Birthdays, Anniversaries and Hospital Visits

No, not an attempted break in - my son and daughter conversing with their mum courtesy of a hospital window visit - note the intervening foliage, so dense I am sure David Attenborough would have a field day investigating it!

The 13th of February was Laurel’s birthday and also our wedding anniversary. Today is of course Valentine’s Day and tomorrow, the 15th, is the anniversary of when Laurel and I first met back in 1980. February then, is veritable smorgasbord of special occasions.

This year was a little different due to Laurel still being hospital but it did not stop the three of us visiting her with a cake, cards and presents. It was the first time I had seen her since Sunday 30th January just before my bout of Covid. For my son and daughter it was the first time they had seen their mum since the 16th January for my son and the 18th January for my daughter due to the isolation requirement prior to Laurel’s surgery. It was a long time for me and even longer for the two of them.

The centre she is at are not allowing visitors in the building due to Covid but are happy to allow what they call window visits. As you can see from the picture above this was less than ideal for a number of reasons but we overcome the difficulties and managed to spend a couple of hours with Laurel after negotiating a series of bushes (including a particularly thorny rose bush), trying to keep out of the freezing wind and accompanying drizzle. 

It was an emotional visit for all concerned but we all felt much better for it afterwards and of course the boost to Laurel was immeasurable. Her phone was ‘pinging’ non-stop with friends and family sending their love and best wishes and she had also had numerous calls as well. Laurel is improving by degrees and her feeling in the surgery affected areas is gradually returning but she still has some way to go. We are meeting on Thursday with the physio, an occupational therapist, a Pathway representative and a nurse to discuss progress so far and the plan going forwards which is a positive step for sure. One of the nurses blue tacked all her get well and birthday cards on the wall of her room which made for a cheery display.

When we finally said goodbye and headed home my son got an Indian takeaway for our dinner as a treat and afterwards I sat down to the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in a far more relaxed frame of mind having seen my wife at long last looking rather more upbeat than previously.

She is getting there, albeit perhaps not as quickly as she would like!