Blogging
My intention was to be a Better Blogger in 2013 but I seem to
be in some sort of limbo, waiting for something to happen. On the one hand
there is Barry’s mother, Dorothy, old and very frail, who keeps falling into a
sort of hibernation in her care home in Dorset.
Two weeks ago she had been asleep for two days, not responding
to any external stimuli apart from when the doctor poked the sole of her foot
with something sharp. A short while later she woke up and indicated that she was
thirsty. Barry and his brother decided she should go to hospital. While there
she was rehydrated and given a broad spectrum antibiotic.
Barry’s sister-in-law phoned later to find out how she was and
the nurse couldn’t locate her. Eventually she was discovered travelling round
the hospital on her Zimmer frame looking for the exit. When the nurse was told that
the doctor attending Dorothy in the home said she was dying, the nurse laughed
and said, ‘No way is she dying.’ Indeed, when they visited later that day they found
her in high good spirits, much of her lost personality seemingly restored, no
longer the depressed and aggressive and inward-looking character she had been
for so many, many months.
The next day she returned to the retirement home she has lived
in for the last two and a half years and promptly fell asleep again. This time
it was thought it was due to genuine tiredness after her journeying round the
hospital. Following that, she was awake, drinking tea and eating chocolates.
Now, once more, she’s back to sleeping deeply and eating and drinking very
little. We think probably she will go into the local hospital where she will be
rehydrated again. It seems the right thing to do rather than allow her to
slowly die of thirst.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the country, in Edinburgh, our
eldest granddaughter was taken into hospital with painful contractions (not Braxton Hicks) Very
worrying, as the baby was not due for another eleven weeks. Marnie was
transferred from St James’ to the Royal Infirmary where the facilities for
treating very premature babies are better and we waited and waited and Gillian
and Paul (Marnie’s parents) became more and more strained.
After a week, when
no further progress was made Marnie was discharged. She wasn’t allowed to fly
or travel by train so Gillian drove to Edinburgh to collect her. She then had
to go to Dorchester to be checked but was allowed home. She is still having
contractions but will not see an obstetrician until Friday this week, almost
three weeks since she was first admitted to hospital. Surely it cannot be right
for her to continue having contractions for another eight weeks? She has been told she has an 'irritable uterus' - I'll say it's irritable!
However, the
baby is pronounced healthy and capable of breathing on her own if she does
arrive early. Whenever she puts in an appearance there are some names she should
not have. With a surname starting with S she cannot have names giving the
initials BS, FS, OS, PS or SS!! J
Interesting times - I’ll keep you posted!
