Good News, Bad Evening
The good news came from Marie over the phone. Karen can read !

The physio had done Karen a timetable of physio for the next week, indicating what she must do at different times of the day. When I arrived for the evening shift, Karen was keen to show off her reading skills. With the aid of Marie holding up the magnifying sheet, Karen read out the physio plan.

kp:- 8am – David must pamper Karen with a bedbath and a massage.
dp:- I don’t think it says that love does it ?!

Nice try ! Smiles all round.

She did read it out correctly after that.

8am – Bedbath + Arm/Leg Exercises
10am – Passive Movement Machine (20mins each leg)
12pm – Get into chair for lunch
1pm – Get out of chair
3pm – Go to Pub. I have forgot the rest.

It’s just what Karen needs and has been asking for – Goals.

The physio is very switched on and is very good for Karen.

I have just remembered something from earlier today. When Karen was moved into the chair (quite a feat, involving lots of bodies), she is moved into it by lying her flat on the bed, sliding her over, and then the chair (in bed position) moves into a chair position. When she was moved into the chair position and sitting upright, she saw herself in the wall mirror for the first time, and the biggest of smiles appeared on her face. It was lovely to see.

This evening wasn’t a good evening however.

kp was sat upright for dinner, but it seems for the past few days, movements like this make her sick, and sure enough, she was. I am getting a dab hand at plucking a sick bowl from nowhere and whisking it in front of her. Unfortunately, tonight, I was that quick I nearly dislocated her jaw as my aim was a bit off. Sorry kp.

The evening continued in much the same way

After the sickness, all Karen could eat was a bite of a breadbun with lurpak on. But it didn’t sit well on her, and she had the most agonising of stomach pains. She was in a lot of discomfort. She felt like she needed a bowel movement, but couldn’t. She was lining me up for an overnight stay as she felt that unwell.

She got a little bit upset and wanted a hug. I obliged.

She is in a bit of a vicious circle at the moment. She can’t eat, because she feels nauseous all the time (despite the new anti-sickness drugs). She can’t have a bowel movement because she hasn’t eaten enough. When she does try to move her bowels, she gets exhausted because she hasn’t eaten enough. We need to break the sickness problem and I think everything will fall into line. New sickness drug tomorrow – fingers crossed. It’s a strong sea-sickness type pill which should alleviate the sickness when she gets moved.

Eventually we found a comfy position and she got an hour’s kip. Then the evening tablets came round (6 of them, but 8 to take because the bigger ones are broken up to make them easier to swallow). She got to tablet 4 and promptly threw up again.

She couldn’t face any more tablets after that.

She eventually had a bowel movement and was exhausted and gagging for sleep. The nurses changed her nighty (which was stained from the weeping wounds where her staples were) and she looked very settled and comfy.

We’ll know tomorrow if she had a good night’s sleep.

Hope so !

dp

PS – Thanks for all the flowers everyone has sent. She received a wonderfully exotic bouquet today from Sue Brady (ex work boss) which cheered her up.