4th
May 2013
Last night
when Merry attempted to turn off our gas heater that we have now used for the
last seven days, it wouldn’t let her.
It wouldn’t let Barry turn it off either so he turned the bottle off to
kill it. Later in the night he was able to
turn it off so it seems that something expands with the heat and stops the
control knob from turning. It did it
again in the morning so Merry phoned the shop where we bought it and arranged
to have it changed. This meant driving
to Carrum Downs on the other side of Melbourne, about 110km each way, so the
$129 heater has now cost us about $50 in fuel and toll road fees to get it
replaced. If the replacement does the
same thing in a week’s time, or any other time, it will hit the rubbish tip
rather than cost another $50, and use that money towards something else unless
the Primus sales rep comes to us. We
sent a text message to Sue wishing her a happy birthday, which seems to be the
modern, totally impersonal, way of communication.
7th
May 2013
So far the
new heater hasn’t let us down but it is still a bit early yet. Merry has now
had four of her radiation treatments that now take approximately two minutes
time now that the initial two visits are over.
During those visits they have to take X-rays to study to ensure the
alignment with the target is correct and make necessary adjustments to the mask
that holds her head in place, and still.
It is just unfortunate that she has to travel for about 1.5 hours each
way to receive the treatment. Next week
she moves into one of their hostels that will put her much closer and will be
able to travel on the trams. This will
be much better for especially when the treatment becomes twice a day with six
hours between them, but the hospital is trying to get her into one of the
hospital accommodations alongside the hospital and possibly into hospital for
the final week
9th
May 2013
Merry’s
treatment is still going okay and has confirmed the accommodation for Sunday. Barry and Foxy will be able to maintain their
4kms morning walk along with Steve and his dog Badger, and his sister’s dog
Toby on Thursdays.
12th
May 2013
Barry took
Merry into Ryder-Cheshire House and settled her in.
13th
and 14th May 2013
Merry is
managing by herself at the Ryder-Cheshire House which has included a trip to a
3D movie.
17th
May 2013
Barry drove
down to the Ryder-Cheshire House to bring Merry home for the weekend. Her twice a day treatment starts on Wednesday
so Barry will move in with her as it is expected to make her more tired than
she currently is.
18th
May 2013
Whilst here
in Wooden, Merry is cooking a variety of stews, one which will provide for
tonight’s meal and the remainder will be put into a blender to make it
virtually drinkable. The other stew will
suffer the same fate so that Merry can eat/drink them next week as swallowing
is becoming an uncomfortable exercise.
It currently feels similar to having tried to swallow a large pill that
has chosen to lodge in the throat.
19th
Nay 2013
Barry drove
Merry back to Ryder-Cheshire house and moved in as well.
20th
May 2013
Barry went
into the hospital with Merry in the ambulance as Merry had an early appointment
and would probably be out again very quickly.
That didn’t happen as the ambulance was late doing the pick-up and got
to the hospital late and then waited more than an hour before having her
treatment, which was quick but they arranged for her to see the nurse because
drinking water was becoming a problem.
This led to her seeing a doctor who has now prescribed Morphine to make
it easier to eat and drink as she is not allowed to lose weight because that affects
the fit of the face mask that holds her head still during the treatment and accuracy is vital.
21st
May 2013
Having now
tried using the liquid and tablet morphine, eating and drinking is marginally
better at this point in time
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