Hospitals and Allergies

We were up early this morning.  John was on the case - he decided he would come with me to take Mum to the hospital so he could drop us off and find a parking space because Kenny was in the garage having developed a nasty whining noise.  John also decided to make sandwiches to take so we could have a bite to eat with Mum and do any little jobs she had that needed doing.  We had to try and get the carpets she had bled all over when she fell and needed The Pug to fit them in.

This is not a photograph of my Mum's hand but it will give you an idea of what happened today.  We had to go and get the phial from the pharmacy first - that was all of 7 euros and then went in to see the Consultant Dr Kritiotis which was all of 6 euros and he checked out her hand and decided to split the injection between her index finger and her thumb which have both been locking up.  I would say that the syringe the Dr used was considerably bigger than the one in the photograph and he seemed to have to exert a lot of pressure getting the jab in and the fluid dispensed.  It can't be a very comfortable thing to have done but fortunately the finger and thumb are rendered numb for a while afterwards so no pain then.

Whilst at the pharmacy I was able to ask about the availability of epi-pens on the island just in case I had another surprise attack.  Sadly they have not been available on the island for months and due to the sporadic availability have been taken off the list of medication available.  That means A&E may be my only option in the future.  I am just hoping we can narrow down the food allergy and control it sooner rather than later.

So we got Mum home and made sure she was ok - we had to go via her doctors because from next week where safepasses are required establishments will be scanning the QR code attached to your vaccination record.  I couldn't download this to Mum's smart phone so she carries around a laminated copy of her vaccination certificates which now will not be sufficient for her to go into shops, banks etc.  Anyway the receptionist sorted a couple of paper copies for her and emailed details so that I could sort her phone but when we got back to Emba we realised Mum was without internet.  It transpired it was a biggish problem in the area so there was nothing she could do but to wait for it to return.

Friday night is our 'date' night - a night that we try and reserve for just the two of us when we have a nice meal and some TV or a Film together.  We usually fail miserably at staying awake late but that is the intention!  I have been worrying a bit about meals because on my current banned list are ingredients I would use regularly.  Having thought about it and taking into consideration what we have in the house I suggested to John that we have Sausage, Mash and Onion Gravy and he was more than happy.  I don't think I used anything that might have contained contraband but I now realise how difficult it is to be sure.  John bought some wine gums for the car - they say they may contain traces of nuts and he bought some peppermint Aero chocolate and that has the same warning.  That is a bit of a bugger because I do like a cup of coffee and a bit of chocolate rather than a pudding!

I am quite proud of the fact that I managed to stay awake through the whole of our chosen film tonight - The Courier with Benedict Cumberbatch and it was John who started checking his eyelids for pinholes.  To be fair it has been a very stressful week for him so I think he was just happy to relax this evening with a nice meal, glass of wine and (hopefully) little requirement to shoot off to A&E.  It was a good film - based on a true story and one which I would have thought I would have heard about before.  I can recommend it.