If you’re a regular follower of Visit Fylde Coast you’ll know that everything’s gone a bit Pete Tong (wrong) in the last few weeks. Thank you so much to everyone who’s sent their best wishes, cards and gifts – it means a lot. I thought you’d like a Chrissie update. Obviously it’s me, Jane, writing this, as I sit beside her, while she’s gently snoring like a piggy!
Chrissie Update
My mum has been in a bit of a bad way for a few weeks now. The last blog she wrote was titled ‘It’s agony, Ivy’. The physical effects of and pain from her arthritis has been increasing a lot this year. As you know I’d even managed to persuade her into a wheelchair for going out, although she could still potter about in the house. Over the course of this year she’s been less able to stand, and had got to the point where standing up to do anything in the kitchen was pretty much off the cards.
She’d had pneumonia in May 2020 and I think she’d had some lingering effects from it – a lot of catarrh and possibly some lingering infection. But at the end of October her chest started striking up and she had pain in the bottom of her lungs so she had two more rounds of antibiotics.
She felt rough after that and had been in bed for about a week, and the pain in her back was really bad by now.
We left you with that last blog at the end of October. Looking back for the date and link I noticed she’d written something which now makes sense. “…what feels like ages ago now, I turned sharply and felt something really hurt in the middle of my spine. ‘Oh no’ I thought to myself as this has happened before so I knew what I was in for, but this time it’s done me proud. I’ve been in the most exquisite back pain that I’ve been ready for jumping out of the window. The whole of my spine and muscles either side of it have been awful.”
The Big Bang in the Chrissie Update
Then on 24 November I was helping her to the loo and as she got back to the edge of the bed and sat down we both heard a loud bang. It was from inside her chest and she started screaming….
Getting to A&E, being triaged and admitted was an ordeal in itself and another story. Then a CT scan revealed that she’d got compression fractures in her spine from osteoporosis and an old fracture in her sternum. How do you have an old sternum fracture and not know where it came from? Anyway, with no fresh injury showing they said the ligament between her bottom rib and sternum had torn in this ‘bang’ incident.
It’s taken ages to stabilise the pain and I wouldn’t call it properly controlled now, three weeks later as I write this. That’s despite taking enough drugs to sink a battleship.
As if that’s not enough…
Anyway, she’s been home over a week and what a week we’ve had! Her mobility started deteriorating almost straight away and by last Tuesday her chest was rattling like mad. By Wednesday she was delirious and we concluded that she’d got a urinary tract infection….
Imagine trying to cough catarrh up from your lungs with such a serious injury in your sternum. The pain makes her crouch forwards so her back is now bent forwards at the spine in a square from the bottom of her shoulder blades. The poor thing is in agony all over. You wouldn’t let a dog suffer like she has this last month.
We’re on 24 hour cover right now. Kevin is doing the night shift, I’m doing the day shift. I’ve got my fingers crossed that with the infection treated we’ll able to get on with the long job of recovery!
Getting on with it
As you can imagine I’ve chopped a LOT out of this story, but we’re doing what we always do and getting on with it. Me, Kevin and my dad (Tea Boy) are starting to get into the swing of things. It was like having a new baby when she first came home, that you didn’t know what to do with or have a routine! All I can say is thank goodness for our lovely family. We’d also be in a pickle without each other.
It feels like this is all it’s ever been now. We’re popping bits of vital work into slots between nursing duties. Anything unnecessary is just off the cards, along with voluntary work. There’s no Brew at Two or YouTube videos for now.
But one thing about all the tragedies that we’ve gone through as a family in the past, it teaches you to take one half hour at a time. I’ve got no idea what Christmas has in store for us this year, but I hope you have a good time with your family, and that this year has been kind to you.
Best wishes for Christmas and the new year,
Love from Jane, Kevin, Chrissie and Derek x
