kp was looking to the door as I walked in this morning. She had been waiting for me since 7am apparently. I said the new shifts are going to be hard then aren’t they if I am not in until 10am. I think the new shifts have been knocked on the head.

kp ate a full breakfast and kept it down !! Her new tactics with her pills are to take them very slowly (“to slyly sneak one in when my stomach isn’t expecting it”).

Well, it worked. It took 2.5 hours to get about 12 tablets down her and they stayed down

She said she felt in a slightly perkier mood today, and certainly she was much more chatty. In fact we had some good conversations for the first time in a while.

She didn’t want to push her lack of sickness too far, so we knocked the bath on the head given the amount of moves involved.

We wanted to see the Doctor today about a number of things, so we made a list :-

1. Sickness – kp is doing “her end of the bargain” as she calls it, namely treating medicine as food, but it still won’t stay down. What can be done about it ?
2. Psychologist – Further to last night’s blog we wanted to get kp in touch with a psychologist.
3. Sick Note – kp’s sick note ran out on the 19th and we need a new one
4. and a couple of other minor things

Well, the sickness is going to be tackled by subcutaneous injections of Cyclazine instead of taking them orally. He is going to sort out a visit from a psychologist. Sick Note is being sorted this afternoon.

At the same time we were sorting all this out with the doctor, he was trying to take a blood sample from kp. From a “taking blood” perspective, kp doesn’t have veins (or “wanes” as the doctor called them (much to kp’s amusement)), she must run on battery or something. We had real problems getting blood. But he succeeded in the end.

kp came up with some good ideas to keep herself motivated. She is going to try and watch some TV, read the paper and a few other things. And she got her first try today, cos I was knackered and struggling to stay awake this morning and at her suggestion I had 40 winks (90mins) whilst she watched GMTV.

Physio followed and kp did very well. She sat upright on the edge of her new black wheelchair, extended her hands onto the table in front of her and stretched out. It looked very strange after seeing her sat back and laid down for the past 2/3 months. She was knackered after 30 mins of it.

Lunch followed physio and she tucked into her beef stew. And unfortunately, after she had eaten it, threw it all up . One of her antibiotics is bright red and stains everything red inside kp. So seconds after eating brown beef stew, poor kp was vomiting bright red beef stew.

She was even more tired then and was ready for sleep.

The day Karen got engaged and married with orange tears.

A hectic afternoon for kp with no time for snoozes. In no particular order :-

Karen had a visit from the consultant and her favourite doctor. They are convinced the antibiotic for MRSA is causing the sickness. She needs this antibiotic so all they can do is throw the best anti-sickness medication at kp. She is on cyclozine and metrocyclomide (I think), they are now putting her on poppadombhajizine (or something like that). Apparently, it is the grandaddy of all anti-sickness tablets. So far, so good. We have had a bit of nausea but no vomit yet !

She also had a visit from the Occupational Nurse who specialises in the practicalities of living when you have a physical impairment. I hope that is the PC way of saying that ! She is going to be working more with Karen over the next few weeks and with the physios to get Karen to be able to do practical things like brushing her hair, shifting herself around the bed without assistance and ironing clothes.

We also had a visit today from the Stroke Association lady who Karen gets on very well with. She is going to be helping Karen from now until a year after she gets home by visiting her every week and offering advice and practical measures for around the home etc….. She sounds very helpful.

So a busy old afternoon.

I arrived at about 5.10pm to find an even more perky Karen than this morning. Jane and Marie had kept her occupied and her spirits buoyed. We had some cracking laughs before they had to go.

My mum and dad visited kp again and this time kp was much more ready for hosting “an audience with kp”. They had been to Beamish and kp was pleased they had thoroughly enjoyed it. I relayed to kp how dad had very kindly fitted a new sprinkler system to the hanging baskets. He had suggested I put it on while I play with the dogs, which I duly did. The pressure in the sprinklers isn’t quite right yet however and one hanging basket gets a particularly strong dose of water. As I took a breather from the dogs to have a sit-down, a gust of wind blew across the hanging basket, drenching me in water. kp was amused. My cigarette nearly extinguished itself.

Karen was desparate for me to thank Mum and Dad tonight for everything they have done for us over the past weeks. I have thanked them tonight. They have been incredibly supportive and this week alone have pretty much redesigned the whole garden and washed every surface in the house. Thanks M+D !!!

If all goes well tomorrow, kp has a little surprise for them tomorrow evening (their last evening) – fingers crossed !

When Mum and Dad left, kp and I had some of the best conversation we have had since the accident. Typical kp+dp pre-accident conversation about life and the universe. It was thoroughly enjoyable, and given that kp should have been fast asleep by 7pm, she was amazed when she asked for the time and was told it was 8.15pm !!

She had also asked for lots of hugs tonight, which is very unusual for kp. Not upset hugs, but happy hugs. It was lovely. She was also very complimentary of my husbandry skills. Needless to say, we have a psychologist coming out ASAP to check sanity levels. I think she may have to be sectioned.

We also had a couple of very poignant moments tonight. Karen had asked me if she had Angela’s telephone number so she could ring her. She found out today that Angela (a work colleague of kp’s and another of the car crash victims) had gone home today from hospital. I got out kp’s mobile phone and after calling Angela I went through kp’s text messages since the accident and read them out to kp.

Well, I got upset at one message in particular. First of all, there were a load of messages from me from the day of the accident. I had texted kp about 3 times on the day in question, thinking she was too busy to get to the phone. I read out those texts. But the one that REALLY got to me was from Veronica. It was 3 days after the accident, when kp was unconscious and fighting for her life. It read as follows :-

Karen, Please wake up. It’s what Mary (Karen’s deceased mother) wants! Luv Ronnie xxx

I still fill up when I think of it. It really takes me back to that worst of worst times when we just didn’t know if she was going to make it or not.

Thanks Ronnie ! You should have a text from Karen tonight also !

But the most emotional moment of the night for me was when Karen was trying to move her left arm and hand. In her attempts (and it is improving slightly) I noticed that her left hand seemed less swollen.

dp:- Hey your hand looks less swollen ! Can I see if your rings fit ?
(I have been wearing kp’s engagement and wedding ring since they were took off her after the accident)

They did fit ! I took them off again and then put her engagement ring back on her finger.

dp:- Karen, will you marry me ?
kp:- Yes

Smiles !

I then put her wedding ring back on her hand.
dp:- Karen, will you take me to be your lawfully wedded husband ?
kp:- I will. You can now kiss the bride

I had a tear in my eye, but we laughed, hugged and kissed. It was lovely. When Karen saw how touched I was, she shed a tear. It was an orange tear, stained by the antibiotics that stain everything in Karen red.

This is a big psychological step for me as at one point I didn’t envisage ever taking those rings off my finger. I had vowed to keep them on until such time kp could wear them. Thanks Karen. I am so proud of you !!

Love you always

dp
xxxxx