Not the best of weeks, but we know why now and the future is rosy again !

Last Sunday saw Karen’s mood be lower than usual and the worst thing was we didn’t know why. A “drop in mood” and “not knowing why” might indicate the depression is coming back, and that’s not good. So, we were both a bit concerned but not telling each other at this point.

So, monday came, and we were both hoping distraction might help. Karen had to attend a medical (in Durham), which I accompanied her to. It went fine. Karen’s mood remained low though, and she cancelled Natalie, hoping that some more sleep might pull her out of the mood drop. The snooze and kp “having words with herself” seemed to have done the trick and the night was more upbeat.

Tuesday came, and Natalie and kp went shopping for food supplies. kp’s mood had dipped again and we still couldn’t work out why !! I was starting to worry and I think kp was too. In the afternoon, there was no time to worry as kp had to attend a medico-legal appointment in Newcastle. I went with her. It went fine, but unfortunately, the consultant didn’t finish everything he had to get through, so we’ll have to go back sometime in August to continue it. No tears during the appointment although it got close when the consultant mentioned how slow he felt kp’s speech was

That evening was a bit more subdued.

Wednesday and kp and I were up early, with kp’s mood still low. Nat arrived, but kp excused herself as she wanted more sleep. I had instructions to wake her at 12pm. I had been trying for a helicopter lesson everyday but the weather has been dire this week and for the first solo, aviation law requires good weather. So, I was revising Meteorology all day. Once up, kp and Nat chatted most of the day until Nikki Brosnan came (neuropsychologist). She did more tests with kp. One was, kp had to put a cross through every star on a sheet of A4 paper. As expected, she started on the right side and was slower than she would have normally been and missed out about 30 stars on the left hand side. But the idea of these tests is that they are a benchmark so that when Nikki has retrained kp’s brain, they can retest to see the improvement.

During this meeting, kp had a Eureka moment about why her mood had dropped. Karen was due to attend 2 parties this week (the mentioned Psychic Charity Doo, and Marie’s 50th birthday party (Happy Birthday Marie !!)). She had been dreading both, because she feels very uncomfortable in group situations now. When she attended her nephew’s wedding, she was in tears before the reception started and we had to come home. At some point during the meeting, probably when she was discussing things with Nikki, the lightbulb over kp’s head lit up and she felt that it was the worry/anxiety over her attendance at these parties that had brought her down. Once she had worked this out, and had committed to NOT attending (in her head), her mood improved. I kept asking her, how sure are you it’s that (I didn’t want to get my hopes up, to have them dashed), but kp was pretty sure, which was welcomely good enough for me, and from that moment on, her mood got better and better as the week progressed.

That night, kp was due to attend a psychic charity evening in Middlesbrough, but Nikki was here until after 7pm and couldn’t have attended anyway.

Thursday, and I had the option of a helicopter lesson if I didn’t mind high winds. The instructor said it would be good for me. I have flown in strong winds before and it was quite a demoralising experience, but this time, it was a very positive experience. Too strong for solo though, but I didn’t mind ! Here’s the blog entry for thursday’s flight.

Karen visited the “No Smoking” lady (with Nat) to get some more nicotine patches. She’s doing great and hasn’t smoked since the start of the holiday – well done kp !!!!

In one way, knowing why her mood was low had helped us both get past the worry we both had, but instead it was replaced with loads of guilt on Karen’s part, as she felt she should have gone to the parties.

dp:- There’s 200 people invited to Marie’s 50th. It’s not a small family doo, Marie will understand.

kp’s mood improved as the week went on. And the house became a positive place again after the dire first few days of this week !

Friday saw Karen go shopping in loads of shops at the Arnison Centre, and go to Costco to pick up a cake for Marie’s birthday party, which Natalie kindly took over to Middlesbrough. I went to Newcastle Airport as there was a 50:50 chance  of a heli lesson, but it was too blowy even to fly dual, so click here for what we did instead.

The weekend has been a good one, but very very fast and furious because the storm that is Ethan (11)  came on Saturday and stayed the night. It’s definitely been an “interesting” weekend. It’s lovely to see him and it’s lovely to have a calm house back too !!! We know the dogs like the break they have when he goes back. Last night, we watched “The Wizard of Oz” as Ethan’s in the school production and he wanted to see what lines “Munchkin 17″ has. Here’s a photo from the dog walk we all did today.

So, funny week overall, but things look great for next week, hope her mood stays up but we think it will.

Until such point as the specialists treat kp’s anxiety in group situations, it might be best that she doesn’t attend any big group gathering. So, no funerals, weddings, bahmitzvahs (not that we know any Jewish people) etc.etc…..