Sore feet

The latest medical happening for Helen is very sore feet. It has been about 10 days now and both feet (left one is worse) have lots of little linear cuts on them. APparently started as a row of pink spots in one area but I didn't see these. Susan took her to the oncologist while they were fairly new and he stopped her Iressa in case this was related. We have been treating the feet with lots of aloe vera and QV moisturiser but they are still sore and her walking is slow and painful. As she has been walking less for the last week she is also more weak and yesterday was a very sleepy day in which there was no singing and not much talking. When she did rouse to speak on the phone to Louis (just back from Europe) and Robin she was pretty with it so that was nice as the day before she had been a bit confused.
We are waiting for the results of some blood tests and Susan has booked her in for a CT scan next Saturday. Hopefully we will ge i==t in to the GP and podiatrist this week and get some more ideas. So far - neither me, the oncologist nor my friends who are respectively an RMO, an anaesthetist and a senior GP have any ideas except that it might be due to Iressa - and it hasn't improved since that was stopped so....don't know.

A week in Kakadu

In the week just gone Susan and Helen came out to join me at the Aurora Resort on the edge of Kakadu in South Alligator. I was going out for a work conferency thing and almost as a joke suggested to Helen and Susan they should come too...and no sooner was it thought of than it became a reality! The dogs were packed off to their various Aunties and adopted Grandmothers and Susan managed the logistics of Helen and her accoutrements remarkably well. A highlight for all three of us was enjoying the elaborate breakfast options every morning - cooked breakfasts, fruits, yogurts, Bircher muesli, toast, pastries, juice and coffee! Well we didn't have all of them every morning but we made our best attempts. Susan was able to join my work groups for some of our outings to rock art and wetlands while Helen preferred to stay reclining at her leisure (how unusual!).
Helen seemed to get quite a kick out of the concept of being there even though she didn't really want to do anything in particular once she got there!

Cute Helen quotes of the week

Shall I sit up to eat breakfast or have it lying down?
Food! I want food! Food....Food....Food - said in tones of amazement and then with increasing petulance. Followed by....No Food?! no Food?! In tones of disbelief and even greater petulance.
On having a facial: Oh terrific! Wonderful! Then half way through bursting into song with a rendition of "oh do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?" which brought Susan great delight and the masseuse some confusion!
On speaking with brother David long distance -"I can smell raisin toast can you smell it too?"

As you can see she remains delightful and variable in her mannerisms, cognition and memory.

In the conversation with David she swung from seeming quite with it to asserting that she didn't know where I was, or Louis was or Douglas was or who else was staying here. Shortly after the call finished I asked her who she'd been speaking with and she couldn't remember who it was nor anything about the conversation (even with prompting - which is unusual). On the other hand on Wednesday when I was away all day on an interesting work trip she remembered where I was all day and asked me about it both that night and the next day!

As one of my friends says...she's such a Helen.

Saturday 11th June 2011

Susan and I and the dogs are all back from our adventures. Helen went well on her time with Jo and the NT Carers' respite person as well as Kaye so it was a success all round. Helen continues tuneful - singing her medley of hums whenever left to her own devices. She is a bit sleepier and weaker than a month ago and similar to when she first declined in Brisbane it's a bit hard to sort out whether she is weaker from being less active or is less active because she is weaker.
Despite this she had an outing to Kaye's during the week and we went to the Groove Cafe at Nightcliff on Friday and the Frillies morning gathering today. At Nightcliff we were delighted to bump into Bilha and had a lovely unplanned catchup.

The dogs all went well on their various holidays however on their return we had a few days of dramas with Umphy becoming suddenly very ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain - ending up staying at the vet's overnight for fluids, antibiotics and very expensive blood tests! He seems 100% well again now and we don't really have a diagnosis so that's a bit weird. Then the night after Jed returned he felt the need to assert his dominance over Freckles who was sitting closer to the table (and its potential food) than he found tolerable and in the ensuing growling scuffle poor Susan sustained a bite on the thigh! Luckily she was wearing jeans and the actual damage is minimal but as Jed was the offender (and it's the first time that's ever happened) I was a bit upset and - understandably - so was Susan. The dogs of course remain oblivious and all is normal between them now.

3 dogs in the sun

Umphy with a new toy from Frillies