The Birthday

Well, today we actually got the chance to be on our own again to celebrate Pauline's 65th birthday.   Over the weekend we had a lovely time with our family in Lancashire.   On the Saturday we went out with my brother and his wife, Ann, for an evening meal at the Fencegate Inn, Fence.   They have a wide ranging menu with the majority of choices being traditional local food.   Yet they have a wine list from which you could choose a bottle of champagne for £500!   I chose a sauvignon blanc from Chile and it went down very well.

It was a lovely meal but Pauline struggled against the crescendo of sound as the restaurant filled up.   Since her operation she has had difficulty with crowded place and this was no exception.   Once we were back at my brother's house we could settle down and have a quiet time.

The next day saw us driving over to Rochdale where our children live with their families.   We shared a lovely buffet lunch organised by my son and his wife.   Graham & Ann came with us so it was a very happy affair.   We left Rochdale at 4.15pm and were back home at 6.40pm after a single stop for petrol at Penmaenmawr.

Today has seen us relaxing quietly at home and we are now looking forward to beef carbonnade for dinner, preceded by carrot & coriander soup and followed by pear tart.   It should be good.

For the last two years or so I have been getting to grips with cooking many different foods and so we enjoy some excellent recipes these days.   It became necessary to take over from Pauline as she found it difficult to stand because of her spinal condition.   Today, I have no intentions of giving up my kitchen!!!   I really enjoy cooking and the results are so enjoyable that it is all doubly worthwhile.

Now, I must sign off and bring the Rioja to room temperature!

Back to Liverpool

Pauline and I went back to the Walton Centre in Liverpool yesterday (12th March) for a post op check up with Mr Mike Jenkinson, her consultant neuro-surgeon.   We broke the journey at Llandudno where Pauline bought a couple of things she wanted.   Then we went round to Venue Cymru, the theatre and conference centre in Llandudno to have lunch.   The restaurant was closed!   So, off we went, heading for Liverpool via Queensferry where we bought sandwiches for lunch and West Kirby where we ate them, looking across the Dee estuary.   We were parked near to the yacht club and there was copious sea water to look over.   However, I suddenly spotted a man and then lots of other people walking along several hundred yards from us.   No matter how hard I looked it appeared that all these people were walking on water!   It was obviously an optical illusion, because no one appeared to be wading!

After lunch we set off again for Liverpool and the Walton Centre in Fazakerly.   Arriving 20 minutes earl;y I dropped Pauline off whilst I searched for a parking spot.   The Walton Centre has the smallest car park you have ever seen at a hospital.   If you get a place in an afternoon you are very fortunate indeed.   With all the people visiting patients together with out-patients appointments there is little chance of getting a parking space.   So I parked elsewhere and walked back to the hospital.   I was in time to accompany Pauline for her appointment with Mr Jenkinson.   He explained that, providing Pauline had no objection, the two people in his room would stay and listen in.   One was a medical student and the other was from Channel 5 TV who are preparing to do a programme about the neurological work carried out at the Walton Centre.  The good news was that the operation was entirely successful.   The bad news is that we still need an explanation for the aphasia she is experiencing.   Arrangements will now be made for Ysbyty Gwynedd to do a head scan which will be sent to Mr Jenkinson for assessment.   Watch this space!

For some time recently, Pauline has problems with acute pain in her right hand, wrist and arm.   Because she has had arthritis for a number of years we assumed it was that.   However, following a recent blood test, it has now been diagnosed as gout.   There will now be two of us taking Allopurinol each day!   Very soon the pain will reduce and she can start driving the car more often.   It isn't good to be in pain daily, so I am looking forward to a better spring this year for her.  

Our next trip is at the weekend when we stay overnight with my brother and sister-in-law in Simonstone, near Burnley, and share a meal at a local restaurant to say thank you for their support when Pauline was in hospital and I stayed with them.   The following day we shall celebrate Pauline's 65th birthday with our family.   Her birthday is the following day, 19th March, but Monday is not an ideal day for a get together.

Two days later spring will arrive.   Already the trees and bushes here are in bud and we look forward to the leaves re-appearing.   On Monday 26th March we are due to have a visit from my cousin, Brian, and his wife, Heather.   From time to time they come to Anglesey to play golf near Beaumaris and they always call in on us.   They only recently returned from their annual winter sojourn in Spain and Portugal.   They are quite nomadic and take golf clubs everywhere together with binoculars for bird watching which they have done in many countries.

A New Start

For a few years I have used Facebook to keep in touch with friends.   In that time the Fb format has kept changing and no help has been there to show how to do things a new way.   Recently I discovered that if I do not set up my own time line it will be imposed in some fashion or other.   This is not that friendly.   On top of that I now discover that, because I have an account, details of my likes, dislikes and choices are made available for all and sundry to use in whatever way they like.   I have therefore taken the decision to quit and set up this blog to let my friends know what is happening with Pauline and I.   All my friends are valued so they are getting an email with the link to this blog.

In any case, I think a new start is called for with the changes that have taken place recently.  

In December 2011 Pauline had an operation called a laminectomy to relieve a progressive condition called lumbar spinal stenosis.   At the base of her spine there were spurs of bone growing and touching the nerves.   This eventually caused Pauline the most excruciating pain.   Earlier on we had gone to an osteopath for treatment of a trapped sciatic nerve.   Some relief was gained but eventually the correct diagnosis was made and we awaited the operation.   This took place on Friday, 2nd December at The Walton Centre, Liverpool which is the only centre specialising in neurological medicine in the country.   A week or so later we were making plans for her return home when the operation incision wound was found to be infected.   A day or so later it was also found that cerebrospinal fluid was leaking too.   This meant a second operation to fit a drain.   Eventually the drain was removed and soon afterwards I brought Pauline home.

What was expected to be just a few days ended up as three weeks in hospital 100 miles from home.   After the first week I reduced the journey by staying with family who really helped me.   Now I had only 50 miles to drive each day and the stress was a little less.   Looking back on the three weeks I realise that it took a lot out of me, let alone the effect on Pauline.   Once home Pauline had help from the local Social Services department of Anglesey Council with the loan of a device to help her get out of bed, a means of raising her chair so she could stand independently and a device to raise the loo seat.   Just before the New Year I took her back to The Walton Centre to have the stitches removed.   They left the final three as there was a slight seepage of fluid.   These were removed later at our local health centre.

On 2nd January I managed to get a throat infection that hit me hard and it was difficult to carry on as Pauline's carer.   However, we got through it like we always do.   Since then Pauline has made an excellent recovery.   She is out of pain from the spine but has severe arthritic pain in her right arm.   However, there is a side effect from the operation which is still to be put right.   She has had a little temporary brain damage which causes aphasia.   Aphasia is a speech disorder, often happening in stroke cases, where the speech is affected.   The good news is that this is a temporary matter and in the next year or so it will clear up.
The effect of the hospital stay has meant that we were unable to celebrate Christmas as we wished.   We had no tree or decorations and it was simply luck that I managed to do the Christmas cards and post them.   New Year was disrupted by my throat infection and I was unable to read one of the lessons at the funeral service for an old friend who had requested this just before she died.   I found it very distressing at the time.
But since that period we have experienced good progress on Pauline's part and that is worth a great deal to us.   She has found it difficult to be with large numbers of people and so we have been careful where we have gone.   The other day we had lunch at a favourite pub and she coped quite well.   This is another step towards full recovery.   Throughout all this I have had to concentrate on being with her as often as possible and so other duties have been on the back burner.   But this is slowly returning to normal.   It has all meant that we have grown very much closer since the beginning of December and life feels very much warmer for both of us.
We have booked our holiday in September, and we are off to Spain again.   Once more we are taking the car by way of a 24 hour cruise from Portsmouth to Santander.   We are booked in at the same hotels and have organised two separate visits to Toledo where, last year, Pauline struggled to walk to the cathedral.   Toledo is an amazing place, steeped in history and full of very old buildings such as churches, synagogues and mosques.   We are looking forward to visiting on our way to and from Andalucia.
Our headquarters whilst there is an old farmhouse with a pool and hot tub!   It has all round views that are amazing.   This time we hope to visit Jerez and Sanlucar de Barameda where sherry is produced.   Another visit will to be Cordoba where there is a cathedral constructed in the middle of a huge mosque.   Now that must be worth a visit!

Keep checking this blog to see what we are up to.   Also, do not forget to keep emailing us so we know what's happening with you and yours.