Day 46 - Tuesday 7th Oct 2008

Wellington Day 20

A well earned rest

On Tuesday, Dad ended 45 days of consecutive (and sometimes multiple) daily visits to the hospital to visit Mum, by taking the evening off. To be honest, I'm amazed he lasted so long without collapsing from exhaustion.

On a normal day, he'd be up at 08:00 and into work for 08:30, working through without a lunch break in order to finish at about 15:30 and get back home for 16:00. A quick bite to eat and gathering of Mum's necessities he then heads to the hospital (through some nasty rush hour traffic) to get there for about 17:00; followed by 3 or 4 circuits of the area looking for a parking space. After visiting for about 3 hours he makes the 1 hour journey home and just about has time for a cup of coffee and a bite to eat before bed, and the cycle begins again.

It was well overdue that he took an evening off, so in his stead Nicola and I went to visit and spend a couple of hours with Mum in the Wellington.

We arrived at 5:15pm, literally just as Mum had sat down in her chair to watch some TV. She was just back from an extra physiotherapy session where she had been put through her paces on the skiing machine; designed to help with leg and arm strength, as well as co-ordination.

Mum usually has her dinner around 18:15 and Nicola and I were getting a bit peckish ourselves (somewhat of an understatement), so we decided to see if we could get some food delivered to the hospital so we could all eat at the same time.

Nicola asked the nurses if they knew any good delivery places around, and was presented with a menu for the local Chinese; apparently the nurses use it quite often! The menu was extensive and covered not just Chinese, but Thai and Japanese too. Even better was that when Nicola called them they asked what floor we were on and what room number; they would deliver straight to the door!

Unfortunately, delivery took a bit longer than expected and Mum had polished off her steak & potatoes, followed by banana split, before ours arrived (believe me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with her appetite).

The Swimsuit Saga

When Dr. Sharma, Mum's senior consultant, visited late last week he suggested that Mum might enjoy some Hydrotherapy, as they have a pool in the hospital. Her first session has been organised for Friday afternoon, and so has begun the search for some suitable attire. Apparently, nothing Mum currently owns is suitable and, surprise-surprise, it's not so easy trying find a store that sells 'suitable' swimsuits this late in the season.

The usual outlets where you would expect to find this kind of thing all year round (Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, BHS) have very limited range and stock - as if everyone stops going swimming or going on holiday come October. Anyway, we've got just about 24 hours to try and track something down, or Mum'll be doing hydrotherapy in a tracksuit!