On 21st April, Matt and I celebrated 20 years of knowing each other. Not sure how that happened? It's gone quickly but then when we look back at everything we've done, we realised it has been quite a while. In celebration I joined Slimming World! This has a been a long time coming...I had my NHS health check during which they took my bloods. I then got called in, my cholesterol is too high and they want to put me on statins. I don't want to pill pop, so asked if there was another way and they said to go on a 3 month diet with no fat, no alcohol etc. They think I have familial cholesterol - ie my genes are working against me, but after being on a fat free diet for 3 months they will take my bloods again and be able to see if there has been any significant change and therefore whether it is familial or diet. Also I have been in touch with Lou and Debbie from uni in the last couple of weeks (Debbie got diagnosed with Breast cancer recently) Both are size 18 now and thinking it is ok - normal for middle age etc. I don't want to go down that route, and to be honest my clothes have been getting tighter and tighter. So...deep breath and diet here we come. I've done Slimming World before so know it works. My best cake customer (ironically) is the local SW Consultant so I booked in with her. I turned up and got all the paperwork - it has changed considerably since last time I did it, which is good as it is now easier to integrate with family life than before. I just needed a couple of hours to read it all, get the right food in and start. I've decided to stick to it rigidly for 3 months in the hope that I loose quickly, get the right results at the Drs and can start enjoying food again. I would rather do it for 3 months than 6! I went for the full meeting the first time, it is still not my thing - the group chat is still cringeworthy and a waste of time, so I will just go for the weekly weigh in. I just need someone to weigh me every week to keep me on track.
On the Saturday we did a walk to Fairy Steps near Beetham - it is a walk Tom and I did many years ago but Matt had never been. We had lunch at Beetham Nursery which is always good (even though I am sort of stuck with jacket potatoes and beans now!) Was a good walk, great views, nice atmosphere between us all. Cricket season has now started again, so Matt disappears for one day each weekend - mainly Sundays. Tom tends to find a friend to hang out with and I do house work etc.
On Monday Pat was no better, in fact much worse, Bob called for an ambulance and they took her to hospital.
Tuesday we went to Bradford directly after school as we finally got to see the Lion King. We had booked for the week after Tom's SATS in Year 6 for a treat. Obviously it got postponed due to Covid, rescheduled for today. First of all though was a visit to The Kashmir for a curry - which was as delicious as we remembered, although their prices have gone up considerably which was a surprise. Matt had to go looking for a cash machine as we didn't have enough cash on us!
So I knew I had tried to get good tickets for the show, but didn't realise how good - we were the second row back and on the aisle, so it was a completely different experience to when we saw it in London - we could see every facial expression and lots of actors came straight past us on the way to the stage. The huge elephant brushed past Matt - he had a stroke and was very excited. Mainly I couldn't keep my eyes off the amazing costumes this time and was busy looking at them rather than following the story although I know the story so well that it didn't really matter. It was a good night, we all enjoyed it.
As the week progressed we got news about Pat. It wasn't good, in fact it was pretty dire. She has bowel cancer and it is terminal. They did a scan and found that the cancer had progressed to her liver, pancreas and other organs. There is nothing they can do for her as it is so well spread. It wasn't a surprise to us to find out she was ill - I think we all knew something was up in addition to Parkinsons we just didn't know what. In a way it explains quite a bit - her toilet habits had got quite extreme with the numbers of time she would go, she wasn't eating much, her mental health was beginning to come under question too with her unable to follow anything like a series on the telly, thinking she was cutting some toast when it was missing and so on. Luckily she isn't in pain, and can return home but they gave us an estimate of 2 months. Bob and Matt were both relieved that she can come home - hospital is always a horrible place to be. Matt spent a lot of time over at his Dad's helping to sort out the downstairs bedroom for her. The NHS have provided a hospital bed and other equipment for her plus care visits 4 times a day and Marie Curie are providing night nurses a couple of times a week to help Bob out. (Apparently there is no MacMillan provision around here).
29th April Tom was at a sleep over with Seth for his birthday. It was such a lovely evening that Matt and I went for a walk to Big Stone to see the view of the 3 Peaks - one of the best views of the 3 Peaks and it was gorgeous.
4th May I drove over to Wigan to meet up with Debbie. She had her operation last week and I wanted to see her. Luckily they found the cancer very early (well Adam her hubby found the lump - well done him) and were able to get it all out without too invasive an operation. She seemed fine, very very chatty. I took her out for lunch at a local pub before heading back in time for when Tom got back from school as Matt was in Settle helping out again.
6th May Pat was returned home and installed in her new bedroom. It was the first time I saw her since she turned yellow and I was shocked at how yellow she was. She looked frail but was very happy to be home - can't say I blame her! Poor Bob was exhausted, we very much need to make sure he is ok and keeps well now. We will go round to see them as often as we can. I'm making dinners for them - I figure Bob will have his hands full without worrying about making nutritious food for them both and it makes me feel better knowing he has at least one good meal a day. Carers coming 4 times a day helps, but it is an awkward and physical job getting Pat to and fro the toilet and she still wants to go a lot although she very rarely produces anything.
8th May we went for drive across the Dales so I could see the Druid's Temple - something I've always wanted to explore. We found a cafe for lunch before hand and then went for a walk. The Druid's Temple was very close the the cafe so we made a longer walk of it. A really interesting place and I'm glad we went - even though it was quite a way to go.
9th May - my birthday. I had a lovely day, lots of lovely presents - thank you everyone. I went for a walk with Anne in the morning which included brunch half way round and spent the rest of the day enjoying visits from friends.
11th May - me, Steph and Janine decided to try out clubercise (aerobics with neon lights) in Bentham to get some exercise. Was fun, we were all rubbish, but that was to be expected and half the fun, fumbuling around trying to mimic the teacher and getting our limbs to do what was needed! Certainly got a sweat up! 12th May I got my half stone certificate from SW - not bad for 3 weeks, especially as I had a slow start (took me a while to get all the right food in).
14th May Tom and I spent the day in Morecambe as I had a wedding cake to deliver and Matt went to Manchester to see an old Canadian friend from his Japan days.
The following week we managed to get a good balance of being at home and visiting Settle. We managed to both go over twice to give Bob some down time. (He's happier leaving Pat if both me and Matt are with her). He has a night nurse 3 times a week but the rest of the week he is on his own and some nights she has him up 4-6 times a night which is difficult to manage on!
Unfortunately she is finding it harder and harder to speak meaning that conversations can sometimes be a bit confusing, but we do our best and I try to find things to talk to her about. Tom and school seems to be a favourite topic so I tend to focus on that. Tom has recently joined a steel pan band at school which surprised us all. He's also doing a lot of colouring in of pictures to decorate her room which she likes. I've bought her some new nighties to wear as she seems to be in them more often than not - and it is always nice to have new clothes. She seems to think it is Christmas at the moment, so the new nighties tie in with that, she seemed to like my choice of style too which is good.
In other news Tom had his first under 13s cricket game against Carnforth which Ingleton won by 8 wickets - quite a result for them. Tom scored 17 including a 6 and two 4s which was good. The following day he had another game but this time for the Ingleton Second team in a friendly against Hawes. He and Matt were in the same team! They lost by 6 wickets. Tom scored 10 including two 4s and Matt scored 1! They both got a wicket each - so Tom is now officially better than his Dad at cricket - ha ha!
No comments:
Post a Comment