Hello all!
Well, there has been a bit of a lull in training recently and boy, didn’t I feel it on my walk yesterday! I’ll come back to the walk in a minute, but first I will outline why both Matt and I have covered many fewer miles than intended over the last 6 weeks or so….
My wonderful mum became unwell with breathlessness and went from regularly walking two miles, to being unable to walk across her living room without stopping to catch her breath. In hospital she was told she had heart failure and a severe narrowing in one of her heart valves. We were given the devastating news that it was unlikely that surgery would help and that our time together would be limited. My sister and I are extremely close to my mum and this news hit us both very hard indeed. Mum remained absolutely stoical and cheerful throughout and was absolutely at peace with her future, whatever that held and she set about her days in the most positive way, with a smile on her face no matter how unwell she felt or looked.
She then had a test that gave us the unexpected news that she was, after all, a candidate for a valve replacement. We could once again hope for a future with mum. The procedure she was going to have was one that involved implanting a valve by accessing the heart via the artery in the groin. We were nervous, but hopeful on the day. However, when I went to enquire as to how it had gone, we were told mum had lost the ability to speak and had become paralysed down one side of her body as she had had a stroke during the procedure and it had therefore been abandoned. Once again, mum defied the odds and made a complete recovery with all her symptoms resolving over a period of a few hours.
She was discharged home to wait for a repeat procedure the following week and, apart from a quick ambulance dash in with a suspected lung clot (the tests for which were thankfully negative), she enjoyed a few days at home with us before going back in, as cheerful and stoical as ever, for a successful repeat procedure. She is still in hospital and on antibiotics for an infection, but is doing well and we are all anticipating that she will make some good strides forward and be home in a matter of days! A million thanks to the amazing Dr Kovac, Dr Sandilands, Dr Chin and their fantastic teams at Glenfield hospital, with a particularly special mention to Amy on ward 28, who has been there with hugs throughout!
This unexpected adventure has meant that I have spent every day in hospital with mum and Matt has therefore had to take the lion’s share of childcare and home jobs on board. This, in turn, has meant that both of us have had a significant break in our training schedules. Matt’s marathon is in two week’s time and he is now back out there with a determined attitude and will be ready, come what may, for Sunday 18th and his 26.2 miles of running with 5,800 feet of ascent. We will be rooting for him!!
So, to my walk. In a nutshell, it was ridiculously summery and the fields were as sunny as the sky, with acres and acres of oil seed rape brightening the landscape. I managed 35km and, not without sunburn and aching legs, managed to get back, soak in a bath and get to the hospital for a short but lovely visit with mum.
Some photos from my walk yesterday:
All in all, if I look back over the last two months, I cannot believe the rollercoaster we have all been on, and I feel truly blessed that we are now where we are. The support we have had from all our friends and family has been phenomenal and if anyone can almost literally be carried through a difficult time, we have. Huge, huge thanks to you all! xx