kp describes her mood as “still flattish, but different than what it was”. By different, she means in a better way.

Monday saw kp visit the ortho physio. Went well, and she got discharged from ortho -physio. I met her at the hospital to attend with the orthopedic consultant (who did the Hip op) for a reassessment. She had an X-ray and then we went for a chat with him. He said everything was “as expected” and he was pleased with the x-ray.

Here it is………….

Notice the zip they left in her stomach for easy access for any pelvic/hip changes they want to make

She has to come back in a year.

Tuesday saw Adele visit to do the housework etc….She prepared all the veg for a roast, which we didn’t feel like on the day.

Wednesday, kp said she was going to cook the roast “for her man”. I cook teas generally, but she wanted to see if she could do it. I left her to it. Unfortunately, it didn’t go too well. She got really stressed. Basically, she struggles to coordinate the timings and it really stresses her out.

kp:- I am ready to scream

At which point, I went in to assist.

Everything was ready (I would say the potatoes were overready by about an 45 minutes), but the carrots had only been on 5 minutes. “Al dente” they were not ! Crisp would be a more apt description.

kp:- I can’t do this. I am too stressed……………….. I am dangerous in the kitchen. My left hand catches on things. I nearly knocked the gravy off without realising it.

I am aware of this already. The previous weekend we had been to a shop for some items for the new bathroom. The aisles were tight, and her left arm was “kind of” sticking out catching things. I was busy sorting the havoc she left. Well, it wasn’t that bad, but I was having to keep my eye on it. The other thing she can tend to do is to grip something with the left hand, and then move away, not realising her grip is still in place. I can imagine that something like this must have happened in the kitchen. She was probably gripping the gravy dish as she stirred it, and then moved onto something else, taking the gravy pan with her.

I think we will be sticking with easier meals for now, and move upto roasts in the long term.

Her sleeping is still all over the place, despite the new sleeping tablet. She doesn’t like the new one as it leaves a metallic taste in her mouth. One night, she even tried going to bed without one, but she was up all night – no good. She is persevering with it.

Her mood has lightened. But, she doesn’t feel comfortable talking to people yet. When I ask her why that is, she explains that, generally people have problems going on in their lives on a day to day basis and if that comes out during conversations, she takes that on and it’s “too heavy a load”. A woman who was on Stars in their Eyes got killed recently, and that stuck with her for at least a week. This poses a problem in itself, because of course, everyone has issues in their day to day lives which they would normally share with Karen, so to avoid the situation, she has to avoid the people. That’s how she feels at the moment.

Friday, I left work earlier to take her to the Industrial Injuries Benefit doctor to be reassessed. Basically, she is still the same and is classed as 100% disabled. We see him again in 2 years time.

Yesterday (Saturday), we booked a last minute pair of seats at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle to see “Fame”. This is the show that kp was due to see in 2005, but couldn’t because she was in hospital after the accident. Here she is in the theatre. Great show, everyone (including kp and I) was up dancing at the end. (Perhaps dancing is the wrong word for my attempts, swaying might be better).

Here is kp in the theatre….

dp+kp:- Fame………..I’m going to live forever………I’m going to learn how to fly…….HIGH !

All together now !

So, a really good Saturday.

Today, kp has been asleep since about 7am. Will be getting her up shortly. The pain has meant she has about 225ug of patch on, which zonks her.

We are going to try and plan some holidays and weekend’s activities today so she has something to aim for. Things like shows, visiting family / friends etc…..

Should be good !