Sunday 28 June 2020

One Daily Positive - Week 26 Family, friends and my birthday

Public Health England got back to me about our daughters care home and the fact they've been allowing the other resident to go to her parents house during the virus. They're happy with the procedures in place for preventing the spread of the virus, so I have escalated our concerns about not being informed to Social Services and added this to a long list of safe guarding issues.

I've been spending much more time with family and friends, all outside and all social distancing. Peter and I won't be flying either way until at least September, we're both concerned about another peak and can't afford to get stuck in the wrong country lol. I'm now shopping weekly since mum moved in with me and have been to a couple of stores I wouldn't normally go to for things mum needed, town was quiet, no other customers and I sanitised my hands on the way in and out.

I got an email from my GP in Dubai urging me to register with a GP in the UK for further blood tests, my white blood cell count was still high back in March, basically I have either had a virus since June 2017 when this was first recorded or I have an unknown auto immune disease yet unidentified, which is more likely. My bone marrow biopsy revealed I have Thrombocytosis and  Leukocytosis and my GP wants me referred back to a haematologist and oncologist to rule out Leukaemia and have a fresh pair of eyes to try and identify what is wrong with me. Apart from tiredness and cognitive confusion, which are probably due to my iron levels dropping again, I have no other symptoms, it's all blood test result led. I've been delaying registering with the GP due to the virus.

173 Sunday Other than walking Bob and cooking roast lamb, it was just a lazy day, mostly spent in bed, nothing on the TV to watch, started a new jigsaw and spent the evening on a gin call with my friend Kath in Monmouth, we met the night my father died almost 3 years ago, she's struggling with 3 yo twins and both her and her husband working from home.
The last bit of mums birthday cake.

174 Monday Managed a lie in till 7.30am, up the Malvern Hills in the morning, friend called round for a cup of tea in the garden, she dropped off some cards I'd bought from her sister who is an artist. Julie and I met through our youngest child 5 around 15 years ago. I assembled my new bed in the afternoon. The cat got into a fight with the neighbourhood bully, I had to go and fetch her and go looking for her collar, first time it's come off in the 8 years since she's owned us.

175 Tuesday Walked to the bank to help mum sort her finances out. I mowed the front lawn, re edged it and did some weeding. I added a bumble bee gnome to my Asda at home order, sadly the mug was broken on arrival but they're sending me a new one out. The kids have been numbered for the blog. Child 1 to child 5, their partners/wives are 2a and 4a and grandchild is 2b, future grandchildren will be numbered and either b, c or d depending on how many kids they all have. Our grand child is my little bumble bee and I've started preparing a room for them and the others when they arrive all Bumble Bee related, so it'll suit boy or girl as they grow.

176 Wednesday Food shop and bought my birthday gift from my mum. I had to visit a few extra shops to buy some outdoor seating and cushion pads for mum and visit the chemist. There's a house clearance yard near us, all the items they sell are basically outdoors under cover and I could see the chairs I wanted from the street. Apart from baking some dog biscuits I did nothing for the rest of the day. It was too hot. Had a surprise gluten free cake delivery from Kath and the twins, I spent the day trying to work out who it was from, apparently all I needed to do was read the paperwork enclosed. My covid test for research purposes arrived through the post.

177 Thursday Off to the Forest of Dean to visit a friend, another Cath, we met at Uni in 1997 and have remained friends ever since. I then went onto see child 2, 2a and 2b, I took Bob with me. Home at 6pm, watered the plants, shower and bed. 2a bought me bumble bee related gifts for my birthday and Cath gave me a plastic, metal framed green house I'd been looking for. I got home to a gift from 4a's parents, flowers from 4 and 4a and Julie and her daughter Laura who had to rearrange her wedding for next year, which will fall on my 50th birthday, saving Peter the hassle of organising a party lol. Julie is my neighbour from 1994, I used to baby sit Laura, who then baby sat my kids. Debbie dropped off my gift so I'd have it in the morning when I woke up.

We even managed to get a social distanced photo with Peter joining in from Dubai, I can't publish photos of 2b online, but we do have a private facebook album and group we share pictures of them.

178 Friday Happy Birthday to me. 49 today. Woke up with a migraine, one has been brewing for 3 days, my meds haven't shifted it. It's down to the heat and a poor diet over the last 2 weeks. Otherwise a lazy day, a long dog walk as we missed the last two days due to the heat, a friend dropped a gift round and the neighbour called in for a cup of tea, mum told her it was my birthday and she popped some chocolates round in the evening. Debbie brought round chips to eat in the garden with a bottle of wine, I stuck to soft drinks. Debbie and her husband visited us in Dubai a week before lockdown, she lives 3 doors away and we met in 2002. Peter bought me a luxury weekend spa break for Debbie and I to have something to look forward to, for my birthday. No idea when we'll be using it though.

179 Saturday Took a drive to Witney to visit my friend from St Albans, we walked Bob and sat by our cars for a picnic. Chrissie collected me from the airport, day 2 of UK lockdown and looked after me over night, before dropping me at Watford for me to take 3 trains to get back to Malvern. Chrissie and I met on twitter in 2009, you might remember her as @Mediocre_mum or her blog The Slow Cooker Queen. I got home to a parcel from our friends Jacques and Dirk in Germany who we met in South Africa. Jacques has a facebook page called One More Marble, where he talks openly about life with a terminal illness.



On the blog this week:

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27 comments:

  1. The issues you are having about your daughters care home sound very frustrating. I hope your complaints are taken seriously.
    I hope you register with a local doctor. It might be a good thing to have a fresh set of eyes look over you.
    I love the sound of the bumblebee things. How cute.
    What a lovely treat from your friend. Those cakes do look yummy!
    Happy birthday to you! It sounds like you had a lovely day apart from the migraine. x

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    1. It was a great week, have updated the blog this week with daughters care home, feels like we're hitting our heads against a brick wall

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  2. Sounds like a mad week with lots going on. Nice to be able to have plenty of people to meet up with. I keep thinking I should make the effort. Should drop off a birthday card at my SIL's tomorrow, so maybe will get to have a chat with her. Have only seen her from a distance when she's been dropping bananas off for the inlaws!

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    1. being back in the UK means `i have a lot of people I can see within a short drive/walk from home

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  3. Hoping the safe guarding issues would taken seriously by the care home, but seeing your comment above, looks like it's a problem. I wish I knew you were driving through Witney, I would have loved seeing you. The box with cakes is a tasty gift. The bumblebee theme is lovely for a young child.

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  4. The care home sound like a pain. They don't seem to realise or take ownership for what they have done wrong. Sounds like a very social week for you.

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    1. We've been banging our heads with SS for 15+ years sadly

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  5. So frustrating re the care home issues, hope it gets resolved soon.

    Hope that once you do register with a GP, the fresh eyes do manage to figure out whats going on.

    Happy birthday!

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  6. Happy birthday for last week. Sorry to hear you woke with a migraine but hope you managed to enjoy the day. The spa day will be something nice to look forward to. Love the look of those cakes. Good luck with getting registered with the GP and fingers crossed you get some answers soon. #project366

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    1. Thank you, just waiting for the Doctors surgery to call me now

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  7. Lovely photos this week and so glad you managed to get Peter in there too! :)
    Those cakes look amazing, such a lovely thing for Kath to do... I'm terrible for not reading the paperwork that comes with packages too!
    How is your mum getting on? I cannot believe you had cake left over, but it looked awesome and hope you enjoyed! It's fab you are keeping busy but also getting to see people, it's so important to socialise (at a distance) and see people face to face, it really does make a difference to your mood. Good to hear you didn't bump into any Covidiots whilst out shopping for a change, maybe they were in hiding!
    Promise me you will register with you GP as soon as you can chick! Hope you have had a lovely week! Sim x

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    1. All registered with GP now just waiting for a call and appointmet. The cakes are yummy and I still have two left

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  8. Hope you manage to get registered at the doctors and get to the bottom of your issues. Lovely that you are seeing more friends and hope you get your daughters care home issues resolved

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    1. Doubt the care home issues will ever be resolved unless we're prepared to shout and stamp our feet, which we may have to resort to soon

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  9. How wonderful do those cakes look! I think you should register for the GP as soon as you can, they are taking lots of precautions in surgeries, so don't delay and put it off any longer. So glad you have managed to socialize lots this week, I find myself feeling much happier when I can interact with people a little more x

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    1. So much happier meeting up with friends in public spaces, just don't want to be indoors if i can help it

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  10. Great to be able to spend time with family and friends. I hope you and your husband get reunited soon. That's a lot of conditions mentioned; I hope they find out what's wrong with you.
    OoOo roast lamb and birthday cake. Forest of Dean, that was mentioned in Harry Potter
    Happy birthday!

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    1. They filmed a few scenes in the Forest and used the Cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral in the movies also

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  11. Your daughter's care home sound totally useless, so I hope the next lot of people take it more seriously. Luckily, she managed to stay safe, but things could have been a lot worse :-/ I live hearing about all the different people you've met up with - totally global ! Lovely to have your mum in with you now. Hope you manage to get some reassuring news about your health issues - you spend so much time looking after everyone else, don't forget to put yourself at the top of the list too ! xx

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    1. Thank you Cheryl, I'm firmly on top of my own list this week, friends are giving me a lot of support which i'm accepting

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  12. I hope the migraine didn't spoil your birthday too much! Good luck escalating your concerns about the care home. Fingers crossed that you get some medical answers soon but I would be worried about going to hospitals for tests right now #project366

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    1. thank you. Have a phone consultation first with new GP

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  13. Hoping the safeguarding issues are taken seriously by the care home. The box with cakes is a tasty gift. The bumblebee theme is lovely for a young child. Such nice colours together x

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    1. I haven't replied to them yet as I'm working out my response without sounding angry

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  14. Happy Belated Birthday! Looks like you had a great time catching up with friends and family and what a lovely treat from your husband. Hope you manage to get the safe guarding issues looked at by social service. Like the idea of a bumble bee room - cant wait to see it x

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