Frugal Frump to Fab-u-lous Dharrrrrrrling Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox

Carmen

Good morning ladies

LL, I also told stories, but to my son and g/son. Never tried singing, may have caused irreparable damage to their ears....LOL.

I hope your sisters' situation improve's soon.
Even though I am the youngest sister I tend to mother also...gawd!!

Your plans for your anniversary sound lovely, I hope O/H improves to enjoy it.

I had a better day today, onwards and upwards :j

Need to try and get some sleep.

Carmen xx

fedupandskint

Life can certainly be hard at times when one thing happens after another and another and yet others. I've been through this cycle myself and understand the toll it can take on us.

Hope the picnic goes well, sounds lovely.

I decided not to out for the leaving do last night as I felt really tired and didn't feel like freezing out in a busy city centre while everyone got drunk. Sent my apologies and had a relaxing bath instead. Had a good nights sleep and feel much better today.

Have just sorted my feet out and attempted to deharden all that skin as I've benn neglecting them for a while.

Today will be finishing off the cleaning, pottering, uni work, job stuff, exercise and so on.

WelshWoofer

Morning all.
LL - do you have any special songs/music? Could you take a portable CD player/ipod with them on?

Managed a proper sleep last night at long last so I'm feeling better today. Going to walk the dog in a minute and then pop off to the swimming pool to get some exercise and stretch out my back.
Then its back to the schoolwork (again) - will be so glad when this week is over with. I'm being observed for an official grading of my teaching on Weds and its taking over my life at the moment. Once that's over with things will start to calm down a bit (hopefully).
At least half term is only 2 weeks away now.

Will get out again with the dog this afternoon for some fresh air and a break from working.

Just weighed and have managed to lose a lb this week - must be the stress as I've not been supergood with food. I have done a bit of exercise but could try harder.

Right better get on with things - hope everyone has a good day.

lessonlearned

Apparently I have a half decent voice:rotfl:

I used to sing in the choir at school (we were roped in to sing the Latin Mass on Sundays) and from there I used to "gig" a little with a couple of local folk/rock bands. But.......that was many moons ago.

As you know I did join a choir again recently but now we have moved it's a bit too far away. I might look for another one later. It's good fun.

Well I slept surprisingly well so whilst I'm not bursting with energy I feel ok (ish) - just not much energy. I'm not going to visit OH today, I'm going to take it relatively easy. I'm going for a mooch around TX Max and M&S, and then call in at ALDI for some fruit and veg. A bit of fabbing later.

I had fully intended to restart the exercise and healthy eating last week, but what with one thing and another it just didn't happen.
I know I know - no excuse really.:o but I don't seem to have much energy just now.

I'm sure that if I could just get cracking and give it a good couple of weeks then it would get easier. It all just seems such a huge effort at the moment.....

I had to cancel my physio at the last minute, but I did at least rebook it straight away. So hopefully once I've been "de-kinked" I'll feel more like it.

Don't know about anyone else - but I'm ready for Spring and a bit of warm sunshine.

Have a good day. X

Hewie29

Hi all

Thanks for all the lovely comments and hugs.

We are all doing fine, well as fine as we can be. Dad is amazing me, he seems so strong, which when I'm with him rubs off on me.
My brother who is normally this hard army man, showed me so much compassion that I'd never seen before,.

We have received so many cards and flowers and people have posted some lovely words on facebook, my sister-in-law and Aunty both wrote lovely eulogy's for my mum, they made me smile, chuckle, cry and remember what a lovely lady she really was and that she will be missed by so many people.

I still can't beleive that I will never see her again.

Anyway, thanks again, hugs to anyone that needs them xxxxx

Catch you all later xx

Carmen

What a joy to wake up to sunshine this morning, certainly gives me a boost of va va voom. I have some outdoor jobs to do so will grab the moment while I can:)

(((Hewie))) thank you for the positive update.

I hope you all have a good Sunday.

Carmen xx

maman

lessonlearned wrote: »

Did anyone see The Graham Norton show. If you missed it and get the chance to watch it on catch up, I urge you to do so.


Helen gave a master class in grown up glamour, style, charm, wit and sheer sex appeal. The actor Paul Rudd was totally smitten. You could see from his body language that he found her utterly irresistible. He eventually found an excuse to kiss her and he was like a dog with two tails.

Ladies - if, like me, you look in the mirror and despair, if sometimes you feel like an ancient and decrepit old crone, who is way past her sell-by date, despair ye not. Watch and learn from women like Helen Mirren, Rene Rousso, Sophie Loren etc even our dear old Joan Collins and Judi Dench.

As Shakespeare said of Cleopatra "Age cannot with her".

Style, charm and wit are ageless . There's hope for me yet. :rotfl:

:wave: just popping by.

I caught a few minutes of that programme LL, so I could look critically at Helen Mirren (find Graham Norton OTT so didn't watch it all). She's a bit older than me but I thought her neck and decolletage were very crepey. She needs to join the thread.:rotfl:

P.S. the 'age cannot wither her' quote about Cleopatra was used by a WW1 poet for the line 'age cannot weary them' often used in Remembrance Services. Google is my friend!:)

lessonlearned

Hewie - good to hear from you. Glad to hear things are not too bad and that your dad is coping. Your brother sounds a gem.

Well I've had the morning from hell.

I'm sorry but I need to vent:mad::mad:

Got a call from the nursing home to say that they were sending for a GP for OH and that most likely he needed to go to hospital.

I pointed that OH had set up a care plan that plainly stated he was not to he hospitalised. I said I would be there within the hour.

10 mins later I felt uneasy so rang back, spoke to matron (a new one) who said they had spoken to OH and he had told the nurse that he wanted to go to hospital and they were just about to ring the ambulance service.

I said I just needed a quick shower could they please wait till I got there. The answer was a brusque no.

Alarm bells started ringing. I just knew that OH had been co-erced. I rang DS2 at work and we shot over there (did manage a quick sluice whilst waiting for DS2). We got there just in time to catch the ambulance people leaving OH.

Now this is where it gets a bit complicated.

Ambulance staff had done their observations and made a decision not to take him to hospital (you'll see why in a moment). They had decided to ask a GP to call.

The nursing home staff made it very difficult for me to talk to the ambulance crew but I could sense they wanted to talk to me in private.

Eventually I managed to get one of them to one side. I said to him I was concerned that there may have been some pressure to get my husband to agree to be hospitalised.

Get this - he agreed. He told me he had overheard a conversation between the nurse in question and the matron to this effect.

The ambulance crew were not at all happy hence their decision to refer it back to the GP. The matron was denying all existence of Bob's mandate and refusing to speak to me. The ambulance crew insisted on seeing his files. Guess what - the mandate was in there, just as I told her it was.

The wretched woman was so intent in wriggling out of looking after OH and absolving the home of any responsibility of his care - she just wanted to dump him in a hospital - against all his wishes.

Anyway DS2 and I waited until said GP arrived who confirmed that OH should remain in the nursing home as per his wishes.

I have never, never, never been so angry. I am outraged. I took DS2 with me, partly because I was shaking so much I didn't think I should be driving but also because I thought I might need his support and back-up. I also thought I might need a witness.

Now I am not stupid nor am I with-holding medical care from my OH. If it was a case that medical intervention was required and treatment was beneficial then of course my OH would want treatment and I would make damn sure he got it.

But, if it is just about nursing then he is better not being moved, especially if being moved entailed waiting in A&E for hours on a trolley, missing meals, not being hydrated, missing his next round of medication, getting cold and even more tired and exhausted than he already is.

As least if it was an admittance organised by a GP then he could have by-passed A&E and gone straight on to a ward. Something the ambulance crew were strongly in favour of. They told me that if he really needed to go into hospital he should at least be spared the rigours of A&E.

Fortunately the GP was in total agreement. OH does have some fluid on his lungs and obviously this is cause for concern, however the poor man is utterly exhausted and what he needs more than anything is rest.

GP felt it was better to leave him where he was warm and well cared for, increase his meds and wait and see, with a longer term care plan to involve regular physio to ensure his lungs were kept clear.

I am just so shocked that the nursing staff thought they could ride roughshod over OH's wishes. They have tried to turn it round so they were acting in his best interests, that OH wanted to go to hospital and that I was being awkward and obstructive.

Fortunately the GP had the good sense to let me ask OH what he wanted in front of everyone in the room, including said nurse. As well as myself and the GP, he also had an assistant and there was also my DS2 present, so not only the GP there to confirm that he was acting under OH's instructions but also two independent witnesses.

My God what on earth happens to people who are alone and vulnerable with no-one to be their advocate. What protection do they have in a situation like this.

I'm stunned and exhausted. I need to rest. This is not over yet. OH may still need to be hospitalised (if he agrees of his own free will). However I will make damn sure it is for proper medical reasons and no other.

Last time he was admitted to a hospital with a chest infection he remained there for 4 months and came out in a wheelchair. No wonder he's not keen to repeat the experiment.

Bitsy_Beans

LL I am appalled and gobsmacked. I wish I could say its uncommon but I suspect it's not :mad: honestly what happens to those individuals who don't have family to fight their corner and stick up for their best interests. Am sure a complaint is in order but will it actually change anything? hugs for you and your OH, I hope the medication works and the fluid clears up xxxxx

Hewie glad to see your dad is doing so well and that you're managing OK xxxx

mineallmine

Oh my goodness LL. that's horrific. For the immediate, I hope oh regains strength amongst all this. Longer term, I feel a letter to head of the homes org to ask them to re clarify care plans and processes for hospitalisation. Take care x

Thanks for your post hewie. How lovely to have that support around you. x

And to everyone else take it easy. Lets all do one thing to look after ourselves today.

:A