Rollercoasting the Dippykate Way
Well it's now 2209hrs on friday 3rd April 2009 and so nearly a week since I last posted and am trying to think what I've been up to that could be of interest.
Mentally and emotionally, I'm in a better place so that's easier for everyone and physically, parts of me are in better ways and other parts of me are worse!! Thank you for all your comments and support and emails etc.
I feel very guilty asking so much of you on my last post and I'm sorry if I upset anyone - think I sound even more bossy than I usually am in that post!!
Well, how did I spend this last week??
I spent sunday morning asleep which helped me and I was beginning to need less oxygen and be off oxygen for longer but my stomach is really swollen and that is getting worse. In the afternoon, myself and my friend from Waterlooville went through the photo album for my sister and although she does not believe she is 'arty', you are 'my Waterlooville' friend. The way you have displayed the photos is much more arty and professional than I could manage!!
Monday - I was planning to go home for a few hours but in the end didn't as was quite tired. One of my friends from Folkestone came to see me and my sister arrived as well. My oxygen need was now down to about 3 litres/min of oxygen so was able to go home for a little while if i wanted to. Instead of going home, I went outside in the wheelchair with my sister and my hubby and had a good nose around the gardens which are lovely and there is so much colour in the beds. It was blissful to be outside.
I think it was today and not last week but saw the palliative care consultant who seemed to be very much pushing me to go home or at least that's how I felt and I didn't feel ready to go home on a full time basis. My sister and the nurses explained that he actually wasn't really pushing me into going home, he was just making plans. Anyway, from that consultation, he changed some of my medication which hopefully would help me with the terrible stomach cramps that I get. They took me off the morphine pump and started me eventually on the long acting morphine capsules and also gave me a sticky patch behind my ear which was to help with the stomach spasms and also help with the horrible sticky secretions in my chest. The drying up part worked too well and I ended up feeling like I had cottonwool stuck at the back of my nose so it was impossible to swallow. It was a very odd feeling but it did get better by the next day. Unfortunately, the same can not be said of the pain and bloating in my stomach. As soon as I started to eat or drink, my stomach would just go rock hard and look very swollen and become very painful to the extent that I needed morphine to get pain relief andf lorazepam to help me calm down as all I could do was to rock with pain.
Tuesday - this was quite a busy day with visitors but also the day I went home and managed to spend about 4 hours there which was great and we found all the things that had previously gone missing so I felt much happier. My sister had to go in the evening which was sad but she has her family to look after as well and I know she be back here soon.
After my trip home, I was so tired I just sort of flopped into bed and didn't move!! All I'd done was to get out of bed and into the wheelchair and into the car, into the wheelchair and into the lounge. You'd have thought I'd just attempted climbing up Everest judging by the state of me!!
It was lovely as I could now see the new kitchen decorating. It is wonderful and I hope you 2 are happy with the results as I am.
I must have got so excited about going home, I forgot that another friend was coming to visit so am really sorry that I was not there when you turned up.
On wednesday, a friend who I went to school with in Folkestone came over to see me which was lovely and also my friend from my student nurse days and her husband visited too. My mum had also arrived as well so it meant that I did have people around if I wanted them or could tell them to go away if I was overtired!!
Thursday - Decorating Debbie came to see me and gave me some lovely aromotherapy and reiki. She did the aromotherapy before lunch and I tried to eat lunch but it was a slow and painful business. Once I'd finished eating, Debbie gave me some reiki which was wonderful and I drifted off to sleep. I woke up in a panic though. I could feel someone lifting my head up and then stopping and running away. I woke up and realised I couldn't move. I'd half fallen out of bed and my face and head was in the drawer and my arms behind me and I didn't have the balance or co-ordination to move my head!!! My friend Lucy, had come to visit me and found me with my head slumped into the drawer and she had tried to pick me up but my heavy sleepy head was too much. I didn't realise she was there so was shouting help. The physio and Lucy came back and rescued my head which was all lined with pressure marks where I'd fallen asleep on top of recharger leads in the drawer!!! Who else could fall asleep and stay asleep in a drawer apart from Dippykate??!!
That leads me onto friday. I felt very sick during the night and ended up having some very strong anti-sickness injection at 7am which made me sleep so heavily again that the poor volunteer man had to try 4 times to wake me up so I drank my tea and had my breakfast!!
I spent quite a lot f the morning asleep after that but did have visitors and mum. this afternoon the children came up to see me. Poor Laura has a very bad cold so not sure about her visiting me which is a shame as I thought we'd be able to do something creative tomorrow. Hope she's better or maybe I can wear a mask this time as I want to be able to give her a cuddle.
I managed to have a shower which didn't leave me breathless and am now down to 3 litres through the nasal specs all the time now so pleased. Just my poor belly to sort out now. I'm hardly eating anything at all - just puddings and the odd soup and smoothie.
Will try to post in week. Thanks once again for your support.
Katexx