Thursday 18th May 2017

I'm attempting to return to daily blipping after a lengthy gap during which Mum spent 3 weeks in hospital with a fractured pelvis. She got a nasty chest infection while she was there, and at one point I was certain the night staff were going to call and tell me she'd passed away. Thankfully she pulled through, though in a very weakened state and having lost weight she couldn't really afford to lose. Since her discharge it's been a real struggle for her to return to walking, and to remain as mobile and independent as she can. Mum also celebrated her 90th birthday in March, somewhat to her own surprise as she never imagined she would reach such an advanced age having had so many things wrong with her for so many years. We are currently waiting for her to have a biopsy of another lesion on her face, and also a consultation with an endocrinologist to be treated for an overactive thyroid. This was discovered while she was in hospital in January, so at least some good may have come out of that awful time.

This phase of my journal is unlikely to be the least bit exciting, nor will the photos be works of art (they'll be taken on an iPhone 5S). Life is pretty much on hold for the foreseeable future while I make sure Mum is able to get out and about as much as she can while she can, and do all the jobs around the house that she can no longer manage. I just want to keep a record here of the precious time Mum and I are spending together, because I realised today that I will regret it if I don't.

Today's outings were to St Luke's for the mini communion service they hold there every Thursday morning, then a welcome latte in the afternoon at a local garden centre. Hard to walk past the tempting home-made cakes there, but I did have some rather lovely chocolate cake at church earlier on.