Mixed Day.

I gave Karen a ring about 8am and then a bit later when the consultant had been round. Apparently, as the consultant speaks to you, he talks into his dictaphone and Karen is not sure if he is talking to her or the dictaphone. Karen might ask a question, but his reply will be in to his little machine. Was a bit confusing for her I think.

Anyway, the op went ok. Nerve damage has been ruled out, because her foot is working fine. Infection is a “suck it and see” affair. Dislocation – watch this space.

I went to see her for 2pm visiting. She was in fine form.

Mum/Dad/Jane  – those are your flowers in the background. Susa, the address of kp at hospital is…..Karen Pollard, Ward 12, University of Durham Hospital, Durham, County Durham (thanks)

Alert and talkative – for the first 30 minutes, and then I could tell she just wanted to sleep. But, when I offered to go, she just wanted me to stay and tried to stay awake. At 2.50pm, she relented and said she wanted to sleep.

She went for an x-ray in the afternoon. Won’t know officially what the crack is until the consultant does his rounds tomorrow, but the Radiologist chap said it looked fine.

When Marie and I visited, kp was absolutely knackered. She didn’t wake up until 5 minutes after we had arrived. And then she struggled to stay awake. She is still on the morphine driver, but not pushing it as often, which is good. I showed her photos of the new kitchen. (They have nearly finished it). She seemed pleased.

She was suffering from a bad case of heartburn, and it didn’t east too much while we were there, despite her taking 2 antacid tablets plus a tub full of gaviscon liquidy stuff. Although she wasn’t scared of belching when she could (AND LOUD) with all the visitors around the ward. I was very proud !

She didn’t seem 100% tonight. Tired, lethargic and as she described it “aching all over”. We are hoping this is down to being laid on her back for 3 days straight.

Tomorrow, assuming the consultant says “All Systems Go with the X-ray”, she will be sitting upright in the chair, which will be good for her back and bum, but a bit painful for her hip.

All good so far

Here are a couple of pictures of our kitchen as it stands at the moment.

Kitchen ….

Utility Room…..

Bit of bad news this morning. Just rang Karen and she is not feeling very well at all. Hot one minute, cold the next. Sounds like an infection. I do hope that this isn’t the case. We’ll see. She wants me to go in, so I am heading there now.

She’s “ok”. She is feeling very low, and has loads of aches and pains and is hot and cold, but she is “alright”.

I was pleased to see she was sitting up in her chair and was off the morphine driver which is good.

No temperature, so that’s reassuring.

Just heard that Karen is moving to Ward 16 (orthopod ward). Should be there around lunchtime.

What a fidgety visit.

She was on her new Ward (16). Julie (from work) had sent me along with some flowers and Susa and Simon’s had arrived (thanks guys). So, she is all flowered out. She was in no mood to enjoy them really. She couldn’t stop fidgeting. She was dying to get out of the bed. She was wrestling herself all over. It’s like she is going “Cold Turkey” from nicotine withdrawal. I had similar feelings on my first night. Must be so much worse for her with a new hip.

She didn’t enjoy the visit at all and just wanted to go to sleep but was too “all over the place”.

She doesn’t have a temperature (that’s the good news), which infers no infection. She asked the consultant today, what risks were still there and he said “All of them”. So, that’s infection, nerve damage, floppy foot and something else, which I can’t recall.

Some more good news. At the head of each bed, they have a card with “Expected Discharge Date”. Karen’s had been blank until today. When I went in this morning (Ward 12), it said 6th March (next tuesday), which is great. When I went in for the 2pm visit, it was blank, probably ‘cos of the change of wards methinks.

Mum and Dad are coming up tomorrow for the afternoon visit, as are Michelle and Adele. Debs and Jane Burns are coming on the nighttime. If anyone else wants to come along, please feel free. I like curly wurlys. I mean, Karen likes curly wurlies.

On top form at tonight’s visiting.

She greeted Marie and I with an A1 smile, something I haven’t seen in a long time. She was feeling 100% better than earlier today. Still fidgety but not as much. The key difference was her positive attitude. Earlier, she was doom and gloom….

kp:- “I am going to have to start everything from scratch, learning to stand, walk etc…”

Tonight, it was more a case of …..

kp:- “Tomorrow, I’ll be doing some steps with physio (she had forgot that they don’t work on saturday, or that it was friday today) and I should be out by mid-week” (or words to that effect)

Keep it up love

You can take my mum anywhere !!

Firstly, Karen is on top form today. 100% her old self, feeling really positive and an absolute joy to be in the presence of. She lights up the whole room when she is like this.

Visitors this afternoon were Adele, Michelle and my mum and dad.

Karen was alert, pain free and very talkative.

Mum had us in absolute stitches. You may have heard of malapropisms (named after Mrs Malaprop from Sheridan’s “The Rivals”), well there should be such a thing as AnnPollardisms.

Karen was asking how dad’s company was doing. What mum intended to say was that “they were working very hard”. What actually came out (AND LOUDLY TOO), was

Mum :- No, they are doing very well, but working like blacks.

I nearly choked.

dp :- MUM !!!!!!!!! (I shouted out)

Mum :- What love, have you hurt yourself ?

We were in absolute stitches for ages.

Here is Adele and Michelle. Adele was crying with laughter…..

Dad then recalled their trip last week to South Africa with Peter and Judith Dawson (Wendi Peter’s mum and dad (off Coro St.))

Mum said to Judith referring to what she was going to wear for the evening’s meal …..

Mum :- Are you wearing those shorts Judith, or are you putting something nice on ?

As I say, you can take her anywhere, but best to have her gagged !

Here’s everyone visiting….

We had a cracking couple of hours. Thanks for coming up mum and dad (and battling the with 1 hour+ tailback).

Tonight, we think it is Jane and Debbie.

Another cracking visit – loads of laughter at Deborah and Lydia’s antics. Jane was a no-show. Lydia – a surprise visitor, but very welcome

kp still on a roll.

Really enjoying this ward. Ward 12 staff were very loud and inconsiderate, but these staff (Ward 16) seem much more tuned to patient’s needs.

kp is a bit concerned that another lady on the ward may not make it through the night, so i think she is dreading tonight.

Here is a photo of Debs, kp and Lydia.

Just rang the hospital. kp seems really fed up. She was a bit concerned that someone on the ward may not make it through the night. Although she has, it seems like it has been an eventful night and quite depressing for kp

Went for the afternoon visit. Was a bit more perky. The woman across the way was really struggling. It was really getting kp down. I went to see the Ward Sister and asked if there were any plans to move her as it was really starting to affect kp’s health. She couldn’t comment, but by the evening visit, she had been moved to the High Dependency Unit. I was very pleased for kp.

We had a good natter for the first few minutes and then 30 minutes of quiet. We were struggling for things to say. I then started telling her all about the work politics going on at the moment and it provided for quite a few interesting conversations. Must remember that for future quiet moments.

The weekends in hospital are a real waste of time. No physio, no action going on. I am sure kp will come on in leaps and bounds from tomorrow onwards as physio once again kicks in. She can get out of bed herself, but needs a hand to get to the chair, but I am hopeful that that will soon be knocked on the head.

From strength to strength.

Physio came round this morning. She has been walking around the room with her zimmer (with wheels). Very slow, but can get from a to b where (c = b- a & c<5m) which is important if you want to go for a p where p=loo.

Angela (fellow car crash victim) visited today. She looked great. Here are the 2 of them.....

Marie missed her bus, but I spoke to the brothers in the house (sister on the ward) to arrange that she could stay later than visiting with her homie. (sister).

Very hectic day at work today, and I was pleased I could get away a bit early to crack on.

Tonight, kp was again on top form, watching something on the tv when I arrived. She was reluctant to turn it off when I got there and kept taking sneeky peeks.

dp:- How rude ! (imitating Karen telling me off when I get distracted).

She got the point. Although she still kept looking to catch the ending. Different rules for her though. When I get distracted, it’s “do you not care about me ? Is TV more important ?”. But when kp gets distracted, then “she is just catching the ending” – that’s ok. Women !

Alarming but funny thing happened this afternoon according to kp. Another lady came back from the theatre, but every so often she would stop breathing. kp said she was dead funny and is dead relaxed about everything. The nurses would rush around her and shout at her to “Keep breathing Sally  !!”.

Sally (name changed) :- Eee, sorry, I keep forgetting.

Another one happened while I was there. Sally started vomiting with her oxygen mask on. The nurses rushed round to make sure she didn’t breath it in. About 30 seconds later, Sally was laughing…..

Sally (laughing):- Eeeeee, most of it went back down.

Takes all sorts ! She is going to ask the physio when she can go home tomorrow, because she can get to the loo now, and we are not sure what else they are looking for.

Was late for my visit due to work pressures, but kp was understanding.

She is in a lot of pain at the moment. The physio has had her walking using crutches. She has remarked how much her left side has bucked up to compensate for her weak right side which I thought was interesting. If she lies still, she is ok painwise, but she dreads getting up to shuffle to the loo. Can’t really say “Walk to the loo”. Will try and get some video of her current walking. She is doing really well, but it looks laborious.

She is being moved back to Ward 12 to a private room, because of the MRSA risk. Because she has had it before, they are going to swab her for mrsa etc and apparently this is standard procedure just in case. Not worried about that – she has knocked mrsa out of the window before and I am sure she can do the same again (IF she gets it or has it)

Here is kp tonight when I first entered her new room – gossiping with Ronnie. I came straight from work (late finish) so didn’t have the things she ordered……underwear, trousers, tops etc etc….

She was understanding.

She needed the loo, so I watched her on her new crutches. It looks hard going.

CLICK HERE for a clip of kp coming back from the loo (she thought I was taking a picture).

Which I did, eventually …..

Back in bed, we had a natter and then it was soon time to go. She is in fine fettle, but the pain when she walks is tangible.

Looks like it may be thursday or friday when she comes home according to the physio.

Karen is coming home today. Just heard from a very excited kp !

Picking her up this afternoon during visiting

Well, she’s home.

I went home to pick the car up and to put the wooden ramp back in place which Tommy had built. Tommy came round to help screw it into place.

I arrived late at the hospital, but in perfect time to take kp home. No sooner had I arrived than the last piece of the puzzle required for kp to come home, the doctor’s letter, was delivered. (Not so) Quick trip to the loo and we were on our way. kp was loaded up with plastic bags (on her wheelchair). I was carrying her case, 2 crutches and a zimmerframe whilst pushing the wheelchair with one hand. I got lots of sympathy along the way from everyone who saw me.

kp:- Can we pop into Ward 16, so I can say bye to the staff and me mates (patients in her room ?

dp :- Yes dear, no problem

Bit of a struggle getting her into the car, but an 80 year old man came to help me (I kid you not). He had obviously done this for many years with his wife.

kp was well pleased to get home. She was absolutely knackered. So was I. So, after the dogs had seen her again, we both retired. We were both woken up by a bouquet of a beautiful flowers arriving from Nigel and Terry (thanks you two) – that’s “Thanks for the flowers”. “No thanks for being woken up”

kp snored like a trooper (she has to sleep on her back).

When she woke, I got the usual…..

kp:- I just couldn’t fall asleep.

Yeah, right !

No fags for a week, I just hope she can keep it up.

Soon after we woke up, I went for supplies. I left her with a cup of tea, all the remotes, the phone, her mobile etc etc…. Sorry about the photo quality.

I had to get our card table out as all our other tables are too low for her, and she has to be careful not to bend down, for fear of dislocation.

Let’s end on a funny. This happened yesterday. She had been given a sheet on what to do and what not to do. Things like bending, twisting are no gos. There was a whole section on “Sexual Intercourse” that caught my eye.

It went something like this. You should refrain from Sexual Intercourse for 6-8 weeks, blah blah….

When Karen read that out in the presence of the physio and all her other wardmates, she laughed.

kp:- If my husband reads that he will be chuffed to bits, he hasn’t had any for 2 years….

Oh, how I laughed.

Well, it’s great to have her home.

But, hard work. Takes me back in time to the last time she came home from hospital, but its not quite as hard work.

Mentally, kp is doing “ok”. She is still not “walking”. Pain has been an issue, surprisingly not in her hip (although this stills throbs on a nighttime), but between her hip and knee ? She needs the zimmer to get around, but resorts to the wheelchair from one side of the house to t’other. Her “walking” is SO laborious. And her right foot is not in line with her walk, but points off to the side ?! You can see she doesn’t want to put ANY weight on the right hip.

There was one time this week when she had just woken up, that she COULD put some weight on it, and we thought “WOW, it’s getting better”. Her walk was not normal by any means, but you could see it was on the way to being normal, but since then it has just reverted to a hobble. I don’t think it helps that her left side is weak, and the hip that has been changed is on the right.

So, hopefully, this time next week, there will be improvements, but I know kp is concerned that she isn’t much further forward since coming home from hospital.

We were due to go to Cyprus in April with my family, but kp can’t go now (can’t fly, for fear of embellisms). She has said I should still go, Marie will stay the week with her, but I am in 2 minds.

Work have been good to me. On the day she came home I left at lunchtime, and the following day, I was kp’s carer and worked from home. Marie came to do Friday (thanks Marie). We have Mon/Tue/Thurs/Fri covered this week, which means I’ll work from home on the wednesday.

So, in summary, kp “ok” mentally, neither up nor down. But we would like to see some improvement this week.

Well, improvement continues. Not big leaps, but enough to show things are heading in the right direction. The dogs are getting a bit impatient. When kp goes (with zimmer) from one room to another, the dogs want to get ahead of her, and so have to jump through her zimmer. Funny to watch.

She is very anxious at the moment and keeps pressing Marie and I on the subject of “when will I be walking”.

We keep reassuring her that it will happen soon.

Mentally, she is doing good. She is keeping positive which is the main thing. Marie came on Sunday night and stayed until Monday night. Adele came on Tuesday for the day. I am off working from home today and Marie or Adele are returning tomorrow to be “carer”.

No other big news.

CLICK HERE for a clip of kp WITHOUT the zimmer taken today.

You will more than likely need Quicktime installed on your machine to see this.

Mentally, kp’s mood has been on a downward trend towards the end of the week, resulting in lots of tears on Saturday.

She keeps comparing herself to my mum who had her hip replaced last September.

kp:- What was your mam doing by this time ?

kp:- When do you think I will be walking properly ?

kp:- When will I be able to get on the sofa without your help ?

kp:- I really want a bath, I am cold to me bones, but I can’t. When will I be able to have a bath do you think ?

etc
etc

Saturday it came to a head. She was sick of walking at a snail’s pace, sick of needing me to get changed etc….And we had lots of tears.

I booked us in for sunday lunch to try and get her out of the house and a nice meal in her. But Sunday, she decided she didn’t want to go. So, I pampered her as best I could. I dried her down after her shower, did her hair for her etc etc…

I offered to take her up the drive and we could go and visit Tommy and Eileen next door. She was keen to get outside. Here is a photo of her on the drive.

And for those with Quicktime installed, you can CLICK HERE to see a video of her before she was blown over by the wind.

Karen will be the death of me (see later)

A very fed up kp all week this week. She is very frustrated with not being “better” now. She keeps comparing herself to anyone else she knows who has had a hip replacement. I have to keep reminding her that she is only just over 3 weeks post op.

kp:- Yes, but I am sure your mam was up and about more by this time.

dp:- I don’t think she was, and even if she was, she hasn’t had a stroke or a broken pelvis.

She was really concerned midweek that she wasn’t going to get much better. Fiddlesticks.

It is a bit weird, because one day she would be “ok” – Able to walk with the stick from room to room. The next day, i would be ferrying her, here, there and everywhere in the wheelchair ?!

But, I am pleased to report as the week got towards the end, there has been a marked improvement. Since friday, there has only been very sporadic use of the wheelchair, which is good. The other good thing, and it’s REALLY good !!!!

Before the op, she was upto 150mg Fentanyl Patches. The limit she could go to is 175mg Fentanyl and then she would have been going on to oral morphine ! But as this week has progressed, she hadn’t been asking when the patch was due for a change. So, we decided to go the full 3 days, and reduce the patch. She did 3 days on a 100mg Patch, and on Friday, we did 75mg Patch. Which is great !

During the week, she has not been feeling very well. She can’t put her finger on it, but said she felt anxious and her stomach wasn’t right. She couldn’t be any more specific.

Over the weekend, some research on the internet revealed this was a symptom of fentanyl withdrawal Good to know there is a reason.

Tommy the tiler (our next door neighbour) has been tiling our kitchen all week. Big Job and he has been doing a cracking job.

Marie and Adele have been performing their usual wonders and making the house look spotless despite all the mess and giving Karen loads of TLC. Thanks girls !!!  I know you don’t often get a mention in the blog. It’s not that you’re taken for granted, but you’re here that often, you’re like the furniture, and I haven’t mentioned my recliner chair in the blog AT ALL ! Thanks I know ONLY too well, how hard this journey would have been without you !

Friday saw a marked improvement in Karen’s walking. It’s still not “walking”, but its much less of a hobble.

I can’t remember if I mentioned this already in the blog, but we were due to go to Cyprus w/c April 8th 2007. But kp can’t go, because of the risk of clots. But I can go, she has said, so I am looking forward to that big time.

What else…..

Yesterday (Saturday), Jane and Ronnie came up for Sat/Sun night. We had the usual fun-filled nights. kp was nearly wetting herself with laughter last night as we all were at Jane’s antics and that of her grandmother wearing paper knickers when going on holidays abroad. She went out one day – it was a very hot day – when she got back, she was left with 3 pieces of elastic (2 on her legs, 1 round her waist), the paper knickers had disintegrated. It doesn’t sound funny, but when Jane tells it, it’s a much better story.

We went to the Pump House for lunch today – gorgeous as always.

I got my new phone out (better camera, and video camera), and took a photo of the girls. But it was in video mode, so CLICK HERE to see kp doing her improved walking.

For those without Quicktime installed, here is a photo of the girls outside the Pump House.

So, why will Karen be the death of me. I can’t remember which day it was, but it was one night this week.

Karen has a raised toilet seat with feet going all the way to the floor. I couldn’t be arsed going to the other toilet, so went on it. As I went to the sink after abluting, I stubbed my toe on the foot. Grrrr.

Leaving the bathroom, my dressing gown caught on the wheelchair arm and nearly took me down.

As I entered the living room, Karen was sitting in my chair, with her walking stick down by her side but it was sticking out by a foot at shin level. Bang, straight into it. There was some blue language as I performed a miraculous recovery. Karen found it very funny, especially when I described what had happened on the way from the bathroom to the living room.

Not a good start to the week. On Monday, Jane, Ronnie and Karen went to see Jane’s new house. With 5 toilets, 4 bathrooms and a double sink (private joke), it is a big house to get round. I told kp before she went that I was concerned about the stairs.

But, she decided to look upstairs anyway when she got there. She took it a step at a time, had a look round and then came down a stair at a time, but backwards.

Yesterday, she was in agony.

kp:- This is as bad as it was the night before the hip replacement.

Most of the night, I wheeled her round in the wheelchair, she really couldn’t walk. I was annoyed with myself for not being more forceful about the stairs issue. I am sure that is what caused the problem. The commode is back in the bedroom again as well.
She had gone back upto 100ug patch from Monday night, but last night, as well as codeine, diclofenac, paracetamol and gabapentin, we had to up the patch to 150ug.

Now, a bit of good news, although this could be a dream. She got up in the night for something, and I think I asked her if it was any better. I think she said “a little”. Now, that could have all been a dream, but fingers crossed it wasn’t.

Well, I am pleased to report kp has improved as the week progressed. Each day brought further mobility, and a happier kp.

I was even “allowed” to go out for a drink with a work colleague on tuesday night. Got the form signed and everything.

We got news that kp’s employer is coming in April to sack her.   Should be fun.

Mum and Dad came over on Saturday to check out the new (nearly completed) kitchen. They took us out for a lovely lunch at the Pump House.

Very little else to report. But kp is feeling really good in herself and is been “walking” without stick most of the day. It’s my niece’s birthday today. Happy Birthday Sophie ! I think she is 5 or 6. Princesses and Pirates party today.

All good at the Durham Pollard household.

Some cracking days this week both weather wise and kp mood wise. They coincided with the patches going on (obviously not the weather days).

kp had a really good day in the early week, after going downhill a bit. It was the day after the patch application.

Previous to that, she had been of low mood.

kp:- This is what it’s going to be like, for the rest of my life

Wednesday saw the arrival of Abby, Louisa and mum Adele. We had a good laff with them. Here are Abby and Louisa having the Roast Lamb tea.

Obviously, I reassured her she was still only 5 weeks post op, and things will still improve.

On thursday, I booked her a doctor’s appointment with a view to trying to get the patches sorted. The doctor has kept the strength the same, but changed the type of patch to a different Fentanyl patch. He is hoping that there will be a different release mechanism that may give out the fentanyl for the full 3 days, instead of kp absorbing all in the first 36 hours. Fingers crossed.

Yesterday, Good Friday, with 150ug Fentanyl put on at 4am, I saw a kp that was walking better and feeling top of the world. She wanted to go out shopping for kitchen gear. She loved every minute, although was flagging towards the end, but it still didn’t stop the enjoyment.

With the increased distances in mind, she thought about changing the patch strength. She knows that with the right dosages of Fentantyl, she feels great. So we decided to up it to 175ug (the limit, according to a website we read somewhere). We put the additional 25ug on this morning (7am), so hopefully when she gets up later today (it’s 11am now), she will feel like yesterday. At 7am, she was already not feeling tip top.

So, a patchy week (no pun intended), with some cracking high points.

Tomorrow, I fly off to Cyprus for the week, leaving kp in the care of Marie. I am really looking forward to it, but wish kp could come.

Cracking week for both kp and I.

I left on the Saturday afternoon to go down to mum and dad’s (Lancashire) to be ready for the early flight to Larnaka (Cyprus). Karen was going to be “on her own” the whole week. When I say “on her own”, I think there was only 1 night she was “on her own” as she was inundated with friends and family coming over to look after her and stay the night.

II’ll do this blog in 2 halves. My half and the kp half.

kp (the important bit)
Well, she couldn’t go on the holiday because of the risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), so close after her op and all that. We had seen the doctor’s the previous week and he had prescribed some new patches with a different release mechanism. I was sceptical, kp was hopeful. But by golly (can’t say that, racist), by Jove (can’t say that, religious). Start again. Would you believe it ? The pain (and I don’t want to tempt fate) is “under control”, for the first time I can recall. No more ups and downs, she has had a brilliant week with the pain under control. Now, that could be partly due to the weather (which apparently has been gorgeous in the England), but my gut is telling me the patches are working better. The old Fentanyl patches (Durogesic (brandname)) have been replaced with a different brandname (Matrifen). They are thicker with a smaller surface area (by half) which could explain the slower but more constant release.

So, good patches, good weather, lots of visits from family and friends (Marie, Adele, Abbie, Louisa, Jane, Michelle and Freddy) made for a great week for kp. I was on the phone AT LEAST twice daily. Predictably compos mentis during the day, and a little worse for wear on the last phone call of the day after some double brandies, but I don’t think kp could tell (much). Whilst I was away, Marie undertook a huge job, that of reading the whole blog from start to finish. We needed someone to do this, to work out what we can claim back from the insurance. The blog has also served as a record of the trips Karen went on (Physio, hospital visits, etc…) and Marie went through the whole thing, itemising what costs we have incurred each day, from taxis to telephone costs (in the hospital), from food (in the hospital) to dog walkers (at home). It all needs to be claimed back. Thank you SOOOO much Marie – I was absolutely dreading that job.

So, cracking week for Karen, she has really enjoyed it. Thanks for everyone’s support !!

dp
My holiday was awesome. The only downside was kp not being there, but that didn’t deter me from having the best of holidays. The weather was glorious, the company excellent, the fun abundant, it was just brilliant. The kids were great pretty much the whole holiday – lots of fun. The Pollard Clan can be quite competitive (ahem), and in true Pollard fashion, the holiday pretty much turned into a mini-olympics. We played Tennis, Table-Tennis, Beach Volleyball and Cards (based on points for the whole week). Dad and I won the Tennis. The table tennis was won by Guy (well done Guy, bastard). Mum won the cards. Jane won bugger all. Actually, that’s not fair. Jane won “biggest inflicted bruise” in the table tennis. Her slams don’t score too heavily in the accuracy field, but what they lack in accuracy, they make up for in power. Guy lost an eye, I have a third nipple, and Dad won’t be giving Jane or I any new brothers/sisters.

The table tennis proved to be the most competitive of competitions. Guy started poorly, Dad was the strongest candidate for the championship title. But, then Guy started romping up the pressure. He has an annoying habit of returning the ball consistently EVERY time. That’s fine for most players, for the impatient Pollards, we get bored in long rallies, and by about the 20th ball, we are longing to end it, and the resultant slams either miss (or Guy bloody returns them).

So, for the record. Guy (top), dp (second), Dad (third), Jane (fourth).

Tennis was just as competitive but Dad and I stormed it. Jane and Guy had youth on their side, but even with Dad’s bad back and my bad hip, they still couldn’t break us. Formidable says it all.

So, for the record. Dad and dp (winners), Jane and Guy (loooooooooooooooooooosers).

Cards was great fun. Mum and Dad, the card counters, did brilliantly, Mum winning the week’s play overall. Just when you thought you had a good hand, Mum would trounce it, winning the round and then saying “Sorry, love.” We got so annoyed, not by her winning, but by the “Sorry, love”, that we had it written in the rules that if she said “Sorry, love” when she won a round, the round was void. In fact, I asked for that to be amended to include “any form of apology, written or spoken, implicit or explicit” just to be sure. She only forgot once, very impressive. We let her off (inebriation makes one very forgiving).

The volleyball, to be fair, wasn’t a family affair. It was arranged by the hotel, and Guy and I got roped in, but we enjoyed it. So, it’s probably not fair to mention which team won, but because it was mine, I don’t mind telling you “WE DID !!!!” Had Guy’s team won, I would. of course, have just mentioned that we played Beach Volleyball (who won would have been irrelevant)

The swimming pools were freezing (apart from the inside one). But, the kids didn’t mind. As the Uncle (on the trip), I have that joyous right to DECIDE when I get involved with the kids, and surprise surprise when it came to “Uncle David, come and play with us in the pool”, I had other things on the go (normally a devilish Sudoku puzzle). Mummy and Daddy (and Grandma and Grandpa) didn’t have that luxury. Oh, my bleeding heart.

The sea was a bit warmer (strangely), and I did go in there (upto my knees), but only to board a catamaran for 30 minutes sailing. It would have been an hour if the wind was a bit stronger, but it wasn’t quite enough to do the leaning out thing, so I got bored, tacking to and fro all the time.

I could go on about the holiday for ages, it really was absolutely brilliant. Dad picked up the whole tab and normally I would say “that was the best bit of the holiday”, but it didn’t matter. I would have enjoyed it even if I had to open my wallet. Although that statement is null and void for future holidays, if you fancy treating us again !!

Thanks Mum and Dad for treating us, thanks Mum, Dad, Jane, Guy, Sophie and Jemms (my new name for Jamie) for making it so much fun.

Here are some photos….

View from the bedroom….

Sophie (with my specs on)…

Kids Teas….

Not sure what this is about……

Breakfast with Sophie….

Kids could be drowning, but we have time to smile for the camera…..

Face Painting…..James is a tiger, Sophie is a washed out ladybird…..

Day 722 – 728. Monday 23rd April to Sunday 29th April 2007

by David Pollard — published on April 29th, 2007

Mixed Bag of a week.

Pain was all over the place – it started really bad, lots of tears, “life won’t be the same ever again” kind of stuff.  I assured her we would get on top of the pain. We had done it before (2 weeks previously) and we would crack it again.

We are keeping a chart of how much Fentanyl patch (strength) is going on so we can go back to the doctor to get adjusted to what works. She is supposed to be on a 125ug patch (changed every 2.5 days). That definitely wasn’ t working. On average she is on a 150ug and a further 50ug (every 2.5 days) and it seems to have borne fruit as the week has progressed.

The side effect is that she sleeps A LOT, but better that than the pain. The pain (btw) is pelvis pain (we think), extending down her legs. The hip seems to be much improved. Although she has complained of left hip pain (stroke side) which is a bit strange, but we’ll keep a watch on it.

Monday, I had arranged with work to be off until late morning as the social worker was coming. Pollards aren’t patient creatures and when she was 15 minutes late (at 9.45am), I was tapping my feet. By 10.15am, I was livid. I rang up only to find she had forgot about the appointment ! Grrrrrrrrrr ! The annoying thing is she lives in Esh Winning anyway !!!!

It was rescheduled for Wednesday (some MORE time off work). Nice lady. Just checked kp was getting all the help she needed.

Thursday was an eventful day. Michelle and Adele came during the day (about 11.30am ish), Adele to do the cleaning, and Michelle for a visit. kp enjoyed their company, although she didn’t wake up until 1pm !

I was off work AGAIN in the afternoon, this time it was for Karen’s bosses who were attending to formally dismiss her (based on ill health). It was Karen’s direct boss, the Personnel Manager for the North East Region and the big wig for the North East Blood Service (with the power to sack). We had never met her before. All three were lovely ! The bigwig had no airs and graces about her and seemed really pleased to meet kp.

kp chatted to them for ages (while I made the tea) – catching up on all the gossip. She has a habit of being quite direct in her questioning techniques, which they found unnerving but funny. She was asking the bigwig who had employed Karen’s boss what Karen’s boss was like as an employee and other such leading questions. There were lots of laughs and it was a good afternoon. Eventually, Karen had run out of questions. That doesn’t sound possible, but it happened.

kp:- So, I suppose you’re going to fire me now.

They laughed and a bit more conversation ensued.

About 5 minutes later, the question returned.

kp:- Eeeeee, sorry, I could talk for England. We had better get started.

At this, the tears started rolling and kp got very upset. I think she had perhaps, been trying to stall the inevitable. She hadn’t thought she would cry. She had thought she could see it as a “fun” thing, but all of those who know Karen could have predicted it. I jumped off my seat and went to comfort her. The bigwig jumped off her seat and kneeled down in front of the sofa. Both Karen and I shrieked at the fact she would get dog hairs on her, but she wasn’t at all phased. She was genuinely concerned for Karen as Karen’s boss and the Personnel Manager were.

They were absolutely fantastic. You couldn’t want for a better “sacking”. I felt so sorry for Karen. She knew that it was coming, she knows she can’t do the job any more, but yet the finality of it, is what got to her. And, I think, the fact that it wasn’t her choice. The choice was in other’s hands and they had said that she can’t work anymore.

The tears and sadness probably carried on for the best part of an hour (on and off). They arrived at 4pm and didn’t get away until about 5.30pm.

They did say some lovely things about Karen, which I was really pleased at. I have worked with Karen before (I used to be her boss), and I KNOW how good she is as a worker. But, to hear it from them, made me really proud (and sad).

Bigwig (who doesn’t know Karen, apart from what others have told her) :- I have heard only good things about you. It’s always the good ones that this kind of thing happens to.

Personnel Manager – You are an absolute inspiration Karen. You should be so proud. And you are too (looking at me)

Karen’s Boss – You’ll really be missed. You’re welcome to pop down anytime and come in for a cup of tea.

So, not a nice experience, but handled so brilliantly, I don’t think it could have been any better.

After the upset subsided, there was some more informal banter and then it came to the time they had to go. As they got upto leave, the tears began again…….

kp:- I am sorry, you’ll just have to go.

And that was that…..

They must have felt awful, but I hope they understand that they did a good job. kp did tell them as well, so they should.

The upset continued for another couple of hours and then by the time it was bedtime, the job was history. (well, I say that now, there may be more upset to come, but my gut is telling me that that should be it).

Well done Karen.

Friday was a new day, by this time, we were starting to get the pain in control. It was the TWO YEAR anniversary of the accident. Angela (fellow crashmate) had sent a hand made card. kp really appreciated the work that had gone into it and the words inside. Thanks Angela. It was also physio day. kp had some hip physio arranged, which turned into a very low impact assessment of her hip movement and them putting them forward for more hydro. Which is great, she loves that and it does her wonders.

She took a taxi to the town, where Marie was waiting for her at a prearranged point. She had come over from the ‘boro to do some shopping with kp. By all accounts, she loved it. They had a good walk around Durham, stopping for cups of tea, and sitting in every shop they came to (for Karen). Marie carried all the bags. Poor Marie. I think Karen got everything she wanted. But, more importantly, she really enjoyed it ! Thanks Marie – really appreciate it. It was lovely to see her so full of life when I got home.

A nice surprise awaited Marie and Karen when they got home. Michelle, who had been over the day before, had sent some flowers to Karen. Here is a piccy….

Thanks Michelle. She really appreciated them !

Saturday saw kp and I have a lovely day. We were “jobbing on” pretty much all day, but it was just really nice to be together for the day. We achieved a lot, got the shed cleared out, new “gate” put up, and other things that I have already forgotten.

Sunday was a more chilly out day. kp has slept A LOT today. From 1am to 10am, 11am to 1pm, 4pm to ? (still asleep, when I write this at 5.30pm). She is on 200ug patch, so I suppose it is to be expected.

This week should be a quieter week. Lydia (ex work mate) is coming tomorrow. Physio on thursday, and Adele coming up to clean Tuesday and Friday I think. So, nice week.

PS – It’s 2 years since the accident but I must have lost a few days as it is only Day 728 (supposedly), so I’ll correct this next week. I think today should be Day 732.

Comments Off

categories: Karen's Blog

Day 732 – 738. Monday 30th April to Sunday 6th May 2007

by David Pollard — published on May 6th, 2007

Lydia came over on monday. She brought cakes and they did lunch which was nice.

Tuesday saw my 40th birthday come and go. kp had got me more presents than I can ever remember. How she managed to do that is still a mystery, but I think some internet shopping and some assistance from Marie helped. Thanks kp.

With the recent pain issues, we had decided to get the pain medication changed. It needed upping. We had charted the patch usage so that we could tell the doctor what worked. He was great and told kp exactly what she wanted to hear, namely that “we haven’t even scratched the surface as to the pain medication that could be deployed” or words to that effect. kp was over the moon.

Here is the chart I gave to the doctor, detailing when different level patches were applied. This level allowed kp to enjoy life (as best she can).

The doctor noted our use of patches to fix break-thru pain but felt that this would be better done with pills. So, in summary, he upped the Fentanyl patches to 150ug / hr, and gave her a load of “morphine suplhate” tablets to use for breakthru’ pain.

The rest of the week she has been following the new regime. The 150ug patches seem to last 1.5 days, and then she starts on the morphine tablets (50g strength). The good news is that they are sorting the pain. The bad news is that they completely zonk her. She feels constantly exhausted and seems to spend her days sleeping.

Friday, Adele and the kids came over during the day. kp got up for part of their visit. Veronica came for the night time. I went to a work’s doo on the night, and didn’t come back until about 12.15am. Both vd and kp were asleep (very unusual for these 2). I was very tipsy and hadn’t a key, so hammered on the front door to be greeted by a less than enthusiastic kp.

Here are some pics from the doo. I only took 2. All I can say is…..”Helen……..hah !”. That’ll teach you for taking everyone else’s picture !

 

 

Saturday, we both slept most of the day, getting up in time to go to Irene and keith’s (ronnie’s mum and dad) 50th wedding anniversary.

Here is Michelle, Karen and Irene.

So, good week for pain, but not sure we have gained much with kp just a walking zombie

2 Comments »

categories: Karen's Blog

Day 746 – Monday 14th may 2007

by David Pollard — published on May 15th, 2007

Driving Assessment Day

Not what we had hoped for.

Karen came in a taxi to meet me at work. We went in ITPS toilets to put her bra on, because she couldn’t get it on.

She had been very flustered getting ready for the taxi. Things hadn’t gone to plan.

The driving centre was very impressive and the staff superb. kp had been VERY anxious for the last day or so, but they made her at ease.

The afternoon started with about an hour’s worth of assessment, maybe even 90 mins. There were loads of tests to see if certain moves were painful (looking in the mirror, getting in the car type of moves). But the majority of the tests were to assess the impact of her stroke on driving.

One of the tests was the lady made 5 signs with her hands (salute, fist, turning a key, wave and another (which I have forgot)). kp had to do the signs back to her. She only got 3.

Another test was she showed Karen a blank piece of paper which had 3 cubes on (next to each other).

kp had to guess how many cubes there were. She guessed correctly.

Then they got more complex, and she didn’t get ANY more right. It was very sad to see.

Here is an example. Take the top left set of cubes. The lady would ask how many cubes there were. Karen would think about it for a while and say 12. She couldn’t picture the 3 dimensional aspect of the diagram. There are, of course, 8.

The lady explained that this was a problem with spatial awareness. Karen asked what does this have to do with driving. The lady went on to explain that it means Karen finds it hard to understand things she sees in 3 dimensions. She asked Karen if she had problems getting her clothes on. Of course, she does. She suggested that Karen might struggle with getting her clothes the right way round. She had hit the nail on the head. Karen can not (for the life of her), work out how to get a blouse the right way round. If an arm is inside out, kp can’t work out how to correct it.

Interesting how the lady could tell this from this simple test.

She then showed Karen a series of sheets which had 2 squares on. Each pair of squares had a dot in it. One of the squares had a dot bang in the middle, the other had a dot that was a little bit off centre. kp had to identify the square where the dot was bang in the middle. She got about 3 out of 8 of these, whereas normally people would get 7 out of 8. The other thing that was obvious is that it took Karen a long while to work it out. I was sitting behind her and watching over her shoulder,  and I could tell instantly, which was the one with the dot in the centre. Although I did get one wrong.

What did this have to do with driving. Well, when we went out on the driving circuit, we found out.

There was a driving circuit behind the centre and Karen had to drive around as directed by the driving instructor. He was dead canny. He only had 1 eye and 1 arm, so he was a good example of how you can still drive with disabilities.

They didn’t really want me to go with her, but Karen insisted.

What was clear when kp drove is that she drove very much to the right of the track. It was later explained that her left side inattention meant she was unsure what was to the left, so played it safe and drove to the right. Obviously on the roads, this can be dangerous. We clipped a few kerbs along the way, but the circuit was that tight, I think most drivers would have clipped the odd kerb.

The upshot of the day was that they were concerned about Karen’s line on the road. This possibly could be fixed with lessons, but the driving instructor said that this tended to be one of the things that could see only slight improvement. But we wouldn’t know unless we tried.

After the tests, we both felt that she wouldn’t be driving again, as it was clear there were issues, but after the driving part of the afternoon, we both felt there was a CHANCE that she could drive again, but it would all depend on whether she could correct her line on the road.

kp was upset, I could tell, when they were reviewing the day. But there were no tears, although she was welling up.

Strangely, the whole test was done in a manual car, with no bolt on knob on the steering wheel, which i thought strange. But this is because kp was used to a manual car. At first, she couldn’t get the gears right at all. We would set off in third with the inevitable stall. But I was impressed that she could do the gears at all. Whereas most people wouldn’t need to look at the gears to get the car into gear. kp really had to concentrate and watch what her left hand was doing.

For the lessons and future driving, they have suggested Karen only uses an automatic car. If she was successful at her next assessment, her licence would be changed to “only automatics”.

So, not exactly what we had hoped for. Still no tears, but I know she will be thinking about it for a few days, and I think the upset will follow.

One funny moment. After the hour’s worth of assessment (which kp later told me REALLY took it out of her, but she tried not to let it show), she wanted a fag before the driving assessment. She asked the lady where she could have a fag. Unfortunately, it was one of those new places where there is no smoking ANYWHERE on the grounds.

kp looking forlorn :- Oh, not to worry.

Seeing kp really wanted a fag, the lady stopped the driving instructor and asked him, in turn he asked another lady who was passing. Another person was passing, she stopped to offer advice. In the end we had 5 staffmembers around us all discussing how to smoke legally on the grounds.

Apparently, if you are in your own car (on the grounds), you can smoke, so that’s what she did

Here is a video clip of kp doing her emergency stop.

CLICK HERE (it may take a while to download)

Driving lessons here we come !

1 Comment »

categories: Karen's Blog