A Step in Time.

Portsmouth Harbour at 8.40 this morning

The sun is out today

And what a glorious day it is on this bright Sunny Friday  morning, it really is a nice change from the cloud and gloom of the last few days, so what is in store for me today, well Gervase is coming round at 11.30 to day to take me down to the city centre as I have an appointment at 12.00 and before that my Sister Eileen and her friend Chris are coming round with a step for the back door for me which they have made, so it is going to be a busy morning for me today " stops me getting bored".

Happy Dentist = Sad Tooth

It was a decent night last night, the tooth problem has seemed to have abated, and I will now have to hope that it does not return until I see my Dentist in the middle of September, that will be a busy month as I have the dentist on the Friday, Blood test the following Tuesday and the Neurologist a week later, so that will take a bit of Juggling along with the shopping etc, good job I keep a daily diary.

Morning Coffee

I still have a problem with the sore mouth today but I started the Nystatin yesterday so hopefully that will take effect with the next couple of days and then we will wait and see what the next problem is that will occur. anyway I wake at 6.00 this morning and then laze around in bed until 8.00 when I get up and go make the morning coffee, which I take into the lounge where I can watch the Morning news on TV until Jo the carer arrives.

Methotrexate

Jo arrives at 9.00 and thinks she has picked up a bit of a virus as she does not feel well so I send her off home and tell her to phone in and go sick as she cannot go round caring for elderly and disabled people if she has a virus, so off she goes, hope that it soon clears up for her, once she has made her way home I get some breakfast and then text Pauline and ket her know all is Ok here and then get a shave ready for when Eileen and chris get here about 10.30 as it is now 9.45. also it is methotrexate day today and as I have an important meeting down the city centre today I decide to take the methotrexate after dinner tonight rather than this morning so that should be OK, I can still take the Prednisolone and the calcichewD3 now.

Well Eileen and Chris arrive at about 10.40 and they have brought the step that made for me to go outside the back door, as it is a bit of a step down onto the patio from the kitchen. It is not to bad on a good day but on a bad day when I am a bit unsteady it can pose a problem for me, even with the walking cane, anyway it is a perfect fit, that sister Eileen of mine and her friend Chris really are a couple of clever ladies.

The new step from kitchen to Back Garden.

  So with the step down and now easier access out into the garden all is looking good so I make some coffees and we have a nice chat which goes on until Gervase arrives at 11.30. so Eileen and Chris make a move of up to their studio at Drayton and Gervase loads the wheelchair into the car and off we go down to the city centre.

left to right Chris and Eileen

Once we are down the City ,Gervase gets the car parked and then we make our way to carry out my business. The meeting takes about an hour and then we are back in the car and heading back home along the sea front. once indoors I make a coffee and then Gervase heads back home as He has arranged  from home today so that he could come with me, and he needs to get back ready for a tele-conference.

Portsmouth City Centre.

And now it is time to have a bit of a lie down and a cat nap as it has been a very tiring morning and I am whacked.  I have had a cat nap and feel refreshed and ready to get this journal finished, it has been a nice enjoyable day so I will get this journal posted now and get ready to watch pointless on the TV at 5.15,  so until tomorrow I will say Tatty Bye.

And now on to Thursday

and here we are again and another thursday is upon us, I stayed up a bit later last night to watch the opening ceremony of the Paralympics but must admit that although I was enjoying it as I felt it was a excellent show, tiredness took over and i had to retire to my bed at 11.00.

However what I did see was excellent, I had a decent nights sleep and slept through from about 11.30 until 6.30 ish so was pleased with that, I got up and made a coffee and then back to bed until 8.00 when I thought I had better get up and into the lounge with another coffee ready for when Jo the carer arrives.

Jo is in a rush today

at 9.00 O'clock I phone the doctors surgery to ask for a phone call back from the doctor as I have got a very sore mouth and a very "Furry" tongue at the moment which I think is related to this abscess I have had and the subsequent antibiotics.. Jo Arrives at 9.15 and is running a little behind time today so she gets on and gets me washed and groomed ready for the day ahead and then she is on her way and I get myself some wheatabix for breakfast.

Nystatin Oral suspension.

Once I have had breakfast I phone Pauline and she and gordon are going to be coming round at about 11.30 today to give a hand around the flat for a couple of hours and also Pauline will take me round the shops to get the shopping. The doctor phones about 10.00 and she has a word and agrees that I have got a bout of Oral Thrush, This is something I have had before so she said that she will put a prescription at the desk for Pauline to collect for me this morning so that will be Ok as she has prescribed Nystatin for me

I have had this oral thrush about 3 or 4 times since I was diagnosed with Dermatomyositis and am convinced it is a by-effect of either the Prednisolone Tablets or the Methotrexate tablets, but Nystatin soon seems to clear it up and it tastes quite nice as well.  Anyway I phone Pauline and she and Gordon collect it for me on the  way round to my place today. The weather is not that clever today although so far the rain has stayed away which is good as I need to get out round to the co-op and tesco later today with Pauline to get some food shopping.

Way to go Gordon

Pauline and gordon arrive about 12.00 and we have a coffee and then Gordon says that if Pauline takes me out round to do the shopping he will get on and run the hoover over the carpets and clean the Bathroom and kitchen floors so that is what we do. Misty stays behind with Gordon and goes to sleep out in the back courtyard now that the sun has come out.

We go round to the co-op in winter road as I used to like shopping there but to be honest it has gone down hill a lot, the range of produce is not that great especially fresh vegetables and also it is a hard shop to negotiate with a wheelchair so we only get a couple of items and then make our way round to the tesco Express.

The Co-Op Winter road

Once we get to the tesco express we buy what we need for today and tomorrow and then get a sandwich for Pauline and Gordon for lunch and a small Chicken Pasta Salad for me and then make our way back home.

Tesco Express

Where is everything Pauline ?

Once back indoors we get the shopping put away and then make a coffee and sit and have a chat while we have our lunch. Gordon has done a good job on the floors and has cleaned the toilet and sink in the bathroom and also wiped down all the worktops and hob in the kitchen as well as the desk and table in the lounge, as well as hoovering right the way through and cleaning the tiled floors in the kitchen and bathroom, everything is now spick and span. after lunch Pauline spend 30 minutes tidying the cupboards in the kitchen so now I do not know where anything is LOL. we then sit out in the back yard and have a coffee before Pauline and gordon make there way back home.

So there we are then the end of another good day, the flat is now all spick and span, the shopping is done, the medicine has been got, pauline has sorted the kitchen cupboards so all is right with the world, so I am going for a lie down for an hour before I start thinking about getting dinner so until tomorrow I will say ......................................................

"Oh dear Pauline", what you done now.

I will explain later on, but it could only happen to Pauline. well todays journal is a bit off track of my normal run of the mill journal as there are three issues i want to explain to you all, and these really did happen. we have issue:

1. The mystery of the double take:
2. The curse of the Korma.
3. The drippy knicker Saga.

These events really did happen and are not a figment of my Imagination and I thought that as the readers of my Dermatomyositis Journal you needed to understand the type of things I need to put up with in my mundane life !!!!!!!!!!!.

1. The mystery of the double take

This is an event that happened yesterday during my foray down to the City Centre with Pauline. If you have ever had "one of those days" then you will know what I mean, if it wasn't bad enough with the lift button,s this event certainly took the biscuit. after stopping for our coffee break yesterday Pauline says that she has mislaid her glasses somewhere, "that,s Pauline for you" anyway not a big problem one would think as she has a spare pair with her and she only needs them for reading etc, anyway we go into M&S and negotiate the lift and then Pauline decides that she has  now lost her second pair of glasses, "No wonder I am going Grey" anyway after much swearing and Panicking both sets of glasses are found on top of her "HEAD" no wonder she keeps mislaying me and the wheelchair when we go out shopping.

2. The curse of the Korma.

Well yesterday I decided I was fed up with eating so much fish, and bland (ish) food and that I needed to try something with a bit of taste, now as most of you know who read this on a regular basis, one of the things I suffer from with my medication is Constipation and so I take a mild laxative on a regular basis which helps, anyway things changed over the weekend with my tooth abscess and that really got me down so anyway yesterday I decided to get a ready meal "Chicken Korma" from Morrisons, it is a long time since I have had a curry and I really did enjoy it , the taste was out of this world "but boy" has it come back to me today with a vengeance, needless to say I do not think I will need a laxative tonight LOL!!!!!!

3. The drippy knicker Saga

 And last but not least ............... There I was this morning sat poised ready to hobble at the speed of a geriatric tortoise to the bathroom, when I get a text from Gordon who is up in Salisbury working . the text said "ask Pauline about her drippy knickers" apparently Pauline in her wisdom had decided to go down to Palmerston road to get a little bit of shopping, now the weather forecast for today was for heavy showers and strong gusty winds, so what does Pauline wear, a summer dress and a cardigan, needless to say she got caught out in the open in a torrential downpour. Well it could only happen to Pauline.

So there we go then folks something a little different today and in conclusion, I will point out Pauline and Gordon do know that I have written this. and they think it is funny and adds humour to my Journal !!!!!. I have known Pauline for well over 10 years now and she and her family are good friends of mine, as is Gordon, who I have known for about 2 years, I am glad that he has made Pauline happy and also My thanks are extended to them both for the help they have given me since I was diagnosed with Dermatomyositis.

Pauline, Gordon and Misty.

So on those words I will say Au Revoir until tomorrow.

Pauline,s lost her marbles lol

Yes it is true folks, It is official, Pauline has finally lost her marbles, but more about that later on. I had another good nights sleep last night, I stayed up a bit later last night to watch a new sit-com series starting on BBC 1 called "Citizen Khan" starring Adil Ray and Kris Marshall.

Citizen Khan BBC 1

A good nights sleep.

It was a very funny and well written and I will make sure I watch the rest of the six part series as I am sure I will enjoy it is written by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto. so It was turned 11.00 when I eventually got to bed and slept right the way through until 6.45 this morning, stayed in bed listening to the Radio until 8.00 when i got up to make a coffee and into the lounge to await Jo my carer.

Porridge for breakfast

Jo arrives at 8.30 and has had a good weekend and she has a busy day ahead of her today so it does not take her long to get me washed and groomed ready for the day ahead and then she is off to her next client. Once Jo has gone I get some breakfast and take my Morning Medication and then text Pauline to let her know all is done and dusted here.

Pauline phones back to say that all is Ok with them and that she will book a taxi for 11.00 to come and collect me and then we will be going down town to do some shopping, I do not know what the weather will end up doing today as it does not look very promising out there this morning, hopefully the rain will hold off.

Portsmouth at 9.00 am this morning.

Pauline arrives with the taxi spot on 11.10 so we get the wheelchair into the cab and off we go down to the city centre. I need to get a couple of bits and Pieces in the precinct and then also get some food shopping at Morrisons. The taxi drops us off at the back of boots and so I go into the Nationwide, and then into Boots the Chemist.

Boots the Chemist Portsmouth

Once I get what I want from boots we then head into W.H Smith to get some stationary and then go for a coffee and a Sausage roll at one of the local cafes. After that we go into Marks and Spencer

M&S Cascades Portsmouth

So many buttons to choose from.

And this is where the fun Begins with Pauline, I need to go up tp the first floor so we need to take a lift, that is not a problem so off we go, once I have what I want we need to go back down, now there are two floors in M&S Ground floor (G) and first floor (1) only two buttons, so what does Pauline do once we are in the lift presses button 1, no movement so presses button 1 again still no movement, well I am in Hysterics and so is Pauline when she realizes what she had done, Now lets face it is is not rocket science still it made us laugh, and she eventually worked out what button of the two available buttons she needed to push.
Once we were out of M&S we made our way over to Morrisons at the victory retail park where we got the food shopping that we both needed and then when we were finished I Phoned for the taxi to take us home.

Morrisons Portsmouth.

Well we were lucky with the weather as it turned out quite warm and sunny, it was a good day today, one we were back home I made a coffee and we sat out in the garden in the fresh air while we drunk that and then at 3.30 Pauline made her way home, Gervase also phoned to say that he was leaving work early today as he had to stop on the way home to take a conference call and that he would be coming in to see me this evening on his way home from work.
So it is now 5.50 and gervase will be here soon and it will soon be time to think about dinner, I am cheating tonight and am going to have a Chicken Korma ready meal from Morrisons so I will enjoy that as I have not had a curry for along time so until tomorrow I will say cheerio.

Bank Holiday Monday

So here we are again on another Bank Holiday Monday and as is natural for the UK, the weather takes a turn for the worse, but you can be assured that when the children return to school in a weeks time the sun will come out and we will have a late Summer.

Portsmouth harbour as seen by the live webcam this Morning.

As you can see by the Photograph above, the weather really is not nice this morning. anyway the better news is that I have kicked the Codeine into touch, I just cannot handle the constipation at all well, and as the Pain has started to subside as the Antibiotics get to work and the swelling has started to go down, I have reverted back to 2 x Paracetamol Plus twice a day.

I really do hate having to take all these medication but in the long run it has got to be worth it, and at least I will soon see the dentist and then start the process of sorting out the dental problems that have seemed to happen since I started in the Prednisolone and the Methotrexate, as my old mum used to say " You are dammed if you do, and you are dammed if you don,t.

A Busy Care Company office

It has been one of those " I will not do a lot today" Days, I suppose one of the benefits of the Antibiotics is that it is allowing me to get a good 8 hours sleep, which is a change from my normal 4 or 5 hours, so I did not wake up today until about 8.00 and lying in bed  I heard the door at about 8.40 and on answering it was the carer, now I was not expecting that as I had cancelled the carer for yesterday and today anyway she was OK about it and agrees with me that the organisation of the office leaves a lot to be desired.

on the phone to Kim.

Once the carer had phoned and confirmed that the office had not let her know, I start to get some breakfast when my Mobile rings and it is Kim my Next door neighbour, phoning to see if I am OK as the carer was knocking on the wrong flat to start with until Kim put her right and then Kim was concerned that the Carer was not here long and phoned to make sure that all was OK with me, It is nice and reassuring to have such caring neighbours so to Kim. Chris, Molly and Megan next door I say a "Big Thank You.", anyway I explained it to Kim and so all is OK. I really do think though that I need to have a word with adult social care and think about getting a different care company.

After I have had breakfast I text Pauline, and she phone,s back to say that they are on the way to Salisbury as Gordon has a couple of Jobs to do up there today, they are leaving a little bit later as Gordon had a busy weekend and did not get back from Weymouth until 6.45 Yesterday, Pauline said it was 5.45 he was due in but I think they must have got the train times confused ( A senior Moment or 2 or 3 )

I just laze around for the morning in the recliner, checking out facebook and a bit of Family History and about 12.30 take a slow walk round to get a newspaper, then once back home make a coffee and settle down with the crossword and read the paper. at 1.20 I watch the movie "Paulie" from 1998 starring "Gena Rowland,s" and "Tony Shalhoub"

Paulie movie 1998

and then at 2.45 it is the " BBC Proms 2012 Wallace and Gromit at the proms

Wallace and Gromit at the Proms

and this is followed at 3.30 by "Wallace and Gromit" the curse of the were-rabbit

Wallace and Gromit curse of the were rabbit

followed by Pointless at 4.45. so that is the rest of my afternoon planned out and then it will be dinner and then an evening of the soaps, so until tomorrow and a normal day returns I will say Tatty Bye to you all

at least the Sun is Shining.

It looks like another Sunny day here today, a better night last night but still a lot of discomfort in the mouth and gums but hopefully this will abate over the next couple of day " Or not" as the case may be, I think I tend to get impatient as I am not even ⅓ of the way into the antibiotics yet, but I did sleep from 12.00 last night until 7.00 this morning and Have woken to a Sunny Sunday here in Portsmouth.

Photo of Portsmouth harbour at 9.00 am today.

The Sunday paper

No carer coming today as I have cancelled them for today and tomorrow in case I want to have a lie in anyway stay in bed until 8.00 am then up and into the kitchen for Breakfast, Antibiotics and painkillers, Plus the DM Medication so all fun and games here today. once breakfast is over I get dressed and wander round to Tesco Express to get some fruit juice and also a paper. then back home and  download the information from my Reveal Heart monitor to the cardio dept at Queen Alexander Hospital at Portsmouth and then text Pauline.

Meeting Gordon with misty

Pauline phones to say that she has heard from gordon and he will be on his way home today, but not sure what time train he will be catching, it takes about 2 hours by train to get from Weymouth to Portsmouth. I have just spoken to Pauline and Gordon has caught the 3.45 train from Weymouth and is due in to Portsmouth at 5.45 so that is god and she is going to walk down to the station with misty to meet him.

Gervase Phoned me at about 11.00 to say he was on his way round to see me and we are off to look at some cars as Gervase is thinking of getting a newer model car, and then down to Morrisons at the City centre to get some food shopping, we went and looked at some Renault,s and also Volkswagen,s but nothing much caught Gervase,s eye

Seawards car sales at Portsmouth

 Once we had seen some cars we made our way down to morrisons to get the shopping and then headed back home along the seafront and it was absolutely packed solid with Holiday makers. There was a lot going on with a fair, a kite event and other attractions so it seemed everyone was having a good time and the weather was really great.

Kites on the common

The fairground on the common

Crazy castles for the kiddies

Peace and Quiet near canoe Lake

Time for a cat nap.

Anyway once back home I get myself some soup for lunch and take the next dose of Antibiotics and once gervase has gone I go and have a lie down for an hour until 3.15 when I make a coffee and then get todays Journal started, I think being out for 3 hours has taken it out of me and I definitely need a couple of painkillers as this abscess is giving me hell at the moment.

Well that is about it for today , it is now 4.40 so time to get this journal posted and then to think about what to have for Dinner, it will probably be a fresh sea bass fillet today with some mashed potato and cauliflower cheese. so until tomorrow I will say Bye bye.