What the hell is that???

The title of this entry sums up my reaction when I saw the top of Mum's left leg - right where the scar is from the hip replacement. Her leg was red and blotchy and according to Mum, itched like hell.

So, rather than risking our holiday in 9 days time (I'm not counting down - honest!) I took the decision to go over to Warwick Hospital. Not my first choice I can freely admit, but I was unsure if Rugby's St Cross hospital has a casualty unit, as it's services have been severely reduced over the past 10 years or so...

Whilst I was waiting for Mum to finish locking the house up (and making sure the furry fiends were OK) I made a call to my beloved, as I was supposed to be meeting him for dinner at the Green Man this evening. His 'phone was turned off, and I will admit I must have sounded slightly anxious (OK - terrified!) that there was something seriously wrong with Mum.

Once Mum and I got there, it turned out that there is and out-of-hours GP service there. OK - not a problem as our GP practice comes under the South Warwickshire health authority, so we didn't forsee any issues.

Until we were told that the first available appointment was 10:10 (and we got to the hospital at 08:45.) Mum was not in a good mood, and I will admit growling at her, and telling her to take the appointment, as I had no intention of taking root in A & E for an hour or more.

She agreed, and we headed into Leamington to kill the hour and a bit before the appointment. The time wasn't really wasted, as I managed to go to the bank and get some money from my account. (It's all very well having the cash card, but sometimes it's faster (and safer) to use cash.)

So, we returned to the hospital, and got our selves booked in, and then proceeded to take root, as the service was running late. But I can't fault the treatment - the GP on call was a real gent, and said that the problem could be one of two things - either a bite or a mild case of cellulitis (a skin infection) which could be treated quite easily with antibiotics.

Mum couldn't remember being bitten, so the doctor prescribed antibiotics for her, and said that she should notice an improvement in the next 24 - 48 hours, and if there was no improvement, then she should go and see our own GP.

So, as I walked back to the car, I will admit to feeling an incredible sense of relief, and called my beloved to give him the good news. The call went to his voice mail as he was at work, but as I was driving towards the exit of the hospital car park, he called me.

He said that he was glad to hear that Mum was OK, and that she was making jokes about the problem, and if we hadn't been able to meet up tonight, he would have come up to see me, as there was no way he was not going to see me before I went on holiday! That really brightened me up, and I will admit I laughed when he said I would do anything to get an extra cuddle!

As Mum and I couldn't go to Banbury as planned, I suggested that we went to a garden centre - Melbicks - up near Birmingham Airport. Mum was quite amicable about that, and even teased me about the reason for me wanting to go there... She said that I only want to go there as there was a Cotton Traders store there. Partly that, and partly because it's one of the few garden centres in the area that isn't owned by Wyevale!

Well, the trip was a success. I managed to find a skirt (yes - it does happen - I do wear a skirt occasionally) and Mum manged to get some hyacinth bulbs for Christmas. But the best bit for me, was knowing that Mum is going to be OK, and that I can go and see my beloved tonight.

Ah well, guess I should log off and bog off - I've got to go and get ready to go out - a girl's got to look her best when she's seeing her beloved.

Back tomorrow...

Karen

I've been watching, I've been waiting
In the shadows for my time