EATING, COOKING AND CLEANING........

Well I'm still struggling with this choking business...I should rephrase that...WE are still struggling.........Mick's fine with the first few mouthfuls then suddenly the choking starts. Talj has been a great help; because of what happened to Rose she has contact with a lot of Brain Tumour Forums; she has posted about Mick to see if anyone has any ideas. The suggestion was made that a Speech Therapist may help; sometimes when the body has had enough food in BT patients it can mean they continue to eat but that the food goes into their lungs instead of their stomach, this is what causes the choking. Also a "swallowing xray" can be done that shows if this is what is happening; if it is... one solution would be a feeding tube. Well as many of you may know we have in fact been down the "Speech Therapist" route......you'll find one of the posts about it here.....TONGUE IN CHEEK....just click for a reminder. Even if the xray was done I know Mick wouldn't enjoy a feeding tube. It would make things a lot more difficult moving him around too.........also Mick's enjoyment of food comes from the taste of it...it wouldn't be the same down a tube. Besides who am I kidding.........I'm 100% sure that our doctor would not even consider such a thing..........even if I have called him in fearing chest or urine infections or about the choking and dehydration, nothing really has been done......I've never once seen a stethoscope come out to "sound" his chest...no blood pressure taken....no temperature taken....in fact, as with the odd visit from a District Nurse (not since last year), the Doctor has never TOUCHED Mick. When I showed him the pressure area on Mick's chest a few weeks back the Doctor never attempted to help me move Mick's clenched arm so that he could see it. If I couldn't have managed it...the Doctor wouldn't have even seen what I was talking about. Oh for a Doctor like Hugh Laurie portrays in the series "House".... his bedside mannner may not be the greatest but BOY! does he get things done.....I wonder if there are any like him anywhere in this world!

I've decided that I'm going down the "little and often" route....well as much as Mick's awake periods will allow. I'm going to make varied savoury and sweet courses up in little ramekin dishes.....they will then be almost "instantly" available if Mick does want a little to eat. Not much I can do about his liquid intake...he is not "weeing" much at all. This week just once a day.....and I have to coax him to do that. It goes to show though that he is still understanding me in as much that the "coaxing" works!

We have no visitors this weekend so I'm hoping to catch up on a few jobs; I've some potting on to do of some seedlings (Mick can sit in the kitchen and watch me doing that); I've also got to sort out the reams of photos on the computer...they are a bit all over the place at the moment; I want to get some "labels" on my old posts too to make it easier to refer back to; if we do have some nice weather (raining at the moment) we shall of course head out into the garden...............with any luck all of these things will keep me so busy that there won't be time to clean the oven...........so many times I've intended to do it and got (very easily) sidetracked !!!!

I must do it soon though before the food starts walking out of the oven in disgust!

And if you've got a few minutes to spare and have a chore that you're trying to "put off" you could always pay a visit to the Team Smarties HQ or The Prints for Rose Online Store.

I "FOUGHT" WE'D GO FOR A WALK

After a bright, sunny, blue skied start this morning, by about 10am the skies had clouded over....YIPPEE!!!.................I can hear you thinking "She's lost it...the stress has got too much for her.....normally she wants the sun..........now she's glad it's cloudy.........CALL OUT THE MEN IN THE WHITE COATS!!!!!............well don't panic....I'm still perfectly sane. The reason the cloud was such a blessing was because the clear early morning skies meant that we had a very bad frost and it was FREEZING cold! As soon as the skies clouded over the temperature started to rise....crazy but true...and this meant that Mick and I could go out for a walk.

So after breakfast (more choking I'm afraid), a quick shave (Mick not me!), wash and getting dressed we left the house behind usand off we went. We haven't been out since last week and it really lifted my spirits.......despite all the dog's "doings" (no photos just in case you're having your dinner) all over the pavement which meant I either had to wheel Mick through it and then clean the wheels before we went back indoors or do an extra hump up and down the pavement and onto the road to miss it....I opted for the latter. Why people let their dogs do this I don't know....if they are not going to clear it up at least make them do it on the grass!It was good to see the horizon and distant view; we can't see far from our house because of other houses in the way. Maybe I should send this to Talj for her picture wall. This is the view Mick will have had many times when he has done work on our roof.

Seeing this gap reminded me that the last time we walked out the council were cutting the tree down.From a distance I thought there was a crow's nest in this treeon closer inspection I realised it was a ballmade me smile as under the tree is this sign!

MEMO TO MYSELF;

Don't buy awkward things to carry home when you are on your own with Mick and pushing a wheelchairI bought this new cutlery drawer in the Co-Op and already had the wheelchair shopping bag full of shopping so tried balancing it on Mick's lap. The pavements are so bumpy though and after it had fallen off three times I wedged it in the top of my handbagI must admit it did make the chair awkward to push. There are just some things one NEEDS to have...and a new cutlery drawer was one of themand FRESH Brussel Sprouts were another!!!!

We arrived back home not long before Manda came in for lunch....she was pleased we had managed to get out....she knows I get a bit stir crazy after a few days. We have one relative who expresses complete surprise (tinged with disgust) that I take Mick out or sit him in the garden. But as I said to Manda when she came in..."Does Mick look any worse for our trip out?"....her reply "Not at all...he looks more contented!" The relatives attitude reminds me of when I was fighting to get a wheelchair from the NHS.........one of the O.T. staff actually said to me when I explained that I needed a chair so that I could sit Mick in the garden or go for a walk....."OH...erm...but it's more normal to leave terminal cases in bed!" ....so similar to the "it's not worth it" attitude I've fought for 22 months.

I'M PLEASED THAT I FOUGHT FOR THE WHEELCHAIR!

A "BILL"IOUS ATTACK ?

Mick ate quite well last night though once again towards the end of his meal he had another terrible choking fit. It is such a shame as it was obvious that he was enjoying his dinner......maybe the effect of the patches is wearing off as his body gets used to the drug in them?.......maybe he has some sort of gastric upset?.....I don't know and he can't tell me....I just have to rely on intuition, keep calm and get him through it.

Today the sky looks like thisso what am I doing typing this post instead of sitting out in the garden?.......well it's because the temperature is thisand on the ground there is still thisas tempted as I am there is no way I'm taking Mick outside when it's this cold...it's not so bad when you're moving about but when you're just sitting.....Brrrrrrr!

Behind glass in the living room it feels quite pleasant...so, although Mick has a nice view on the mantelpiece as I've picked some daffs and hyacinths

I've sat him in his armchair...the sun will gradually shine in on him and warm him up; with that warmth and the scent of the flowers I'm sure he will be dreaming of Summer Days ahead.

I don't know if it's something to do with the post Christmas bills catching up with everyone or the fact that (here in England) it's Council Tax Bill and Water Bill time but so many people seem to be having financial hic-cups at the moment. We are fortunate here as with Mick being ill we do receive benefits from the government.......well we paid our taxes and National Health payments for enough years so I reckon we are entitled to a bit back. Mick receives a Disability Allowance and I get £27 a week for taking care of him!!!...not a fortune but it keeps the wolf from the door. I had to smile when Mick received this statement in the post though. I don't know how clearly you will be able to see it but it's a statement for £75.81 dated 28th February 2007 for an invoice dated 6th August 1999. It seems a strange thing to receive "out of the blue"......Mick has always been a "cash" payer for goods and I know that over the last 2 years when I've been opening his post that he has received no other statements. Very weird...even if Mick had for some reason bought goods "on account" I would have thought we would have heard from the company long before this! I can't ask Mick about it...even if he was well I doubt if he'd remember this far back in time. I'm going to email them and explain Mick's situation.....I certainly have no way of proving or disproving that Mick owes this money...and to be honest after all this time I wouldn't pay it anyway...I'd rather give the money to the Clatteridge Campaign. It will be interesting to see what the company's reaction will be.....I wonder if they will try to take Mick to court....now that would be interesting!

STORM IN A PLANT POT

What strange weather we had yesterday; all four seasons rolled into one. This photo was taken at 4.15 in the afternoon! I was so glad that the weather was better on Saturday or there would have been no chance to sit outside with Talj and Andrew, as along with the snow and hail was a terrific thunder and lightening storm. Since Mick became ill I've often felt that impending thunderstorms have a bad effect on him; yesterday was no exception........a few hours before the storm started...while the skies were still sunny and blue...Mick had a very frightening coughing and choking fit. His new patch is not due until tonight so it wasn't a case of it having "worn off".....he brought up so much mucus and was really fighting to catch his breath. I don't think he has had a choking fit like that since we started him on the patches. It really knocked him out and he slept very deeply for a quite a few hours afterwards. He did manage to eat some dinner last night but today he has eaten no breakfast and has only woken for brief episodes. I have just managed to get a yogurt down him but he wasn't really relishing it.......I've said it before I know, but I'm sure these coughing fits bring about a minor stroke as it always seems to take him a few days to recover from them.

Otherwise Mother's Day was lovely except for a slight mishap with the Mother In Law's tongue......no I don't mean MY tongue........I mean the plant in the hall.......it took on a life of its own yesterday and threw itself off the cabinet on to the floor!.....I'm glad it didn't do it on Saturday....can you imagine Talj's and Andrew's faces if they'd walked into this mess!!!!!

Not much else has happened except Talj emailed and said she will try and get down again in May. YIPEE! It will be lovely if she/they could come and stay.........I may be able to palm some spare plants off on her for her balcony as hopefully!!!! by then the risk of frost will be all but over.

Just as I was typing that last paragraph it has started snowing again....yet the sun is shining.....WEIRD!!!!

AND IT DIDN'T STOP THERE!

Yesterday MrsNesbitt left a comment on M.M.L.M.G. saying to watch tomorrow's post. Hm...(I thought) I wonder what she's putting on her blog tomorrow that she wants me to particularly see. This morning when I got up I had a quick look...nothing yet......still yesterday's post. I thought I'll take a look later.
Mick woke up, ate breakfast etc. It's very rainy and after a busy day yesterday and with a busy, fun filled, visitors weekend ahead (in celebration of Manda's birthday on Monday) I thought I'd leave him in bed and let him rest. I was just having a tidy up when the mail came. There were quite an assortment of letters but one envelope stood out amongst the rest. It was a lovely shade of pink, with decoration on it and felt quite thick. I opened it and what did I find inside.................

Aren't they lovely and all handmade; Mrs N you're a sweetheart...I thought I'd had enough nice surprises yesterday to last me a lifetime...and now I've had more! I certainly won't be using these cards to send to other people......they will be sent "in house"...that way I get to keep them. Isn't it funny that since I started blogging that when I hear/read the word POST I automatically think of Blog Posts and not the post the postman brings!

With there being so many people in the house this weekend who will want to see Talj's photo in the flesh I was a little worried that it could get damaged. next time we get to town I'll seek out a frame worthy of it; but until then I need to keep it SAFE. I found an old frame and have put it in there. It's not perfect by any means and the photo moved slightly as I put the frame backing on but the most most important thing is that everyone can "look without touching"!

I was really pleased at lunchtime; I'd made egg mayonnaise and cress sandwiches for Manda's lunch and Mick managed a whole sandwich. He seems to have a problem with eating bread; it makes him choke but I always give him a taster so that he doesn't feel left out. Well he managed more than a taster today....it must have been because the cress was home grown and not shop bought.

I'm still having a problem getting him to drink; it's not choking that's the problem....he just doesn't seem to WANT to drink. It will be interesting to see what he does at the weekend when there is a Brandy & Coke on offer....maybe I've just not found the drink he fancies. Although he eats quite well he doesn't open his mouth very wide.......but it's a different story when Chocolate Liqueurs are offered....you should see how wide he opens his mouth then!!

HEY BIG SPENDER

Mick once again ate well last night; admittedly his meals are minute compared to what he used to eat but at least he's enjoying what he does have. It's taking anything up to two hour now to give him his evening meal......partly because, no matter how much I've pureed it, he chews and chews each mouthful for ages before he swallows it. I don't know if this is a case of his finding it difficult to swallow or whether he is scared of choking.
Last night Sue popped over with a bottle of wine and wondered if I fancied sharing it with her. I was just about to start getting Mick undressed etc ready for the night but "being the good neighbour that I am" I explained that if she didn't mind waiting in the kitchen for 15 minutes until I'd dealt with Mick then I'd be only to happy to share the bottle and thereby save her from drinking it all herself and having a hangover in the morning. Aren't I a kind, thoughtful and considerate person?....LOL
We had a good chat; reminiscing about "old" TV programmes like Tenko and Upstairs, Downstairs and I found out that she plays Cribbage. Mick and I have always been avid Cribbage and Whist players....it's one of the many things I miss now...our regular Sunday lunchtime Crib session for who does the washing up or, if we were feeling frisky, who would ..............well use you're imagination!!!! It was funny because she told me that she and her hubby in their younger days used to play "STRIP OPERATION"...do you remember the game, little plastic body parts that had to be removed before the time ran out. We had quite a few giggling sessions at some of the stories we were telling each other. Sue is very good, as all the family are, at talking to Mick and involving him in the conversation as though he was actually answering.
This morning was a beautiful Springlike one; Mick slept in until nearly 9am so by the time he had been breakfasted and dressed the sun was quite high in the sky. It was really mild and as there were medicines to pick up from the chemists Mick and I went out. Being lottery winners (see MICHAEL WINNER on Me, My Life)

we went on a spending spree; we bought some Vanilla Complan and a new bottle brush for the sports bottles that I use for Mick's drinks; the old one is so worn now and only really any good for cleaning plant pots (always the recycler am I). That only came to HALF our lottery win....I wonder what we can get with the other £5. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any form of lozenge replacement for the antifungal ones Mick used to have so we have to make do with the liquid instead.

It was so lovely out that when we got home I sat Mick in the front garden ( the back not quite having the same amount of sun yet)....I hadn't really got any jobs to do out there so just "faffed" about picking up a few leaves and attempting to do something about the fence which has now rotted through and in danger of falling.

Just need a larger lottery win and that will be replaced by a nice low brick wall.

Well I'd better go and make Mick an evening cuppa; I'm really get the hang of this Thick and Easy mixing now!!!!

SHORT BACK AND SIDES

Mick so enjoyed his hair cut and kitchenshower last night. Whilst Tracey was cutting his hair he managed to hold his head up a little on his own without me supporting it and had his eyes wide open!; then when Manda and I were washing him he tried really hard to lift his right arm up (and succeeded a little) so that I could wash underneath his armpit. After all that he had a relaxed sleep until almost 9pm and then ate a little chicken broth and banana and chocolate mousse....I always have to make sure I don't leave an S out of mousse in case Mousie reads it and thinks we're going to eat HER!......

He didn't eat much breakfast this morning but has managed to eat almost a whole one of the Cheesy Muffins I made this morning (See Me, My Life, My Garden)......for the last couple of months I've not been able to get him to eat bread without choking so I was really surprised that he managed the muffin!

I had a phone call a little while ago from the speech therapist...those of you who have been reading this blog for a while will no doubt remember my Tongue In Cheek post......(just click on the words tongue in cheek for a reminder) and so will not be surprised when I say I had to stifle my giggles when she was speaking to me. She rang to apologise for not having sent out the typed up Thick and Easy directions that she had promised and was really worried that I'd not been coping without them. I assured her that I had managed quite well (giggle giggle) as her hand written directions had been clear enough for me to follow...(hee hee). Even so she insisted that she would send me a typed copy in the post as it could be of help to the District Nurses when they called in........(HAAA HA....GIGGLE....SNORT.....HEAD FALLING OFF WITH LAUGHTER)..................I just said "thank you" and didn't bother to mention the fact that it's been at least 6 months since a District Nurse even PHONED to see how Mick is. Don't get me wrong....I'm pleased the Speech Therapist phoned..it's nice to see someone doing their job and following up on patients..........it's just the reminder of that visit of hers just make me laugh.

P.S. Anyone interested in knowing what the role of the District Nurse in England is may like to read the piece I copied from a source on the Internet..........click HERE

A TRUMPET VOLUNTARY

Now I'm not one for boasting but one of the pressure areas on Mick's peach-like bum is healing really well. I had a horrible feeling that because he was constantly lying/sitting that I wouldn't be able to keep it under control but this morning one area has actually HEALED OVER!!!! He has got the sexiest of bums and I'd love to show you a photo but as he's ALL MINE; I'm sorry girls you'll have to use your imagination.
We haven't had any "sleepover" visitors this weekend but Manda & co popped in (it being Nicole's Birthday) and we all had some of the muffins I'd made (on both these subjects see Me, My Life, My Garden) and Sue (bless her) popped in with some milk I needed.
As I'd cooked Roast beef during the week we had fish for our Sunday dinner today. I must admit it was one of the frozen boil in the bag ones but the butter sauce that it's in is delicious and (touch wood) I've never found a single bone in it.....pieces of bone are something I really worry about Mick choking on...and my mincers aren't what they used to be when I'm checking for them myself. Mick ate every scrap and all of his banana and chocolate Complan mousse so I'm well chuffed.
Tomorrow Tracey, our home visit hairdresser, comes and then after that Manda and I will give Mick his kitchenshower. Like me Mick loves having his hair "fiddled" with so I know he'll enjoy that. I can't believe how quickly time seems to have passed since our last haircuts....I always phone Tracey to let her know all is ok and that we are BOTH needing our appointments.....it astounds her as well as the rest of us that she is still coming to see us BOTH.
Yup! all in all I'm feeling pretty good tonight...sorry if it sounds like I'm blowing my own trumpet but how else could I use this cute little gif I found!

HAPPY BATHDAY !

Last night after Mick had finished dinner and Manda and I had settled him for the evening I had a BATH!.....sure I know you probably have baths once a week...maybe once a day...or maybe you have showers..........so what's so special about this?...is Ruth telling us that she never bathes...does that explain the strange odour every time we visit her blog????
Let me explain....of course I do wash, have the odd shower and have the odd bath but I don't get a chance to languish in warm, bubble filled water...if I have a shower it has to be a quick in and out..no standing enjoying the gentle feeling of water sliding down my body...when I'm in the shower the sound of the water means I can't hear Mick even with the intercom turned up at full blast. Aha you say .....but a bath doesn't make as much noise...that's true enough...but I can't actually lie their in the warm water can I?... unless I'm sure someone is keeping an eye on Mick. Ok so we DO have regular visitors...but I hate to give them the total responsibility of watching Mick ....suppose he starts choking...it could take me a couple of minutes to race from the bath and get downstairs "naked!"........so long baths are something of a rarity in my life at the moment. Last night though, as Mick had had a nice peaceful non-choking day I thought I'd treat myself. I know Manda is more than capable of dealing with any problem that might suddenly arise and knew Mick was in the safest of hands.
I did enjoy that bath.....I had a good scrub and then laid back, closed my eyes and thoroughly enjoyed those few minutes of respite. However, I think the powers that be decreed that I had languished quite long enough as all of a sudden the corner unit that wedges between the bath and ceiling suddenly fell down.......a sure sign it was time to get out!!!

Now I know you can't wait to see the little video that Manda secretly took so here it is;

P.S. Another confession...actually I feel quite guilty having a bath as I know my poor darling CAN'T have one.

MORE THIS AND THAT!

I was looking through the comments this morning and came upon one by Milestones. I am flattered MS that you should think me capable of knowing about shutter speeds etc. Actually I'm just a click and hope for the best photographer. Honestly MS it WAS a strange moon last night. I'm not the only one to think so. As I locked up for the night I saw this chap outside with a torch looking up at the moon. I popped my head out of my front door to say "Good evening"; I think he may have a bad cold like mine as I couldn't really understand what he said back to me. Sounded a bit like "Nanoo Nanoo". He did kindly pose for this photo for me though.


Living such an insular life I hadn't realised how popular the "Miss Haversham Look" had become. As I'm posting so many photographs of the interior of our house I thought I'd better do a little research to make sure that I'm getting the "LOOK" right. I was pleased to find that Larry Lenny Boeing 747 in his new book "21st Century Chic" had written a WHOLE chapter on "The Haversham Home". This paragraph in particular caught my eye;


"It is very important to remember to "ring the changes" with the passing of each season. A few scattered flower petals in the Spring help to define the season. In the Winter the whole look can be emphasised by a light dusting of snow across shelves, windowsills and ornaments. This dusting should become heavier as the days pass so that by Christmas the effect is one of a heavy snow laden home. Until you have seen the twinkling of fairy lights reflected on a snow covered garland or snowman ornament you have not lived."

That's good to know isn't it. And if it's good enough for the King of Curly Kews it's good enough for me!!!!

I'm pleased to say Mick slept very well last night. The choking fit abated quickly once I'd put the new patch on. MS has asked if there is a limit on the length of time they can be used for. To be honest, although I've looked into it, there is no defined limit as most people would only be using them short term whilst travelling. My attitude at the moment is very much "Quality is better than Quantity". As the use of them is at the present making Mick's life less stressful then I shall go on using them as long as the doctor is willing to prescribe them.

It's going to be a busy day as Leanne and co are coming over to stay the night. Teresa (ex daughter-in-law; lovely girl) is also popping in; unfortunately JJ and Dulcie (two more of our grandchildren) are with their Dad this weekend so she can't bring them. It will be nice to see Teresa though, and her new husband Steve and we will make arrangements to see the children another time. We now have 3 Steves in the family; everyone of them a truly lovely person. In years past we have always had our FIRST mince pie of Christmas when we've visited Teresa. Hopefully she's not had any yet this year and we will be able to repay the tradition.

A BIT OF THIS AND A BIT OF THAT.

First of all Thank you everyone for commenting on my "Steak" meal last night. I certainly feel a lot better today!!! Mile Stones has kindly translated the name of the wine for me; "It is called The Devil's Pigeonhole!". I really laughed at that; sounds much better than "It was £2 off in Tesco's so thought I'd give it a try!"

A quick word to Audrey - Do you have a blog yourself I could visit?. You've left some great comments and would like to repay the compliment.

We spent a quiet day in today - well I say quiet but actually it was quite noisy this morning. I had a few parcels to wrap that have to be posted, so it was a brown paper and parcel tape job. Mick was sitting in his armchair watching me and I could almost see him flinching at the noise I was making with the parcel tape gizmo I was using. Luckily there were only a couple to do.

Bit worried at the moment. Looking back at the "log of logs".......well it's been a while. I can see a prunes and Syrup of figs day is on the agenda. I shall leave it until after the weekend though; these things are more likely to "come to pass" when we don't have visitors as I am sure Mick tries to "hold" things when the grandchildren are about.

Manda managed to get a nice looking cake from the School Christmas Fayre and it has saved me rushing to get one cooked myself.

She has also bought me home one of the items the class has made to sell at the Fayre. One of the teachers had given her a lot of notebooks to "do something with" and she had racked her brains trying to think of an idea. Between us we managed to come up with this Shopping Basket idea to hold the notebook and pencil.

It's made out of empty cereal boxes, the shape cut out, hole punched and stitched with ribbon.

Mick had one of his bad choking fits at dinner time. The new patch is due at midnight. Well it's only a few hours away so have YET AGAIN put it on early.

It was another lovely sunset tonight. I missed the best of it as the batteries needed changing in my camera but managed to snap these shots before the sun disappeared.

A very strange moon tonight. Somewhat U.F.O.-like!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PRESENT AND UNPLEASANT NEWS

At last I have finished clearing space for the Christmas ornaments; they are all laying on one of the spare beds upstairs waiting to be put in place. I'm still worried I won't have enough room but there is no way I could choose some to go out and some to not.

I remember so well the first time I put up the Christmas decorations after meeting Mick. I sent him down the pub (he's a good lad and didn't argue!) and got on with the task in hand. Manda came and helped me. We drank plenty of brandies and coke while we were doing it, and sang along to a Richard Clayderman tape. I know it's piano music but after a few brandies it's easy to make up words - our favourite is "My lamb chop's got no mint sauce". The decorations looked fantastic. We didn't have so many Christmas ornaments in those days but the ceiling was covered in criss cross garlands with Christmas hangers draping down. The tree was beautiful covered in baubles and lights and we had lots of Christmassy flower arrangements in vases. Mick came home and CRIED; he was so emotional; he said he had never seen anything so beautiful and since then it has become a family tradition for Mick to go down the pub while I do the decorations. Sadly last year, as it will be this year, Mick won't be able to go to the pub; but I shall tell him to keep his eyes tightly shut - no peeking - until I have finished.

This is the Christmas cracker Nicole has made Mick and I. A blue end for Mick and a pink end for me. Manda is getting the children at school to make some for the School Christmas Fayre and so Nicole has been experimenting and making a prototype.

I finally got around to getting some presents wrapped today. I gave Mick his Monday morning pamper, shave etc. and he sat in his armchair as I did the wrapping. It gave me a chance to go through all the presents we have bought and tell him what is for who. The sun was streaming through the window so I had to put Micks' sunglasses on him!

Unfortunately I'm coughing and sneezing a lot but thankfully Mick seems to be doing well; I just wish I could get him to drink more. Although he is not choking so much now he still seems reluctant to drink. He is eating well though so I am trying to make sure he has extra milky porridge, soups and liquidy desserts to try and prevent him becoming even more dehydrated. This evening he quite happily chewed away at the pasty I'd made; I only cut it up into bitesize pieces; no mashing or pureeing.

An unfortunate piece of news. My friend Sue's son-in-law is back in hospital. He was having really bad headaches and feeling sick. His wife phoned the doctor who told her to get some strong painkillers from the chemist - I think considering his recent medical history that the doctor should have at least come out to see him!!! He tried the painkillers but still became increasingly worse. After 2 or 3 phone calls a doctor finally condescended to come out and after checking him over immediately called an ambulance to get him to hospital!!! Even that's not the end of the tale - he then had to wait over 4 HOURS for the ambulance to come!!! The hospital are going to do some more tests - hopefully.

TOLD IN MY DOSE!

Woke up this morning with a stinking cold. Had to come sometime I guess. I've been really lucky the last 18 months and managed to shake off most bugs. Lynn arrived as Mick was having his breakfast and she too has a terrible cold. Worse than mine. The strange thing is that Mick; who I thought was definitely coming down with something, seems a lot better today. He has eaten well with no really bad choking or coughing fits. The penicillin must have kicked in really quickly because it's now over 3 days since his present patch went on but the mucus hasn't started to build up yet.

As Lynn and I were feeling so under the weather we had quite a lazy day. In fact when Mick had his after lunch doze we both fell asleep too!

Lynn and Daddy having bo-bos

Mick really enjoyed the steak and Guiness stew that Lynn bought down with her. As Lynn had been extra busy Steve was the one who had actually cooked it; and it was scrummy! Even with my cold I managed seconds! Poor Lynn couldn't taste it all; such a shame. Nicole and Manda came round in the evening and as there was plenty of stew and veg left Nicole happily tucked into a plateful herself.

Nicole enjoying the stew

We have spent a pleasant evening alternating between X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing; Lynn and I getting through plenty of tissues and Beechams and Mick peacefully dozing.

EVENTFUL EVENTS

It has been a tough day today. Just after midnight this morning Mick started coughing and sneezing. This wasn't a mucus build up cough; it was far more chesty than that. My poor darling coughed and sneezed for nearly two hours and he became so red and flushed. There has been a spate of coughs and colds around lately and I had felt it hovering it the background as far as my own health is concerned. It worried me to hear Mick coughing like this. After coughing and choking for so many months it is obvious that some fluids or food particles will have got into his lungs. A chest infection could be imminent. All the coughing had made him open his bowels and it was difficult cleaning him up and at the same time sorting out his coughing. I was slapping on the bacterial handwash; moving from one end to other and went through almost a whole pack of baby wipes. Then it was a good soapy wash and a complete bed change. He really puts up with so much.

I managed to get a little Beechams syrup down him between coughs and about 2am he settled a little and fell asleep. I then had to make sure I got the hoist sheet washed and dried. We are only allowed two and I didn't want to risk being without a dry one in the morning just in case we had another overflow. I'm glad I did as at 5am Mick woke up again and we went through the whole scenario again. His poor throat must feel so sore. It is such a shame that just as we had almost got the mucus under control; that he should come down with a cold. Mick drifted in and out of sleep for the next couple of hours. I tried to get him to eat a little porridge but he just wasn't interested -very unusual. He still seemed to be very flushed and, with a weekend coming up and having past experience of the difficulty of getting a doctor to come out on a Saturday or Sunday, I phoned the surgery and asked for a home visit. Unbelievably (a first I think) the receptionist said she would get the doctor to come out TODAY!

Mick slept quite peacefully during the morning; he must have been worn out! I quickly finished getting the rooms ready for Leanne and co; pre-made a meat loaf for dinner and a bakewell tart and in a flash it was lunchtime. As it was I needn't of done so much as Leanne phoned this afternoon to say that Kirsty (who hadn't been very well during the week) was still feeling rough and Melissa had come home from school complaining of being sick. She felt, and I agreed, that they would leave their visit until next weekend when (hopefully) the girls and Mick will be feeling better. Lynn's coming tomorrow so guess what we will have for lunch? That's right - meatloaf and bakewell tart.
I went off on a bit of a tangent there didn't I? But I am tired so forgive me. Where had I got to.............Lunchtime. Mick managed to eat some rice pudding at lunchtime and had just finished it when the doctor arrived. It was a locum doctor............(a quick aside here for the ladies - very dishy he was too!). Luckily Manda was here to help me sit Mick forward so that the doctor could listen to his back and chest. I must say, considering the doctor was not fully conversant with our situation he was VERY tactful in the way he discussed things with me. He explained that because there was a lot of liquid gurgling round Mick's chest it was difficult to say if he had got an infection or not but ------this is definitely a first----------in his opinion I would be the one who would be most aware of changes in Micks cough,condition etc and so he would go by my evaluation! He prescribed some antibiotics to be on the safe side.

Mick was very hungry come dinner time and I felt so sorry for him trying to eat and cough at the same time. It took a long time but he managed it.

Sleeping peacefully at the moment so shall keep my fingers crossed that he has a good night. After only an hours sleep myself last night I'm feeling pretty dozy my self so I'll ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

PATCH THE DOG!

While Mick was having his dinner this evening Lynn sent me a photo of Max on my phone. Now I have never been quite sure how Mick's eyesight is at the moment but I showed him the photo and he said "Lovely".

We also had a bonus on the patch front. Mick had almost finished eating when at 5.30pm - 2 days and 17 hours into the patch - suddenly the choking started again. I didn't even hesitate I just quickly took the old patch off and put a new one on. He had a few sneezes and a couple of coughs but it was no where near as bad as it has been in the past. Another small victory!!!!!!!!

Mick has been sleeping really peacefully this evening; only waking up to have a drink of tea. It's given me a chance to work on my Christmas card list at last - another small victory!

This past few weeks have been so much easier both physically and emotionally. To have Mick being able to eat and drink without too many problems has been wonderful. To hear him speak - well words can't describe how I feel..................

TONGUE IN CHEEK!

This afternoon a speech therapist came to see Mick. Although Mick doesn't need speech therapy as such it was thought that she may help with ideas re his swallowing and choking. Well how on earth I have managed over the last 18 months without the information she gave me I do not know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• First of all she explained to me that the Thick and Easy that we had been using for 6 months has to be used as per THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE TIN!!!!! Now why didn't I think of that!
  
• She then showed me how to measure200 mls of liquid into a jug (like it says on the tin) and how to add 2 level scoops of powder to the liquid (like it says on the tin) . She had already visited a number of patients before coming to us; so she showed me how to make sure that the scoopful is LEVEL. What you do is you take a finger from your unwashed hands and scrape off the excess Thick and Easy so that the scoop is level. I realised straight away that I had been doing this incorrectly as I always WASH my hands before preparing Mick's food or drinks.
  
• Despite the fact that she had pointed the instructions on the tin out to me and showed me how to follow them; she was kind enough to write it all out in large letters on a piece of paper; she says that she will also get this typed up and send me a copy. How kind of her!

• She then explained to me that there is a thing called a blender that I could use to puree Mick's food up with. Wonder of wonders! Do these things really exist!!!!!!!!!!
  
• It also seems; and I am sure she is right; that it is possible to MASH POTATOES!!!!! Is there no end to the knowledge she was imparting! She said that I could do this with an item called a POTATO MASHER or failing that with a FORK!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
• It seems it is also very important to remove bones from meat and fish. Now I THINK I may have heard that somewhere before!
  
• A kitchen item, called a SIEVE, can be used for straining lumps out of things.
  
• It is a good idea to be sitting up when eating. What a handy tip. I hope you're all taking notes.
  

Now I'm sure there was something else.................. What was it?......................I'm sure it was important........................ THAT'S IT...............I REMEMBER NOW!

IF MICK IS CHOKING STOP GIVING HIM FOOD UNTIL HE HAS STOPPED CHOKING !!!!!!!!!!!

Hang on a second while I take my tongue out of my cheek; it's starting to make ME CHOKE!

Now I know that the intentions were good and possibly all these things may be a help to some people some of the time; but honestly.................WORDS JUST FAIL ME...............

I think I shall start a book; all about USELESS INFORMATION.

OOPS! Too late.............It's already been done!

CROSS WORDS AND CROSSWORDS

Mick's patch has to be changed every three days. This means that I can't just say "Patch change Monday and Thursday" or anything like that because of there being 7 days in a week. I've put a little chart on the box now to remind me. The funny thing is though, in a way Mick reminds me! I can guarantee that once we get to the two day stage that Mick will start choking and sneezing. Such it was this morning; Mick was quite happily eating his porridge when suddenly on came a coughing fit. He then started sneezing; five sneezes in a row and the mucus started erupting. As I've no doubt mentioned in previous posts this really tires Mick out. His whole body wracks and it must be so frustrating for him. Now this morning between sneezes he was having a right old mumble. I couldn't tell what he was saying but I could tell by the tone that a few expletives were coming out. I'm convinced there was a "For F....'s sake" (apologies fellow bloggers) in there somewhere! Luckily the coughing finally subsided and Mick had a well earned doze.

All that sneezing and coughing resulted in a rather large overflow of his incontinence pad; (bladder and bowel) so it was a bed bath and full bed change morning. While I was at it I gave Mick a shave. Now Mick has never liked electric razors; even when he was fit he always used to prefer to have a wet shave; so that's what I do. I was a bit nervous the first time (thank goodness Mick didn't like a CUT-THROAT RAZOR shave!) but have got it down to a fine art now. I'm happy to say that so far (touch wood) I've never nicked him.

Unfortunately at lunch time (two and a half days into the patch) the coughing and choking started again. It went on for a full hour. I really wonder sometimes how Mick (and I) coped with this three or four times a day during the last six months. I must admit that in the end I gave in and put a fresh patch on him. They take about 6 hours to start taking effect so hopefully by dinner time it will be a bit easier for Mick. I know I probably shouldn't have put the new patch on early. If I keep doing it I shall run out before the next prescription is due but how can I stand by watching Mick suffering when I have the answer to hand?

Now to the "crosswords" part of the title post. As you may have seen from my profile I love doing cryptic crosswords. Mick and I would always do them together. If he wasn't working we would do one every day of the week. Mick always bought THE SUN newspaper - for the sports section he said and I must admit I never saw him linger on Page 3 for too long - well the crossword in there we found pretty pathetic and so started buying the Daily Telegraph as well (a much better read in my opinion). The only problem was we never really found the time to read two papers so decided that we would, once a year, buy the latest Daily Telegraph Cryptic Crossword Book. We have been doing this for almost 15 years now. Sadly the last book is only half done. I have tried doing it on my own or reading the clues out to Mick whilst I'm doing it but it's just not the same - and probably very frustrating for him if he's worked out the answer and can't tell me.

Now all this is leading somewhere, Honest!

I noticed when I was having a good blog surf the other night that there are quite a few blogs like "A photo a day", "A quote a day" or "A recipe a day", so I've decided to start a "Crossword Clue A Day" blog. I won't put in any clue unless I've managed to work out the answer myself; and the answer I'll put in the comments area. It will help keep my crossword ability alive and be a bit of exercise for those little grey cells.

As a preview I'll tell you the clue that Mick and I have always admired for its simplicity and cleverness.

GSGE.....................(9,4)

And if you're wondering why I'm not doing a WHOLE crossword a day blog -

Well

just how much spare time do you think I have!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've put this photo on because it reminds me of Mick

"my sunshine in the midst of a cloudy day"

NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS

Nothing much to report today. We managed to get out into the garden for a while this morning; BEFORE it persistently rained. Mick is eating well, sleeping well and when awake seems quite alert. He said "TA RAH" to Manda this morning when she popped in on her way to work but apart from that has not spoken for a couple of days. Touch wood there has been hardly any choking at all for quite a few days. It's been a very peaceful evening and I've had a chance to do a bit of surfing around. Via Jen and Cazz'zs blog (I often drop by them - their jokes are great) I found Gwen's Den. Her "Guardian Angels" post is so lovely.

A rainbow for Analia should she drop by

BACK TO NORMAL??????????

Although still quite alert in comparison to this time last week Mick has not been talking today. I have no complaints though; this time last week I never imagined that I would have days like the last few; this time last year I never imagined that I would still have Mick with me. The wonderful thing about the last few days is that it has put my mind at rest on so may fronts;

• I know Mick still remembers me and the family
  
• I know he can still understand what we say to him
  
• I know that he is not worried or fearful of his present condition
  

and most importantly

• I know he is not experiencing any great pain when I am dressing, moving him etc
  
• He is definitely not choking so much

Looking at the title of this post has made me think "What is normal?". Our lives have changed so much in the last 17 months but so many things are still the same. Let's take an average lazy Saturday as an instance; one when we have no visitors, no outings or any shopping to do; let's compare that day to a similar Saturday two years ago.

THEN

give Mick morning cuppa in bed
treat Mick to breakfast in bed
Mick listens to Saturday sports radio
pop over shops for a newspaper
Mick and I do some gardening
listen to radio gardening programme
Mick watches sport on TV
after dinner snuggle and watch TV
Mick dozes off; bored with XFactor

NOW

give Mick morning cuppa in bed

Mick has breakfast in bed

put on Saturday sports radio for Mick

push Mick over shop for a newspaper

Mick sits in garden while I do gardening

listen to radio gardening programme

put sport on TV for Mick to listen too

after dinner snuggle with TV on

Mick dozes off; probably bored with XFactor

Not so very different. Maybe I should change the title of this post to "ANOTHER NORMAL DAY!"

Now back to this morning. Well what glorious weather. Warm and sunny. Although Mick hasn't been chatty he still seems quite alert so took him into the front garden and chatted to him while I pottered about. He did a lot of peeking and I had a few grunts of approval when I told him the odd little things I was doing. I was glad I'd only put a lightweight cardigan on Mick because I ended up just working in my t-shirt because it was so warm. All of a sudden a huge gust of wind blew Mick's cap off and the blue sky suddenly started to disappear so we made a hasty retreat back inside. We had been outside for over two hours so at the time of writing this Mick is having a well earned rest on his bed.

Rain on the way