EH - Essex > Hebrides...the next step of the adventure?

Seasidegal58

I'm pleased to read that your dad is chirpier and that all is well with Pippi. 😃.
Enjoy Duxford and the time with your pals. 

EssexHebridean

@MisterPym - honestly, I couldn’t say. She had some issues with the forum switchover, did post briefly under a different name but of course early on there were all the teething problems with posting from phones and tablets and I think that put a lot of longer term posters off rather. It’s also horrible when you lose your long term username which happened to her, so I can understand why she might feel the forum had rather “thrown her out”! 

Beanie it is difficult isn’t it - always tough seeing someone you love struggle to that extent I think. 10 years of missing your Dad must have been tough too.
foxgloves I completely agree about the right “balance” with neighbours - it really does make such a difference! The oxygen thing with Dad is going to prove an issue I think - the hospital are talking about weaning him off the high flow but every time they try of course he gets massively breathless and they have to adjust it back up again - at the moment nobody seems to be willing to look at the actual fact that the pneumonia may have damaged his lungs to the extent that the high flow is simply what he now requires - as you know IPF is rather an “unknown disease” even amongst medical professionals. The local hospice team are now involved and are being brilliant so we’re hoping a bit of intervention from them might help move things forward. I know it’s not the done thing to criticise the “wonderful NHS” but I’m afraid I’m really not impressed with the level of care Dad is receiving- for an elderly patient who already has issues eating because of the psychological effects of so often swallowing making him choke (IPF related) to be firstly constantly having meals interrupted for routine procedures (non urgent) and then simply having the wrong foods sent - things he can or won’t eat - is appalling. The first issue we appear to have sorted out, but the second is seemingly something that we can do nothing to fix. There’s other issues as well, most of which could be fixed via the basic best practise stuff I was taught when I did hospital work experience in the 1980’s. It’s incredibly frustrating, and this isn’t even funding related stuff - it’s basic care issues. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Sorry - rant over. 😬
Staffordia I don’t recognise that one as either Duxford or Shuttleworth based - but there are a fair few flying these days and they’re based all over. Always a delight to see though aren’t they! SSG it was a really lovely day - definitely shouldn’t have believed the weather forecast when it came to considering a need for sun cream though! 😆

Just on my second brew of the day while I catch up a bit here, then it’s a few small jobs to be done before we head over to see Mum for lunch. She’s warned me that she is going to be sending us home with a food parcel too so that’ll be good! I came back from the hospital with two small overripe bananas on Friday too - those have now gone into the freezer. Dad’s like me, he only eats them fresh when they’re still almost under-ripe, and didn’t fancy those before they went over so asked me to throw them out…not a chance! 😆 

MrEH ventured out to the orange DIY store yesterday and bought a small tin of black wood stain so along with the hammerite white we already had the number sign for our block has been freshened up - not a job it should have fallen to us to do really but there you go, and it does look so much better! We both joked we hope the council (our freeholder) doesn’t notice though or they’ll probably find a way of charging all the leaseholders in the block for the job! Half expecting the other two doorways to complain that theirs haven’t been done now, mind! 

I need to review and adjust the meal plan I think - I can’t recall when we were proposed to have omelettes but I’m going to bring that forwards to tomorrow as the mushrooms are starting to go a bit soft. Not sure whether MrEH is planning to go to the rugby club for training on Tuesday evening but Tuesday’s couscous can stay as planned anyway. He still has a rotten covid cough so probably shouldn’t be looking at doing any real level of exertion yet. I reckon by the middle of the week I’ll feel that I’m OK to cycle to the gym after work, so that’s good. There’s definitely two visits on the cards for this week.

I’ll leave you with a handful of shots from yesterday then - the Corsair (blue) and the Mustang (silver, checkerboard nose) arriving for display, and individually. 

leftatthetrafficlights

Sorry to hear your dad's care is so poor on such basic things as food 😔 I must admit that I find it difficult to wave the 'wonderful NHS' banner as every dealing I have had with the medical profession has been below par whether it has been with me or relatives/friends - I'm grateful we have it but that doesn't mean that we can't be disappointed or annoyed when it doesn't perform! 

Hope MrEH's cough improves soon! 

beanielou

I personally think the NHS is at it's best an emmergency.
The rest these days is certainly not what it was & I speak as someone who spent a lot of time in hospital as a child.

foxgloves

@EH - Our problem regarding Dad wasn't the hospital side of things, it was the tortuously long diagnosis & only being given a life-extending drug treatment when it was too late because his lungs were just way too damaged by then.
Glad you enjoyed your air-show. As someone who grew up in Cambs, the very word 'Duxford' was synonymous with traffic queues!
Saw my sister today & guess what she's been knitting? Funky coloured cotton dish cloths! She brought me a couple & they will defo cheer up the kitchen sink.
F

Seasidegal58

beanielou said:

I personally think the NHS is at it's best an emmergency.
The rest these days is certainly not what it was & I speak as someone who spent a lot of time in hospital as a child.

I'm afraid I tend to agree with @beanie - the NHS seems to have deteriorated over the years since I was a child too. Still, you've only got to look at the health system in the USA to realise we are very lucky to have the NHS. 

Your photos are brill as always!😃 

EssexHebridean

Completely agree SSG that I'd far sooner we had the NHS than the American model - but I also have to say that I think too often people are made to feel they have to put up with poor care because "we're lucky to have it free of charge" - realistically it's NOT free after all, it's just "free to access". Allowing that up until the past few years I've rarely needed to go near the Doctor's surgery, had never had so much as a blood test, and had only ever made the occasional visit to A&E for random things, I suspect I've paid a LOT more in over the years than I will EVER get out in my lifetime!   It can be extremely good - and as Beanie says, totally comes into its own in an emergency. LATTL sums it up well - we most definitely can complain when things aren't right - and more folk should, IMO!  foxgloves - we were (I suspect in comparison to the majority of cases) surprisingly fortunate on the diagnosis - as Dad happened by chance to see a consultant who actually knew about IPF early on in the process - we're well aware though that had he not seen this particular chap the chances are it would have been a far more long-drawn out process. I'm afraid it's very much the case that even among medical professionals it's still a relatively unknown disease, frequently being confused as "similar to COPD" which of course it isn't. One of the things we're finding at the moment is that the ward staff are surprised they're struggling to wean Dad off the high-flow oxygen as he just gets horribly breathless almost immediately - they seem to be considering that his lung function should be improving from the point of admission because the infection is clearing, but of course with the additional damage that the pneumonia has done, his lung function is now worse than it was when they took him in, not better! It's SO frustrating, and the lack of food won't be helping as his energy levels are dropping all the time. 

Mum has sent an email to the Patient Liaison Team this morning to ask them to get involved - fingers crossed they will do so. She's also contacting the palliative care team at the hospice who have been wonderful. I WISH we'd known how much sooner we could have contacted them for help - it would have made such a difference but of course the impression is so often that a hospice is only there for end of life - that's so far from the case, and I'd urge anyone with a family member with a diagnosis of a condition that is deemed terminal to contact their local hospice sooner rather than later. As ours say, hospice care is for living well for as long as possible, not just for dying! 

Anyway - the start of another week and so far it's a bit of a grey cloudy one here. Slightly chillier too - I initially stepped out of the door this morning without a coat and then dashed back in and grabbed one in case I needed it. Of course I don't have it with me at the office mind you as I wore my cycling jacket - oh well! Did an extra mile on the bike this morning - the plan for this week is to still mostly keep it quite gentle but to try to do a bit of extra distance each day, and I definitely want to get to the gym either tomorrow or Wednesday evening, too. My heart rate is still peaking up higher than "usual" and taking longer to drop back down again but hopefully that will start to improve. I'll get out for a walk shortly during my lunch break as well. 

Meals are planned for the week - and will incorporate some of the foody bits we brought back from Mum's yesterday. that included the remains of the chicken that she roasted for lunch yesterday - I carved off the rest of the breast meat for her but she said she'll not eat the rest so that's tucked away in our fridge. Also some potatoes that she knew would sprout before she'd use them, a couple of frozen burgers which had frozen together - she'll only use one at a time so no good for her as she couldn't separate them, and a bread mix pack that she won't use but will work fine for us. So the breadmix will make next weekend's loaf, the chicken will do a risotto later in the week, and a portion for the freezer, and the burgers will do next Friday or Saturday's tea with the additional of Brioche buns and some home made wedges. It all helps! I'll start early with the shopping list too - the plan is to keep spending way down again this week if we can - this will be the first week of our May Grocery budget as we reset from tomorrow.  I've cancelled the veg box for this weekend - it didn't look "enough" to merit the spend, so I'll have a look at super-6/T's veg offers/Pick of the week options ahead of when I do the shopping then consider next week's meals based on those, so far as possible.   

Tonight I plan to use up the remains of the eggs from the current box in a big omelette to share - we'll have one of the giant veg box tatties baked in its jacket and split between us too. I should strip the chicken carcass ideally, but that might not get done until tomorrow. I'm half wondering whether I can get enough meat off that for a day's lunch roll filling too - I might be able to, I'll see how much the wings yield. Need to know whether MrEH plans to go to the rugby club tomorrow - he might watch training even if he doesn't think he can take part yet - and that will probably depend on exactly what they are doing. 

Banks checked and all good - the credit card month finishes tomorrow but there's very little to be done there. I need to focus back on remembering Prolific and make sure I check the other two usual suspect survey companies regularly as well. I've got a couple of YouGov ones to do but it takes so long to get to payout I'm horribly un-motivated to actually crack on and do them. I really should just have one last push then once I get to cashout again say enough I think. 

Seasidegal58

I do hope your mum's email produces a result for your dad EH. 

I've got to take a leaf out of your book and start to plan my meals more. I used to be quite good at it but I've fallen by the wayside a bit over the last months. ☹️

beanielou

Hope the PLT can help & the hospice.

savingholmes

The photos are stunning. 

Glad the hospice team are helping. Hope the PALs team can help too. I have had very mixed experiences of healthcare but am very grateful we are not directly paying anything close to US costs.

Well done on controlling what you can and making the most out of life.