Something of a shock (by alaric)

During my weeks in London, I stay in a side-room in an office.

Tonight, I went to bed at around half past midnight. I said goodnight to the two people who were still in the office, shut my door, and settled down to sleep.

Then suddenly woke up at 2am, jolted awake by the recognition of the distant sound of the burglar alarm being armed. Something in my sleeping mind recognised the sound, and realised it was a bad sound. I'm quite impressed.

I remained very, very, still, then slowly cracked my eyelids open and peered up at the motion sensor in the corner above me...

Did I imagine it? Or was I now in a building with an armed burglar alarm, complete with loud siren at 2am and a link to a remote control centre?

I considered the distance to the alarm control panel, and the fact that I was totally naked. When you unlock the door, the alarm starts beeping down a countdown before which you have to key the number in. Could I leap out of bed, grab my dressing gown, rush out, and disarm the alarm before it went off?

I carefully rotated my head to see the sensor better. It was in the corner right above the bed, looking out towards the large window. I was probably not within its field of view, but where did the field of view extend to?

I extended my left arm, the one directly beneath it, and carefully shifted my books off of the bed, then gingerly, heart pounding, slid myself out from under the duvet until I was directly beneath the sensor. I could now lift my head, and start trying to look around the room to try and find out where I'd left my dressing gown.

The alarm went off. No beeping warning that I had ten seconds to enter the code: it just went off, screaming. I lept from the bed, dived onto my dressing gown, shoved it (balled up) into my groin, and burst out of the door, along the main hall of the office, and typed the deactivation code faster than I've ever typed before.

Silence fell. Apart from the slamming of my heart pumping on overdrive, my system flooded with adrenaline.

I walked back to my room, trembling and sweating, fumbling to put the dressing gown on properly.

At which point, for some reason, the printer suddenly burst into life and printed another test page. I picked it up from the out tray and dumped it into the pile of test pages next to it, leaving smears of finger sweat on it, then went and curled up on the bed until I felt up to writing this bizarre experience up.

Now I'm going to go and make a sign to attach to the alarm control panel: "DO NOT ARM IF ALARIC IS ASLEEP".

Then try to get back to sleep, which I suspect will take me a while.

The alarm panel is showing a series of numbers on its display, rather than the usual blankness. I'm still wondering if the police are going to turn up or something, since I'm pretty sure it's linked to some remote location.

Mum update, Hydrogen update (by sarah)

Mum had to go to A&E last night as her wound is now just bleeding all the time and is refusing to heal up. It has now been weeks and weeks since her operation and becuase of the infection in the sight her radiotherapy has been post poned. They have also decided not to give her chemo as it would probably kill her due to complications and stuff.

Instead they are putting her on some tablets that will cause hair thinning but not like chemo.

Hydrogen went to the vets yesturday and they decided not to take the drain out yet as she's still oozing puss and stuff, I'm still ramming antibiotics into her protesting jaw (which as she is a cat is full of needle sharpe teeth). They've shown me how to clean her wound and I bough another collar so that I can wash one and put a clean freash one on her after cleaning the wound. I take her back to the vets tomorrow.

Over 20 quids worth of Ouch :( (by sarah)

Not kittens this time but me. I have just had to shell out over £20 for a prescription, my back is still killing me from well over a week ago now right where it curves in the most. It is probably soft tissue damage with the possibility of trapped nerve which needs to be looked at becuase of siatica (I have no idea how to spell this word). My Core muscles are probably unstable leading to problems around my lower back - I think these are the same muscles I was working at streangthening becuase of the seperated pelvis but am not sure.

So its back to physio for me and back on the pain killers, this time its a cocktail of three:

Solpadol, Diclofenac, and Omeprazole

One of these is to protect my stomache from the pain killers as I have a nasty tendency to bleed from both ends if on pain killers for any length of time and start losing weight as food just wont stay down. The dr said this means I have uclers and stuff and asked if I'd had endoscopies about it. I said I had and lo! My notes say I have IBS this is something at least, no one has ever said anything to me before other than the biopsys came back inconclusive. I had given up on getting a diagnosis for the stomache stuff if I am honest. So I am assuming now that I have ulcers and IBS and am wondering how else to deal with them - I already tend to stay clear of rich foods, I'm on the goats milk and cheese and said by by to red meat a long time ago.

I have to wait 4 weeks or so for the physio at which point the doc says the back will probably be better but that I need physio to try and stop recurring injuries and stuff. The down side is that some of these tablets make you sleepy so I'm quiet sure how thats going to work with a Jeany-bow to look after.

I was quiet taken aback at the cost of my prescription though - ouch, ouch ouch. Oh well if it wasnt subsadised they'd probably cost more but still how many people who dont qualify for free prescriptions can afford hits of 20 every few weeks?? This is only ok for us finacially at the moment becuase things are on an upswing at the moment if this had been pre-flood I wouldnt have had the cash to get it with - sigh.

Of Infections, Bad Backs and the Curse of the Builders (by sarah)

Mum came and stayed with us last week - it was Als week in London - it occures to me that we propably havent posted about the fact he is now away in the booming capital every other week which is a bit difficult but working out. Mum's wound from her operatation managed to get infected the week after the operation - the stitches were dissolvable and so dissolved and the scab cracked whilst she was being naughty and trying to wash her own her.

She came up here with a course of anitbiotics and some dressings but the wound was just getting worse and the antibiotics where nearly finished so it was off to mine and Als Dr she went. She's been put on two lots of antibiotics and the dosages increased. Also the nurse thought she needed more stitches done but becuase mum was not going to be here that long she couldnt really do them with out having mum back for the after care. My docs recon that the stuff she was given to clean the wound with was two harsh and that she shouldnt have been cleaning and dressing it herself anyway.

The wound itself is several centimeters in diameter and shows the raw shinny pink flesh that lies under our skin. There is a strange white gloop oozing out of it but it seems alot better than it did. The nurse said that the amout of fluid she's losing through it would have ment having to lance her breast if the wound hadnt of opened up. She had to go back for more dressings and cleaning etc... by the nurses on Thursday and they dropped the bomb shell that the radiotherapy which is scheduled to start on Weds day, can not start until that wound has healed properlly and by the looks of it its going to take a while.

Mum is also in a wheel chair at the moment which was interesting as there are many many hills round here, now I only pushed her on the flate to the loos but I've done something chronic to my back (yes again) I dont think it was pushing the wheel chiar but more lickily the picking Jean up and carrying her - something dad or Al normally does but of course dad had to push the wheel chair and there wasnt room for the pushchair in the car aswell. The mysterious hernia lump has also been acting up and has decided to double in size which is apt to make me a bit narky. I also slipped on the stairs jarring myself slightly along with twisting my knee as I came off the pavement - one or all of these things has caused my lower mid back to thrumb with pain.

I wake up relatively pain free but by the everning can bearly walk, crawling is fine I can do that but sitting (especially in cars) or walking just cuase the pain to get worse and worse until I feel nueseas. Last night I had a bath and did some gentle excersises to try and ease the pain, it started to really bother me on friday and has just been getting worse each day since. I also used a hot water bottle to try and releive the pain with little affect. I was beginning to think I had a kidney infection again but it doesnt feel quiet right for that and ibuprofen rub helped alot so I think its going to muscular.

I am currently awaiting a drs appointment but the earliest is monday next week - I'm afraid I cried after I put the phone down becuase this added to the normal shoulder, pelvis, wrist and mysterious hernia lump ment that I got less than four hours sleep last night and the previous nights havent exactly been brilliant. Standing up straight is the thing that hurts the most and arching backwards is right out - the pelvic tilt offers me a little bit of restbite (ie flatening the small of my back so there is no hallow between it and the bed) but that hurts the mysterious hernia lump.

Then just too cheer things up Thursday saw the Builders visiting, the much awaited for appointment was at 12 noon and lo! he was early - good sign me thinks but then he tells me the sedule - first off he needs to find what gangs he has avalible in the area and when. They will strip the plaster off for 1 m and then the dehymidifers and heaters (instead of fans) have to be set up and the drying process has to start again. This will hopefully be done before their down time for Christmas and then the walls will need to be replastered with a drying time of about a week and then the restoration/new kitchen and floor goes in. Oh and of course the bottom steps have to come out too as they are wood and where soaked in the water.

So I had to break the news to Al - no new kitchen for christmas and the wall units arent covered by the insurance meaning we'll end up with mish mash cupboards which I dont want. Still I have a budget of £500 to pick out replacement units.

I managed to miss his call back to say when they could actually start becuase I was dealing with Jean and Mum and Dad thought I'd left the radio on rather than clicking it was my ring tone and everytime I've called back I get a woman who doesnt know anything about me. Sigh.

I will attempt to be more upbeat next post - promise.

One out of Seven (by sarah)

Mum's lymph nodes where mostly clear of the cancer bar one but that is still good and means it has been cuaght very early on. Her bone scan was cancer free as well but she still has to go through the radio therapy and a little bit of chemo (I assume becuase it was in one of the lymph nodes). Apart from that she'll have to take tomoxifen for the next five years - there isn't an entery on wikipedia for this drug nor on NHS direct. I've found a canadian breast cancer group who mention it as having side effects of hot flushes, weight gain and low energy levels but not what it's actually for.

I have however found a tamoxifen so am wondering if I miss heared but this drug (which is used for brest cancer patients and has the same side effects) is only allowed to be prescribed for six months in the UK according to NHS direct so I'm wondering whats going on to be honest. http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=64&sectionId=11 sorry I don't normally worry like this but its just after our experiences in the past with this hospital trust (name change or no name change) I feel things have to be checked up like this.