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2008 - August 6th - Wednesday

Ralph rang JH to update the latter: Kathy’s had actually gone to the Theatre in the morning {so JH wonders if all the ‘clean’ cases were postponed or cancelled}; Kathy’s temperature was down; Kathy had thought of getting out of bed, but had postponed this effort until tomorrow; in actual fact Ralph started to say that his wife was a bit like that . . . upon which JH interjected with the soubriquet ‘Drama Queen’ - at which Ralph laughed, but agreed with!  Both of us thought that the drama indicated that Kathy was feeling better; JH also observed that Kathy was quite entitled to be a Drama Queen now and then, and JH reiterated her admiration for the Skinners joint effort in ‘keeping going’ in spite of everything.  We had a ‘funny moment’ when Ralph said, again, to JH that Kathy’s illness had now being going on for 8 years all told, but JH said that she thought she had heard ’12 years’ – whereupon Ralph laughed, again, and said ‘No’, 12 years was the length of time he had owned his car!1  JH asked if Kathy was able to receive emails via Patientline, but Ralph said that both he and K had decided that they could not afford to use Patientline any more; anyway, JH could always phone K on K’s mobile.



 
2008 - August 11th - Monday

JH phoned Kathy via her mobile.  JH had left a message on K’s mobile before weekend but had not received a reply so, today, she phoned at a different time of day – but still got the Vodafone answering service.  However, half an hour later Kathy called back saying that she had been asleep, but that she REALLY NEEDS HER SLEEP!  In any event, the good news is that Kathy is going home in the afternoon: having just woken up she was, of course, feeling a bit dozy, but JH did ask if K’s temperature was OK – so Kathy simply reported that ‘everything was in order’.

JH did rather gleefully tell Kathy (chatting via mobile messaging service) – after Ralph’s comment that she could not afford to use Patientline – that JH had received a reply to her letter of 23 July 2008 from Alison Seabeck in which Alison reported that she had carefully noted the contents of JH’s last letter, but that ‘You might have picked up in the news that Patientline has recently gone into administration and a company called Hospedia Ltd are seeking to take over their business, which is currently being looked into by the Office of Fair Trading’.  Serves them right!

2008 - August 15th - Friday

Ralph phoned JH in the evening, after he had taken Kathy to FU appointment at RLH.  The Skinners are still doing their best against difficult circumstances!  They arrived at the Renal Department at 9.00am as requested but were told, when they arrived, that the Surgeon would not be available until 10.00am – so they needn’t have got up at 6.30am!  Everything seemed to be as it should be with regards to Kathy’s postoperative recovery although, of course, she is desperately fatigued; she was told by Roberto that he had found it necessary to make a much larger incision than he had hoped would be necessary – for which he apologised, and which Ralph told JH was ‘vertical from top to bottom’ – so that he could really have a good look round (JH’s words); JH makes the assumption that the collection of fluid below the transplanted kidney was located, and aspirated; other than the ‘usual’ slight rise in temperature after undergoing a surgical procedure, Kathy’s temperature had remained normal.

Ralph reported to JH that, when Kathy was lying exhausted in bed a few days postoperatively, K had one of her drama-queen episodes insomuch as she said to Ralph that ‘. . . you would be better off without me!’ - to which Ralph replied something like ‘. . . now that I’ve stuck around for all of the 8 years you’ve been ill, you don’t think I’m going to go away now, do you?!’: what a Team R and K make!  Ralph said that Roberto was persistent in his exhortations to Kathy that she must drink more water; apparently K has no appetite and ‘hardly eats anything’, but any loss in weight is thought to be more to do with her failure to drink adequately rather than eating inadequate food.  In any event, Kathy is scheduled to return to the RLH for another FU appointment at the end of next week.

1In 2011 the car finally 'resisted' all Ralph's efforts to keep said car on the road.  Therefore the Skinners took an 'alternative route' to mobility and were provided with a brand new car by the appropriate Agency: this arrangement lead to the withdrawal of both their mobility benefits, and they were required to pay for the fuel for the vehicle themselves.



 
 
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