SOME THINGS ARE HARD TO SWALLOW

I'd noticed Thursday evening and again yesterday morning that at times Mick was really wincing. He can't tell me what the problem is and so I have to rely on a bit of guesswork as to what the problem is. I know the area on his chest hurts him but the wincing didn't happen when I touched his arm My next idea was that his urine infection had returned; I've already said how low his urine output is and so thought I would put my idea to the test. I took off his "padding" , as we call it, and tried to coax him into having a wee. I think it is more natural for him to try with the padding off, it is pretty bulky and uncomfortable. Luckily he did manage a dribble and sure enough the wince on his face appeared. I phoned the Doctor's Surgery to see if they would repeat the prescription he had earlier in the month. The receptionist wasn't sure whether the Doctor would have to see Mick before prescribing anything and asked me to phone back at 11.45am. This I did but the Doctor hadn't received my request yet so she asked me to try again later. About half an hour later the Doctor phoned me; I think he may have been a locum as he had a strong French accent. He agreed to a repeat prescription and asked me to come down to the surgery and pick it up. It was pouring with rain and I didn't really want to drag Mick out but luckily Manda finishes work early on a Friday so was able to pick it up at 3pm. The surgery is only 10 minutes from us at a brisk pace and by 4pm she wasn't back. I text her to see if there was a problem....THERE WAS.....the Doctor had prescribed Mick TABLETS rather than liquid antibiotics. Thank goodness Manda had the foresight to check the prescription before she took it to the Chemists. She immediately told the receptionist and then had to wait over an hour before the doctor would correct the prescription. it makes me wonder whether doctors actually bother to look at patients records!!!! I am so grateful to Manda...can you imagine if I had dragged Mick out, not noticed the error, then walked all the way to the Chemists only to find that he had been prescribed tablets! Manda did find one interesting piece of information while she was waiting......besides all the "confidential" medical information, names and addresses of patients that were being shouted between the reception staff and down the phone for all to hear........she picked up a leaflet about Cancer, it seems that as soon as a patient is diagnosed they are assigned a "key worker" who helps them and deals with any questions/problems that may arise between diagnosis and whatever outcome there may be. Didn't know that!!!

My idea of "little and often" has worked well so far....I'm in the process of making up various small meals, both savoury and sweet which will only take minutes to heat in the microwave. Yesterday Mick managed 4 "small meals" and even drank a little orange squash without too much choking. As soon as the slightest sign of mucus build up occurred I stopped giving him food and tried again a few hours later. Hopefully the same system will work today. He also kept his eyes open for quite a time while they Gardening Programmes were on TV......and turned his head slightly towards the TV on occasions.

You know the little donation box in my side bar, the one that looks like this.

Well take a look at what the Just Giving Blog have said ..........CLICK HERE .

Even if you're not in a position to donate yourself but would like to help...please think about putting it on your sidebar for others to see. Hopefully your lives have not been touched by the "BIG C", the more research that is done to obliterate it the more likely it is that your children and grandchildren won't be touched by it either.

To those of you who have already added the donation box.......a huge THANK YOU....it means a lot to me, more than I can put into mere words.

The sun rose beautifully this morning though the forecast is for rain; no matter though.....I shall take Mick into the kitchen and he can watch me potting up seedlings..............

p.s. still not cleaned the oven!