#EmoTheEmotionalElf #family #caring #Covidexperiences #BacktoSchool #backtowork

Good Evening, Hows your First week and a bit of new year going, Ours got of to a great start then went sightly different then expected. Which I will Tell you about in a moment.

Back to work with Tom the shift I had before Christmas which I postponed till after just because I thought it would be safer with this new variant around good job I Did because Toms big sister tested positive and she had to self isolate in her room everyone else in there house remained negative poor Ellie spent Christmas day in her room. you never know when you will catch it or who will miss catching it having vaccines is no guarantee you won’t ever get it but it may just save someones life. Someone you really love I do understand some people just don’t though and respect that people have the right to choose medical care, freedom of choice is very important thing.
Shift with little Tom was great being a day shift as apposed to a night shift which I normally do with Tom was great as I got to see him when he was more awake i got to do physio and floor work with him and putting him his walking sling we were dancing together and playing a bit of hide and seek the little monkey went straight for the Christmas tree and pulled it thought it was very funny.

I worked on little toms Muscles legs first then back and arms we got them all loose and relaxed then we had a little play time with his toys, and just layed there singing for a while just giving him a rest from his chair, Then it was lunch time for the first time Tom ate real well for me he is real fussy about who feeds him , then it was time for his sling. Tom was in an amazing and happy mood.

After the other carer I turned up for her shift I went home to spend last night with my hubby and kids.

We started early the next morning not to early but about 9.30 after dropping Niki and Jake off we made we began our Journey back to Birmingham the traffic was low the roads pretty clear made a few stops on the way, the services were empty which was great limited contact with others and defiantly socially distance grab something and go sit back in the car and eat and drink. Petrol has gone up so not as much for your money as last year To be honest though it was about £10 pound difference this year from last years Journey not that much more but still this year petrol has been one of my biggest expenses other than rent of course.

when we got back to Josh’s house I stopped there for a while watched a couple of episodes of friends while chatting and having a coffee and break from driving didn’t stop to long as I wanted to reach almost home before it got dark. So there I was in the car alone just me the road and music relaxed happily singing along stopping at every other service just to stretch me legs and check on Niki and Jake. spoke to my mum for a while just checking in to see how she was as she had Covid. You know I knew something wasn’t right with her the night before I couldn’t get hold of her which is unusual but I felt much more relaxed after I spoke to her.Little did I know things would take a turn for the worse as I was driving the last leg of the journey it must of been 5 minutes after I arrived home I got that dreaded call from my mums partner that he had called an ambulance for her , her breathing was bad and they thought she may have sepsis. I have been dreading that call since the beginning of the pandemic and it definatley made making the choice to be vaccinated so much easier for me , My mum and my kids and Hayley and little Tom. They are the people who needed the protection the most. While I am the most positive person strong hopeful and always think on the bright side of things in that moment I am not afraid to admit my positive sail deflated, my Christmas bubble well and truly burst. Marty wasn’t able to go with her and it must of been a rush as he didn’t know which hospital they were taking her to, but was going to get off the phone to me and find out and let me know. in the mean time we didn’t know how serious it was or what it meant so i had the Job of letting my dad and brother’s know first I phoned dad then my little brother, Then I got another shock when i phoned my big brother only to find out he too was in hospital the reception on the phone wasn’t the bast and he must of had pain meds because it was hard to follow what he was saying, some sort of infection maybe not Covid related. So I am Back on the phone to dad and my baby brother to let them know about Chris too. They say things come in threes not that I am superstitious or any thing first dad and Hayley had covid then mum and Chris being in hospital. We all tend to get post Christmas blues but this was a whole new level of nightmare. Marty message the hospital details over and I rang to see what was going on with mum, so many questions how serious is it?is she still with us? is she breathing on her own? when can they tell us more? they were very kind and patient let me know she was on oxygen but not a respirator that they were waiting on the results for the infection

She was very poorly but they didn’t say the words we lost her and that gave me hope, I spoke to Marty again just to check he was alright I mean it must of been a shock for him too being thier at the time he had been trying to get mum to let him call some one and she was stuburn and said no in the end he did and i am truly grateful he made that choice. My mum has a fear of hospitals. When they mentioned sepsis it brought back memories of my mums Brother my uncle Pete who we lost a few years ago to sepsis so i was aware just how serious a situation this actually was. See Writing is a great way to process things and experiences you have in the moment your mind is rushing to all them serious consequences and the impact of losing someone you love so much. you mind goes into protective mode just to help you cope.

My hubby as always my strength saying the right things at the right time getting me to go get some sleep incase i needed to drive again, Not that in would be allowed in there to be with her because of covid . Let me tell you I am not ready to be on this earth with out my mum not yet.

Before I slept I just sent one text to her mum I know you probably can’t answer but I want you to know I love you. my phone rang it and it was her, my god the relief just to here her voice again, and i also heard the doctor say the scans for blood clots came back clear thank goodness for that she was poorly on oxygen it was serious but this was i little sign that keep that hope and positive thoughts going forward.

My phone was on high just incase of any calls in the night but surprisingly I got 7 hours sleep.

The Next day was back to school for Jake and I had to take NIki to her pain managment appointment, that went well we came away with some small excersizes to do we are starting oof getting her body to learn the correct alignment especially concerntriaghting on hips and knees we are still waiting the appointment for some insoles for her flat foot which will help a lot. we go back in three moths for another assessment and then hopefully move on to strenghening her muscles.

This new diagnosis of fibromylagia sinking in first acceptance, second understanding third working with what you can achieve on the good days, and working towards do some stuff on the bad days too. I really like this new clinic Niki is going to they are open honest validate her feelings and how it inpacts her daily life. If only we had got this pain management appointment after her diagnosis with hypermobility when she was 16 what would things be like for her now. Still we can’t dwell on the what if’s we have to work with the what nows. one day at a time .

Niki was also back to school the next day, and Hayley was with me for the day I was in constant contact with mum and my brother updating them both on each others progress, and we found out Chris actually had a broken back he didn’t even no he fell off a ladder about 8 weeks ago ad had been working with the injury. but then he has suffered with a bad back and siatica for a while before that it just changed and he couldnt stand up or move one of his legs.

If i learned any thing over the last couple of days and can pass on a little advise it would be listen to your body and the signals it sends those signals are there for a reason to alert you to pay attention to your health and what your body feels it’s always better to air on the side of caution and get a check up then leave ittill it gets worse. It can have devistating and life changing consquences not only for you but your loved ones too. I know its hard if you have disabilities and other underlining illness but if anything chnages or is different get a check up.

Back at work with Hayley helped her with some shopping and got her out for a walk in fresh air also we played games and arts and crafts. listened to music.

Bit of a change with my hair gone dark giving it a rest from bleach and letting it grow and get longer i love it though I am naturally a brunette not blond, so going to not be spontanious and die it for a while now. What else have we been up to getting the decorations down tidying the house post cristmas clean up and getting routines back in place,

I also had the night shift with Hayley Tom, Holly and Ellie on friday.

Started at 6 had to go drop keys to Toms disabilty car off so someone could drive it home so i could take tom and girls up to see thier dad and drop some things off to him didn’t go as planned the battery was dead, had to go to my dads to get some jump leads, i went back to the car but we couldnt get the leads close enough to the car to jumpstart other cars had parked either side and they didnt know who cars belonged to. so plans changed Hayley and tom stayed with Toms mum while i took the girls with me to drop offTo chris nad so they could see there dad poor Tom was excited about seeing his dad but was probally better he stayed at home that night it was cold.

I aslo helped Tom record a message for Nan in hospital thought it migh make her feel close to us as she can’t have in person visits

The girls got to see dad outside the hospital for a few minutes and then we drove back home. I got tom settled when igot back he kept giving me the cute puppy eyes think he was looking at my hair colur change he kept saying I love you, it’s a little thing we both say to each other.He settled well Hayley settled well then I baked with holly as I made a promise to bake cookies with her.

Made from fresh we chopped up some chocolate chip coins to add to the butter cookie and holly had a little chocolate spread on the top of hers.

That cat stared the whole time and waited till we moved to get in the bowl, gosh cats are like kids always wanting to be in on the action and be the the one to lick bowl clean. then we had so time on the settee watching a program just that one on one time. we were joined by the dogs.

They all slept well and as i was making coffe in the morning the cats were all clambering over me they wanted thier breakfast

Hey lady we want food we know its in the cupoard above us we will give you a hug if you feed us , I imagine the thoughts in there head.

Tom woke up and it was getting him bathed, dressed, fed and medicines before going home to my kids. saturday was pretty relaxing and we watched net flix and chilled.

Sunday as Tom missed out on seeing his dad friday I drove them all for the visit on Sunday there was talk about his dad being transfered to another hospital so we werent sure if an op was needed and how long it would be before they could see him again.

Weekend mostly with my family apart from the visit to hospital.

So hear I am new week, ending this blog on a positive note. my mum is off oxygen now and apart from developing shingles on top of covid recovery there is some talk about releasing her from hospital with a care package , Chris has some movement back in his leg. there recovery may take time but it sure is better news than the the news of when they went into hospital time will tell the out come but it is looking alot brighter. now i can breath a little easier and worry a lot less

much love Faye xx