DAYS AT HOME
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 day on Sunday, with Janet (and I) making a beef casserole. This was much better than my recent own home cooking efforts.
Janet was very despondent on the Monday, from the very start and got very, very down. She'd been awake early and had been thinking of all that had happened to her, something she does quite regularly. We both became very angry, with shouting and crying and all just so emotional. The less said about this day, the better!
Last Tuesday saw Janet's first visit back to Hay Lodge hospital, as an outpatient for twice weekly physiotherapy. Just a half hour session, but the physio said Janet was doing very well and fully expected her to end up walking without a stick.
Janet visited Sara for a pedicure on Wednesday and also employed a cleaner to help us out with housework and ironing, for two hours per week.
More moodiness on Thursday although not as bad as on Monday. She had got up in the middle of the night and I did hear her, so managed to look after her going downstairs. I went back to bed and did not hear her come upstairs on her own. A big row ensued, but she was just being bloody minded. A visit to the Occupational Therapist (O.T.) in the afternoon helped lift her spirits, although she mentioned her black moods to the O.T. She said she would speak to a specialist from the Stroke Unit at Borders General Hospital, who did home visits to ex-patients who were having difficulty adjusting mentally to their new way of life. Janet is also to make an appointment with her own doctor next week to discuss both this and her further medication requirements.
I played golf this morning (Friday) for the first time since Janet came home, and left her upstairs for the morning, where she slept (surprisingly), did a bit of housework and got herself ready for going up to the Golf Club for lunch with our neighbours, Jim and Frances. She did fine on her own, but what she cannot do, nor is allowed to do by the physios, is going up or down stairs on her own. So she had to decide whether to stay downstairs or up. Anyway, a nice day all told.
Yesterday, we went to the shops again and I think all this walking will do Janet a lot of good, although it has to be said she does get very tired, but an OK price to pay I would say.
Now this Sunday morning, we are waiting for Neil and Ruth to arrive (sometime this afternoon) and they are staying overnight. We are eating out later at Franco's, an Italian restaurant in Peebles. Janet has just been doing some ironing on her own this morning, she is improving with every passing day.
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 day on Sunday, with Janet (and I) making a beef casserole. This was much better than my recent own home cooking efforts.
Janet was very despondent on the Monday, from the very start and got very, very down. She'd been awake early and had been thinking of all that had happened to her, something she does quite regularly. We both became very angry, with shouting and crying and all just so emotional. The less said about this day, the better!
Last Tuesday saw Janet's first visit back to Hay Lodge hospital, as an outpatient for twice weekly physiotherapy. Just a half hour session, but the physio said Janet was doing very well and fully expected her to end up walking without a stick.
Janet visited Sara for a pedicure on Wednesday and also employed a cleaner to help us out with housework and ironing, for two hours per week.
More moodiness on Thursday although not as bad as on Monday. She had got up in the middle of the night and I did hear her, so managed to look after her going downstairs. I went back to bed and did not hear her come upstairs on her own. A big row ensued, but she was just being bloody minded. A visit to the Occupational Therapist (O.T.) in the afternoon helped lift her spirits, although she mentioned her black moods to the O.T. She said she would speak to a specialist from the Stroke Unit at Borders General Hospital, who did home visits to ex-patients who were having difficulty adjusting mentally to their new way of life. Janet is also to make an appointment with her own doctor next week to discuss both this and her further medication requirements.
I played golf this morning (Friday) for the first time since Janet came home, and left her upstairs for the morning, where she slept (surprisingly), did a bit of housework and got herself ready for going up to the Golf Club for lunch with our neighbours, Jim and Frances. She did fine on her own, but what she cannot do, nor is allowed to do by the physios, is going up or down stairs on her own. So she had to decide whether to stay downstairs or up. Anyway, a nice day all told.
Yesterday, we went to the shops again and I think all this walking will do Janet a lot of good, although it has to be said she does get very tired, but an OK price to pay I would say.
Now this Sunday morning, we are waiting for Neil and Ruth to arrive (sometime this afternoon) and they are staying overnight. We are eating out later at Franco's, an Italian restaurant in Peebles. Janet has just been doing some ironing on her own this morning, she is improving with every passing day.
Comments
Post a Comment