Is it too late…

January 10, 2019 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.2 Comments

…to wish you all a very happy 2019!

For the first time ever Christmas appears to have fitted in around our life at home whereas it usually becomes the main focus of December for us. This Christmas though things were very different at home. Christmas seems to have come and gone with little or no recognition at all. We watched Midnight Mass from Knock Shrine live on You Tube. We had some visitors popping in and out and I did manage to get Christmas cards written and sent and gifts organised. Thank goodness for the Internet!

A beautiful surprise on Christmas Day in the evening when some neighbours arrived at the door with home made soup, Christmas dinner, dessert, cheese and biscuits and Christmas crackers. They knew I would struggle to put together a Christmas dinner as the caring role continues as usual whatever day it is, so they decided to share. To me, this was the true meaning of Christmas, love, caring, sharing and kindness.

A few photo’s below of my Christmas time. I wish you all a very happy, healthy and blessed 2019. (I will continue my update from the last blog post as soon as I can).

I just love this photo, my sparkles and my boyfriend’s trainers.

A beautiful surprise gift from a school friend.

I couldn’t put up our usual tree so I bought a small sparkling one for Mom and Dad. It was lovely to sit and watch the colours changing.

Life Sparkles

A broken wrist…

December 21, 2018 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

…that’s how this latest sequence of events got started. I heard movement via the baby monitor, I rushed out of bed but I just didn’t get to Mom in time, I heard the thud as I entered her room as she fell to the floor. Dad presses his Careline alarm, the ambulance was on the way, it was 6 am on a late September Tuesday morning.

Thankfully the only bone breakage was Moms wrist. She hit her head and knee when she fell but all appeared to be well. After all the X-ray’s and tests we were taken to the “Elder Care Day Unit” for further assessment prior to discharge. Not much happened here to be honest. A Doctor spoke to me about DNR (do not resuscitate), which frightened the life out of me, what were they talking about, Mom had broken her wrist and her obs were fine! Blood tests all fine too. A lady spoke to me about it being better to be home to heal which I agreed with especially as Dad was currently at home with the carer. The lady made a comment about older people who stay in hospital “not going home if you understand me”. Again I was perplexed, we are dealing with a broken wrist, not heart surgery.

The unit closes at 4pm, it was obvious they wanted us gone by then. They wheeled us down to the coffee shop to await our lift home. I didn’t check Mom’s mobility, I never even thought about it, neither did they. When it was time to get into the car Mom couldn’t stand up, never mind walk. She was frightened and had pain. Two paramedics were close by and they helped Mom to get into the car. We started the journey home.

Half way home Mom experienced a low blood pressure crash, she was quite unwell. We stopped the car and called for the paramedics. They arrived within thirty minutes by which time Mom had recovered. They didn’t want to traumatise her day further by taking her from the car to the ambulance for further checks. Better to get home and call them again if required. We were just five minutes from home. I asked if they could follow us home but unfortunately they couldn’t.

We reached home. It was 7pm, a very long, exhausting day for Mom. It took four of us, thirty minutes to get Mom from the car to the chair lift seat in the hallway. She was so tired out she was bent double with her eyes closing, desperately trying to put one foot in front of the other with the aid of the walking frame and four of us. I honestly thought we’d never get inside. Another low blood pressure crash and more paramedics. They lifted Mom into her chair in the lounge, checked her obs which were all good and Mom was a little more settled. Dad was crying with the trauma of it all and I honestly don’t know how I held it together. A friend who lives close by had come to support me and once Mom was safely in the lounge I cried and cried and cried as my friend comforted me in the kitchen.

Slowly as it became late night, carers left, neighbours left and my friend also had to leave. I started to make some phone calls. I needed some support. I was alone, I felt isolated and unprepared to deal with things alone. There was nothing. For all the emergency back up I thought I had in place for these situations, everything failed, I was the wrong type of emergency.

It had been one hell of a day, it was just the start of things to come.

This is why I have been missing from my blog for three months and very sporadic on social media. Life has altered so much at home, a lot of changes and I’ve been full on, all things to everyone is how it feels. Trying to get to grips with everything, keep on top of everything, looking after the changing care needs of my parents has been exhausting. I decided to write about it all in chunks, it will help me process the journey to where we are now as Christmas rapidly approaches. Who would think a small break to the wrist could be so life altering?!

Over the following few days we received some beautiful flowers from friends and relatives who came to visit us. I was struck by the Yellow theme, it made me feel my Sister was close to us, helping us from heaven.

I’ll be back with the next chapter as soon as I can.

With love and sparkles xx

Life Sparkles

Has it been that long?

September 17, 2018September 16, 2018 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.4 Comments

Well yes it appears it has been a month since I managed to get to my blog. Mid September already, the long hot beautiful Summer is already becoming a memory as we drift into the cooler days and shorter evenings of Autumn.

It has been busy, as usual. Caring really is a full time, 24/7, no days off, no night off, profession so I take my breaks when I can. As you know the past five months Dad has experienced illness after illness after illness. It has been so tough on him, on Mom and on me. Dad has gone from being able to do quite a few things for himself and his chosen jobs around the house to not being able to do very much at all, so it has fallen to me.

We’ve had a great run again of getting to bed at night, 42 nights in a row broken only the other night when Mom decided to stay up. So we start counting again. 42 nights is amazing, it has been years and years since we have had any good run of getting to bed and we’ve had two good runs so far this year. I’m aware that Sundown season is approaching but fingers crossed.

Over the past two weeks Dad has slowly, and I mean slowly, started to show signs of improvement. He has managed to eat small amounts regularly which in turn has assisted with keeping that dreadful gunk he was coughing up all night and day, at bay. He still has the cough and the gunk but it is vastly reduced. He is managing to get some sleep at night, another benefit. He is feeling a bit better in himself, he is chatting more, watching the news again and has even reached for his diary and prayer books. These are all good signs of Dad feeling a little better in himself.

Mom bless her has been so supportive of him, caring for him, advising him and trying to help him in her own way. Sometimes she has been very frightened when the cough and gunk has been in full flow. Somehow we have managed to come through the past five months. I thank God every night for giving us another blessed day together as a family.

In the meantime, I have lots to share on the music front, some of which you may have seen on my social media which I have stepped up a gear. I will update the music blog as soon as I can. I have been reading your blogs as they come through on my email, when you are up at night and you need to stay awake they make excellent reading and I love them, they make me feel connected, thank you.

A few photo’s from the past month or so, with love and sparkles xxx

A random lunch with one of my friends and yes I had that dessert again but we did share. Love my cup of coffee in the mornings.

Delighted that my Shamrock has started to grow again after the heavy snow and frost had killed it off earlier this year. My little tubs and baskets didn’t do too badly either this Summer.

And Snapchap still makes me giggle and does away with the wrinkles…Go Snapchat!!!

Life Sparkles

How long has it been?!!

August 15, 2018 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.7 Comments

Mid August already!! How is this possible? I have come to the conclusion that the reason I am on the go all the time and still don’t get everything done is because time is just moving too quickly these days…or am I just getting old?

I have a “to do” list a mile long but I have missed writing my blog so I’ve made myself a cup of coffee and decided to do a quick catch up post. Thankfully I receive emails updates from my favourite blogs so I have kept more or less up to date with your lovely blog posts and of course I have my comments to make…that’s on the “to do” list.

Well since I last wrote poor Dad has been unwell again bless him. We had that slight improvement and then things went downhill. Once again the throat played up and we have a vicious circle going on. Dad has no appetite as he has no taste on the food and his throat is sore. Because he is not eating so well he is weak, frail and has a mixture of reflux and other acid forcing it’s way up in the most awful coughing I have ever heard.

Another attack of Thrush or so we thought but after a week of treatment the white patches were still there. The Dr tried another medication which has helped clear up the patches, reduce the soreness and in turn Dad has persevered to eat more substantial food which in turn has meant that the acid is reducing, the cough is reducing and he is getting some sleep at night. I feel for him, this bout of illness, one thing after another, has been going on since just before Easter. He is wore out.

In my last update I was celebrating a run of 33 days of going to bed, Oh I spoke too soon. July ran at two nights a week no bed and also into the start of August, we are having a good week this week…shhhh. Mom is such a little darling though, she has been amazing looking after Dad in her way. All that nursing knowledge is still there. So beautiful to watch them sitting hand in hand watching the TV and singing along with You Tube. One night when I was tucking her into bed she thanked me for caring. I said “Mom you don’t have to thank me at all” and her reply was that it isn’t everyone that would give up their life to look after two old spirits. I could have just wept there and then. I don’t feel I have given up my life. Undoubtedly my life has completely changed but I have to say that I have an inner happiness and peace now that I didn’t have whilst on the corporate daily slog although I enjoyed that. Such importance is placed on meetings, deadlines, payment times, performance reviews etc in that world but to me, in the grand scheme of things, those things don’t really matter to life. I don’t miss the stress and anxiety of the corporate world.

In the midst of all of this, it was my birthday and we actually had a lovely weekend. My chap was over for the weekend, I was so lucky to receive so many cards and some beautiful gifts. Himself even bought me flowers which he never does and oh yes, I asked him what he had done!! I have a few photo’s to share with you below. There is much happening with the singing at the moment which I will write in another post. I’m hoping that this is just the busy period, setting everything up and once it’s done, it’s done and I can get back to just singing when I can.

With love and sparkles until the next time xxx

A simple thing but I really love the Twitters birthday balloons!

My chap and I actually got out for a birthday meal together and this was my dessert and I enjoyed every single mouthful. Meringue, Strawberries, Chantilly Cream, Pistachio’s, absolutely delicious and it was like a holiday. The carer sat with M & D and I had a whole three hours out.

img_7804-1

My beautiful flowers from himself.

The snapchat fun photo – is anyone else missing the heatwave? I loved the hot weather especially for getting the washing dry…we have loads of washing in this house!!

Life Sparkles

Dear diary…

July 3, 2018 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.10 Comments

…as usual it’s been a while since I have managed to update my blog. So much seems to be happening and for a change, most of it is good, WHOOP!

Thankfully Dad continues to improve. The Doctor was correct when he said it would be a slow process but I don’t care how slow it is as long as Dad is improving. We are still battling away with the cardiac water cough, lack of appetite and regaining strength. Sleep has much improved, Dad has started to eat proper food again and he looks much more like his usual self. Mom has just been the most amazing little fairy, the love shines through and her nursing returned to her. I have been so happily surprised at how she has been looking after Dad, it has been beautiful and emotional to watch.

Another plus point…oh I wish I had a fan fare here…we have managed a whole month of going to bed every single night. We haven’t done that for almost four years…FOUR YEARS!! I still have bags under my eyes but at least they aren’t Black anymore.

We are experiencing the most fantastic Summer weather we have had in years here in the UK. I love it. Apart from ensuring that “The Kids” are kept cool I am loving this sunshine. I’m not getting out in it much but just the fact is there is just wonderful. Long may it continue. This was a sunset from my bedroom window a couple of weeks ago. Such beautiful colours.

I’m doing my bit in these lovely long, bright, Summer evenings to try and keep the garden as Mom and Dad used to. You can see how scorched the earth is through the lack of rain. I’ve bought myself a watering can. I’ve done quite well with some small tubs of flowers and it’s actually quite therapeutic a little bit of gardening.

Last Friday one of my forever friends came over to see us and I had booked the carer to cover for me for a couple of hours so that we could escape to a local pub, sit outside and eat a late lunch/early dinner and enjoy a glass or two of Prosecco. After not being out for such a long time it felt like a holiday. It is so true that carer’s need a break!!

I have news to update you on the music front which I will do as soon as I can. There’s a lot of work involved now with the setting up, music aggregation, licences etc and finding time is difficult as I’m always on the go. But find time I will!

A little snapchat filter to close off for today…gosh if only I could get my make up like this!!

With love and sparkles until the next update, thank you for checking in with me xxx

Life Sparkles

Strep Throat is the Pits!!

June 2, 2018June 2, 2018 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.2 Comments

Poor Dad, what a horrible, horrible, horrible infection infection Strep Throat is. Since my last update where he was just starting the antibiotics, we have had over two weeks of what I can only describe as an absolutely horrendous time. After a week of treatment the Strep had started to break up within the throat, which is good. The downside was that in breaking up it leaves lesions on the throat and tonsils which made it impossible for Dad to eat or drink. Everything he tried, including water, hurt. Not only did it hurt but it immediately caused an almighty coughing session, bringing up what I have officially classed as “Strep Gunk”. We’ve had nights of continuous coughing and all I could do was be there to support him. I wanted to stop the cough but I was yet again helpless.

Week two of Strep Dad was feeling so bad one evening he asked me to ring the priest. Fr Michael was here very quickly. Such a lovely, kind man, he calls every month to visit Mom and Dad. He gave both Mom and Dad the anointing of the sick sacrament. There was an incredible feeling of energy surrounding their chairs, you could almost touch it.

Two weeks on and we have at last started a recovery. Dad is starting to eat again, the coughing is decreasing and we have less all night coughing sessions. Dad has lost over a stone in weight and is quite weak. Not surprising after almost three weeks without proper food. The Dr supplied us with protein shakes which have helped enormously. What was starting to happen over the last week was that the lack of eating and drinking was having a knock on effect on Dad’s existing health issues. It really does feel like one step forwards and two backwards at times.

It’s been nine continuous weeks of infections, with the Strep Throat period being worst of all. The past month has felt extremely solitary in ways. More than once I just sat and cried. Exhaustion, anxiety, fear and a feeling of inadequacy just spilled out. Better out than bottled up I suppose.

Mom has been amazing, she is such a sweetie. Very caring, advising Dad, tucking him into bed and checking on him. The nurse within her returned and only one all nighter which kept me fit up and downstairs to keep an eye on them both. I am now hopeful that we have at last turned a positive corner and that slowly recovery will continue.

Needless to say I haven’t left the house very much at all in the past month. From now though I really must try to go out again as I think I could easily fall into the trap of thinking that I can’t go because I’m needed plus Dad has already said he doesn’t want me to go out because he feels safer when I am in. Although he has also admitted this wouldn’t be good for me. The three of us need to get used to the carer being here to give me a break.

I have one concert to blog about, which I attended at the end of April plus I have managed to keep my guitar lessons and singing sessions going, all within the house and I have news on the singing front. I’ll get these written as soon as I can.

A few pictures that more or less cover my last couple of weeks…that new granola from Kellogg’s is delicious.

With love and sparkles x

So very true...

New favourite breakfast.

Life Sparkles

And the latest from me is…

May 11, 2018 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.4 Comments

…We are still in the midst of illness here at home, it’s been a long six weeks. Mom thankfully appears to be fully recovered from the chest infections. Dad though, bless him, since he had the chest infections at the same time as Mom, also then had a viral infection. Swiftly followed by Thrush in the throat, more than likely caused by the heavy doses of antibiotics for the chest infections and now we have Strep Throat, so more antibiotics and a very heavy dosage. Eight, 250 mg tablets a day for ten days to ensure the bacterial infection is cleared up. This time I am ready with the probiotic yoghurt in the hope that we can prevent another attack of Thrush after this latest dose of antibiotics. It is so hard to watch Dad suffering with the Strep Throat. The Doctor showed me his throat when she examined him on Tuesday and all I can say is it looked gross. No wonder he has so much pain, unable to swallow which of course is affecting food and drink intake. I have no idea where Dad contracted this particular infection, either someone who has called to visit has been in contact with someone who has it or Dad’s immune system was very low after the continued infections. I am praying Mom doesn’t catch this particular infection.

https://www.webmd.boots.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/strep-throat-bacterial-tonsillitis

We have experienced some amazing hot Summer like weather in the past week, our Bank Holiday Monday was apparently the hottest on record. For me it meant washing everything in sight and getting it dried on the line outside in the fresh air. I love that. Such simple pleasures. Also, the flowers in the garden have really bloomed. Mom and Dad loved spending time in the garden and buying new plants, I’m doing my best to keep everything alive!

I did manage to get out for a walk on one of the warm days, it felt so good to be out in Summer clothes, feel the sunshine on my legs and arms. We have had such a long, cold and wet Winter here.

The daisies growing wild in the grass reminded me of school days and running barefoot in the playing fields. I’m very lucky to live close to the city and yet also within a five minute stroll to the edge of the countryside, it does a soul good to see the fields, the flowers and trees, even on a wet day. Now the weather is back to where it should be for Mid May – much cooler, quite windy and chilly today.

I know I have been a little quiet on the music side of things, but I have been managing to grab some time here and there and I will blog about where I am with my dreams very soon.

Snapchat has given me giggles when I have had a chance to try out some fun filters and I find a giggle always does me good. This is one of me looking a little tired out…and Snapchat has given me a Hippie Flower in my hair and freckles…it did make me smile.

I did get out to a couple of the concerts that I have held tickets for since October last year, again, that’s another blog post to come.

So for now, I’m off to do some more chores, this post has taken me all morning to complete. Full time caring is demanding, it’s stressful, I live almost totally on the edge of anxiety and worry and you do the best you can even when you feel so helpless. When there really is nothing you can do but just be there.

I’m looking forward over the weekend to perhaps an hour or so to have a cuppa and sit back and read your latest blog posts which I love to escape into.

With love and Sparkles x

Life Sparkles

Down in the Dumps.

April 25, 2018 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.5 Comments

Writing those words I wondered if readers of my blog from anywhere other than the UK or Ireland would know the expression “Down in the Dumps”. My description of it is a feeling of being down, a certain grade of depression, not a bad mood as such, just feeling anything but positive.

I had a night like this on Sunday night. As you know from my last post, my Mam had been unwell with a chest infection and when we had returned from hospital, my Dad was also unwell. After a week of heavy antibiotics, they were both recovering well over the Easter weekend. I on the other hand was starting to come down with something, probably I had picked something up from them. Of course I am strong enough to fight it off in time. It was tough going, feeling so rough myself and looking after things here at home and looking after my parents. There is just me, it had to be done.

The Tuesday after Easter Dad started to become unwell again, the chest infection had returned so a different, heavier dose of antibiotics was started. Two days later Mom also came back down with a chest infection and another dose of liquid antibiotics commenced.

So a week later, both were once again over the infections, the antibiotics had left a few side effects but nothing we couldn’t handle. On the Friday my boyfriend came over for the weekend, we hadn’t seen each other this time for five weeks and cover was in place so that we could go out for a late lunch nearby. We were gone less than two hours and in that time Dad had suffered a weird kind of turn. Tummy cramps, heat, sweating, freezing cold and weakness. It’s no wonder I am stressed when I go out yet I know I need to go in order to have some “me” time. He looked awful. When I think about it, he looked worse than when I seen him have the cardiac arrest in 2009 and that was bad. Thankfully our Doctor’s surgery was open and the on call Doctor came to visit. All checks were good, we had to put it down to after affects of the antibiotics. He rested for the rest of the afternoon and was back to his usual self later that night.

The following Tuesday a sore throat appeared…by Thursday Dad sounded once again completely congested. He spoke to the Doctor on the telephone Thursday night and a Doctor called to see him on Friday. Again, all check ok, this was put down to a viral infection so no antibiotics this time and slowly this has started to improve over the last week.

Sunday evening I was feeling so tired out, the stress of the last four to five weeks was catching up with me. I ached. For a couple of days it felt like I was trying to shrug off a heavy load from my back. By Sunday it felt like I was carrying a rucksack full of stones, I had chest ache, arm ache, neck ache…and I was tired. We got to bed around midnight and the last time I looked at the clock was 00:50 am. 1:25 am Mam decided to get up. She wanted to come downstairs for tea, she had no intention of going back to bed. So that was that, I was up again and downstairs in the lounge with Mam. Tea was made and drank and around 4.30 am Mam fell asleep in her favourite chair.

I couldn’t chat, I couldn’t do anything much, I felt so down, so tired out, so desperate, so alone, my sparkle wasn’t even a twinkle, it was like a dying ember in a fire. I’d had it. I wasn’t even in the mood for the Twitters…never a good sign. I prayed and prayed. It works for me.

I had thoughts of blogging my thoughts but I decided that my mood was just too Black and that just isn’t me at all. I did however catch up on reading some of your wonderful blog posts, so diverse, so interesting and so calming to read. It was just the right thing to do. I fell asleep around 6:30 am and although I woke around 9 am, my mood had lifted. My favourite and most apt bible verse in my head…

I decided to pull my sparkle up from my ankles and get myself moving. I got myself ready and I started the Couch to 5K programme again. I’m starting from the beginning and building myself up, it has been 18 months since I last ran. I felt so much better for going outside, walking, running, listening to music, it did me the world of good and it must have loosened up my body as the pains and aches were all but gone.

On the Friday afternoon, my close friend Sharon had called to visit. Usually we would go out for food but as Dad was unwell I cancelled the carer and we stayed home. We had such glorious weather last week, sunshine and heat, we sat in the garden for an hour, drank Prosecco and ordered Pizza. Such simple things yet it felt like a holiday for me.

Not really good for the healthy eating but I haven’t been too good at that recently and sometimes I think a little of what you fancy does you good.

Thank you for reading yet another war and peace of a blog post!

Pictures are either mine or via Pinterest.

With Sparkles until the next time…

Life Sparkles

Acting Quickly.

April 3, 2018 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.5 Comments

Last week was a lesson for me in how quickly illness can escalate in elderly people. I have been so cautious all during the Winter to prevent Mom, Dad and myself from getting any kind of cold or flu. We all had our flu jabs. Mom and Dad have already had their pneumonia jabs. Visitors did not call if they had any bugs until they were long gone. With all the pre Winter scare stories of flu epidemics due to hit us and the stress our hospitals and emergency departments were under, I wanted to ensure they stayed well. As they are elderly, I knew if they caught anything it wouldn’t be easy to get rid of.

It all started on the Thursday evening, Mom became hoarse as the evening drew on. On Friday morning she wasn’t any worse but I decided to ask the Dr to check on her, just in case it would spread to her chest. Mom is generally very healthy. However, the weekend was coming and our own Dr’s wouldn’t be available. A Dr from our surgery called in the afternoon and checked on Mom. He was happy that her chest was clear and noted that she had a slight tough of Laryngitis, take paracetamol and drink plenty of fluids. (Easier said than done with Mom). By Saturday morning Mom had regained some of her voice but she appeared to have a lot of phlegm in her throat. She slept, and slept, and slept. All day long. As she slept, the sound of the phlegm was cracking away in her throat and I felt this just wasn’t right for Laryngitis. I couldn’t rouse her for her dinner and she continually fell asleep mid sentence. I called the out of hours service, gave them the details and awaited the call back. I spoke to a Dr on the telephone who agreed this was not Laryngitis related. He would send a GP out to assess.

11pm Saturday night the GP arrived and as he examined Mom he said he was not happy with her Oxygen levels, they were dangerously low and he would send for an urgent ambulance as she needed to get to hospital. With that he left me a letter and left saying he would call the ambulance enroute to his next call. I was beside myself with worry, stress, panic and yet had to stay calm to deal with the situation. I had a bag to pack for hospital. I had care to arrange to stay with Dad whilst Mom and I were gone. I was frightened.

The paramedics arrived within minutes. They did their own checks and the oxygen levels were fine but they did agree Mom required hospital treatment. Mom wouldn’t budge. She wasn’t feeling unwell at all. It reminded me of when she broke her hip and felt no pain at all. She didn’t feel unwell now so why was she going to hospital. Bless the paramedics, they tried for at least an hour but no way would she go. They gave me the advice of what to look out for and to call 999 if anything changed. They also said that however I did it, I needed to get her to hospital on Sunday for treatment as this was now suspected pneumonia. Mom had gone back to sleep. Our neighbour was here to stay with Dad as our carer was unable to locate childcare so late into the night time.

An hour later Mom’s breathing was very laboured, I called 999, an ambulance arrived, this time three more fantastic paramedics. Again they tried and tried to get her to go with them but no way at all would she entertain it. I was beside myself with stress, fear, worry and also felt totally helpless. We discussed mental capacity; as Dad and I were both here they would not take her by force. The chief paramedic was happy enough with her stats to leave her here with me to make the call on Sunday. Hospital on Sunday was a must.

8 am Sunday morning I could see a slight blue tinge to Mom’s lips as she slept. Our carer was here by then and she agreed with me. Again I called 999 and again absolutely wonderful paramedics arrived. It took some time, a little trickery, a lot of persuasion and eventually Mom was captured in the chair, wrapped in a blanket and on her way to the ambulance. Myself and the carer travelled with her.

As we had the letter from the Dr we didn’t have to wait at accident and emergency, we could go straight through to the Assessment Ward. It was such a long day, a very long day. Stats taken, bloods taken, lots of sleeping. The Dr came to see Mom. Fluids and Antibiotics were administered via IV and within half an hour, there was a very much brighter little fairy sitting up on the bed. The consultant came to visit Mom with the Dr. They wanted to take an x-ray to check for signs of pneumonia. They were hopeful we had caught this at chest infection stage.

X-ray taken and we waited, and waited and waited. We heard a nurse say all the IT systems were down, nothing could be reviewed, patients couldn’t be admitted or discharged. We were moved to a ward for the night. Mom was agitated now. The nurses have to move quickly and get things done, they don’t have time to sit and talk Mom into moving from one bed to another. Mom’s confusion set in and it took over two hours for her mood to settle. The Dr visited us around 10pm Sunday night, he was happy that there wasn’t any pneumonia on the x-ray, we had caught it in time. He felt Mom would heal better at home in her own environment. More antibiotics were administered through the IV and we were given antibiotic syrup to take for five days.

The next hurdle was to get home. At first Mom wouldn’t move. Thankfully our lovely carer had returned from sorting out her sons’ school uniforms for Monday and she was able to talk Mom into going home. Mom would not sit on the chair to be wheeled to the entrance, she insisted on walking. It was a long walk for her. Again I was stressed out; how would the walk go, would she be able for it, at least we were in hospital. My fairy of a Mom made the walk slowly, sat into the carer’s car and chatted all the way home.

When we got back, Mom sat into her favourite chair, drank tea and fell asleep. She was already feeling so much better than earlier that morning. Dad was now coming down with something so it was a call to our own GP on Monday morning and Dad was examined Monday afternoon, a chest infection building and antibiotics prescribed.

It has been a hard week in more ways than one. I’ve had a rush of different feelings and emotions, from frantic worry and stress of possibly losing Mom to relief that it was caught in time to worry about Dad getting a chest infection on top of his other ailments. By the end of the week I was coming down with something. Tiredness, stresses, strains, worries all added to sleeplessness to make me feel unwell…but who cares for the carer?

Mom has recovered very well thank god. Sleeping all day on the Saturday with no intake of fluids or food had increased her confusion hence her refusal to comply with the paramedics and go to hospital. I have to say that usually Mom is fabulous with anyone from the health profession, being an ex nurse herself. Dad has also recovered well although he seems tonight to be heading for another cold of some sort. That’ll be Doctors again tomorrow.

Once again I find myself thanking and being very thankful for our absolutely amazing National Health Service and the Dr’s, the nurses, trainee’s and our wonderful paramedics. They do the most amazing job, 24/7 and they are worth their weight in gold. Whatever they get paid it just isn’t enough for what they do.

I’m still finding it incredible that slight Laryngitis Friday afternoon had become suspected pneumonia by Saturday night. You really do need to be aware and hawk eye as a carer. If I had left it one more day it would have been a very different story.

In these cases, the feeling of helplessness is overwhelming. It was all happening around me and very little I could actually do but be there.

This is a fairly long blog post from me which is kind of unusual. I love my blogging, I find it therapeutic and almost like a diary of my life events. I needed to write this episode down, to process my thoughts and try to deal with them.

Thank you for listening x

Life Sparkles

All At Once.

April 1, 2018 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

Nothing for ages and then a flurry of activity in a short space of time. I was very lucky in that once again some of my favourite Irish Country Music stars were appearing in Birmingham and I was able to attend. My fabulous boyfriend stayed in with Mom and Dad so that I could get out to see my absolute favourite John McNicholl.

It was the Eve of St Patrick’s Day that the dance was on hence the heart shaped, shamrock tattoo ☘️

My friend and I had a little Snapchat fun before we left for the dance, I just love how it removes wrinkles.

We also celebrated Mom’s birthday that weekend, so many flowers, just beautiful and they are still around the house looking good.

Derek Ryan, absolute class singer, songwriter, entertainer had a sell out concert on the Sunday night and it was just fantastic. A great mix of his old material and the newer material and we were up dancing in the aisles. I hear he will be back in November for a dance so that’s a definite date for my diary.

The beautiful Tipperary Songbird, Louise Morrissey, who celebrates thirty years in Country Music this year is touring with Derek Ryan. A real treat to see and hear her amazing voice.

No further gigs now until April. I have three planned; Nashville, Daniel O’Donnell and Michael English. I make the plans in the hope I get to carry them out. As you know, if it wasn’t for Country Music I might possibly go crazy!