28 June 2012

Sadly, I had no choice today, but to cancel my trip to Lord’s tomorrow for the one-day match against Australia. After the episode following the trip to the golf club on Tuesday it is quite clear that I am considerably weakened and dare not risk being taken ill in London and rushed into some hospital or other. This decision also casts a doubt across the trip I have arranged for 18 August, my 78th birthday. I have invited three or four guests. Of course, I can wait a little while before making a final decision. It might be, for example, that I could take a medical carer with me -I wonder if the good Doctor Michael will be over here and he could take me. That would be perfect- this, together with St John Ambulance, being in attendance at Lord’s, in fact, almost adjacent to where we sit, it might be possible to arrange something. Even if it is only half a day.

Today, I received a copy of the report following my last visit to Papworth hospital. It gave a certain amount medical information which meant nothing to me but did conclude by saying there had been a gradual deterioration in symptoms over the preceding weeks , but there was no evidence of hyperventilation on the overnight study. As a result, no changes are necessary to the settings on my ventilator and I will be reviewed in six weeks time.

Jane and Kit, Orde-Powlette came to coffee this morning. As usual there were invited for 11.00 in the full knowledge that the carers come in at midday and that way I would not be able to talk to a point where my breathing became distressed. I’m sure that Jane and Kit are sensitive to the situation, in any event, and fully understand why we must keep such visits to a short period of time. This is particularly so when the sky is overcast and the air very humid making breathing that much more difficult, as it is today. In fact, our pilot country was the warmest, at around 28°C but was extremely humid and I spent the whole day breathing rapidly, which is a little distressing, wondering whether I shouldn’t relieve this ghastly by utilising the respirator in my study. In the end I stuck it out but it was touch and go.

My famous Roho cushion suddenly became extremely lumpy and uncomfortable. Fortunately, Craig, from Ross nursing, came in for a session last evening and he looked at it and discovered that somebody had opened the valve and all the air had been let out of it. I’m sure that this was not done intentionally and Craig was able to pump it up again so that my comfort was restored.

I had a lovely long newsy e-mail from my darling daughter Chloe, who was travelling back to London from some conference or other up north! She was apologising for not coming down this forthcoming weekend but went on to catalogue the things that she was tied up in. She is an amazing girl and somehow juggles her three-day week job as a consultant clinical psychologist at the Maudsley Hospital with running a home and, in particular, managing the very hectic social life of her three young children. She gave such a lovely description of the social life of the middle one I hope she will forgive me for repeating it. No doubt it will strike a chord with those mothers amongst my readers who have, or had, small children.

… seems to have grown up several years over night recently.  Now that secondary school is in sight he is suddenly all about pop music and mobile phones and he is even noticing who the pretty girls in his class are for the first time!  He schedule is:

– Sports Day on Wednesday

– friends’ banana bike party in Dulwich park on Saturday

– Leavers’ Swimming Party on Sunday (when their year group take over a public swimming pool with slides and wave machines)

– his summer show at beginning of July

– Leaver’s Disco

– Prize Giving

No wonder he came to me last night saying he couldn’t get to sleep because he was thinking about all the exciting things he has coming up!

 Althea ‘ the podiatrist’ came today to do my finger nails – long overdue. With visitors both morning and a afternoon I cannot little you can do it there are asking for you if you want the critical I heard only there fternoon I cannot pretend it was a peaceful day.

However, I did find time to watch a bit of Wimbledon, including our man Andy Murray successfully working hard to get into the next round against the monstrously 6’10” tall Croatian , Karlovic who, at the end of the match, question the integrity of Wimbledon, in view of the number of foot faults which had been called against him.