Looking up

I’m beginning to think things are looking up.

The medication seems to be working on the Fox. His rash seems to be drying up everywhere. It’s not nearly as itchy. Maybe they’ve finally sorted out what was the cause of the problem. We won’t be cancelling the hospital appointment, though, unless he’s been trouble-free for several days. We half expect this may turn out to be the lull before the next wave of rashes.

I’ve just rung a friend. She’s well into her 80s now. She didn’t send a Christmas card this year which made me fear the worst. I tried ringing one day but got her answerphone. Somehow the message on it was meant for her chiropodist about getting her feet done before her daughter came to visit. The daughter lives in the USA. The message did not reassure me, especially when the last few times I’ve talked to my friend she’s been rather vague as though she may be in the early stages of dementia. However, today she was with it, remembering recent events as well as events from further back. She sounds as though she’s just feeling her age a bit, which is understandable.

So with reassurance of a friend’s reasonable health, & the Fox feeling so much better, things are beginning to look up a bit. We’re even beginning to seriously think we can think about that holiday in the spring. Maybe 2018 is going to be a better year, as I hope it is for all of you.

Flop out

We got to the surgery. Finally we seem to have got to a doctor who seemed to recognise the rash. He reckoned it could be one of two things, neither of which would have responded well to the medication previously prescribed. So now, the Fox has been inundated with pills – one lot to be taken one twice a day for 7 days, the other 6 a day for the first 7 days, then 3 a day for the next 7 days. He was also warned not to go out shopping much. They are likely to make him euphoric, & so an extravagant spendthrift. We’ll see if this lot works. They can’t be any less effective than what he’s had so far. In another fortnight, if the rash is still here, it will soon be time for the hospital appointment &, hopefully, a specialist who will get the diagnosis right.

Having got this sorted, & had dinner, I collapsed in exhaustion. I was very early to bed, before even 8pm. I’ve been trying to do a bit more than usual to ease things a bit for the Fox but I think the fact he’s got to see someone who seemed to know what he was talking about, caused me to let go & flop out.

This morning I thought I would go down to the fish shop for some cod for dinner. It’s dry for the first time in days. However, by the time I’d had a shower, breakfast & then prepared the potatoes for dinner, the urge to go had faded. I’m a little anxious about how well my mobility scooter will go as it hasn’t been used for a while nor had a recharge lately. Laziness has set in & so I’m here instead. The cod can wait.

Into the new year with a bang & an itch

Life is slowly getting back to normal after the holidays. We went to the supermarket yesterday to find half the shelves were empty. It was annoying as it was the basics that were so low, things like bread & fruit. It amazes me that the shops don’t realise after the pre-Christmas shopping frenzy, that it is the basics, the everyday foods that people will want to buy. After all the rich food of Xmas we turned to Breakfast-for-Dinner with relish.

Afterwards we went along to our local pub to discover ours was not the worst Xmas to be experienced by our friends. One had the Serious Crime Squad banging on his door. His daughter, who lives with him, had been assaulted three times by her regular partner. The assailant has been arrested. Meanwhile our friend’s daughter has had to go through the humiliation of having all her bruises, cuts etc. checked, measured & photographed as evidence. The only good thing is that there is collaborative video evidence & some independant witnesses.

I spent Tuesday on the phone trying to reorganise the Fox’s hospital appointment. Apparently the appointment was made by a national central booking scheme. They could not bring forward the appointment & would not be able to put him on a list if there was a cancellation before the present date. For that I had to ring the local hospital. I rang the hospital to be put through to another central booking system based in Kendal. They apparently can’t cancel a booking made by the national scheme &, whilst that booking existed, they couldn’t do anything. Neither could he be put on a list of people ready to attend earlier if an appointment should arise as he is not one of their existing clients. They can only do that with bookings made by them that come as a follow up after the first consultation at the hospital. The only thing he could suggest is seeing a GP again. We went along to the surgery & the Fox has now got an appointment with a more senior & experienced GP. We’re just hoping he can recognise the problem & give him some medication that will improve the situation.

Meanwhile the Fox is steadily getting worse. More & more areas are becoming covered by the rash. He has weeping sores on his scalp, under his hair. He can’t sleep as he’s so uncomfortable. Inevitably he’s getting irritable due to lack of sleep along with the constant itching & pain. He’s having difficulty using his hands as the rash is covering his fingers, distorting them, causing swelling & excessive sensitivity. Needless to say it’s all getting him down.