It’s been a long week…..well it actually went quickly, as usual, but it felt so long. It’s very unusual to start a term on a Monday, more usually it’s a Wednesday or a Thursday so it’s been a bit of a shock to the system to all of us, kids included. They were half asleep for the first couple of days and then really tired by yesterday (me too!). My voice held up reasonably well but I had to be careful and not use it too much which meant that I didn’t feel I was doing my job terribly well. Very frustrating!
On Thursday we had Dave’s appointment with his consultant who was not best pleased about him losing his tube. He even suggested Dave might be better off with haemodialysis…..which received very short shrift from both of us! So he’s told Dave to ring the surgeon asap to have a new tube put in and in the meantime he will monitor his bloods to ensure he doesn’t become too ill while not dialysing. He told us that if at any point he’s not happy with the results he will have to go and have temporary haemo. But the surgeon had more or less promised, when Dave spoke to him last, that he’d be able to fit him in quickly. The blood tests he had done on Thursday look ok so fingers crossed he doesn’t have to go the haemo route. Luckily any blood tests he has done at the hospital are posted straightaway on a renal patient website so we’re able to monitor them ourselves. Apart from the urea and creatinine levels (which are sky high purely because he has renal failure), the two we have to watch most carefully are the potassium and the phosphate. Potassium we’re quite used to being careful with. Dialysis gets rid of it but while he’s not doing that, he has to keep it low through diet which we’re used to. Phosphate we’re not so good with and it’s very hard to keep down. Too much phosphate can cause bone thinning and, more worryingly, hardening of the arteries. So we have to reduce his consumption of dairy products, fish, even fruit squash and fizzy drinks has it in! What with having to give up wine, beer and cider plus all fruit juices, it doesn’t leave much. I feel so sorry for him. We’ll be very glad when he’s able to dialyse again because of that and also because he’s so tired all the time 
In the news earlier this week was an item about how people who suffer from illnesses which may be caused by their lifestyle may be refused NHS treatment. They included kidney failure in the list. I just want to make it clear here that Dave has an inherited chronic disease and it has nothing to do with mistreatment of his body!
It’s a very lean time for many people at the moment, especially those who are paid monthly! Getting my wage nearly two weeks before the end of the month, means it’s six weeks from one payday to another….nightmare! So I won’t be showing anything new that I’ve bought for a while yet 
Isn’t it always the way, though, that when you have zero money you see so much you want??! We (very unwisely) had a walk around town after our visit to the hospital on Thursday afternoon and I espied these Clark’s shoes which I so want now!
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They’ll be top of my shopping list come payday!
love the shoes, very sturdy (which is good) and gorgeous colour. I haven’t bought any new shoes for a zillion years (ok, a few months), and Next had none that I even remotely liked. So irritating.
Poor Dave! Having gone for just a couple of weeks without spuds and bread, and thinking I’m a hero for that, I can totally and utterly sympathise with him. It’s utterly bleak cutting foods out of your diet, and if it’s all to do with health needs it’s even worse. There is no option, it’s got to be done
and that makes it a million times worse.
just sent you an email with the ironing girl in it
I thought she was such fun to do, her face looks totally hacked off to be non stop ironing, but it’s all I seem to do!!
Bill has had 6 weeks in between pay day too. So I consider myself very lucky, he’s good with money, and whereas I would have been broke the day after payday, he’s organised enough to look beyond that! That’s why I was able to order my bag. Oh, I am so excited, I can’t wait to get my mitts on it! I’ll let you know how nice it is as soon as it turns up
How utterly irritating to go to a wedding and not be able to take photos. It’s ok for celebs to sell the rights, I can understand why they do that, but then it’s not so nice for the guests. I went to a wedding in 2001 (the husband has remarried and just this week became a father for the first time, but that’s a whole different story!!!), and the bride was all bossy boots. Got her dad to usher all the guests inside before she got out of the car because she didn’t want anyone to see her before she walked in!! I was pretty narked about that, because the whole point of having a nice car deliver you to the venue, is to get some great photos. My catty side has to come out now and say her dress wasn’t that nice anyway, her hair looked a mess (too much hairspray, it was all flicked up at the ends and DID NOT MOVE!), and to top it all, she walked down the aisle to some tat by Westlife. ‘Nuff said. suffice to say, she was not a celebrity, just getting a bit full of herself because it was her wedding day.
right. off I go. have been v. busy this p.m, realised humbug had gone quiet and found out why. All pictures in frames off the windowsill in living room. Ditto vase of roses, and cue one little rascal sitting in a big puddle, rose petals around her and very, very wet!
XXXX
Hi Nikki,
Dave seems to be going through a really difficult time, it must be so hard to have to watch what one eats and drinks, even if you know it’s because it won’t do you any good! I hope that all this will soon be behind you with Dave getting his tube put back in and his quality of life improving.
I love the shoes you have seen in Clark’s! I missed out on a pair of boots. Saw them befor Christmas and thought I would get them in the sales but no luck! They are nowhere to be found in my size! So frustrating!
Have a nice relaxing Sunday!
Martine
Hi Nikki Glad your voice held out – I remember you having problems last year. I can imagine how tired you all were being plunged straight back in to a full week. Hope Dave gets the tube refitted quickly. It must be so hard for him restricting his food intake and feeling so under par as well. The story about being “selective” about who gets NHS treatment made my blood boil. I have a certain sympathy that people who adopt a healthy lifestyle should get treatment before those who have a more “dubious” lifestyle, but then you hear stories of women who get tummy tucks on the NHS because they feel depressed that a bit of saggy skin post pregnancy means they’re no longer attractive and I wonder just how they are allocating the available funds. Also having worked in Boots and seen people come in to get prescriptions whose only words in English are “Social Security” Anyway I won’t chunter on anymore. God Bless the NHS but I wish there weren’t people taking advantage of it so that those with genuine need face the prospect of cutbacks and delays. Love the shoes, a high heel with a buckle up cross strap is my perfect shoe. I am fortunate that I get paid on the 20th of the month every month, so I haven’t had that long post Christmas haul. Derrant gets paid at the end of the month so it works well for us. Hope pay day isn’t too long in coming so you can snap them up. Lots of love xxx
Oh life ain’t fair at times, with your long week and long wait between pay day.. don’t they realise that shoes seen need to be bought! .. I hope you do get them..
Poor Dave too, I know when my neighbour had to watch what he ate and drank.. all the things we take for granted, he couldn’t have.. all behind him now and I hope soon it will be for your Dave.
Have a good week ahead
Hugs Pixie
sorry you are feeling so rough
hope it clears up soon for you.
thanks so much for your comments. I’m glad it wasn’t just me. I am still smarting a little bit.
I watched S&S last night. It didn’t seem as wobbly as before, and I quite enjoyed it.
I loved ‘Lark Rise to Candleford’ on just before S&S, did you see it? charming. 
well, thanks for your kind words today. Hope you are nicely tucked up in bed with a lemsip, taking it easy. good night on telly anyway!
xxxxx