Not an auspicious year

January certainly seems to have brought its problems.

First of the casualties was Mrs B, the retired headmistress. She bent to blow out a candle. She thought she was going to start a nosebleed, to which she is rather prone. Fearing she would get blood all over the carpet, & knowing the current medical advice in the event of a nosebleed, she threw her head back. Unfortunately she did it so violently, she lost her balance, hit the back of her head on a table with the result there was even more blood all over the carpet. An ambulance had to rush out to take her to A&E. It was feared she'd broken her neck, but it's turned out she's just got very severe whiplash. For the last three weeks she's not been able to get out of her flat. She's only just got to the stage of being able to get to the door to open it if any one comes round. Fortunately she has a large family, living locally, with keys, who have been round every day, getting her up, feeding her, washing her, shopping for her, even picking up things she has dropped.

Then came the ambulance for our neighbour, Dave, which I have already written about.

Thursday evening, PD got an infection in his eye. He rubbed it & in the process scratched the cornea. They operated immediately, so it should recover fully. So yesterday, he went to the Pub, a patch over one very sore eye. He's back at the hospital on Monday to check it's doing well.

This morning I've been phoning the walking wounded to discover the reason why Fran & Den didn't arrive at the Pub was because Fran had passed out for a couple of hours earlier in the week. In the end Den had rung for the ambulance to take her into A&E comatose. She woke up, unaware what had happened. They suspect she'd had a stroke, but presumably more tests will be needed to make a clearer diagnosis. She, too, is home.

Suddenly my stomach gripes of this year seem minor. They still keep playing up occasionally but are becoming more & more apart & less severe. I'm still half-expecting to have to go & see the GP another time.

And that's not to mention the trip a dear old friend in Yorkshire had to make to A&E. Or my cousin Ann having to cope with the chemotherapy courses she's having to undergo to treat her cancer.

2012 does not seem to have brought much good health this year so far! Let's hope things improve as the year goes on!