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Published on Leave a comment on Lord give me strength!

Ok, so we have been leading up to this day for a while now, and finally it arrived. Audiology and mums fitting for her new hearing aid.
We rolled up just in time for the appointment, and were called almost immediately. Lovely little, clear spoken audiologist. She explained what the new hearing aid was all about, how it worked and what was expected of it etc. Mum had her old hearing aid in and said she understood.
It was programmed and fitted, and when asked was it a bit loud mum said it was indeed loud and clear. All was explained, we left, and on the way down the corridor she exclaimed she was fed up of seeing different people as they all say different things and do different things.
I explained that they had been consistent in their decisions, and all had been done as planned.

In the car on the way home she then decided to say that the new hearing aid was in fact no different to the current one, no improvement in sound or volume. Great, so instead of telling them that, she has told me, which makes me feel is was somewhat pointless bothering.
Unless of course she is just being bloody minded about things and it IS actually better.

I have to say I am somewhat grumpy today, just no patience for things, blocked in by a builder, messing about with the appointment, and now we are in the kitchen where she is (through no fault of her own) not making a very good job of her tea. I really should take my meds and hide away for a while lol.

Meanwhile work called for an update on my return. This brought to mind that I still have not managed to get a proper plan in place for when I do. So still have that to arrange. Making sure the correct number of visits and checks are made on mum daily in my absence is indeed still a worry. Not sure I will ever achieve it to be honest, but I can try.

Days like today, watching her walking around the kitchen with a saucepan of boiling water, confused with how best to deal with getting the egg out of it, whilst shaking and tipping her hand is a massive worry for me. A number of other things indicate she is starting to get a little confused, so that's something else to go and get looked at.

I just dared to mention to her that she is getting a facial twitch, much like the one she had before last going into hospital. Apparently I should just shut up and stop depressing her.... Hmmm OK.

Regards

Michael

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Published on Leave a comment on An image of my recent luck

No better way to help visualise my luck recently than this.

Its the upstairs neighbours turn to have their improvement works carried out, and today its the bathroom.

Sadly due to heavy banging and pouring of water the ceiling has cracked and the water has come through to mine. Lovely.

Just thought I would share that.

Couple of other quick updates, mums review went well at Guys yesterday, they are happy with how things are and don't need to see her for 2 months.

My diet, wow, really good progress now, probably ending in the next week or so, but heading nicely towards my next goal which will be diet end time anyway.

Back with other updates soon.

PS February REALLY sucks! 🙂

Regards

Michael

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Published on Leave a comment on Kebab for tea tonight!

Yup you read it right, I did it, I hit my weekly goal. 8lb gone this week, so I'm officially 220lb now. To some that might still sound one hell of a weight, but at the end of my diet 3 years ago I ended at 197lb which was probably a little under my comfort zone. So somewhere between 200 and 210 would be a nice place. For the time being I will head for 200 before returning to food fully. Once I get to 210 I will reintroduce a meal a day again and get the body back used to it.

So that's me, happy, losing weight rapidly and getting back to a good place.

Now onto mum. Also good news I am happy to say. After the visit to the hospice on Friday, and a bit of bullying, mum agreed to see the GP. A new inhaler, new steroids and some antibiotics and within a day she was back on her feet. A few days later, her breathing is now much improved and her strength returning too. So thankfully, as hoped, it was a bump in the road and not a downhill slope.

The week ahead is another busy one with appointments, things to plan, and the priority right now, filling out the benefits forms for/with mum. Feeling very positive right now, quite a stress free day yesterday, completely forgot my meds.

Still struggling to get a routine in place to offer mum enough support for me to return to work. In fact in the last few days, I'm sure my workload has increased not decreased.

Right, better get on, got a room to tidy up, and some bits to throw out.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Regards

Michael

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Published on Leave a comment on Hmmm, a downturn or a bump?

Well I'm hoping its just a bump along the way, but not too sure. But mum is now back to not wanting to eat or drink much. Becoming tired and weaker by the day, and relying much more on the wheelchair to get about.

The steroids are being reduced, and since dipping from 2mg twice a day she has slowed down. Even on 2mg once a day she was still eating and quite active. But now on 0.5mg a day she is actually using the walker around the house rather than carrying it, prefers to be IN the wheelchair when out and about, and is really off her food and drink. Its a chore to eat. My worry, dehydration.

Yesterday we went to St Thomas's hospital to get mums "surgical appliance" also known as a wig, which she seemed very happy with. However today while getting ready for St Christophers she said she would not be wearing it as it was a bad fit and looked silly, and quite frankly could not be bothered to put it on.
She added on the that she was "very very sick".

A little while later we toddled off to the hospice for a meeting with Karen the nurse. Enquiring into mums health was like asking a 2 year old where the put the car keys. Not really willing to discuss it much. Changing the subject whenever possible. All the symptoms were to be blamed on any medication that she could remember she was taking, and promises were made that she really has no interesting on following through with. Using a nasal spray, trying to drink more, and seeing the GP later. However she WILL be seeing the GP, I will make sure of that.

A number of things could be contributing to this "bump" in the road but without tests and trying meds we will never find out.

We are returning to the same familiar "no I'm not doing that" attitude, which usually results in an ambulance and a week in hospital. Sadly it seems we have again passed the point of reasoning, and she just thinks doing nothing about it, and sleeping more will solve the problem. So fingers crossed the GP can put her on the right track, although at this rate a referral to the hospital.

So, back from the hospice now, lunch made for mum, just waiting on the carer. This afternoon, dog walks then off to the GP @ 3.30 to get mum seen.

Here we go again?
Regards
Michael

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Published on Leave a comment on Nom Nom Nom!

I have a new love in my life. Protikee Museli and Yoghurt bars.
Never liked the sound of the combo before but my god they are nice.
Thank you Protikee for keeping the ideas fresh to help me stay interested in dieting.

Weight is falling off. I am probably going to do another week on this, then get into a mixed regime.
Regards
Michael

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Published on Leave a comment on Its just…. one of those days!

Yesterday was no better. Started the day with the carer arriving 10 mins early, caught me unaware but a pleasant surprise all the same.
Later in the morning I received a call from the housing association to say there was a problem with mums benefits for the rent. So a series of phone calls later and it turns out the authorities have suspended mums benefits due to a change in circumstances.
The circumstances that changed were the tenancy going into my name, which was about 6 months ago. We were told at the time that they had an in-house benefits worker who would take care of all of that. Apparently not!
So a new claim has been started, and I have informed the housing association about it, so now we wait. All the while, if the claim is unsuccessful, my debt to them rises. Yay!

That was all closely followed by taking some rubbish outside to discover the garden wall had been knocked down by Savoy Patient Transport picking a neighbour up for hospital. So another call to the housing association to report a repair, which will be done by next week. Pah. Hopefully they will do repairs to the rest of the wall at the same time.

So on to today. Not a bad day really. Slept pretty well, woke with a bit of a headache but nothing serious. Got some fluids in me and that was soon gone. The carer.... Well she was late today, calling (at 8.30) to ask if she could come at 9 today. Well no, not really, seeing as we have to leave for the hospital at 9.15. So that visit was cancelled. Mum was able to get herself ready for the day, so not so bad.

She is still not eating or drinking much at the moment. We are seeing the hospice nurse on Thursday so I will mention it then, and she also has a home visit from them early next week too. Really just need someone to drum into her the importance of fluids. She is not in a terrible state right now, but a lot weaker than recent weeks, so keeping an eye on things. The cough and gunk on her chest is not really helping.

As for me, diet still rock solid. Another week of supplies ordered and I'm ready to go sub 220 at some point this week. Looking forwards to my celebration kebab lol.

Right, I'm all written out, so back to waiting in this waiting room for mum to be called.
Have a good day.
Regards
Michael

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Published on Leave a comment on Getting caught out.

There is nothing worse than being "found out" or getting "caught with your pants down" so to speak, and today it was mums turn.

When the carer arrived this morning mum was still asleep. That's a first. Well two firsts, the carer was a bit early AND mum was asleep. Anyway, as she got mum up, mum made the point of saying how poorly she felt today, just wanted a wash, no breakfast or drink.

After her job was done the carer left, mum immediately headed for the kitchen to get cereals and tea. So you can imagine the embarrassment when the carer returned five mins later to look for her ID. There was mum sitting at the table filling her face, and no place to hide. Haha. Bad start mother!

The funniest part is, the carer finally found her ID, around her own neck, as pointed out by mum. So there was no need to return in the end anyway.

In fairness mum has been poorly the past few days, weaker than usual, no more walks recently. Still not drinking very much, and appetite is down too. The weekend has been very slow moving due to this, keeping an eye on her. Its really hard to tell what is real and what is "put on"

A week of appointments ahead of us, audiology, hospice, St Thomas's to name a few. Maybe a trip to the GP too at this rate to make sure she is not getting too dehydrated. I'm sure she is heading that way, but hard to do anything about it as she still refuses to try and increase her fluids intake.

For me, well as I say other than lots of dog walking, the weekend was pretty slow really, bit of shopping, that's about as exciting as it gets. Bills, bills and more bills is the order of this week. On the other hand the diet is going well. Fast closing in on my next target, which I can't wait for as a reward awaits me lol. FOOD!

Right, time for the morning routine. Have a good day/ week

Regards

Michael

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Published on Leave a comment on Boiling point.

Its come to that stage this morning again, although keeping my cool. But mums persistent complaints about doctors not knowing what they are doing. Going on and on about experimenting on her with the medication etc.
She has a chest infection which is making it hard for her to breathe normally. She is also feeling very tired.

Aside to that she is also drinking less and less, and becoming dehydrated. Can I convince her of this? Like hell I can. Instead she insists she can only drink each time she eats, and as her appetite is very poor at the moment, that is equating to 3 maybe 4 cups of drink a day. Not exactly a lot to keep someone who is coughing up phlem all day hydrated. Hospital and a drip is the next step that I'm desperately trying to keep her away from, but she won't see that right now.

This is the woman who used to drink and drink all day long. It is so frustrating to see someone heading towards hospital again because they refuse to do something as simple as eating.

Then there is medication. Recently prescribed some anti depressents, she was first mad at the doctor for daring to suggest she was depressed or stressed, even though she will freely admit being very stressed (understandably) during other conversations.
Then she was dead against taking such drugs, as she took some in the 70's and they are SO bad for you.
After finally agreeing to try them, she woke the next morning feeling like crap. Later saying the cough and sniffles had developed, it was clearly down to the illness how she had felt earlier in the day.

However in the past few days she has continued to complain that the new tablets caused her to feel this way, another grand excuse NOT to take medication.

To add to the misery of the morning I got a phone call 30 mins after the carer was due, to say she could not make it, and that they were sending a replacement. An hour later, still no sign of anyone. Mum has since decided that she wants a bath, and doesn't want to wait for the carer to help her. Needless to say, while I have set everything up for her to have a bath, I have kicked her out of the bathroom until the carer arrives (whenever that might be)

And one more little dagger (yup it doesn't end there). Yesterday speaking to the hospice nurse she recommended mum see a doctor about her chest. So this morning I made the call to arrange a home visit. After giving all the details I was told the doctor would call me a bit after 9am. Its not 9.40 and no call.

So todays lesson.... Patience is a virtue! Also known as WAIT!
Fingers crossed the doctor will call, carer will show, and the day can get moving sooner or later. All this, and I have to be at London Bridge for 3.30 to see the company doctor about MY health. Like I have time for my health! Dogs still to be walked, shopping to be done etc...

Stress levels factor 9 !

Have a good one.
Regards
Michael

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