It seems a lifetime ago that I said I was going to begin blogging again in earnest. The intention was there but since 21 April my life has been turned upside down, my brain has gone into meltdown and I have concentrated all my energies on hospital visiting and willing Pauley to get better.
Nine weeks on he is still in hospital after an emergency operation which removed a large section of twisted bowel. This has resulted in a stoma and unfortunately a condition known as short bowel syndrome. Recovery is slow and the hospital's hope is that eventually he will be transferred to either St Mark's Hospital in London or Torbay, both of which support home TPN (total parenteral nutrition - see previous link) should this be found to be necessary.
The highlight of these nine weeks is that Pauley is being allowed home for a few hours tomorrow (provided BP, temperature etc etc are OK), just for a change of scene (not with a view to imminent discharge). He is so looking forward to it, but is still quite weak so I hope it won't be too tiring for him. I know I shall be on tenterhooks and very anxious, but I'm sure all will be well, even if I am totally exhausted afterwards.
My time at Dairy House has been very limited as you can imagine, but the dealers have been incredibly kind and the shop has continued to function with no disruption to customers. Obviously I have had to cancel any Fairs I had hoped to participate in, and other than a few free hours here and there I envisage a similar outlook for some time to come.
I'm still hoping to get back to blogging soon but at the moment, as I'm sure you can imagine, I haven't got anything very interesting to say ... other than the fact that Florence is now 13 months, has finally decided to crawl but would far rather be up on her feet.
I'll end this post with grateful thanks to some lovely friends, Bloggers, Facebook and Twitter friends and one lovely Mummy-of-four (she knows who she is) who has helped me, through late night texts and messages, far more than I ever imagined possible.
Updated Friday 24th - Pauley was able to come home for 3 hours! A wander round the house, lunch and back soon after 2 o'clock made such a difference to him (and to me). It was a treat to see a smiling face and proper clothes instead of jimjams! We made sure we were back on time so no black marks so that hopefully we'll be able to do it again before too long.
Thank you all x
