Free health checks

(image from buckinghamshire.nhs.uk)

The FH may be weaker than normal, but I seem to be in robust health!  I have had a free NHS Health check tonight at our surgery.  The appointment was quite late, at 7.45pm, but I was in and out in less than the advertised 20 minutes.

One nurse was testing the urine sample, taking blood out of my finger to test it for sugar levels and cholesterol, and then she weighed me and did my blood pressure.  The other nurse was firing questions at me from a computer screen, asking me about my family's medical history of heart disease and strokes, diabetes and cancer, as well as about my intake of fruit, vegetables and alcohol, and whether I had ever smoked.

They were pretty pleased with me!  All the tests came back in the right levels, and my cholesterol is apparently very good at only 3.4, so I am definitely doing something right.  She weighed me with all my clothes [jeans, heavy sweatshirt, and walking boots] on, so I was a little more than I am on the scales here, and my BMI came in at 26, which is a bit more than ideal, but I am aware that I have more pounds to lose.

They hope I am in a similar condition in five years' time - and so do I!

A positive weekend

The weekend has passed off successfully.  The FH has had a good couple of days where he has been feeling stronger, and the visitors we had yesterday afternoon cheered and entertained him for a couple of hours.  He has been up in the later mornings/early afternoons through until bedtime, which has been good.  The weight continues in a downward trend, indicating good water loss, so we are hoping that the doctors will be pleased with that.

UJ also came to lunch yesterday, and seemed to enjoy the afternoon - my cousin, one of his other nieces, came over for the afternoon with her husband and her mother.  UJ's brother, my uncle, is not well either, and is waiting for an appointment at Papworth Hospital to have a pacemaker fitted.  It's all hearts at present!

A lady at the chapel is being given a surprise party on Sunday for her 80th birthday, so we are hoping that the FH may be well enough to attend that next weekend, even if only for a little while.  It is just going to be an afternoon tea with some entertainment, so he shouldn't have to exert himself unduly.  That is our aim for this week.

Financially, I have actually managed to increase our assets by £665 this month, so over the two months of the year so far, we have averaged £710, which is close to what I had targeted and I am very pleased with that.  I am still considering our charitable giving, and a couple of other things which will have a financial impact too.  Thanks for your comments.

Not all bad

(image from en.wikipedia.org)

We caught some of the segment this chap had on BBC Breakfast this morning, talking about hospital food.  He may have an excellent point, and the standards may have to be raised in many places, but James Martin and friends got the FH quite miffed this morning because the segment seemed to tar all the hospitals with the same brush.

The FH has had some lovely dishes in Peterborough City Hospital, and plenty of food!  He had a good breakfast each morning, was offered snacks at mid morning and mid afternoon, and could have had two hot meals [lunch and dinner] each day.  Most days he opted for a cold sandwich or salad at tea time, but on one occasion, had a chicken curry at lunchtime and chased it down with shepherd's pie at tea time!

Each ward there has a "host" who comes round to take the orders for meals, and then served it out to him.  These were friendly people who could guide him as to what was suitable from the menu to go with the restrictions the doctor had in place on sugar.  The meals were the main talking point for him when we visited as he would delight in telling us what he had been trying from the menu.

Some hospitals are doing a great job!

Being realistic about savings and charity

(image from bbc.co.uk)

Coming towards the end of the month [already? Yes!] I can tell that we are not going to make the £750 target for savings this time.  Given the circumstances of the month and the extra expenses we have incurred, I am not surprised at all, and have decided to be grateful that I can achieve £500 and be satisfied with that.  It is still a sizeable sum, and will help us on our way.

It helped a little this week to be able to insure the FH's little Fiesta for only £160 instead of the £193 originally quoted.  I tweaked the quote a little, reduced the annual mileage to 6000 miles, which is very generous for him - he probably does a lot less than that, actually, but that was as low as I dared to go this time - and that generated a better quote.  I have both cars on the same policy now with Aviva, and it has saved money over last year's costs, so I am pleased with that.

BUT posts like this one from Ann Voskamp really made me think about our charitable giving this year.  Her writing moved me to tears yesterday and really challenged me to consider more carefully what I am doing.

We do give money to charities in a variety of ways.  I make an annual donation to the Salvation Army at Christmas each year in memory of my mother - and it is a decent one, not just a pound or two.

We donate in the offering plate to the chapel every Sunday morning, and even if we are not there on a Sunday, I make sure that the offering gets there one way or another.

I make the cakes for the Friday morning Craft groups and the Thursday afternoon get togethers at the chapel, which means that food doesn't have to be bought in.  

We regularly donate prizes for raffles and tombolas at chapel.

We supported the Operation Christmas Child boxes last year, and intend to do so again this year, with various items bought and made.

I am helping to support a child through the #ShareNiger project.

We support fundraising at school for our partner school in Africa, for Comic Relief, and Children In Need.

We leave bags of clothes out for roadside collections, and take bags to the local charity shops.

But, do you know what?  I realised yesterday that this is all too comfortable, as Ann puts it.  It is easy, it is not that challenging, and it doesn't move us out of our comfort zone here in England.  I am not going to go on mission trips to Africa or South America or Asia, I am not going to do anything that dramatic.  

BUT if I can put aside money each month for our future, surely I should be able to help someone to live NOW?  

It seems hard to look through various charities and decide which one to support, but that is what I am going to have to do.  Do I go with Plan International, Save the Children, Compassion, Mary's Meals, or WaterAid?  How do I choose?  I looked at a website just yesterday which was asking me to choose a particular child to sponsor - I couldn't do it - choose one over all the others!  

I'm going to pray over this this weekend and try to come to a decision.  If anyone has any advice to offer, I'd be pleased to read your comments.  Thank you.

Updating on the heart and the health

The FH's condition remains challenging, to say the least.  Although we have him home, I am worried about him and concerned that I may not know what to do in the event of an emergency, bar phoning 999.

(image from dailymail.co.uk)

I don't have the patience of this lady, who I believe recently retired from nursing after 50 years or more in the profession.   It is not that I resent giving the care, because I love the FH and would do anything for him, but I am frustrated at seeing him so weak and exasperated with himself, and not knowing how long he is going to be like this.  I feel that we need to know whether this is a hiccup that he will recover from within weeks or months, or is this a new long term reality that we need to make lifestyle changes to accommodate?  We will have to look at things like stairlifts, for example, if the outlook doesn't show any signs of improvement.

(image from en.wikipedia.org)

Peterborough City Hospital was a wonderful place for him to be treated, and the care he received there was great.  The nursing staff were amazing, the food was great, the place is clean and well looked after, and he felt safe and respected there.  We are now under the care of the GP day to day, and then we are off to Papworth on 6th March to see the cardiologist there, and hope for some answers.

There was an episode on Monday evening, after I had blogged, in which the FH collapsed at the top of the stairs, and I had to hold him up as best I could as he slumped against the wall.  He recovered and I got him to bed, but I called the doctor out on Tuesday, and he came to see him and offer support and advice.  The doctor returned today and took phials of blood for analysis, to check for kidney function, diabetes and the general checks that they do on blood as well, for anaemia and things.  He promised to pop in again tomorrow.

Rather than praying for specific things, I am thanking God for His grace, and His blessings in this.  I don't know what to ask for, so it seems better to me to thank Him for what He is doing for us.  I thank God daily that He has a plan for our lives, that He is giving us strength for each day, and that we are surrounded by kind friends and supportive relatives who daily show their love for us all.  

Middle of the month finance update

(image from guardian.co.uk)

Considering the month we have had here so far, we are just about winging it towards our goals!

The savings goal is at £358 for the month so far, with another £392 to add to hit the target.  Looking a little challenged, I have to say.

The various categories have suffered a little because my eye has not been on the ball the way that it usually is, as well as a number of unexpected expenses.  My total car parking bill for the hospital ended up at £25, and I have already had an extra tank of diesel for the month; the FH had two new pairs of pyjamas, and we didn't shop properly for two weeks, although we didn't spend as much as I had thought.  We are still within target on the groceries....

The FH has been up this afternoon, and has had visitors today: our old neighbour popped in this morning, and I fetched one of his old chaps to come and have a cuppa with him this afternoon.  My F&W tutor was here this afternoon too, and I have had a number of telephone calls as well, asking after the FH.  I did manage to clean the cooker and fold some washing this morning, but not the amount of cleaning I had hoped to have done. 

Now I have to go and renew the car insurance on the Fiesta - more financial juggling.  What exciting lives we lead!

A gentle kind of day

The service went well this morning, the weather has been glorious - calm, sunny and bright - and the FH is doing OK.  He is sitting in his favourite chair by the fire, where he has been all afternoon, and dozing in between programmes.  He slept through "Call the Midwife" [too much women's stuff!] but enjoyed "Songs of Praise" and "Countryfile".  We have had a couple of phone calls from relatives and friends to see how he is doing, and generally had a quiet day.  The best sort of day!  The kind of day we all needed before we go back to school and the general busy-ness of term time life, which begins again tomorrow.