The True Meaning of Christmas

Poor Dad has deteriorated over the weekend, and it dawned on Mum today that this has coincided with him starting to take Warfarin for his blood clot.  He's lost his appetite, and feels nauseous, exhausted, bloated and faint.  When I looked up the main side effects of Warfarin, these were all in the list.  We called for the GP to visit Dad at home.  Mercifully, he's now taken Dad off the Warfarin and put him back on the daily aspirin and anti-coagulant injections for a while to see if the symptoms subside.  As it had taken four days for them to get worse, we're hoping that Dad might improve enough by Boxing Day to be able to come out for a special family lunch which he and Mum booked as a treat for us months ago.  Dad felt so poorly today that he wasn't able to travel to Colchester Hospital to see the specialist doctor on the ward and have an x-ray done.  However, I spoke to the doctor on the phone and when Dad feels stronger we'll be able to take him there any time Monday-Friday to see one of the chest team and have any tests needed - we just have to call beforehand to make sure there is a doctor on the ward that day.  I think this has reassured Dad that they haven't abandoned him, and that he doesn't need to wait for an appointment if he wants to have anything checked out or explained.  There's a district nurse assigned to come and visit Dad once a week to make sure he is okay, and the GP will also visit every few weeks to review things.  After Christmas, we're also going to investigate how much support is available from the MacMillan nurses in the area.

Having stayed on in Tiptree longer than I intended, to help out with phone calls and errands, I missed out on being able to pop into work in the evening to celebrate Christmas with my team for the last time before leaving the BBC.  I had already missed the leaving party of a long-standing and much-missed team-mate in November for the same reasons.  I feel immensely sad that I've so far been unable to start my long farewells to workmates in the way I would have liked.  But Mum and Dad need me to support them practically and emotionally, and I would do what I'm doing for them a million times over if necessary.


The local curate, Liz, is going to visit Mum and Dad on Christmas Eve to take communion with them at home.  Even if they can't be with the family for long at least they will be able to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, which I know means so much to them both.