Trip to A & E

Over this last week Pete has had a bit of pain in his left hip, not too bad but enough to make it uncomfortable for him. When I mentioned it to Claire we decided it was probably caused by his left side working harder to compensate for the pain in his right leg, a bit too much strain on his left hip. Yesterday he complained it was bad and throughout the day it seemed to get worse, going from his hip into his stomach area. In the end I decided the only answer was to go to A & E as I wasn't sure quite what was going on - he couldn't tell me exactly what it was all about and the more I asked about it, the more confused and angry he got. I was really worried he would be admitted as that would be a big problem for him with the aphasia. (The stroke unit understood all about it of course, but on an ordinary medical ward they would find him very difficult). Anyway we got there just after 5pm and were actually called through quite quickly - the triage nurse was very good with him and we went through to a cubicle not long after. She gave him a couple of strong painkillers. It was a struggle getting him on the bed and then into a hospital gown, but then nurses came to take a urine test, take blood for a blood test and do an ECG. The pain seemed to be easing then. Eventually a doctor arrived and did examination etc. with lots of questions. She came to the conclusion it was most probably muscular as his stomach muscles were extremely tight so prescribed a strong muscle relaxant whilst she waited for the blood results. All the results were fine with the exception of the ECG which showed a slower than usual pulse, but she wasn't worried as he had no chest pains. Anyway she said as long as Pete felt he was able to get around at home then we could go, armed with strong painkillers and 6 muscle relaxant tablets. She would also arrange for someone to come in today to see if there was any help with mobility he needed. We got home at about 8.30pm which wasn't too bad as quite often you can spend days in A&E (yes, slight exaggeration, but you know what I am saying!!!)
Today a nurse (?) from the Pathfinder Team came but apart from a strap for him to lift his leg onto the bed, we really have everything we need. She also advised to lay off the physio exercises for a few days (which the dr. also said last night), sit on a higher chair than the sofa and to have a walk around every hour or so to stop the muscles totally seizing up. The pain has been kept under control with the pain killers today, but there are only so many you can take a day, and when it gets bad it does seem to help to walk around. It has been a nightmare time for us both, for him dealing with the pain and for me trying to control his intake of tablets - he would be taking them every couple of hours if he could and it is so hard to say no he can't have them. He then either gets very upset or very angry. Desperate times - possibly the worst so far.
Consequently, I have not been to work today nor can I go tomorrow, this is not too good. I am seriously having to think about the future on this front. Decisions will have to be made - either by me or, hopefully not, for me!!

Jack of all Trades! That's me!

First of all, the main thing, our heating was fixed yesterday! Thank goodness! The Heating Engineer came, did a bit of twiddling and, hey presto, the boiler was resuscitated!! He has shown me how to get it going in an emergency - enough to keep us warm until he can get here and find the problem. It involves removing the cover, removing a cap and then twiddle and push! I am beginning to feel like a Jack of all Trades (but master of none of course), you need a bit of physio, a bit of speech therapy, a bit of engineering - then I'm your man!! (Or lady!!). Call me!!
We have heard from Adrian about the Edwyn Collins gig at Rise, Bristol on Monday night. He said it was absolutely Rad (means good I think!). He was lucky enough to have a few words with Edwyn and his partner Grace Maxwell and was mightily impressed with them - said they are such a nice couple. Edwyn is doing fantastically well and still shows improvements even now 8 years on. He has got Pete and I a signed print, we can't wait to get it. If you can get onto Facebook, Rise, Bristol have posted a short video, on their Facebook page, of part of the gig, we have watched it - more tears from Pete!!! And they raised £100 for stroke and aphasia charities which was fantastic.
Speech therapy yesterday and today and also physio with Claire today. Claire came this afternoon so I was here to see her. She loosened up the calf muscles and has emphasised his pain is definitely only muscular (nothing more sinister) and we must persevere with stretching exercises and do walking to work them - I must admit we haven't done too much lately but we have to change that. I have managed to get a photo of Pete on the exercise bike, it's not that good but you can get the idea.
Pete has also had another visit from the amazing Jane from Connect. She calls in for a social visit with him which is really good for him. I did ring her Monday night and said we had no heating so not to come, but she said she would come and wear a thick jumper! I think they played dominoes during the chatting.
The thermos pump-pot is working well, I fill it before work, take it into the sitting room and then Pete is able to have a cup of tea in comfort. Definitely the answer - thanks again to my sister.
Finally, a bit of sympathy for me please!! I have got the worst cold - I've not had one as bad as this for several years. It's typical that I get back to work and then start picking bugs up! I hope it starts easing up tomorrow, I'm fed up with sneezing and sniffing now!

Cold!!!

Our central heating has died on us! On its back, legs in the air - dead as a dodo!! Brilliant, just when the weather has turned bitterly cold again. It packed up on Saturday, luckily we were offered the use of a couple of heaters which is fine for the sitting room, but it is jolly cold in the hall, kitchen and bathroom. The engineer is coming tomorrow afternoon so hopefully he will fix it and we will be snug again!
Yesterday we were out all afternoon at Martin and Mel's where we had a lovely roast lunch. The eggs at Ella's school are hatching well (photo below), but we were all rather disconcerted when she announced 'if they are boys we will have to kill them!' I think she may have slightly got the wrong end of the stick there - I hope so! But apparently it is because they make a lot of noise in the mornings! Then she said perhaps a farmer somewhere will have them. Apparently they are going to keep them in a special house and run in the school.
Also yesterday we took possession of an exercise bike for Pete. He has been on it this afternoon just to try it out, but it is a bit of a feat to get off it for some reason! Anyway, I was amazed at how well he uses it, so definitely worth getting. I hope to take a photo at some point of Pete actually using it.
Vista Class this morning which, I assume, went ok. There is no class next week as it is Easter. Already!!
And that is it for today. Pete's leg hasn't been too bad but has given a bit of grief, but the stronger painkillers seem to work.
Keep warm everyone - at least we haven't had snow!

New Equipment!

Today and yesterday Pete's leg has been aching but not too badly, thank goodness. He has been sitting with his foot up on the chair a lot which he says helps. No exercises today apart from sit to stands which we do quite a lot, Pete uses the perch stool in the kitchen so does some nearly every time we go in there. He has also had a hot water bottle on his foot during the evenings just to ease it and warm it up. It still gets icy cold at times.
So, new equipment!! Two items. The first is that we have purchased a Thermos Pump Pot so that Pete can have cups of tea whilst I am at work! We couldn't find anything that did not leak when he was carrying it, but, thanks to my sister (who is a mine of information!) this is a 2 litre thermos that I can fill in the mornings before I go and put on the table in the sitting room. All Pete then has to do is press on the top of it and, hey presto, it comes out a spout on the side straight into a cup! (Photo below - if I remember!) This is excellent as 6 hours is a long time to go without a cup of tea - he could make it and drink it in the kitchen but that isn't very comfortable for him.
The second is an Exercise Bike! We haven't actually got it yet but it is almost definitely sorted. Ages ago Suzanne said it would be good to get one, but there weren't any around. But today a friend has messaged she knows who has one for sale and negotiations are almost complete!! When I said to Pete we could probably get one now there was vigorous head shaking - No! But after some thought he changed his mind! He uses one in the gym so obviously is a good piece of equipment to have. Fingers crossed it works out - if Pete doesn't use it no doubt I can!!
I have also been to the pharmacist and got advice on stronger painkillers, so hopefully these will help Pete when pain strikes.
Tomorrow we are off to Martin and Mel's for lunch - a roast. Mel does a fantastic tasty roast so we are both looking forward to that. Also lovely to have the kids around. By the way, the eggs that Ella's class were looking after have hatched - just in time for Easter holidays! I don't know who is looking after them in the holidays, probably the teacher has to go in every day! No doubt we will hear all about it tomorrow from Ella.

More Health Checks

Yesterday Pete had speech therapy with Bev and Claire. I'm not totally sure what they did apart from practicing the first letters of words again. But, presumably it went alright.
Pete's leg was still causing problems and so we decided I would come home again on my break from work just to check he was ok. We have got into a bit of a routine first thing in the mornings, with him not getting up before I leave. Today I didn't come home mid morning as he had Physio at 11am so his morning would be broken up anyway. Suzanne and Claire did some different exercises to try and sort his leg and they took some photos on the iPad so I could see what they had done - I hadn't thought to do that but it was a good idea as I know the new exercises now. His leg seemed to be fine after they went but is painful again tonight.
This afternoon there have been two health checks - one with the community rehab nurse and one up at the drs surgery. The community nurse asked him lots of questions about how he is doing and how he is feeling and also took his blood pressure. His blood pressure was slightly higher than it should be but nothing to get too concerned about. He has also been losing a bit of weight but just have to keep feeding him pies and cakes!!! Anyway, she was very pleased with his progress and has discharged him from their care, with the proviso that we can always ring if we have any concerns. She was particularly pleased with his general demeanour which is always good. Sometimes the personalities of stroke survivors change quite a lot but Pete remains the same person he has always been. The only difference is his emotions which are much harder for him to control - he can get extremely angry quickly and is still very affected by any sad or happy events or stories. But this we can live with.
The health check at the surgery involved blood pressure check again, and this time it was fine. She said we probably hadn't really needed the appointment as the community nurse had done one - yet when you say he has other appointments on the phone they always say they are totally different! She was pleased with his progress as well and won't need to see him for a while now. His blood pressure is kept under check as he has it done at Vista every week at the moment. So all is well at the moment. We seem to have spent nearly all this week attending appointments here and there!
You may remember I used to talk about 'the book' we were reading concerning Edwyn Collins and how he recovered following his stroke. It was written by his wife Grace Maxwell. Well, small world, Edwyn Collins is doing an in-store gig at the record store where Adrian works in Bristol (Rise) on Monday 25th March. Adrian has done a poster for the gig, had it approved by Edwyn Collins and Grace Maxwell, and is going to do prints to sell in the store with all profits going to Stroke Recovery and Aphasia charities - we think probably Bideford Stroke RehabilitationUnit. Adrian is hoping to have a chat with Edwyn Collins and Grace Maxwell, so we are looking forward to his report on the event. More exciting times.
Quiet day tomorrow with no work and no appointments - hurray!!!

Busy, busy days!

Yesterday Pete went to Vista at the gym as usual, even though his leg is still a bit painful. I am going to have to leave a note for Suzanne on Thursday. Then in the afternoon we went back to the hospital for his venesection. We only had to wait a few minutes before he went in (has someone heard me complaining???) and although the nurse didn't seem to know he had had a stroke she was really lovely and after I said he had aphasia she asked him for his date of birth but then looked to me to answer, this was brilliant as she spoke to him as normal but didn't look at him waiting for him to answer. At last, someone who knows what aphasia is and knows how to treat the person with it. She chatted away to Pete all the time with conversation that only required him to smile, laugh or say yes. Fantastic, she was a star.
Today it was back to work for me!! I was very worried about leaving Pete and left with my heart in my mouth! He was going to get up at the same time as me, but decided to stay in bed instead! He says he got up just after I left at about 7.30am. I came back on my break to find a cup of coffee ready and waiting. He was fine and had the phone in his pocket. The only problem had been a cup of tea - the thermos had leaked as he carried it through, so I'm not sure what to do about that as he says he doesn't want a kettle in the sitting room. I spent a lot of time checking the signal on my phone (yes, I did get permission to have it in my pocket) and it seems to be strong everywhere I go, so hopefully, if Pete does ever need to call me then I will get it straight away. I finished work at 1.30pm and again came home to find a cup of tea waiting. He had got himself some lunch (soup) and then washed up afterwards. Then I was out again at 2.00pm for a driving lesson and then this evening we have been to Lidl for a big shop. I am absolutely shattered!!! I am thankful the first day of leaving Pete is over and that there were no major problems, he had even straightened up the bed so that at least it looked presentable! When I came home at 1.30 he was standing at the door and the half-step was out - he had been out again!!!
Tomorrow it is speech therapy with Bev and Claire which will break the morning up for him. I don't know yet if I will come home again on my break, I will see what he wants me to do in the morning.

Leg Problems!

After Pete's leg being so bad on Friday, yesterday he woke up with no pain at all. This lasted just about all day but in the evening he again had pain, but not so bad as Friday. We had done a lot of exercises during the day and he had also done a fair bit of walking around the house. So why does it keep stiffening up? My sister has given me details of other stronger painkillers which I shall enquire about at the pharmacy when next I go to town. I have to be careful as to what medications he can mix. I bought some Deep Heat cream to try but, on reading the insert, it said it couldn't be used if you are taking anti-coagulants. Why not? The physios didn't know so I asked the Boots pharmacist and she said that anti-coagulants make the skin extra sensitive, so it can be used but only very sparingly.
Today the leg is giving a bit of pain but not unbearable. Pete hasn't taken any paracetemols which is a good sign. We have done a few exercises but not too much. It's difficult to know whether to continue whilst the pain is there, but we do some if only to try to loosen the muscles. This afternoon we were going to go out but Pete didn't want to because of his leg, so I went out with Martin to do a bit of practice on gear changing. This is quite good as Martin can't shout at his mother!!! Anyway, when we got back I found the half-step was out at the door - this meant Pete had been outside ... On his own! Naughty! In the sitting room was a vase with daffodils in - he had been out and picked them - against all instructions! But they look really nice and Pete was pleased with himself and what he had done - so you can't be cross can you?!?!
As I go back to work on Tuesday I have been making the final preparations. Bev and Suzanne both know I won't be there for sessions so they know where the diary is to make their appointments (I have to make sure it is always right up to date) and I have got the communication book ready for messages. More importantly, we have set up the phone with the SOS button with Mel as a back up number if mine doesn't ring. We have tried it out and worked out the procedure to follow. I think! The bed doesn't need to be made, but if Pete is up before I go ( which he says he will be) then I can make it, and he will use a thermos to take tea into the sitting room. Sorted!!
My main instruction to him - DON'T FALL OVER!! Oh yes, and he wants me to come home during my break just for the first day. So, fingers crossed, it will all be fine.
Tomorrow it's Vista Class in the morning and then the venesection in the afternoon. No doubt that will be another long wait!