Saturday 2 April 2016

goodbye March


Here we are in April. March was a trying month and although the start of April is only a date on the calendar, I'm hoping that it is a fresh start.

With my father-in-law passing away in February and all the admin that entails, my husband being diagnosed with calcific tendonitus which is a painful shoulder condition reducing the amount of movement in the joint (no driving) and work being busy/stressful for all the family,  March didn't get off to a good start.

We decided a family holiday would benefit everybody and our sons joined us for a week in the Brecon Beacons the week before Easter.


It started well. On the second day the weather was fine and clear and we walked up in the mountains.


 Fine mild weather,


stunning views


and then on the way back down to the carpark, my husband tripped and fell breaking his leg  and ankle (four breaks in total). He is still unsure how it happened, a well maintained path, fine conditions, the correct footwear and clothing - just one of those things.

Mountain rescue were brilliant, giving him oxygen, pain relief, strapping up his leg and carrying him off the mountain on a stretcher.


He was then taken by ambulance to hospital where he had surgery and stayed for ten days. Not the holiday we planned.

I stayed in the holiday cottage with our sons, visiting the hospital in the afternoon and evening.


We made the most of the days exploring the Brecon area. Then towards the end of the week, youngest son picked up the sickness and diarrhoea bug that was rife in the hospital. He could no longer visit his father in hospital and at the end of the week I was glad when the three of us were safely home and husband was being looked after in hospital.


I planned to return and stay in a hotel near the hospital but then oldest son and I went down with the sickness bug. After the required 48 hours had passed I drove back down to Wales and checked into a hotel hoping for a few quiet days to recover. The pressure on hospital beds meant that my husband was released the next day so still feeling rather fragile myself, I drove him home.

So that is where we are at the start of April. There is a lot to sort out with transferring care to here, fracture clinic appointments, physiotherapy etc over the next few weeks but hopefully things are improving. Well I thought that until I pulled my back unlacing my walking shoes yesterday (what?, how?!) and I am now shuffling around the house rather stiffly - my body may be trying to tell me to slow down but that doesn't seem possible right now.

A quick trip to the supermarket for some healthy food and then a quiet weekend I think.

I'll sign off with this photograph taken near the canal at Brecon, good advice in the circumstances.


4 comments:

rusty duck said...

Oh no! Isn't it true what they say, it never rains but it pours. I hope you're all on the mend and best wishes to your husband for a full recovery. April can only be better.. can't it?

willow said...

I'm sure April will get better. Its been a lovely day here today and there are bluebells flowering in the base of the hedges - things can't be too bad when there are bluebells!

Heather LeFebvre said...

oh my goodness! I can't believe all that happened to you in February and March! Wow. I'm sorry about your father-in-law, and then your husband's painful diagnosis and then the fall on top of that and the stomach bug? Sometimes it just seems to never stop. I do hope and pray that this month is proving to be much better!!!!!!

willow said...

Thank you, Heather. Recovery is slow here but he is on the mend, these things take time. At least we have had some warmer days lately and he can hobble to the garden on his crutches and sit in the sun for a while - better than being stuck indoors.