Its Easter Sunday.

Sunday arrives like a
"damp squid"

and Easter Sunday arrives not in a blaze of Sunshine and blue skies, but more like a "damp squid". why is it that bank holidays over here in the United kingdom always seem to see a deterioration in the weather. we have just had a week or so of really warm sunny weather and as soon as we go into the Easter week and the schools break up for Easter, so the weather changes.

Macbook pro Laptop

However again I had a good nights sleep and slept through until 7.15 after going to bed last night at 11.30. So it is now time to get a coffee made and then into the lounge ready for the carer. The carer arrives at 8.30, it is the same girl as yesterday , and she soon has me washed and groomed and then once she is on her way I get some wheatabix for breakfast and also a Banana, then it is time to send a Text to Pauline, who phones back to say all is OK and that she and Gordon are going over to see her sister Fran today. So now to get dressed and then onto the laptop to check out E-mails and Facebook.

Well I must say I do feel a lot better today than yesterday so getting over the effects of the Friday Methotrexate so that is good, anyway it will be another day of rest and lazing around at home today . I have my son Gervase coming in this afternoon for an hour or so. anyway now to get some lunch and today it will be scrambled egg on toast, and also a lemon curd yoghurt so will enjoy that.

The Year Gone By 

And now to see how far I have come in a year. it was at Easter last year that I was admitted to the Emergency Department at the Queen Alexandra Hospital at Portsmouth. I had been having treatment for a twisted stomach since November of 2010 and had chronic Dysphagia and having terrible trouble Swallowing and was loosing weight, in fact it appears that I was misdiagnosed by the GP.  I was very weak and was at My sons house in Southsea, when on the Easter Monday I had trouble breathing and moving so he called the Ambulance.

Q.A. Hospital Portsmouth

I spent the night in the Assessment ward and was put into a general ward on the Tuesday. I was seen on the Wednesday by a Neurologist Dr Gibb and he put me straight onto a Nasal feeding tube, and arranged for me to have a EMG done on the Thursday, he was at that stage looking at "Myositis". anyway I had the EMG done on the Thursday and on the Friday I was transferred by Ambulance to the Neurological unit at Southampton University Hospital.

Southampton Hospital.

I was kept at Southampton Hospital for two weeks before going back to the QA at Portsmouth, While at southampton I had many test,s, Scans, ect and also a Muscle Biopsy which confirmed "Dermatomyositis" Southampton was a brilliant Hospital, anyway I was returned to Portsmouth Hospital , Still on a Drip feed for another week before going onto a puree diet. I was on 60 mg of Prednisolone a day and 7.5 mg of Methotrexate on a friday along with Calcium, Vit b, Vit D, Thiamine,  after a week on a puree diet I was sent back home with a care package but still had limited Mobility, and trouble swallowing and had a carer every morning as I could not lift my hands/arms above my shoulders. and I weighed about 8.5 stone. down from 13.5 I had lost 5 stone in weight. the following Photo shows how I looked when I came out of Hospital.

Me with Gervase, Gordon and Pauline last May

and now a year on I am still on Prednisolone but down to 10 mg a day and on 15 mg of Methotrexate. My swallowing has improved so that I am now almost eating normally, my mobility has improved although my arms are still weak and still have a carer in to wash my Face and comb my hair. but everything else I can do myself. I need someone to take me shopping as I still have weak leg muscles although better than they were last year and I have gained some weight back and am now up to 11 stone 4 lb. The following Photograph is how I am now 1 year on.

Well it has been an interesting journey and hopefully the progress will continue as this year progresses, hopefully I will get more mobility back into my arms and legs and can start Physio Therapy and also reduce down more on the Prednisolone. I have had a couple of dizzy spell,s and they have detected an irregular heartbeat so they are monitoring that with a "Reveal Monitor" inserted in my chest, they think it is related to the "Myositis" but it could also be from the medication.
So there we are a quick recap on the year gone past. Thanks must go to all the help I have received from the Doctors and Nurses at QA and southampton Hospital, To all my Family and friends for the help and support they have given me and it is onwards with a sense of humour so until tomorrow I will say cheerio.