Time to bring you up to date once again with my life as a carer. And things have gone much better than expected in the latter half of this month, as neither Mum nor I have had any problems resulting from our minor bits of surgery (I had a wisdom tooth out, while she had a small skin biopsy). And Mum’s continued to have more confidence and less anxiety, in large part thanks to her wrist recovery and improved sleep cycle, to the point where I’ve been able to go out for a while by myself like I used to do. So this is quite a positive update, I’m happy to say, and I hope you find it interesting.
Contents
Monday, November 17
Wisdom Tooth Removal
For once I’ve had to focus on myself today, as I had my top left wisdom tooth removed this morning at the local specialist clinic. And it was a lot simpler than I’d expected.
I had been told that there were no restrictions on eating and drinking before the surgery, because it would be such a simple procedure, so I had ham rolls for breakfast to make sure I was nicely filled up.
I then went down to the clinic, where I was seen on time, and was treated by a male dentist and a female nurse. He had a quick look inside my mouth and verified that the tooth could be easily removed, as it had fully grown out, so he didn’t have to cut anything away to get to it. He also said that because the tooth next to it had a big filling, there was a small chance it could become damaged during the procedure, and if so I’d have to see my normal dentist to get it repaired, but that didn’t happen so I don’t need to worry about that.
The procedure itself was then really quick and easy. He first gave me a couple of injections in my gums to numb the area, and then waited a couple of minutes for the anaesthetic to take effect. I briefly felt the prick of the needle each time he did it, but it didn’t hurt very much, and whatever fluid he was using didn’t taste very nice, but wasn’t awful either.
He then proceeded to do some pulling and scraping inside my mouth, and after less than a minute, perhaps even 30 seconds, he told me it was all done, much to my surprise!
He then put a cotton swab inside my mouth and had me bite down on it, and sent me to see a man in the adjoining room. He in turn took out the swab and reassured me that I’d stopped bleeding already, but gave me another swab to bite down on during my walk home, as well as giving me a spare one in case I needed it later. When I got home and I took the swab out, it did have blood on it from the pressure I’d applied, but not very much, and I couldn’t taste any further blood inside my mouth. So I kept the other swab aside just in case, but I didn’t need it in the end.
Altogether, therefore, I was only out of the house for just under an hour. And when I got home, Mum was glad to hear that it had gone well, as I was able to talk to her despite being a bit numb. I also took some paracetamol to try and offset any pain there might be after the numbness had worn off. Plus I was able to unpack the small travel-sized kettle for her that I’d ordered from Amazon yesterday, which had been delivered this morning. So she gave it a go and was very happy with it, as it was much easier for her to make a cup of tea.
I then waited a few hours for the anaesthetic to wear off, before having a lovely bowl of tomato soup with buttery mashed potato, both from M&S, in the early afternoon, so that filled me up nicely. And then in the evening I had a Baxter’s chicken soup with M&S mashed potato for tea, and some raspberry ripple ice cream from M&S for afters. And I had another couple of paracetamol to be on the safe side. I’m then going to have a bit more soup, ice cream and paracetamol before I go to bed.
Apart from that though, I’ve just relaxed for the day, occasionally helping Mum with little things. And I’ve felt much better than I thought I was going to, which is a relief, as my mouth’s only a little bit uncomfortable. So hopefully it won’t take too long to get back to normal.
Sunday, November 23
Wisdom Tooth Recovery
My recovery from my tooth extraction has been surprisingly uneventful. I was expecting to have some degree of pain or swelling, but all I’ve had is a tiny bit of blood in my saliva when waking up the first couple of mornings after the surgery, and then just an occasional and barely noticeable bit of aching now and again. Sure, I’ve been taking paracetamol, so that will have helped, but it’s still a lot less than I was anticipating.
Evidently having such a simple procedure has had very little consequences, and no doubt it also helped that the previous dentist who referred me to the specialist had cut the nerve to stop any discomfort while I waited. Indeed, in a strange way it’s a little bit unnerving not feeling any pain at all, because unlike a wound on your skin that you can see healing, I can’t see or touch what’s going on in my mouth to monitor its progress. But it seems safe to assume it’s doing well.
I’ve had a lot of soup, mashed potato and ice cream during the week of course, as well as drinking plenty of water and some of the milkshakes I’d bought, and it’s all been nice, thankfully. Sainsbury’s substituted the mashed potato I ordered in our delivery on Friday for sliced dauphinoise potatoes in a cheese sauce, but I’ve eaten that easily as well, and it was quite nice. Plus I’ve started eating some bread and butter with my soup too, which has again been nice and soft to eat.
So we’ve ordered skinless and boneless chicken breast fillets for our dinners in the coming week, and I’m going to try having those with roast potatoes and vegetables, as that should be soft and easy enough to consume, especially if I cut the meat up into small bits, and the insides of the potatoes usually come out nice and fluffy. Even though the wound isn’t giving me any grief, I know it will still be healing, so I still want to be a little bit careful by not eating anything too chewy, hard or crunchy. Hence I’m not adding Yorkshire puddings back into my dinners for another week.
And because I’ve been feeling alright, I’ve been back at work as well, from Tuesday to Thursday and then on Saturday and Sunday for our weekend shift. And apart from being a bit slower on Tuesday because I was tired, overall I was able to keep up with everything.
Other Updates
I therefore had the day off on Friday in lieu of my weekend shift. I didn’t go out anywhere, but I did call the pharmacy to arrange delivery of Mum’s melatonin, which she now has on repeat prescription thanks to the mental health doctor, and she received that on Saturday, so she’s been able to start taking that again. I also gathered together bits and pieces for my Freedom Pass renewal that I need to sort out, and have emailed our local visual rehabilitation lady to see if she’ll write a letter for evidence – which also gave me a good excuse to update her on Mum’s progress, because she is still doing very well. And then Mum and I also changed our bedding to the warmer sets for the winter.
I’ve also edited all of the talks from the recent Aniridia Network Conference this week, working on them one evening at a time. I just need to do the transcripts next, and then I can upload them all to the Youtube channel. So it will be good to get those out of the way, and I’m glad I’ve had such a productive week.
Mum, meanwhile, had a nice time on Sunday when my aunt took her out for a walk around the park, so they were able to have a good chat together. My aunt’s offered to take her to our local Primark as well, to help her get some new clothes, so they’ll do that at some point before Christmas.
Sunday, November 30
Wisdom Tooth Recovery
First of all this week, I’m still recovering very well from my wisdom tooth extraction. I had been taking paracetamol as a precaution last week, but had gradually reduced how many doses I was having each day because I wasn’t feeling any pain, and as of this week I’ve stopped taking it altogether, with no discomfort as a result. I’ve been gradually cleaning my teeth closer to the extraction site each day as well, though I haven’t touched it yet. And if I yawn or laugh, the stretching of my mouth doesn’t cause any response from the extraction site, whereas last week it twinged a tiny bit if I opened my mouth too wide.
In terms of food, I’m still having soups with either bread or mashed potato 2 or 3 times each day, to finish up the multipacks of soup I bought, and I’m still having some ice cream in the evenings. But I’ve also got back to having a proper dinner each day, eating things I can cut up small and aren’t too chewy or crunchy, such as chicken fillets or minced steak slices, with fluffy roast potatoes, soft vegetables and gravy. I found it very easy to chew everything on the right hand side, and I’m moving my whole mouth comfortably in a chewing motion. So in this coming week I’ll experiment with chewing softer food on both sides of my mouth again, and reintroduce harder food on the right hand side to begin with, and just see how it goes from there. It feels safe to assume I’m well past the point of any danger now, but I know it’s best to ease my mouth back into things to be sure.
Moorfields Biopsy
Mum’s little biopsy at Moorfields this week also went well, and the staff were lovely as always, despite the fact we had a bit of trouble getting there and had to call them to let them know we’d be late. We had decided to take Mum there on the bus in her wheelchair for the first time, as it stops just around the corner from the clinic, and is free compared to a taxi. So when the bus pulled up to the stop, the driver put the ramp out and I was able to wheel Mum on board easily. But then the ramp wouldn’t retract, no matter how much the driver tried. So after a little while of waiting, we got off (along with most of the other passengers) to get on another bus that had pulled up behind. Thankfully the ramp on that one did work.
There was a lady with a buggy in the wheelchair space, but she kindly moved out of the way without needing to be asked, clearly understanding that is a priority space for wheelchair users, and she was very nice and complimentary about the chair too. Mum found the journey very comfortable, so would use a bus again in her chair, and I found the button for wheelchair users to ring the bell on the pole next to her, so the driver knew he had to put the ramp out. So once we had got on a bus with a working ramp, the journey was really easy.
After we eventually arrived at the clinic, we only had to wait an hour and a half for Mum to have her surgery, which is very quick considering how long we were forewarned it could take, and while we were waiting we were offered drinks and biscuits. And when Mum was taken for her operation, she was only gone about half an hour. She was pleased to find that the surgeon was the same lady who had consulted with her about the operation on her previous visit, so that put her at ease. And she was also asked if she wanted someone to hold her hand while they worked on her, and she said yes, so a nice lady sat with her during the very short procedure. All they did was shave off some of the small lesion on her lower eyelid to be sent for a biopsy, which shouldn’t reveal anything serious but it’s best to be sure. At least if they do find anything horrible, they can come up with a plan to help her.
Mum then came out with a cotton pad taped over her eye (which she was able to take off 4 hours later at home), and we sat in the waiting room for a little while longer, having another hot drink and biscuits each, before she was discharged. Mum’s felt no pain at all since the anaesthetic wore off, and she’s just got a bit of cream she needs to keep putting on 3 times a day for 2 weeks. We’re told we’ll get a telephone call in 2 weeks with the results, and during the week she was also sent an in-person ophthalmology appointment for mid-December, which we’re assuming is just a general checkup. and it happens to be on the day before her fracture clinic appointment.
Anyway, after we left Moorfields, Mum was still in good spirits and wanted to go to M&S. So I wheeled her over there and we had a nice look around, picking up some sandwiches for lunch and a few other bits and pieces. She also enjoyed me reading some of the other tasty-looking items on the shelves to her, as well as getting to handle some of them to feel the size and weight.
We then got the Tube home without any problems, and eventually got home 6½ hours after we’d left. So Mum was pretty tired for the rest of the day, but she had done extremely well. Not only was she able to cope with her slight nerves about the surgery, but for the first time she also hadn’t felt travel sick, which we’re putting down to some ginger lozenges for nausea I got from Amazon that she had tried during the day. They seem to be more effective than the Kwells tablets she’d been trying for travel sickness. But that’s only one journey, so we’ll see how things go on future outings to be sure.
Outings & Shopping
At home, meanwhile, Mum’s continuing to be quite relaxed for the most part, to the point where she’s now happy for me to try going out by myself for longer, as she feels more able to cope now that she can do things by herself again. So I’ve arranged to meet my friend Emily and her colleagues next week for their Christmas social, as well as a Christmas meal with my friend Claire. So I’m really looking forward to all of that.
I then went out by myself during my day off on Friday afternoon to browse around a few shops in Westfield Stratford City, in particular looking at some jumpers in M&S and chocolate Christmas treats in John Lewis, before buying a bunch of Christmas cards for friends and family in WH Smith (well, TGJones now, but nobody calls them that), and then some more food in M&S of course. I was out for just over 3 hours altogether, which is more than double what it takes me if I just go to M&S and back, and while Mum had got a little bit anxious in my absence, she hadn’t panicked or tried to call me, and had done a few little things in my absence, so she was fine when I got home.
We then had a relaxing day at home on Saturday, as the weather wasn’t very nice, before I then went out again today (Sunday), as Mum was again happy for me to do so. This time I was out for even longer, over 5½ hours, which used to be quite normal for me when I went out at weekends regularly.
I started out by having a walk along the South Bank from Tower Bridge to London Bridge, finding the step-free route from Tower Hill station over Tower Bridge to the riverside, and then likewise to get to London Bridge station, in case I ever bring Mum down there in her wheelchair. I then got the Tube to Oxford Street and had a little wander around up there, in particular buying a couple of birthday cards for my aunt that I’d forgotten on Friday, before going into John Lewis and having a look around their Christmas department, and then finally going downstairs to Waitrose and picking up some tasty-looking food for us to try, including lovely steak pies that we had for dinner when I got home.
And again Mum was fine. As usual, I had been keeping the “Where is Glen?” command on Alexa up to date each time I went somewhere new, so that gave her reassurance, although she couldn’t use it towards the end of the afternoon as there had been issues with the internet. Perhaps Virgin were doing a bit of work, I don’t know. But it was working again when I got back, and she was in good spirits anyway, despite being a bit nervous about when I would come home. So it was really nice to get out for a long walk by myself again, which I haven’t done for several months. Hopefully I’ll be able to do more of that in December, fingers crossed.
Other Updates
Apart from all that, and my job of course, I’ve been productive in other ways at home too. I’ve sent off renewal applications for my Freedom Pass and Mum’s Blue Badge, arranged our annual boiler service (which will be in January), helped Mum order a few clothes she wanted from M&S online, and finished transcribing and uploading the 6 talks from the Aniridia Network Conference (so I’ll publish them on Youtube bit by bit during December).
Conclusion
So all in all, it’s been a good end to the month. It’s nice that Mum and I have got our minor bits of surgery out of the way without any problems, and I’m really pleased to have got out and about by myself a bit more.
Now we’re just hoping we can enjoy a relatively relaxing December, apart from a couple of medical checkups Mum needs to go to, as we’d really like to be able to celebrate the festive season. Last year it was all rather fraught because of the kitchen work and the cooker breaking down, so this year, after everything we’ve been through, we really just want to enjoy Christmas!
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