April 03, 06 - A wee update...

Monday, April 03, 2006
Time for a wee update...

I went over to see Mum and Dad on Sunday. The good news is that he was quite chatty, happy even but still very very tired from the second round of chemo he had last week. It really takes it out of him. I know he was in two minds about whether or not to have it. He wonders if the price he pays for having the chemo is worth the value he gets from it...

The other reason for going over was to fix the bathroom door back on to its hinges. How did it get to be off its hinges? A short story...

Those of you who have met me will know that I'm not a small chap. My Dad used to be about the same size. He shrunk a bit as he got older but he is still carrying a more kilos' than he ought to be. He's lost a lot of weight since he got ill but he's still a big lad. It takes three to carry him upstairs - remind me to tell you about the ambulance teams that come to take him to hospital...

Anyway, one day he is in the loo and his legs go all jelly like. He takes a slow motion, somewhat dignified slide down onto the bathroom floor. Problems are (i) he's landed on a leg and can't get up (ii) his remaining leg and butt are in front of the door (iii) the door opens inwards. So, you can understand the consternation in the house when Mum realises Dad is stuck in the loo - with no chance of escape.

Now, Mum rings 999 for a Paramedic team. Goodness only knows what is the other side of the door but she can't get in to find out. She knows he's alive and in some pain. The Paramedics arrive in about 10 minutes (which is a pretty good show) and assess the situation. Other than that Dad is still talking and he is in some pain (remember the leg?) they don't learn too much - except some new swear words.

Decisions decisions. The only real option is to take the door off the hinges. This has to be a last resort because if they get it wrong the door will crush the patient. They need to unscrew the door from the hinges, and move it backwords out of the door. But the door opens inwards so the hinges are hidden and they can't get to them.

What now? Club hammers and wrecking bars is what - paramedics actually carry this sort of gear in their ambulance. So off they went with the heavy duty surgical instruments. Amazingly they got the door off and out of the loo without crushing Dad and they hadn't done anything like the damage I had been expecting - do paramedics get DIY training I wonder?

It was actually a very straightforward job to rehang the door. I used 2" screws instead of the tiddlers that were used before but it was job done and the door works surprisingly well for one which has been through such abuse. We need to sand a tiny bit off the door where the hanging wasn't 100% exactly the same as last time but that's no hardship.

Mum and Dad (and any visitors) now have a little privacy when they need to use the loo. Well, Dad doesn't because he uses a commode in the bedroom but you get my drift.

It's funny how something which could have been so serious can seem so funny when you read about it. We take the humour every time at the moment.

I went to see the specialist about Dad a few months ago. He said then that Dad had 3 to 6 months - we're well into that now. Let's see what the future brings. A least we get a smile on our faces now... Is that a good thing?