A Torturous Day!

It had been a difficult night all round (see added para yesterday). I checked mother every 60 minutes and helped her to drink water throughout the night. Lucy was in a serious state and Vivien had to take her back to Adrian's Lodge where she lives and is supported in King's Lynn. I really don't know how Vivien did that on no sleep, but poor Lucy had lost it completely and needed to go back to some sort of normality – she had done amazingly well and had been absolutely brilliant with her care and supporting Vivien and I, but she couldn't take any more.

Norfolk Hospice came out to wash and care for mother and advised me to ring a GP, as even though mother was saying she wasn't in pain, she was grimacing. I phoned straight away and was told that a GP would come out, but not until lunchtime. Vivien and I decided not to wait that long and after ringing Tapping House for advice, rung the community district nurses. The morning was torture and mother then admitted she was in pain and the grimacing in her facial expression was soul destroying – I have never felt so helpless and distraught in my life. I was pacing the floor and standing outside the house, willing the District Nurse to arrive to give her some pain relief and put her out of her misery.

Eventually a doctor from Hunstanton surgery and the district nurse both turned up more or less at the same time. A stat dose was administrated by the district nurse (after having to move her car first – long story and this delayed the pain relief my mother so desperately needed) and then a Syringe Driver was set up. Within 10 minutes of being given pain relief, mother looked peaceful and pain free! Mother is now unable to drink or eat anything at all and can hardly talk, but I would rather her be in this state than in the pain that she was. Its a good job Lucy returned to her home where she will have lots of support as there is no way she would have coped with seeing mother how she was today.

Mother looked fairly peaceful all afternoon, but Vivien and I noticed she was grimacing again late evening – not as bad as this morning, but she still looked in pain. We rang the night community nurses and they promptly came out and administered some stat doses in conjunction with the syringe driver. We now have a camp bed set up in the kitchen so that either Vivien or I can lay very close to her. Now going onto the camp bed – good night.