My Man usually tries to force himself out once a day for a short walk. Sometimes he feels too weak and tired to be bothered with exercise. To make his walk purposeful he'll walk to the village to buy a daily newspaper - about half a mile with an uphill walk home. He usually refuses to drive into Sidmouth with me where there is a lovely long promenade along which you can walk. There and back for a 11/2 mile level walk. But today he has had to go into town for a dental check up. As it is a beautiful, mild sunny day he is thinking of taking a walk along the seafront before he returns home. I am envious. It is such a lovely day it feels more like spring than autumn. But I am confined indoors. We have a team of hedge trimmers and tree surgeons here today. So I had to remain at home. With 4 burly men wielding petrol driven trimmers and chain saws astride ladders I need to keep out of the way. But on the hour and every hour I produce gallons of strong sweet tea and biscuits. With luck they will have finished by early afternoon and I'll get out for a walk myself.
MyMan is still a very up and down. Sunday he was so down he decided he would contact the CPN after all. He felt so low he wept. I almost weep with him. There is very little I can do to ease his pain or his low moods. Yesterday was better. We went out for a couple of hours to Topsham. Not that far at all really for a man who used to drive 100s of miles a week to various locations for work. But it is over 3 years since he was last in Topsham. He enjoyed seeing the river and the lovely buildings. He suffered pain in the neck and head long before we reached home. But the change of scene did raise his spirits. He's continued with the decision he made on sunday and has asked the CPN to call to give some advice and/or support.
Now he is at the dentist with strict instructions from me to make sure that his head and neck are properly supported during the examination. I still feel some anxiety when he is out alone. I have to remind myself he is not as bad as he was in 2005/6 when sometimes he could barely remember where he was or where he was going. In the days when I thought he was showing signs of early dementia. It may be slow progress but it is progress.
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Its a beautiful sunny day here as well - but it will be cold on the seafront where I am. I hope you have been careful with the tree surgeons and refrained from seducing any of them...
Seriously, I had a friend who is one. He charged me sixty quid mates rates for a job. When I asked him how much was the normal rate he replied - in all seriousness that he would have charged £400 for the work.
I only seduced them with cups of tea. We paid by cheque and will now start to save for the same exercise next year. That's the only problem with having a largish garden - it's too much to manage without some help and besides there is NO WAY I'm going up a ladder with an electric hedge trimmer ..
Thanks for calling by ...
Sunny here, too, and probably cold on the seafront, but I can't get out to see :-(
Seems that life is improving a little for you. Long may it continue!
Oh my dear, you show immense patience and stoicism with such slow and painstaking recovery of your husband. You must love him very much and your dedicated support is humbling to me.
My husband had a short term debilitating bug last week that left him weak and unable to get out of bed unless it was to dash to the loo. He's rarley ill and I know that when he's out of action then it has to be something like a horse kick to floor him. It took five days for him to really get over it and he wasn't a pain for most of it but my goodness, by the end of five days I was glad to see him up and about and cheerful again. He was driving me nuts at one stage and I had to remind myself to be patient.
So, how do you find the resources to play the long game in a situation like yours? You must have immense inner resources and a very positive atitude to life. You write of his pain and yours with such elegance and fortitude and resolution.
I hope when you look back you continue to see great progess as those baby steps evetually become long strides in his recovery.
Robert and MOB - thanks for your kind words. I am just about to write another entry re another progress :-
Robert and MOB - thanks for your kind words. I am just about to write another entry re another progress :-
Good, I hope the next progress report is a heartwarming one. It's sunny again!
I understand the dentist thing. I go armed with cushions, but it is still agony. Shudder at memory.
I saw a pic of Sidmouth prom. It looks lovely.
Poetessxxx
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