Hi Billy and Christine, been quite busy getting ready to go tomorrow, it's amazing how much you have tw0o d to go away and leave the house safe.  Had a pleasant weekend but unfortunately ended up with three more aneurysms in my eye again so I've started taking aspirin, I think it's been so hit that my veins have exploded, it is worrying but I need to stay calm and k ow that I've got through it once and I can do it again.  I received a letter today from the patient experience officesetting out my complaint, then when I git to the bottom of the reply they asked me to fill a form in and send it back, so when I looked at it I was fuming, it was a tick Box form asking for my age, ethnicity, gender, the usual rubbish so they can make their patient experiences more appealing across the board, if they concentrate on nursing the patient a little more then it may be more helpful but to include this in with a complaint about a loved one is taking the proverbial "***" needless to say it went in the recycling, what a waste of time and money.  Elvie the broken legged cat is having an x Ray tomorrow to see if it's healed I do hope so because then I won't have to clean out a smelly cat litter! Apparently my bedroom is fit for a Queen and her King, apparently Zippy is the King because he will be sleeping with me.  Billy how are you doing, I do hope you have her home soon, Dorothy is now in a nursing home near to home, I took a photo in a frame from our 1950s afternoon as we were all dressed up, he said it was lovely but it showed him how much she had changed in three years.  Anyway I'll take my I pad and post whilst away.  Take care, Carol x 

Dear Carol and Christine, 

Hate to say it's chaos here again  Brenda back in hospital yesterday, i phoned up as usual about 7am to ask how Brenda slept and what she's like this morning, and told she's in A&E (really shocked me)one of there nurses keep with her permanent. So i phoned  A&E they were doing tests blood tests all came wrong results she should be in MEAU in a few hours, that was Tuesday morning, phoned this morning she's still in A&E no beds on other ward. 

Brenda is on a drip, no more information yet just loads of tests yesterday. 

I've a bit of good information my energy has improved a bit so feel bit better  still not back on cancer meds ,decided to get a car small but reasonable boot so  scooter fits easily paid for last night, just sorting road tax and insurance and, hopefully i can visit Brenda regularly depending what is going on with her. 

Hope you get a really good time out and about. 

Thinking of you and dear Christine 

Our Bella is still eating and sleeping, im hoping i can get her out more soon, Brenda would love to see her but not allowed. I checked. 

Love to all Billy xxxx 

Brenda could be back on her normal ward today, just as long as her blood tests are improved (especially potassium) .they take blood regularly anyway from Brenda, it's one thing after another with this place, I'm thinking as soon as possible get her in a care home. 

Hope weather is just nice for you, and you can relax and sleep well. 

Love to all Billy xxxxxxxxxxx 

Dear Billy, I feel for you with all that's going on, you have no idea what will happen next with Bren.  My train journey down was fine except the woman opposite me coughed and honked into a handkerchief all the way down she wa Polish so I couldn't even ask her to put a mask on, let's hope it was hay-fever.  So get to London, hire a taxi, srventeen pounds later he dumps me down a road closed side road as there'd been an accident and we couldn't get to Waterloo, you'll have to walk from here he says! All well and good but I hadn't got a bloody clue where I was.  Anyway I found Waterloo Bridge it's a long one and had to drag my suitcase and hand luggage all the way there on my own, and I'm supposed to keep my blood pressure down because of my eyes, chance would be a fine thing.  I was so hot when I got there I thought I would collapse in a heap.  Lisa was fuming and said she was going to call them and tell them off.  Yesterday I went to prize giving day, Harry was presented with his blue blazer and then we drank and nibbled on little salmon biscuits, unfortunately I drank more than I ate and was quite tiddly.  We all had a half hour nap then took off to the pub for tea, a gin was ordered, it was called a twited nose, we think it was supposed to be a twisted nose, we did laugh.  Anyway they're off to Greece tomorrow.  I'll keep you posted.  Xx

Lisa and I have decided we're cursed with bad luck.  Everything was going fine this morning before they were leaving so I took Zippy for a walk.  I took him in the paper shop and he yelped and started shaking his head so all the way home his tail was down and he kept shaking his ears I dreaded telling Lisa but the dog was so upset she knew.  So long  story short off to the vets, he's had to be sedated as he wouldn't let them look in his ear, Lisa arrived back at 12.10and the taxi came at 12.15 so no dog as he's had to be left at the vets.  Tears all round and I'm so upset about it all.  I'm now home alone with two cats and no Zippy who I came down to care for.  How can life be so unkind to us all when we do nothing but good deeds and be kind to people? My poor daughter is distraught and l will not settle until he's back from the vets.  Xx

Hi dear Carol so sorry about zippy hope its something miner. 

Brenda was moved to a normal ward this morning so i can finally visit went this afternoon, when Brenda saw me she was in tears thinking i wasn't coming any more she wanted a kiss and a hug. 

She moaned about hospital tv so i set it up for her with normal tv and films told her to ask a nurse if she can't find something she wants to watch. 

She's ok with normal home tv remote but hospital ones are confusing sometimes. 

She doesn't like hospital gravy so nurse asked if id take some granules and they would get Brenda's meals without gravy and they would make it up for Brenda. 

I'm taking some tomorrow morning visiting. 

Brenda is covered in bruses from blood tests lucky they don't hurt much her legs are improving slowly now she's in bed properly, (she wouldn't sleep in bed in the psychiatric ward so her legs were down so not draining. ).

Hope things are OK with zippy. 

Love Billy xxxx 

Dear Billy, Zippy is home and asleep at my feet.  It's been quite traumatic and put me off any tea, I'm just going to have a gin and tonic and an early night.  Lisa's flight was delayed by 3 hours so its not been a good start to their holiday.  Anyway I'm pleased things are a little better on the home front for you and Bren, it's all so very hard isn't it when our loved ones are upset let's hope it's soon so.  Love Carol x 

Hi Carol and Billy,

I've just caught up with you both after a few days and so many things have happened. Did they say what was wrong with Zippy, Carol?  it's no wonder you feel traumatised! It sounds like you took the best medicine! A G&T and early night can sort out a lot of ills!

Billy, It sounds like Brenda is being looked after a bit better now. It's nice of the nurses to make her food taste more how she likes it.  

I've had a funny old time the last couple of days.  I am one of the half million people helping with the research at UK Biobank. It is the longest running and largest cohort of research volunteers anywhere, and Biobank have helped all sorts of organisations with their data.  I received a message a couple of weeks ago asking if I would take part in an imaging project they were conducting.  I said I would, and, on Saturday I drove to their nearest centre.  I had previously taken part in different projects over the years and was quite happy to do my bit for the good of mankind! 
The first disaster was my satnav, losing track of where I was going and sending me the wrong way down the motorway, then it stopped giving me any directions at all.  I ended up having to find somewhere to park up and phone the centre for directions when I was only a mile away. Eventually I arrived only fifteen minutes late. Over the next four hours I had two MRI scans, a CT scan, a Dexa scan, an ECG and ultrasound scan on my kneck as well as a computerised questionnaire, a hearing test, blood and urine taken, height, weight and muscle strength measured and medical history recorded.  I felt progressively worse with each scan, and the ultrasound on my kneck did. for me.  I had such a vertigo attack I was staggering. I don't know how I got myself dressed and out of there.  All the technicians there were ready for off and couldn't get rid of me quickly enough as I was the last one there! Being fifteen minutes late had meant they were kept late, as I was the last subject there.  I sat in the car for ages before my head stopped spinning, and I set the stupid satnav just to take me to the motorway and found my own way from there.  I got to my daughter's, to pick up Archie, feeling dreadfully sick.. Part of her treatment for her ME includes anti sickness tablets so she made me take two and wait for it to pass.  I felt better after about half an hour and left for home, only two miles away.  I got down her steeply stepped garden path, bent down to pick Archie up to put in the back of the car, then when I opened the driver's door, I had to cling on to it to stop me from falling backwards.  I bet her neighbours thought I was drink driving.  I somehow drove home, but was sick about six times, on an empty stomach and I couldn't stand up straight without falling. My daughter gave me a real telling off over FaceTime because I hadn't called her for help.  I just collapsed on the bed, leaving a load of dry washing out on the line all night. I slept for 10 hours according to the Fitbit and felt like I had a heavy night on the booze, today.  I'm still feeling fragile! I haven't done a thing all day except to take Archieout for a (very slow) walk.

 I think that the next time they ask for volunteers for tests I will politely decline the invitation. I've never had such a bad attack of vertigo before and I don't want another! The results of the tests will not be reported to me unless they see something really bad, in which case they will inform me and my doctor. I joined up, years ago, when I was first asked because a friend of mine had turned down her invitation a couple of years earlier, then had died of lung cancer within two years. I felt that if she had joined she might have been diagnosed sooner and treated for it.

The ten hours sleep last night has meant I'm still awake an hour later than my normal bedtime tonight but I'm getting sleepy now so I'll say goodnight  

Christine x

Hi dear Carol and Christine, 

Christine you spoke to soon, Brenda's ward now have covid so locked down, at least i managed to visit 2 days before. I've tested myself and im clear that was a relief to me. Brenda has had her second booster couple of weeks ago so should be OK, i hope. 

Brenda was going back to psychiatric ward yesterday then told ward was full, then told covid. 

I thought things were looking up for us for a change. 

Carol i might start on g and t soon, it's very tempting lately. 

Good luck to you all, and love to you all  Billy xxxx 

As Lisa said, there's a curse on us and I think that includes the three of us!  How can three people have so much bad luck, it's a good job we're glass half full folks or god knows what we'd be like.  You see those on here practically talking themselves into being ill and think rather unkindly, I bloody hope you don't because you'd never make it!  So today and yesterday have been better apart from Elvie the broken leg cat, I locked her in yesterday, left the bedroom window ajar with a life sized sloth sat in front of it, took Zippy out, got lost again but staggered home after a full hour of navigation through trees and vegetation, Christine I don't think a sat nav would have helped me either, arrived back at Lisa's house and the cat was sat on the doorstep, she'd knocked the sloth off the window and jumped out the bedroom window, I just looked at her and thought, I give up!  So last night Zippy ate Eddie's cat food, then I put some in Elvie's cage, coaxed her in off the doorstep at 10.30pm, shooed her upstairs and Zippy had eaten her food as well, needless to say we had a lie in this morning as he wasn't hungry.  I think I'd say no next time Christine what a lot to do in one day, that's too much for you, vertigo is awful and knocks you out.  It's boiling here today but I've done two hours of tidying up in the ginormous garden and have come in as we're all too hot, the North East is very rarely too hot so I'm watching what I do.  Billy its swings and roundabouta isn't it, let's hope you're allowed in soon, how are you managing with your car now, it must be easier.  Well I'm plucking up the energy to walk to the shop for a paper.  Zippy had a massive grass pronged seed in his inner ear bless him, Faye says he needs ear muffs, a good idea I just need doggie sized ones.  Faye is coming to visit me Thursday as she has a day off, lets hope the weather stays good.  Take care both of you.  Love Carol x