On the topic of calories, I joined the gym and went for a swim on Tuesday..... it's quite a nice pool. I've already left two towels in the changing room! Hopefully somebody will have handed them in.
Mum isn't so clever - her left shoulder, arm and hand are really painful (arthritis) and her hand is now swollen. She can't do much about this other than not use them and trigger even more pain.
My dad was funny last night - he has started reading a lot again (he loves James Patterson books) and he found £30 worth of vouchers in his wallet which were given to him as a Christmas gift by my brother and his partner. So he deliberated for an hour and a half about whether to spend the money on books (there is a new Patterson out) or whether to give them back to Neil for the kids. I said to him that they were his pressy so he should buy himself books .
Then he says "What if I buy 3 books and don't last long enough to finish them?". He was laughing at the time and I just told him not to be worrying about stuff like that - I said we'd read them for him! Mum suggested he buy them one at a time! He then said that the way he is feeling at the moment, he thinks he will finish the books. I tend to agree with him there... he really is doing well, despite not eating much! And he still has his humour.
He told me that he "almost said something inappropriate to Mum" last night. I wondered what on earth he was going to come out with - but it turned out he'd been thinking about the way that some families bury treasured possessions with their loved ones. So he'd been racking his brains trying to think of something he could take with him. But as he pointed out, he and mum don't really have jewelry or stuff like that. So, he'd decided on a pair of Tracksuit bottoms bought for him by mum's best friend, Joan Fearon. They were the closest thing to Mum he could think of! But the punchline was that he then remembered he's being cremated and so decided against the idea altogether..... I did have to laugh. He then offered the tracky bottoms to me - as I'd mentioned earlier that I'd taken a pair of fleecy jogging bottoms out of his wardrobe to wear, back in February when it was cold! (I told him this cos my dad likes to think of things being re-cycled and he hates waste!!).
Dad is getting bothered about sleeping too long. He's never been one for long sleeps - usually 5-6 hours through his working life - and when he sleeps 8 hours solid (as he has been lately) he wakes up groggy and dry-mouthed. Last night he decided to stay up late so as not to sleep to long. But then, at midnight, he had a change of plan. He decided to set his alarm clock for 5am, so that he could wake up, have a drink and then just doze until 7 or so. So I was up at 2 (just to check he was ok) and then the alarm went at 5. When I went in to switch it off, Dad was fine, and just wanted to doze a while. He said he felt much better when he woke properly at 7. So I expect this will become the "routine". Better than him falling asleep with headphones on while watching tv, I guess!
So today is Wednesday and all has been fairly quiet. Dad is having a lot of pain tonight in his right buttock - I think this is related to pressure sores and nothing else, but I might mention it to the nurse tomorrow. Today, Dr Tseung has been out and said that Dad seems pretty well. I noticed yesterday, when I was cleaning some spillage from his stoma bag up, that his tummy above the navel is rock hard... I wonder if that is fluid or something else?
Earlier today I took mum to see the Retirement Flats in Farnworth village. She loved them. We have put a temporary hold on flat 44, while we try to sort out the timing and funding issues we have at the moment. I really hope this works out - the flat and the location will be perfect for mum on her own. The sales lady understands our situation and is being as helpful as possible.
http://www.mccarthyandstone.co.uk/index.php?Itemid=27&id=735&option=com_content&task=view
Liverpool were just beaten in the UEFA Cup, so that wasn't great! Dad didn't end up watching the match... he watched a DVD instead.
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