Phil April

Another month ends but at an inconvenient time this month.  Only just got home from our holiday in Corfu where I have been blogging since we arrived so you are all fed up of me.  I finished last month thinking that I would be starting work during April at Rexam again.  This hasn’t happened yet.  I know what their IT department are like and all they needed when I last visited them was the software installing.  They bought a new machine for me to use but by the time the software has been installed it will most likely be out of date and need an upgrade.  Maybe next month?

The main event this month was Sue’s birthday parties.  She had several but they were all great fun.  The first proper party, Jim and Shirley and Steve and Jan were also invited along with Claire and I and all Sue’s other friends.  We had a great night until near the end where drink got the better of some and a street fight developed.  The less said about that the better, but we didn’t get home until 4am.  Unfortunately, Sue’s second event was Sunday lunch, the following day, or rather the same day just a few hours later.  Sue had invited all her family and children along with Claire and I.  It was a nice way to sober up - or not.  In any case it seemed to delay the inevitable hang over that always follows these days.  Sue was meant to be having another party at Pink Punters but thankfully it was cancelled.

We also had a nice meal at the Blue Orchid at Aspley Guise.  This was the first time that Brian had been for a Thai meal but he seemed to enjoy it as much as anyone.  I chose to drive for this event as you can have too much of a good thing.

I also had my 6 month blood tests and results for all my ailments this month.  The results of my prostate PSA level was good.  It hasn’t changed since my treatment so they only need to see me once a year from now on.  They usually say that if there are no changes for 5 years then you are as safe as everyone else.  Three years to go for me but as the first two years have started so well its seems unlikely to change.  The results for my other ailment were not so good however.  Cant say Im surprised with all the parties and chocolate I have been eating.  I have to take another Metformin tablet to help reduce my blood sugar which means that I am now on the maximum of 4 tablets daily.  I have already cut down on my sugar intake but not on my calorie input.  Just waiting to get in the right frame of mind.  Not sure this will ever happen with our circumstances at the moment.  I also still have higher than normal blood pressure so I have been given yet another tablet to take for that.  Good job its a little one else it wouldn't fit in my weekly tablet dispenser.  However, my cholesterol, liver and kidneys are acceptable.  They must have been looking after themselves without much help from me.

My dad has had little change this month although he seems to have improved slightly this last week.  Mum has got worse and her sciatica has returned.  She is not sleeping as she should as dad is waking most of the night.  We took him to see his consultant on 19th for the results of the Xray and CT scan that we didn't even know he had been given.  While he was in hospital for investigation into his confusion, they found an 80mm diameter tumor on his kidney.  This was incidental and not the cause of his confusion.  They think he has had another mini stroke which has been causing his confusion.  His lethargy is from lake of heart function.  He doesn't have enough blood being pumped around his body.  He has gone from taking tablets for high blood pressure to taking them for low blood pressure.  He also only has 35% kidney function which they do not think is due to his tumor but rather to natural processes.  As he is in no pain at the moment and would not survive an operation it makes sense to do nothing but monitor him until things change.  He is more likely to live longer and happier than if they were to undertake invasive surgery, hard drugs or further traumatic investigations.  When we come back from our holidays we have a lady visiting mum to help fill in forms regarding help for her with dad.  They have already been told that there will be no financial help for continuing nurses help because they have more money than the threshold allowed.  Good job they have saved all their lives or they might have got it free.  Anyway, Claire will report on this or it will be in my May entry; probably both.

Regarding my Aunt Daphne’s financial advisor we have been to see a top barrister in London the other day.  He says that regarding her house trust, knowing what has happened and proving it are two different things.  It is not straight forward at this time because we have so little information to aid our case.  Regarding her late husband Les’s trust things are different and I have been able to obtain far more information because I am a trustee.  This is the one to pursue first and bring to a close.  According to the outcome of that trust we can re-evaluate the house trust at a later stage.  Unfortunately, as it is on the market it most probably will be sold and the money split.  However, it is possible to claim this money back at a later stage if any wrong doings can be proven.  I do have very good evidence regarding Les’s trust that criminal wrong doings have taken place and we have formed a strategy for our following actions.  It is time for Claire and I to regather our lives and take more of a back seat for now while the professionals work for us.  For as long as I am alive I will never completely let it drop until justice prevails.

It was nice to finish the month off with a holiday.  We were not expecting to be able to take it right until the last week so we hadn't arranged our transfers or parking.  Mum and dad have slotted into a routine which is pretty stable now and they still have the home help for another couple of weeks.  Looking back on this holiday it was great fun and great value for money but, as I have said before, All Inclusive doesn’t suit us.  We wouldn’t have booked it if it hadn’t been so cheap which is mainly due to it being all in so Im not complaining.  It just restricts you so much because you have more than enough food and drink in your hotel than you can manage so you are paying twice when you go anywhere outside.  If it hadn't been for the quad bike day we would have seen nothing but the inside of our hotel.  We should have hired a car for another day and visited Corfu Town and Paleokastritsa but it never seemed to happen.

We had two games of bingo which was fun and we decided to share any winning between Shane and Holly and ourselves.  On Saturday night at the pool bar Holly won so we all won.  Great at least it payed for our bingo cards.  It was quite good that night as they had a fire eater that also walked on broken glass and a bed of nails.  I think he was a relative beginner because we could smell singed pork during the act and he physically had to pull out the bed of nails from his body.

Our quad bike day will be the day that we all remember so I’n not quite sure why we don’t just bite the bullet a bit more and get out there.  Next time I will book a self catering and a car.  That way you don't have to wear a helmet.

The cave was quite good to see but difficult to get there and back.  My legs were still aching on the last day of our holiday.  We are not scheduled to get home until very late on Monday 29th and I have to drive to Melton on Tuesday morning early so I have scheduled this blog to come out while we travel home.  Maybe that way it will get a day before Claire writes her account of the same holiday and overwrites this.  I am really looking forward to getting back to normality as I am sick of eating and drinking all the time.  The three most memorable things of our holiday would have to be the Quad’s, cave and our meal at Junipers; all of which we did when we put our hand in our pocket and got outside the hotel.
We are very close to Albania where we are situated.  The mountains across the Aegean is Albania.  In fact I get a better phone signal from Albania than I do from Greece.  Trouble is the tariff is 28p per minute for Greece and £1.49 a minute for Albania.  I had to switch my phone off because I keep getting silly advertising texts all the time which are costing me a fortune.

Well, next month no holidays booked and I should start back to work again.  But then again, I said that at the end of last month.  I hope we get some reasonable weather so we can spend some time in the caravan.  Have a good one!