Family Matters

[Stanley]

Cathy and Liz.... I am a very happy bunny!!

[Nolic]

Wonderful news. No wonder you are a happy bunny. Nolic

[Julie in Norfolk]

That is great news Stanley

[Stanley]

It is, we all know the eventual outcome but progress like this lifts us. So far so good! (What a woman!)

[Tizer]

Great news, and I guess "home tomorrow" is a little earlier than we think here because it's an Australian tomorrow, not a UK one. They always seem to be ahead of us!

[Sue]

Hmmm, my response this morning is not there, perhaps my internet went down at the crucial point. I had said wonderful news but had also asked about the chemo. Any info on this Stanley. At least at home real reovery from the op can start to happen

[Stanley]

Sue, the best information they have is that the chemo will be by tablets at home.
Update this morning is that Janet is bathed, fed and having a snooze. The move home is still on track.
Jess flies out this week and stays with Margaret. The whole family will be there.... Is Oz ready for this? (Just heard, Jess arrives in Perth Wednesday teatime.....)
08:00. Janet is at home, laid in her new bed and listening to Harry Potter!!! Yippee!!

[LizG]

Great news.

[Marilyn]

Have you tried "FaceTime", Stanley?
It's a direct phone call with vision...rather like Scype but better. I'm not sure if the App you are using has vision?

[Stanley]

No Maz., I think you can do that with Whatsapp as well but We are nowhere near that stage yet. No update yet this morning.... I shall have to nudge them!

[Stanley]

The news is not as good this morning. J is fine in herself but she's seen the Oncologist today and he thinks her sight is gone beyond recall. In addition, her hearing on the left side is at risk and that's her good ear..... So bloody unfair...... One day at a time.

[Sue]

Oh dear, not good news but alive Stanley. Keep smiling

[LizG]

The news is not as good this morning. J is fine in herself but she's seen the Oncologist today and he thinks her sight is gone beyond recall. In addition, her hearing on the left side is at risk and that's her good ear..... So bloody unfair...... One day at a time.

Try not to jump to any conclusions before it's all confirmed. I know it's easy to say but you could drive yourself mad thinking 'what if'. Sue's right. She's still here, keep smiling.

[Marilyn]

With many types of brain surgery, any deficit sustained is often more apparent after the return home ( because the background of the hospital environment is no longer a distraction).
Don't be too alarmed Stanley, but DO remember FaceTime....an option when needed.
Stay strong. She planned the choices the very best she could. You have to find strength in that.

[Stanley]

Thanks to all of you. Yes of course you are right about not jumping to conclusions but what you don't know is that Janet put me together with her two closest and most trustworthy friends and gave us the task of continually estimating worst case and taking action if needed. Melissa and Sarah are splendid women, very very competent and it's a pleasure to work with them.
Janet has a busy day today of scans and appointments. All the support services are in place now in addition to the family. A cleaning service, an occupational therapist and a concierge service to deal with admin and legal matters. Janet put all this in place before the op and the Project is going well. Susan and I are considering implanting a tracker chip in her for when she gets cabin fever and vanishes down the road in her PJs.....
So far so good and the comms are working well.

[Marilyn]

I've always had a soft spot for escape artists and inventive folk. ( I found Tizzy's Dad delightful).
Bit of a bind for those keeping watch, but how resourceful the human spirit is. I remember those nights on night duty when my torch would catch semi comatose octogenarians half way over the cot-sides of their beds...hospital gowns flapping.
Always put my arms around them and said "Now where are you off to my darling?"

[Cathy]

Sorry, I digress, but Marilyn 's post reminds me of when I used to sleepwalk and Grandma stopping me at the front door in the wee hours of the night and asking me where I was going and I would answer "I'm going to school".

[Marilyn]

Really? I didn't know that, Cazza.
I don't think I ever sleep walked, but my son did it a few times. He never left the house ( but he did wee in a few strange places. He was very young at the time.)

[Marilyn]

My lad always turned lights on when he sleep walked. I don't know what is usual in that regard, but it was noticing lights on that alerted me to get up and see what he was up to. He was in his own world and not aware of what he was doing. He always took himself back to bed.

[Stanley]

In the army my mate got up in the night and peed in my locker. He had no memory of it the following morning and was mortified. He helped me clean up.....
Susan and Janet are on another day of appointments. Susan said they were singing old songs as they drove and I asked if they could remember any of the naughty songs Ted Waite taught them when they were using his caravan in the orchard as a Wendy House. Margaret remembered "Once upon a time when the birds shit lime and the monkeys chewed tobacco, there was a little bird that did a little turd....." I think Vera and I would be prosecuted today for allowing them to have that relationship but they still love Ted to bits..... I'm just a bit worried as to whether they are pushing Janet too hard but I have to believe they know their jobs..... They have given her medication to improve her appetite and Harry told me yesterday on the phone that as we were speaking the kitchen was full of the aroma of frying bacon. That's a good sign!!!

[Stanley]

No change in Oz. Only news is that radiation treatment could start as early as mid-November. That's the next big hurdle. She is still a very poorly daughter and my mind is focussed entirely on her. I find that it's a learning curve, we are all having to make so many adjustments. I am convinced that terminal care is a form of grieving......

[Marilyn]

Sadly yes...but an immense privilege. Remember the old days when it took 12 weeks to send mail on ships? ( no...think we are all a bit young for that actually).

[Tizer]

My lad always turned lights on when he sleep walked. I don't know what is usual in that regard, but it was noticing lights on that alerted me to get up and see what he was up to. He was in his own world and not aware of what he was doing. He always took himself back to bed.

My parents told me that when I was a very young child I would sleep walk early in the night. I'd come downstairs while they were watching the TV and sit by them as if I was watching too. Then I'd go back to bed. I sometimes wonder if they were fooled and I was really pretending just so I could a see a bit of telly! I did get up to some tricks. Later when I was school age I'd do anything to avoid going to school and sometimes in the morning I'd open the front of the clock and push the finger back.

[Stanley]

Jess and Mo are in Perth safely and have seen Janet. I am now officially home alone! Jess said that her sight was better than she had expected and this confirms an update I had from Yiota who said that intermittently, Janet was able to read some words on a page. Hopeful sign but we are nit clapping hands yet. Otherwise steady slow improvement and she is fitter. Onward and upwards....

[Tizer]

It's good to know she's making progress. If you're home alone now you'd better look after yourself and that includes not inhaling shed dust!