Solihull begins...

Hello again!

I got up at 07h00, showered, dressed had breakfast and caught the
number two bus to the train station at 08h10. I boarded my train at
08h44 to Birmingham New Street. At 11h30 it arrived and I changed
stations to Birmingham Moor Street (which was horrible because I had
to walk between stations with two REALLY HEAVY bags). But, I managed
it (it was that or leave my bags behind...) I then boarded another
train to Solihull, where I was to find myself at exactly 12h11. I
phoned Hilary to come and collect me from the station (when she
arrived, the previous PA handed over and left to catch her train!)

I got back to the house and was filled in on all the problems that
Tony is facing.

Unfortunately, Tony is back in hospital. He had an ulcer just outside
his stomach, on entry to his intestines (where there were loads of
blood vessels). This meant that there were a lot of complications to
the surgery. Tony will most likely be in hospital for the next few
weeks (unless he makes a really quick recovery, which is highly
unlikely...) I am reminded of the awful time when my grandfather went
into hospital (although I was unable to be there, I could feel the
pain of everyone around me, I could see the effect it had on everyone
and I knew how hard it was for everyone)

So, my job is a little more simple (and thus a little more boring!).
I get up at 07h00, catch a taxi to the hospital (to make sure that the
hospital staff do all the right things - as treating people with
spinal injuries is a specialised field and so the staff are not
trained on how to deal with it). I then sit around until about 14h00
(after the second rounds are conducted so that I can turn Tony before
I leave). I then phone the taxi to come and collect me and drop me
off at home. I then keep myself entertained for the rest of the day.
This might sound really easy, but let me tell you, it is rather dull
and for this reason makes me rather tired. It is a constant battle to
try and entertain myself (as anyone who knows me will tell you!)
Around 17h00, Hilary gets home from work exhausted, stressed,
emotional and just shattered. We have tea together and she talks.

It is so sad to see something so terrible happen to someone so nice.
I always amazes me just how much she cares for everyone else. She has
phoned me everyday to find out how I am coping and if I have had
lunch, she has made me dinner every night (even though I try to stop
her). She has made sure that I am quite comfortable (even taking
towels out for me and placing them on the radiator so they will heat
up before I shower) and she has told me that I will have the weekend
off to relax (as apparently I have been working too hard). I know
that everything happens for a reason, so I hope that this one will
pass quickly for her. I try to offer her emotional support, so we sit
and chat most nights, Hilary tells me that her husband is tetraplegic,
her sister has multiple sclerosis and her father is 97 with recurring
bowel cancer... She says: 'I must have done something really bad in
my last life...'

I listen...