Chapter 367 - Where Are We Heading?

Last Saturday, a little before 10AM, we were ready for me to drop her off at Wild Dog then continue down town for some shopping, lunch, hear a lecture, when I decided I should not drive, feeling faint, not quite with reality. A phone call and an email to opt out of things. I spent the rest of the day on the lounge recliner, reading, snoozing, being irritated  from slumber by phone calls, which she is under strict instructions not to answer, wishing to avoid those automated, numberless, foreign calls wishing to advise us about our computer problems or phone account problems. Genuine calls can leave a message for us to call back. I checked my blood pressure using my old arm band model at 99/56 79 at 9:30AM and 15 minutes later at 106/58 81 then with her wrist model as 144/79 77 and 130/74 86. In hindsight I probably should have seen a doctor. Today, Monday, the readings from both monitors were 132/79 80 (by mine) and 137/91 74 (by hers after replacing its batteries because of an error indication).

Wednesday last week I took her to see our GP Dr I. Yes the urine sample showed e. coli, so he prescribed  antibiotic Alprim which she began taking on Thursday. Alprim, along with the daily Macrogol, she blames for bloatedness, frequent and long visits to the loo, no comments about "pebbles" but still a feeling of incomplete voiding. After the antibiotic course is complete I intend to take another sample for testing, just to be sure this current bout is over. She says that she sat on the loo between 2AM and 4AM this morning; I was unaware of that.

Dr I. was not keen on using the commode pan to collect urine samples, even though I explained I had poured boiling water over it. So we ordered a plastic bed pan from the chemist; a metal one as Dr I. thought preferable was not available.

Neither of us are sleeping well. One night last week I set up a wireless video IR camera trained on her bed to record her at sleep. We both slept reasonably well that night, and, although I have not checked the recording in detail, I saw nothing unusual. Maybe I'll set up the camera on a few more nights.

I am reading a sequence of entertaining novels at the moment and am acquiring the bad habit of reading while on the recliner, feet raised, and dozing off. Yet to feel the benefit of it.

She is making a lot of use of the Surface Pro I bought her; she can sit in the TV room with it rather than using her laptop with two monitors in her sewing room. Frequent calls for assistance discourages me from recommending a touch screen device for a PWP, yet her need of help to rescue her from confusing displays is yet to discourage her. She has been using web mail, not ideal, so I must give her a more conventional and familiar email client.

This morning in an effort to motivate both of us for exercise I had her do some pedalling while I did Wii Fit Hula Hoops. I had made a crude DIY wooden base to retain the pedal device in position at the front of a chair. Quite quickly she mentioned that the outer side of her left calf had begun to "burn"; she persevered until I finished  Wii Fit some minutes later. Half an hour later on the way from the bedroom after the Wild Dog care person had showered and dressed her, the left leg collapsed. Somehow she remained upright holding the bathroom door frame until the carer grabbed a chair to sit her on. Perhaps better to pedal later in the day.

I think it was last Thursday that we attended our local Parky group, a bite to eat at the club, followed by some fabric shopping and a visit to the podiatrist. And yesterday Sunday plus another day forgotten, we had coffee at the new place at the shopping centre; it has been there almost 6 months, at least, yet she had not seen it before.  On that forgotten day, as we left the shopping centre, she noticed a shoe shop which we later left having bought an expensive pair of soft leather shoes, not the sort of thing others would buy but much more practical.