Wednesday Gwyn, Drew and Simon (Gwyn's eldest) called round. Now for all the times we've visited them in Wales this was the first time for Gwyn and Drew to call in on us. It was wonderful, when old friends meet and the conversation flows and the laughter is raucous. Simon has a wonderfully quick and dry sense of humour and it was such a relief to have conversations that focussed on others peoples lives and topics away from hospital and illness.
Yes we spoke of my time in hotel Hallamshire and I found it very strange as I'd forgotten things about my stay, maybe I'd blanked them out or my head had come up with a coping strategy. Whatever it was it felt very strange knowing that my memory was playing tricks. But overall the conversation was about life, normal life and normal dreams and normal ups and downs.
We ventured into town and found another wonderful meal at Aagrah. The strawberry beer before certainly hit the spot for me and the conversation and laughter were as much a tonic as any drug could ever be. It was just wonderful.
Thursday I felt good, a little tired but not exhausted, so we thought it'd be nice to go for a drive and get a butty and sit and watch the world go by. Well we got 2 miles from home and it was enough, it wasn't anything serious but my concentration was suffering and as Wend doesn't drive I couldn't ask her to take over. We bought a butty and headed home to chill. The chilling took me to bed, it took Wend to Morrisons!
Wendy made a fab kedgeree and we drank a bottle of wine, the decadence of not having the kids around............
Friday morning was a little steady for me, I had a funny little headache which was related to how fast my movements were. I think traditionally this sort of ailment would be called a hangover! It didn't interfere with my visit to Weston though. I have been setting myself little targets all the way through this experience, be it walking to the loo or brushing my teeth without any pain. A big target for me has been waiting for the consultant to say we'll see you in two weeks, to me it's a sign of progress, a sign that my body is fighting back. Well it's happened, no appointment this Friday! It felt amazing just like reaching the top of a climb or getting a new job or when the person you fancy says yes to a second date. A weight was lifted, I stood a little taller with a bigger smile than previously imaginable.
The up wasn't to stop there, a short walk over to the Hallamshire to see the Physio department was to be the icing on the cake. Last year I craved a structured return to fitness, something supported by someone who knew what they were doing rather than me beating myself into the floor. This time as I have had a transplant there is such a rehabilitation scheme which is run by the physio team at the Hallamshire.
Jo was amazingly patient and sympathetic to my impatience. Suggesting that she had seen people like me before and that although she hadn't been through anything like I had she was very understanding. She even laughed at my jokes.......I think anyway! My regime starts Monday so we'll see if I survive to tell any tale worth telling, or not as the case may be.
All this up was tempered with a little down on Saturday. We went to the pictures which was brilliant, more normality, a family going to the pictures as a treat for the end of the holidays. It all went really well until we tried to get home, an ambulance had broken down on the tram tracks which meant we had to find a bus. Walking up through town was hard, concentrating on the traffic, the crossings and the crowds made it even harder. I was starting to feel tired and stressed just as the student in an overgrown babygrow asked me for a donation. I told him no thank you, we choose a charity at the start of the year and give to them, he rattled his box and said it's a worthy cause. I replied no thank you again, to which he said any coppers will do. It just got to me the noise the people the hill that I'd never previously felt so the response was 'which bit of no do you not understand?' I know he was trying his best and he'd probably been there a while and was fed up with it all but it riled me and the fact it riled me riled me even more. If I hadn't been with the girls I don't know where the meeting of minds would have led.
It was disappointing for me because it showed how close to knackered I am. I'm learning, even when my head feels good think several times about doing anything physical. I've had a fantastic week with a little blip just to remind me of where I've come from. Next week is next week and that's where I'm going so that's what I'm focussing on. The future. Loving the now and am looking forward to the tomorrow.
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