Wednesday 26th May 2010

This morning Helen had breakfast with Kaye (as she has done most mornings since she has been in Palmerston). Her friend Lyn G phoned to say she is coming up for a conference and hopes to be able to see Helen on Sunday. Shirley D came in mid morning and helped Helen with her lunch and they listened to a CD of Armin's music. Helen tried to intrigue Shirley to consider having a facial with her - Shirley being as inexperienced in such things as Helen was before she became so ill and I was able to take her hither and thither to do my bidding! We agreed it is an expensive thing to get a taste for but - but delightful nonetheless.
Next we went to oncology outpatients to see Dr K. He said her Hb has dropped to 81 so planned a transfusion of 2 units plus thought it likely she may benefit from another pleural tap. These things are easier for them to do in hospital so we decided Helen would be admitted to the Royal Darwin Hospital Hospice tonight and be transfused in the morning. If they decide on the tap they will do that before she is discharged also. The hospice is a beautiful place - new, spacious, caring environment and very peaceful. Apart from the disorientation involved in moving around I am very happy to have Helen here and am in hopes that fine tuning her blood levels, increasing her food intake again and maybe taking some fluid off the lung will give her the chance to enjoy being in Darwin and spending time with her loved ones a bit more. The photo above is of a lovely intern called K putting in an IV for the transfusion tomorrow.
This evening we had planned to watch some Rumpole together but she is pretty tired - unsurprisingly - I am playing her some Peter and the Wolf and she has dropped off peacefully and I think I will leave the evening's entertainments at that.