WOYWW 444

Nothing on my desk yet again… Just when I thought I might actually get some studio time, last Tuesday afternoon my hubby slipped in the street and broke his leg. He is now in plaster from toes to knee and is not allowed to put his foot on the ground, so he’s hobbling around on crutches which is a real struggle for him. Added to this, for the first three days he was in a temporary plaster to allow the swelling to subside, and this has seriously abraded his skin, causing him a lot of pain. He’s been back to the hospital a couple of times, and at the fracture clinic they put a new, permanent plaster on, and dressed the blistered skin. On Monday they drained off quite a bit of blood from the swollen blisters and this has relieved the pain somewhat. He’s going back on Friday for his scheduled appointment, when they will re-X-ray his leg to see how the bone is knitting.

He will be in plaster from 4-6 weeks. He’s sure it will be 4 weeks, but I am a bit more realistic, given his age, and think it more likely to be 6!

This has caused a major disruption in our lives, because we are needing lifts everywhere, and during this first week I was very busy with activities and appointments out of the house, after a relatively quiet period. I was unable to attend the Ileostomy Association meeting I’d been looking forward to at the weekend, because I had no way of getting there. For other things I managed to get lifts, but this isn’t as straightforward as it might be, because I need the wheelchair, and not everybody has a large enough car to carry it. I’ve taken off the powered wheels, which are extremely heavy, and hard to take on and off, and am using the regular, lightweight ones which are easy peasy to snap on and off, making the chair easy to transport, but it makes it a lot harder work for me to propel myself. Fortunately, so far, I haven’t had far to go.

On Thursday I had my six-monthly oncology appointment at the hospital, for which I got a lift. No problems there – I knew from my CT scan in September that all was well, and my recent bloods confirmed this. We spent most of the time discussing the hernia problem that I have, and I said I was concerned that I still had not had an appointment to see the surgeon. She said she would chase this up herself, which was a relief – I thought she might make better progress on that front than I could! Still nothing, though, and it’s been another week. I’d been told I would be seen before the end of the year, but this is looking less and less likely. The hernia is larger than it was and is causing me more discomfort, and I am scared of another blockage, and ending up in hospital having emergency surgery again. What I want is a proper, scheduled operation performed by my own specialist colorectal surgeon, and I think that the way things now are, that he is more likely to agree to do this, but I’ve got to see him first!

Fortunately we got the kittens’ spaying out of the way before my hubby broke his leg. We had such a lot of trouble with both of them pulling their stitches out, necessitating numerous return visits to the vet, and this would have been a nightmare had my hubby not been able to drive. For their final appointment, I got a lift and took them down, and they had their little body suits removed, and their wounds had both healed up beautifully, and the fur is starting to grow back again. Lily has now finished her antibiotics and no longer has diarrhoea, and she seems in much better spirits; the two of them have had endless chasing games and wrestling matches, and my hubby has been sitting with them in the flat and enjoying their antics, and when they have worn themselves out, they have loved cuddling up on his lap for warmth.

They are now six months old, and have had a growth spurt! They do look a lot bigger since their body suits were removed, because the fur has fluffed up again. The vet weighed them and they are both over 2 kg each. Although Lily looks bigger than Ruby, Ruby surprisingly weighs more – she must be more dense! Lily is incredibly soft and fluffy with the most amazing fur I’ve ever felt on a cat, and she’s so relaxed and floppy when you cuddle her – I can’t get enough of it (and neither can she, it seems!). Ruby is a great wriggler and very active, and it doesn’t take her long to start fidgeting when you’re holding her, but she purrs and purrs throughout, and she will lie in my arms with her paws in the air, just gazing up at me!

Yesterday we decided that they probably needed to be eating more, so from today, I have been giving Lily a whole pouch of kitten food at each meal instead of 2/3, and she’s been wolfing it down like there’s no tomorrow, and ending up with a round little belly like a football! Since the early days, Ruby won’t touch wet food and will only eat biscuits, and I’ve increased her quantities too. She drinks a nice lot of water, which is a good thing, since she’s not getting any in her food. They definitely have their own preferences and likes and dislikes, and it’s fascinating watching these emerge as they grow. They’ve really been enjoying my hubby’ immobile company and when I’m not there, they spend most of the time cuddled up on his lap, but they always get off when I come in, and come to greet me and demand cuddles. Highly responsive, loving and affectionate kitties!

I am having a job trying to get my hubby to rest, though, and let his leg heal up properly. He has loads of things he’s arranged to do, and thinks the world will collapse if he cancels anything! Just watching him trying to walk makes me feel tired! He can hardly get in and out of the front door, and the whole effort of walking, even from his chair to the loo, is taking a lot of energy and is obviously tiring him.

When he was out a couple of days ago I had a bit of “me” time and had a friend from our cancer group around and we had a lovely chat over coffee, which was great. It made me feel more human again! She’s such good news and it was a real tonic to see her. Today I have been out for lunch with the two friends I met in hospital when we were all in together two years ago, and have remained friends ever since, and get together when we can. This also really helped keep me going!

I’ve also started doing some Christmas cooking which is very therapeutic – over 2 dozen mince pies yesterday. It is tiring though! Over the next few days I’m hoping to get the stuffings made, and some other advance preparations that can go in the freezer. It’s been over 10 years since I’ve cooked a Christmas dinner and for the first time I feel well enough to tackle it, and I shall really enjoy it, even though it’s just for us two! It’s so lovely being able to spread the load and freeze things in advance, and I shan’t be making a pudding or a cake – Lidl does such good ones, and very reasonably priced, too. I love the aftermath, because you get all that fabulous cold meat that you can do so much with, and above all, the carcass from which you can make gallons of delicious soup! I’ve bought a medium-sized turkey and this will keep us fed for ages into the New Year. There’s absolutely nothing like home cooking!

No time this week to make much progress on the second pair of socks I am knitting for the homeless but I’ve been assured the project is going on after November, and anyway, there is someone in our church liaising with the groups helping the homeless, so there’s nothing to stop me continuing after the official programme ends. Here’s a picture of the socks so far – I’ve completed the first one and made a start on the second. They will look less lumpy after they have been blocked.