I went to Birmingham yesterday for an EO meeting. I was supposed to catch the 18.14 train to come home but got to the station in time to get the 17.14 instead.
I thought I'd phone Theo before the train arrived to let him know what time I'd be home, he sounded awful when he answered the phone so I asked what was wrong. He told me he had a really bad headache and had been about to go down the stairs when he'd gotten really dizzy and fallen down them. This had happened at lunchtime and he hadn't bothered to tell anyone!
I told him to get straight back into bed and then I phoned my mum and asked her to go straight over. I then got on the train and spent the whole time worrying about what was happening as my phone signal always dies as soon as I get on the train.
I eventually got to speak to my mum who told me that Theo had a really high temperature and a very sore throat. She said he was fine and that he'd gone to sleep so she'd left him to it and gone home.
I finally got home at 21.40 and went straight up to check on him. He was really burning up so I made him get in the bath and gave him some paracetamol. I started asking him questions while I changed his bed and he told me he'd fallen from the very top of the stairs and hit his head several times. He said he hadn't blacked out when he fell but he was unable to get up for a few minutes and afterwards was violently shaking, seeing double and feeling sick.
I then got quite worried so I phoned the out of hours doctor. I called at 22.10 and when I explained what had happened the woman said she'd have to call an ambulance. I said I wasn't really sure that was necessary and would prefer just to talk to a doctor. I said that I would be happy to have an ambulance if the doctor thought it was necessary. She was quite insistant that she'd have to call an ambulance but eventually she gave in and said a doctor would call me as a matter of urgency.
When they still hadn't called at 00.45 I phoned back. I was again told someone would phone me which they did at 01.25.
You've got to laugh haven't you, one minute it's so urgent they're insisting on sending an ambulance and the next they're leaving you for three and a quarter hours before they call you back.
It's a good job it wasn't anything urgent!
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Friday, 16 October 2009
Life since the move
Apart from the quick post about Grampy the other day I haven't been able to blog for quite a while. We moved house at the end of August and although we had the phone connected within a week of moving in, it took almost 2 months to get the internet back on. We've also been really busy trying to get the house sorted and finding new activities for Levi as we're too far from Boscombe to continue with what he was doing before.
So far things are working out really well, he joined a new Scout group which meets about 300 yards up the road. He also started gymnastics and trampolining, he hated it at first but I told him he had to give it four weeks and thankfully by the second week he was really enjoying it. We found a new music teacher to give him cornet lessons and I'm hoping to get him into a new band now that he's no longer involved with the Salvation Army or the Coda fiddle orchestra. He didn't take too kindly to the idea of not going to his church on a Sunday and reacted very badly to having to come to my church.
In fact he didn't really cope with moving at all well and life was pretty unbearable for a while. He was in a foul mood all the time and most days were taken up with trying to reassure him and deal with the almost constant meltdowns he was having. He'd got it into his head that when we moved in the house would already be decorated and all the carpets would be down. We couldn't unpack most of his things until his room was decorated as we didn't want to have to move everything again so nothing was familiar and he hated it.
Thankfully my brother gave him a TV set and a playstation 2 for his room so he was able to sit and play with it which kept him occupied most of the time. And the bishop also arranged for two brothers to come round and decorate Levi's room. My mum bought him a Liverpool duvet set and matching curtains and I got him some Liverpool posters, a football shaped Liverpool cushion and a funky football lampshade. We don't have any carpets down yet but having his room looking nice (and full of Liverpool things) has helped him feel more settled.
Now that we're in a bit more of a routine we're going to get back into a few more educational projects. We started with these cakes which he made for my mum's birthday.
Another major thing which I should probably mention, we finally had our appointment with the paediatrician. I was really freaking out about this as we had been offered a late cancellation appointment which meant I only had 48 hours notice so my head wasn't really ready for it. Thankfully I was able to phone Sandra and Ann to talk it through. In the end it was ok. The doctor seemed really nice and she gave us a provisional diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome. We now have to wait to see various other specialists for a few more in depth assessments which will give us an official diagnosis and a full picture of what his difficulties are.
More EO videos
While I was away from the internet the rest of our EO information films were put onto youtube. Theo is featured in a few of them and I think they came out really well.
Our garden
This is our lovely new garden. As you can see from the picture it was a bit overgrown so we had a lot of work to do. My mum brought the lawnmower over so we could cut the grass. We filled 5 large sacks with the grass clippings. I got my friend to come over and clear the veg patch which you can see on the right, she filled 23 large sacks with the weeds.
Levi really enjoyed pushing the lawnmower but because he's so skinny it was quite an effort for him to move it around.
As you can see apart from the overgrown veg patch the only other things in the garden are fuchsias. Hundreds and hundreds of fuchsias. I was going to take them all out but the other day I found out that fuchsias produce fruit. I found some fruit on someone else's plants the other day so we tried some. It looked like a long red grape and it tasted quite flowery, not sharp but not overly sweet either. The book I was reading says they're good for making jams and jellies.
When the veg patch was cleared we found even more frogs and a newt.
We also have a pair of foxes residing in the field at the bottom of the garden. I normally see them just as the sun's coming up in the morning but Levi and I both saw them late last night when we were sat at the bottom of the garden having a bonfire.
The only thing I don't like about this house is the spiders. I don't do spiders at the best of times but this house is full of them.
With the lovely weather we were having I'd been leaving all the windows open, at least I was until I saw this monster on the window about 10 feet from my bed. You can't really tell from the picture but it was massive. It's body was about the size of a 1p coin.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
My Grandfather
My grandfather died last week. We all knew his funeral was going to be a bit out of the ordinary but weren't quite expecting this.
This is what the local paper had to say about it. There was also a photographer at the funeral taking pictures but I'm not sure which paper he was from.
Last Post honour for D-Day landings marine Jeff, 85
Monday, October 12, 2009, 09:20
A MILITARY funeral will take place today for a former Royal Marine from Paignton who fought in the D-Day landings.
A bugler will sound the Last Post when Jeff Skinner is cremated at a special funeral service.
The 85-year-old was a member of the Royal Marine Association. He landed on Juno Beach in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944 along with the Canadians.
Mr Skinner, a Royal Marine from 1940 to 1946, was responsible for ship-to-shore communication.
He was born in 1924 in Morthoe near Ilfracombe in North Devon, and had lied about his age to join the Army at 16 and 47 days.
After being demobilised Mr Skinner, who lived in Paignton for most of his life, worked in the printing industry as a signwriter and calligrapher.
Iain Wilson, of the Royal Marine Association Torbay branch, who will be reading Mr Skinner's eulogy at his funeral, said: "He was quite a busy lad.
"During his childhood he suffered from tuberculosis, spending a considerable time in sanatorium conditions.
"He joined with HO 28 Squad in Stonehouse Barracks on September 4, 1940.
"He qualified as a Signaller (RMS3) at Devil's Point Signal School, Plymouth, and was posted to HMS Poyer Quartier and HMS Joberg operating out of Londonderry and Larne in Northern Ireland.
"After D-Day he remained at the beach establishing communications with HQ Ship HMS Hilary, laying telephone cables in the area.
"In late 1944 he was drafted for service in the Far East. Jeff was promoted to Colour Sergeant.
"Due to the Japanese surrender, in 1945, he returned to Stonehouse Signals School until Class 'A' Demob in February 1946.
"His pride in the corps was paramount. His skills as a signwriter and calligrapher were outstanding.
"He was in demand for all types of artistic work, which he never refused."
On September 15, 1990, Mr Skinner was made an honorary life member of the Royal Marines Association for his service to the corps.
Mr Skinner created and hand wrote the names of the 3,975 Royal Marines who died during the Second World War for a Book of Remembrance which can be seen in the chapel at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Lympstone.
Mr Skinner also produced a similar book to commemorate the British personnel who died during the Falklands War.
Mr Wilson said: "He never took a penny for this work. That's the kind of person he was."
Mr Skinner produced similar works for other organisations including the Royal British Legion, the Not Forgotten Association and the US Marine Corps.
Mr Skinner will be remembered by family members and friends as well as 20 members of the RMA while a bugler from Plymouth Royal Marines band will play the Last Post.
A Royal Sergeant Major from Lympstone will also attend.
The funeral will take place at Torbay Crematorium at 4.15pm today.
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