A Quick Update...

I finally managed to get my last tooth removed on Tuesday, 20th June 2023. I have to return on Friday, 7th July, for a fitting to make some dentures. I may feel better and be ready to venture outdoors more after this. I have still got an ongoing battle with the doctors over my pain management; I have reduced my Gabapentin down to 200mg    3 x daily from 600mg, which I think is a good amount. When I put in a repeat prescription, I asked for more 200mg tablets, and they have not sent any; I, of course, questioned this and am waiting for an answer. I was supposed to have a telephone appointment at 12.30 pm, but it is now 1.45 pm, and I am still waiting. I need help, but it needs to look better than no meds and phone calls. I can self-refer to Aspire for hydrotherapy, but I would have more chances if the doctors referred me, and I would get in quicker. 

Tony has had his op on his wrist. It all went well; he says it was a lot easier than last time, it didn’t hurt as much, and he seems to be doing well. The only thing it seems to stop him from doing is washing up because he is not allowed to get the wound wet. 

We have been out on the scooters, just short trips to Morrisons; Tony is happy to sit in the garden now that he has a small patio area. He takes a snack and a drink outside and soaks up the sun. At least his vitamin levels will increase without having to rely on tablets. The BBQ has been used once, but I am sure it will be used more when Tony can fully use his hand; Anne and the other neighbours look forward to it happening. Alison has given strict instructions that she be invited to the next one. 

Lynsey has not been able to have her first nerve injections yet; she had a rather nasty gum abscess preventing the injections. The dentist gave her some antibiotics, and she must wait until the infection and swelling have subsided. The next visit to the dentist ended with the tooth being extracted; when the tooth was removed, the dentist was amazed to discover a small cyst attached to the end of the root. This could have accounted for the reason the infection had been so bad. Lynsey has been booked back in for the nerve injections, but if the condition is still lingering, she will have to postpone them again. 

Oliver, Mum’s dog, has also been out of sorts lately. He has been off his food and is sick. We hope it is just the weather and nothing serious; he is quiet compared to usual. 

I just got my call from the doctor at 3.55 pm. They cannot tell the time. I am being referred to physio and hydrotherapy. Well, how long will that take? In the meantime, she will make sure I get some Gabapentin, and it will be put back on a repeat prescription. I still, however, have to talk to Dr Mirza.

Emma is going to Scarborough this weekend; Olivia has paid for them to go and watch Rag and Bone Man at the open-air theatre; Emma is buzzing about this. She has never been to anything like this before. 

I took delivery of an exceptional parcel earlier this week; I have waited seven weeks since I ordered these, and they were worth the wait.

A Very Special Pair Of HandPainted Doc Marten Boots.

Until the next time...

Some good news, some fun and games, a badly placed sign...

 The garden has been partially flagged, and Tony has his scooter shed to house his mobility scooter when Richard takes his car away. Tony's driving days are over. This happens just as I receive this...

My Blue Badge.

I have finally been awarded mobility after years of being refused. Not only that but because I was awarded 10 points for being able to walk 20 metres but no more than 50 metres, I was automatically eligible for the blue badge. Happy Days. At least it will make life easier for all the doctors and hospital appointments we must attend. No more paying for parking and more accessible parking spots. Talking of hospital appointments, I finally saw the hospital dentist after waiting since May 2022. He sent me to have an x-ray of my jaw and gums, spoke to me, looked at my three and a half remaining teeth, and told me... "I am going to refer you back to your dentist. There is no reason that you cannot have the teeth extracted there." I didn't know what to say. I had waited nearly a year for this! He said he would write to the dentist, send a copy of the letter to me and then I was to ring the dentist and make an appointment. I was shell-shocked. 

The letter arrived a few days later. I rang the dentist. I have an appointment on May 5th with Mr Khan, I think he should remove all the teeth in one go, but it will take some time. It might be one at a time. Then I should have some dentures made to stop me from looking like Granny Grump. 

Granny Grump

Tony is enjoying his new Rise & Recliner chair. It seems to be doing his legs some good. Now his feet are higher than his hips; when he sleeps, the fluid drains back up his legs, and his circulation improves. The best part is that he can step straight out of the chair alone when in the rise position. Tony seems much better in himself now he is more self-reliant. 

Tony went for an appointment with the fracture clinic today. He still has trouble with the feeling in his thumb and two fingers; he has to have an operation to relax a nerve in his hand, he is not looking forward to that, but it should be happening in the next few weeks; fingers crossed. 

Lynsey, as usual, has had some more drama in her life; she phoned me at 6:10 am the other morning to tell me she had sent me a photo on WhatsApp; I had a look and just burst out laughing even more when she asked if I thought she should put a plaster on it.

Lynsey sent me this picture.

 

A day later, she sent me this one.

We concluded that she had had a nocturnal seizure and banged her head on the bedside cabinet. 

Lynsey has a neighbour next-door who parks his car and van outside her house; this means he is parked on a bend, so traffic cannot see if any other traffic is coming. This means the bus and any other vehicles blast their horns to let the other drivers know they are coming around. This happens during the night as well as during the day.

That's close.

Then the other day, he went to the other extreme and parked his van across the road in the middle of the road; other drivers thought somebody was in the van, well you would, wouldn't you.

Abandoned or Parked?

Then the police blocked the road for hours.

Nobody knows why; they stayed for hours, they left, they came back, they left, then they came back, and then they left again. It's been fun and games at Crigglestone; I am sure we will find out the full story soon; somebody said it was a shooting, an ambulance did attend at one point, the paramedics parked the ambulance near the park behind Lynsey's house, ran across to a row of houses behind and disappeared. When Lynsey looked again, the ambulance had gone.

Emma has been helping us a lot, running us about when we need to go somewhere. She has bought a new car, it is a five-door Peugeot 108 Automatic. The other car she had was a three-door which meant neither Tony nor I could get in the back; this is one of the reasons she changed it. 

Emma's new car.

I think I have probably waffled long enough now, so I will just leave you with another picture that Lynsey sent me that amused me,

This supermarket should be more careful of the placement of its signs...

 

Until the next time...

Learn to suck it up...

 

I went to the doctor on Friday for my steroid jab in my right knee, and he asked me how I was doing reducing my Gabapentin dose. I told him I had reduced it from 600mg 3 x daily to 300mg 3 x daily. His response was when I see you again in July I want to see you have stopped it altogether. He had already taken my tramadol a while back and I began feeling more pain. Then he said after that we would begin to reduce the amitryptiline, and then we would feel much better. After that, the topiramate can go. That prevents me from having migraines, I looked at him in amazement, can I just ask after we have stopped all these pain management tablets what will it have done for us? He answered me by saying, it will make us feel much better. I looked at him and said I think it is going to make me f@*&ing hurt! Well the look on his face, Susan he said there is no need to swear at me. I think there was, then I asked him how I was supposed to control my pain levels when he had taken all my pain relief? His answer learn to suck it up!

I was gobsmacked. I think I will be seeing a different doctor about my pain from now on.

This is my new reading seat.

It is due to be delivered tomorrow, I probably will not be in because I go to visit my mum on a Tuesday, so I am leaving it in the capable hands of Tony.

Tony has had a couple of visitors over the weekend, his son Carl, his wife Amber, and their youngest son Connor came on Saturday. Connor loves coming to drink a dram or two with his Grandad Tony, this time they were drinking Fundador a fine Spanish brandy. Connor will have slept all the way home to Morecambe.

Then on Sunday Tony's younger son Richard and his son Oliver came to visit. Tony had bought a shed for his mobility scooter, and Richard and Oliver had come to build it for him.

Tonys Scooter Shed.

It fits nicely under the room window in the back garden and is just high enough for the squirrels to stand on and look into the room, so they can ask for their monkey nuts when the box is empty. Yes, I know squirrels can't talk but I know what they want I am fluent in squirrel. 

Until the next time...

Life is slowly improving...

 

I am feeling quite good at the moment, I have finally got an appointment to go and see somebody called Mr Reid at Pinderfields Hospital on April 5th 2023 at 9am about my teeth. Yipee, I have been waiting since May 7th of last year for this, of course, there is still time for them to cancel it.

Mum came for dinner yesterday for Mothersday, and Oliver came too. Tony had decided on an Italian menu. We had Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini as starter along with a salad. Then for the main, we had Lasagne with a mixed platter of meats & cheese, a few garlic prawns on a bed of salad, and garlic bread. To finish off we had a selection of ice creams.

I think it was safe to say we were all stuffed by the end. The washing up waited until this morning.

I saw this on the internet the other day, it made me wonder if my brother or his wife will still be running at this age? 

This lady can certainly move 100 meters in 1 minute and 17 seconds.

The garden is coming to life more and more we have sparrows and starlings coming now. The dunnocks have begun the wing waving so which signals that nest building time is fast approaching. 

WING-WAVING DUNNOCKS.

The blue tits and great tits are coming every day as are the goldfinches. The blackbirds are already building Mrs blackbird was collecting nesting material earlier today. 

The squirrels are coming thick and fast we have four coming on a regular basis, they have got used to me now and wait for me to put the food out and come for it before I shut the window. One of them comes to the room window and watches Tony in the room to see what he is doing, I think it is waiting to see if Tony throws anything out of the window for him. I think he may be waiting a while.

Tony attended the hospital for a nerve conduction test in his right-hand last week because he still has no feeling in some of his fingers. He told me and Mum that he almost punched himself in the face because his hands were jerking about all over when the test was taking place. Tony's legs are still no better, he is going to get in touch with Dr Daru again this week to see if anything else can be done.

Well on that note I will leave you all.

I hope everyone is safe and well,

Until the next time...

The snow finally appeared...

 

Well yes, actually I do...

The daughter dragged me out in the cold and snow to go to the hospital with her. She had to go for some laser treatment on her eyes. After visiting the eye clinic yesterday and the pressure in both eyes being above 30 she had to return this morning at 9 am and somebody had to go with her, so I was the lucky person. After taking over an hour to finally get a taxi and paying almost double the usual cost we reached the hospital only to have to wait long after 9 am because Lynsey was not on the list. I was not a happy bunny, I could have been at home warm and comfy in my pj's. After she had her laser done we had the pleasure of waiting for a taxi to return home again paying over the odds, which neither of us could understand because the roads were clear, for once the gritters had done their jobs. The excuse they were charging more because they were in such high demand, didn't that mean they were making more money so why charge more? 

Rant over...

Our neighbour flew back to Spain this morning, she always seems to manage to go out when the weather is bad here. I know she got there ok I checked to make sure her flight landed. She will probably be sitting drinking a Spanish brandy about now.

SNOW IN THE GARDEN.

Only the robin braved the elements this morning.

Tony has picked and paid for his new chair, it is a rise and recliner.

This is the chair except it is in Black Leather.

The chair has been measured and fitted for him and should be ready in 6 to 8 weeks. It means he can stand straight up from the chair and lay better in it to sleep.

He did ask if I wanted one but I declined, I think I would prefer a rocking chair if I can find one to suit me.

I found this the other day I think I might just put it on a T-shirt.

Until the next time...

Sneaky squirrels...

 

Well, here I am again, 

I hope everyone is well and warm. The Scottish part of the family has caught covid again hopefully they will have recovered by now or at least be well on the way to recovery.

Tony and I are both reasonably well, Tony is still having problems with his legs, he has a sore patch under his left heel which is making walking more of a problem at the moment, but these things are sent to try us. 

I saw this on the internet and it really appealed to me with my teeth problem,

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABIES.

I know she's not a baby but you know what I mean.

I had another baking day on Thursday: 

blue cheese muffins, cheese & marmite scones, 

prune sponge and chocolate chip muffins.

They turned out alright this week.

We have a visit now and then from one of my grandchildren, she stays for an hour sometimes two. This time she brought a friend with her.

ALISON CAME TO VISIT.

ALONG WITH BUDDY.

The squirrels in the garden are getting very greedy and cannot always wait for me to put their monkey nuts out. They have started stealing the bird's peanuts.

CAUGHT IN ACTION.

It didn't take them long.

Until the next time...

The wind is getting up...

 

It's me again, I hope everybody is well and warm. The weather is very windy today apparently it is all down to storm Otto. We are only getting the tip of it, Scotland and further North from us are being hit really badly. I hope my brother and his wife are safely indoors with their cats. I am sure they will be, I hope Russell is not going out running in the strong winds I know he doesn't like the wind so I don't think he will.

Our neighbour Anne is due home from Spain today I hope her flight is able to land a lot of them are being diverted or just not taking off, maybe she will have to stay a few extra days.

Lynsey is back at work and finding plenty to complain about, however today she is working from home, and still finding plenty to complain about. She likes complaining. That's what it is. 

I have to go for a face-to-face consultation to prove I am entitled to my PIP on Tuesday at 9 am. I think it is ridiculous that when you have a health issue that is only going to get worse over time and never improve, some of your problems mean that having to talk to a complete stranger makes you anxious, stressed which then makes you feel more nervous, it makes me clam up and not want to speak. I never know if that goes in my favour or against me. I lost my mobility last time I am hoping to get it back this time because I really struggle sometimes just to go to the shop across the road takes me nearly half an hour. Right rant over, and moves on.

We put up a bird feeder today, just a small one with two hooks to hold one feeder on each it has a tray for seed and a water dish, we are hoping to attract a few small birds there are a couple of dunnocks and a robin come in regularly and we have seen a blue tit but it would be nice to get more to come in. I have also noticed a lack of starlings. Oh, we have had blackbirds in there was a family of them not long after we moved in.

The New Feeder.

We also have a few other things around the garden for the birds and squirrels.

The Sunflower Ladybird.

 The Suet Balls

and for the more sophisticated diner,

The Table & Chair.

The squirrels of course also have the nut box, they never have any problem knowing when it has been filled. I only filled it a couple of hours ago and it is empty already.

Hello.

Going in...

He's got a nut...

Thank you.

Tony is waiting for an appointment to go back to see the fracture clinic with his wrist, he is still having a lot of pain and still has no feeling in his thumb and forefinger. He is having trouble picking things up and keeps dropping things. It is not good having two of us like that, we will be taking turns throwing things on the floor and up the walls. I think maybe I will keep out of the kitchen when Tony is using knives from now on. He might just start dropping them on the floor, maybe he should find meals that don't need the use of sharp knives.

Well enough of my waffling.

Until the next time...

Unicorns and mangoes????

 

I wanted to let you know how things are going!

Lynsey has been back in the hospital and has been diagnosed with "Sarcoidosis", a rare condition that causes small patches of swollen tissue, called granulomas, to develop in the body's organs. Lynsey has them in her lungs and spleen. The doctors are not treating it at the moment just monitoring it. Lynsey has been discharged from the fracture clinic as her toe is deemed to be "straight enough". She has an appointment at Wharfedale Hospital in Otley to see the consultant about the spinal tumour, why somewhere so far out instead of the LGI I do not understand at all. The hospital doctor she saw in Pinderfields increased her morphine so she is spending a bit more time sleeping, however, she is returning to work next week, and I think she will be cutting the dose down by then.

Tony had his pot removed two weeks ago. His arm does not look very straight, and he is still suffering a great deal of pain. Tony has been to physio once and returns on Monday for his 2nd session, I don't think he is looking forward to it. 

We went for a ride to Aldi on the scooters this morning, it was very cold but it felt good to get out. I don't expect to be doing it again for a while, I think it was a bit too much for Tony. The next time we go out it will be by taxi to the hospital then a lift home by Mum. We would have been lost without her just lately all the running about she has done for us. I have felt really guilty asking and have tried not to unless I have been really stuck. However, with Emma going in for her op as well, things have been difficult.

Hopefully, things can get back to normal, if only Lynsey can keep out of the hospital, Emma gets better quickly and Tony's arm mends. 

Tony is happy at the moment he has the Six Nations Rugby Union to watch at the weekend, it would be even better if England could win. 

Willow one of my granddaughters has her 5th birthday coming up on Monday, Chris her dad told me she is into unicorns and mangoes, and I was slightly puzzled by the mangoes until he explained Willow couldn't say flamingoes so she called them mangoes. I am glad he explained she nearly got a unicorn with a mango on her birthday card.

Well, I don't think I have any more news at the moment so I shall love you and leave you.

until the next time...

 

Getting more like normal...

 Things are getting more like usual. Lynsey was discharged from the hospital on 14/01/2023. However, she only received some of the medication she was led to believe she would. She did not get a discharge letter, so she has spent all week fighting with the family GP to get a repeat prescription for the medication she needs to continue with until she returns to the hospital clinic as an outpatient. Lynsey has to attend one of the hospitals in Leeds for them to remove one of the swollen lymph nodes/glands from her chest to do some tests on it. The big C has been mentioned. However, Lynsey is not letting this phase her. She is very calm and takes it all in her stride. A lot better than I would be if it was me (or I am because she is my baby, after all). She was happy to be reunited with her cats, Pepper & Biscuit, even though they both seemed to ignore her and sulk for a while.

Biscuit hid in the safe place on the cat scratcher.

Pepper just turned his back & sulked.

Tony is still having problems, the feeling has not returned in his thumb and forefinger, and the pain is still causing him sleepless nights. He goes back to the fracture clinic on 27/01/2023. Hopefully, his wrist will heal enough for the pot to be removed. However, it may not be because another pot may replace the one he has. Tony's legs are looking better. The cream works slowly, but that is better than not working at all.

My gum is taking a long time to settle, where I had two teeth removed. I know it is because they were taken out while I had an abscess. I hope it is not becoming infected again. We are both over the sickness bug we picked up and are happy to say apart from our usual ailments, we are fine.

Looking through old photos again, I saw this one, taken in Albufeira in The Algarve in Portugal. We spotted this kennel on our first visit, but it was scarce to see an animal there. I am assuming that Ricky is the dog. 

Ricky's Pad in The Algarve Portugal

Then I found this very melancholy looking one of part of Wakefield.

Kirkgate in Wakefield

A very wet and dreary day made it look more downtrodden than usual.

Oh, I do miss my shed...

Until the next time...

The New Year continues...

 The New Year carries on in much the same way. Lynsey remains in the hospital. She is now in ward 32A and has been made as comfy as possible. The MRI showed that she has

 A Spinal Neurinoma is a benign, slow-growing tumour in the spine. 

The MRI also showed some endometriosis and a cyst. We knew Lynsey had endometriosis, so this came as no great surprise. It was possible that the cyst had ruptured and that fluid was leaking into the fallopian tubes. Mr Kremer, the gyno doctor, was not interested because it was a spinal MRI and not a gyno one. So he wasn't interested in treating her and said he would make an outpatient appointment.

Lynsey has a broken big toe on her right foot. 

Bit of an overkill for a big toe.

I was not too good myself yesterday. I was sick, sitting on the toilet with a bucket on my knee most of the day and night. I wondered if I had picked something up at the hospital. I did a covid test to rule that out first, and then I realised that the relatively large abscess on my lower jaw had disappeared. I rang the dentist, who made me an appointment for 3:15pm today. Mr Khan pulled out 2 teeth. It hurt like hell because of the abscess, but now the rest would drain, and I was closer to getting them all out. Only 3 to go.

Lynsey had a repeat MRI this time with dye, to see if it showed up any more than the last one. I am still waiting for the results. No doubt I will hear them tonight or tomorrow.

Lynsey has been prescribed Morphine, Gabapentin, Ondanatran (anti-sickness) and something to make her go to the loo.

I have been told to expect a call, as I am her next of kin. They will be calling me to arrange a delivery date for the frame for the bog to my house. ( she has such a way with words )

That is not the end of The Turner Family's luck. Last night, when Chris finished work, he went outside to get his bike, only his bike was not there.

Tony is still in quite a bit of pain with his broken wrist. He has lost some of the feelings in his thumb and forefinger. His legs are getting no better. We really are not having a lot of luck between us, are we?

 So it is a crap start to 2023.

Until the next time...