2020 restart

So, I took a year off from documenting my life here (and other places – only 33 photos on Instagram).
I guess because 2019 was the year I will remember but would rather not.

Three friends were badly affected by dementia – one of these being a major blip-partner in crime who is so bed bound she needs carers to visit four times a day and we can no longer be “Thelma & Louise”.  Another is the woman who got me addicted to watching Shakespeare at Stratford who is currently hospitalised with extreme confusion.

One really long-term friend went into hospital to have a gall bladder removal and spent over 8 months hospitalised with sepsis (her son had to move from Birmingham to Inverness to look after her husband one of the “dementia trio”).

Another friend has spent five months housebound because her diabetic ulcers became infected, so we stopped going out.

For the first four months of the year Kassie had very few walks because the doctor was treating my dad for a fractured rib which didn’t heal and then they discovered it was an inoperable lung tumour damaging the rib. It took nearly three months to go through all the tests and then despite his age (86) the cancer fund agreed to fund immunotherapy (20 doses at 3-weekly intervals at about £8,000 a dose plus associated costs).  To date it is working brilliantly but is so time consuming with the three-week cycle – blood test, consultant, treatment and repeat and I am the designated driver for them and Graham (the 2015 stroke means he can’t drive).

There were a couple of deaths (older people so sad but not heart breaking).  Plus, major issues at work – staff told they were redundant and then maybe not…. Christmas in the office was stressed!

I did have the wonderful summer visit from the Americans (I can say that now – my daughter took the citizenship route so she can travel more easily in and out of the USA).

I managed one holiday with a friend who can’t fly so we went to Spain on a coach…. two days travelling there – awful weather – two days travelling back.  Great company but NEVER again.

So, goodbye 2019….and here’s to 2020 and me enjoying getting back to my blip diary mojo.

#2020_01 we did nothing on New Year’s Day.