Better and better

This week has been a mixture of pain in various sorts for Pauline.   However, yesterday we had fish and chips outside the Ship Inn with David and Liz Jones.   The tide was in so we could sit at the water's edge and look across Red Wharf Bay as we lunched together.   We all thoroughly enjoyed it.   The big surprise was when Pauline found she could get both legs under the table by getting on the bench like organists do.   The weather is now helping us a great deal so that we get out more.

Today we had a visit from the community physio, Elin.   Pauline got her to show her again how to use the outside step at each door together with crutches.   She scored well on this.   Then she tried walking in the house with a single crutch and found she could do it quite easily.   She did so well that the physio doesn't need to come back for a fortnight!

This afternoon, after a fruitless search on the web for a suitable garden chair which was safe for Pauline, we decided to visit a garden centre at Pentre Berw.   When we arrived we found the place full of wheelchair-bound people!   It was an outing of disabled people and their carers.  We took a wheelchair provided by the garden centre and went to the garden furniture section.   We found just the right one (so we bought two - cheaper that way) and Pauline was able to try it out before purchasing.   After loading the chairs and Pauline, I set off for Waitrose to get extra BBQ items of food.   She really loved this experience because we could use a store wheelchair with a matching trolley.   Now she will be shopping each week with me!   So life is getting steadily back to normal and this is good news.

We had a BBQ this evening, consisting of pork chops in a honey and mustard marinade, beef truffles and a Greek salad.   It was helped down with a bottle of Prosecco which rounded off a great day.   We are looking forward to a garden day tomorrow!

Friends from Yorkshire

We looked forward to this weekend.   It was the first visit of our oldest friends.   They asked if we could cope with them in view of Pauline's current mobility problems.   No problem!   Just to see them would be a tonic for Pauline.   And it was!   I cooked them two big meals as well as giving them breakfasts and lunches.   It all went beautifully.

There was so much to talk about after an absence of nearly 8 years.   In the end it was as if they had been with us for years!   It certainly helped with Pauline's physical recovery.   By now she has started to gain confidence and moves around on her crutches with relative ease.   She is far less dependent on  me which is excellent progress.   I drove them (Pauline too) to Beaumaris on Saturday and it was a little chilly on the pier!   Ann really enjoyed being able to buy old fashioned sweets from the specialist sweet shop there.

Yesterday, after a Greek salad lunch, we drove off to the mainland where we went on a short tour of Snowdonia via Waunfawr, Rhyd Ddu, Nantlle and Penygroes.   They were impressed by the scenery and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.   Later we sat down to a very enjoyable dinner with a leg of Welsh lamb.   Now they are beginning to see the difference in food when you live in God's own land!

As they were about to leave this morning, Alan declared he had had a great time, even if we hadn't!   Just the sort of thing we love to hear.

Staples

Earlier this week, Tuesday, the District Nurse took out the staples that were holding the skin of Pauline's left leg following the operation.   Jokingly I asked, "Did you remove those at the bottom?"   She replied that she had.   There were two areas where the skin was stapled, a long one at the top of the femur and a small one close to the knee.   The dressings were left on for a day or so.   The top dressing was removed a couple of days ago but the lower one was left.   This dressing came loose overnight, so, this morning, I checked all was well.   Imagine my surprise to see the clips still there!

Carys, the nurse who called today, told me she had no clip removers and that it would be Monday before any could be acquired.   As there was an element of doubt she suggested that I could, by pre-arrangement, collect a pack from the hospital in Bangor.   So I took Pauline with me for a break and called in at Conwy Ward to collect the sterile pack.   I was happy to do this because there was always the outside possibility that the staples could infect the wound by Monday.   Carys is coming back later today to get the staples out.   She is a lovely person who works hard to give the best possible treatment for her patients.

Of course, this meant Pauline would have to use her crutches (not the walking frame) to get to the car.   I felt this was important practice for her as well as using the doorstep.   It was slow but sure and she was eventually comfortable settled in the car.   She had the usual paperback to read whilst I did the trip into Ysbyty Gwynedd for the removers, Next for some socks and then Waitrose for a few extra items.   It was a lovely drive with lots of sun shine after Thursday's constant rain.   Every day she makes better progress.

Just like buses!

Today we had our usual visit from a district nurse.   It was a different one as our regular one had the day off after working the Bank Holiday weekend.   The regular nurse arrived each day at about 9.10am so I rose early to be sure we were ready for the visit as usual.   However, the new nurse did not arrive until 11.00am, followed one minute later by the occupational therapist delivering a bed lever to help Pauline get out of bed.   During this hiatus of activity the phone rang and it was the consultant anaesthetist from the Pain Clinic following up on Pauline's operation and any pain involved.   As the nurse left the house the phone rang again and it was the community physio making an appointment to call in a couple of days.

The morning had been quiet until then and suddenly we were bombarded by help!   The good news is that Pauline has had her clips removed and is now resting for the remainder of today.   Each day brings an element of progress and I am looking forward to seeing how Pauline is tomorrow.   When I called at the pharmacy following "the visits" they were all enquiring how Pauline was.   There is a very large support network here in this corner of Anglesey!

The May Day Weekend

With Pauline back home and Sue and family joining us the weekend has been good.   It is so long since we were last under one roof together.   Everyone enjoyed it and Pauline's spirits were lifted too.   The Friday experience was hard going but once we got a good night's sleep all went well.   Sue and Derek and Ellie went all over the island and enjoyed revisiting old haunts.

The visitors left this morning and should be home about now.   I got busy cleaning the house etc and soon Pauline was up and relaxing in the lounge.   The District Nurse will remove the clips from the operation sites on Wednesday and then I think we shall see some real progress with walking.   Whilst Pauline has used crutches already the walking frame is currently the best way around the house.   Over the next few days we hope she will start to use crutches more and more.

She is relatively pain free now and can bend the leg a little more each day.   Her strides (with the frame) are getting longer and getting her into bed is much less painful.   The one thing that can cause trouble is if she tries to sit with her feet on the footstool that I bought when she was discharged from the Walton centre last December.   Bridging the gap sets off strong pain.   So I help her turn round and support her legs along the three seater settee.

We have both been on a steep learning curve since Friday!   So now we give thanks that she is progressing well.   The target is to be able to visit Toledo, Spain twice at the beginning and end of September.   If you have not been there you won't understand the importance we give our forthcoming visit.

Surprise, surprise!!!

After forecasting Pauline would be home middle or late next week imagine my surprise when she phoned to say she was being discharged yesterday, Friday.   This put my day in disarray.   I had just parked up in Llandudno outside the fish merchants!   After making my purchases for Friday and several weeks onward I drove home, put the fish in freezer bags (no time to clean the squid, so that went in the fridge), collected clothing for Pauline and set off for the hospital.   I arrived there at 12.45pm and the occupational therapist was completing her assessment of Pauline's ability to cope at home.   I got her things ready, dressed her and then took all bags and baggage to the car.   I had already collected a wheelchair from the entrance to the building.   In addition there were some things being loaned by the occupational therapy department to stow in the car.

Having loaded the boot I returned to take Pauline to the car.   It took quite some time to get her in the car and then we set off home.   Upon reaching home it took about 30 minutes to help her from the car, walk her round to the door, get her up the single step and into the lounge.   It was 4.05pm before we had our lunch!   Just after 7.00pm my daughter arrived and it was a late late evening meal of Seafood Jambalaya with my personal variations.

Last night we slept extremely well and today is turning out less frenetic.   Once the pastry is up to room temperature I can make an apple pie for tomorrow's main meal.   Tonight we shall be eating susage casserole followed by a lovely looking tart from Waitrose.   The latter is not a member of Waitrose staff!

As I said previously, the hard work has now begun and it will take a long time for rehabilitation.   Nevertheless, we shall succeed.   Now that I have purchased our local resident cards for the Welsh Highland and Ffestiniog Railways, I am looking forward to the day when we can travel cheaply behind those remarkable locomotives that tackle gradients and bends that are amazing to see.

Yet more progress

Yesterday I was overjoyed to receive a text message from Pauline to say she had walked with the aid of crutches as well as a frame.   On visiting her in the evening I found her absolutely exhausted.   Going through the trauma of falling, breaking a major bone, being treated in A & E, having an operation and then having to learn to walk again is incredibly tiring to the human body.   In addition was the nausea when she started to walk and the setback that proved to be.   She has been through the mill!

Yesterday was spent, apparently, calling the nurses when a new patient with dementia kept getting out of bed against orders!   Time passes slowly in hospital, even with books and a Kindle to read.   I should think she will be home by middle to late next week and then my job really starts!   This weekend sees Sue and family visiting from Rochdale so I have to go to Llandudno to buy fish for the coming month.   Mermaid Seafoods is the only decent fish company in the area that is open for retail sales.   It's situated at the rear of an industrial estate and necessitates the negotiation of many bumps and potholes as well as the avoidance of vehicles parked here and there.   But the prices and quality are very good.

Making a start

For a week now Pauline has struggled with the effects of her operation to repair her broken leg.   For the first few days she had the greatest difficulty in making any progress at all.   One of the problems patients needing physiotherapy have is that the physiotherapists are not on duty at weekends.   This means two days in seven are lost in terms of rehabilitation.

On Monday 30th April she was struggling just to get out of and into bed.   She kept feeling sick.   On Tuesday she stood up to walk with the aid of a walking frame and in seconds was violently sick.   Another day was lost.   Following this she was given an injection to combat the nausea.   On Wednesday she managed to walk quite a distance in the ward and I received the news that she was getting mobile.   Imagine my pleasure to discover at evening visiting time that she had done this three times.   The result was that she was totally exhausted.

But this is the start of what I hope will be a steady recovery.   Even so, I have had to cancel an intended trip to our home town of Nelson in Lancashire where I was due to preach at the United Reformed Church on 3rd June.   I can see no possibility of her being able to travel for a couple of months.   I very much hope our holiday in Andalucia, Spain in September will still be on.   I feel sure sufficient progress with mobility will be achieved by then.

After being helped to walk following her spinal operation last December and then having to start all over from a worse position, Pauline will need all her reserves of strength and determination to return to normal.