All the news (good or bad) from Summerhill Stables

They say that a week is along time in politics…. well it’s even longer when you are ill and even longer than that when you are a carer.

Pikey fell ill a week ago today with the most appalling D&V (for the uninitiated, that’s diarrhoea and vomiting). The extent of it was caused by her lack of immunity. She could not even keep a mouthfull of water down and did not drink or eat for three days and as a result became severely dehydrated – why are humans and pets always ill at weekends? Our next door neighbours, the Tippings, are away in Mexico and Elinor worked for two days at home so she could help out. Robert washed a record number of pyjama bottoms in one day and is applying to the Guinness Book of Records.

Anyway by the time the doctor came to see her on Monday she (the doctor) was sufficiently concerned to mutter about hospitalisation. This is something to be avoided with Pikey’s lack of immunity especially in a major hospital unit but there is a wonderful eight bed cottage hospital at Giggleswick which she thought would be OK. The way to keep out of this nightmare scenario is to drink at least 3 litres of liquid per day. So Robert started "force-drinking" (the liquid equivalent of force-feeding) her. When her hydration levels were checked yesterday they were much improved. One of the consequences of dehydration is a constant feeling of nausea so Pikey has not felt like eating or drinking and that can lead to a self perpetuating downward spiral.

Another consequence of all this is that, as the doctor put it, Pikey has "gone off her legs". She finds it really very tiring to walk at all but we are coping with wheelchair, zimmer frame, stair lift and Robert. She has felt very unsteady on her pins but managed to have her first shower for a week this morning. We then went into Bentham, her first trip in the car, to see the nurse to have her dressings changed (the constant drip drip of steroids has made her skin wafer-thin) and was promptly sick in the surgery loo!!! Heigh ho.

We have re-arranged her sewing room so that she can use all her machinery etc from a wheelchair.

It has not been a good week by a long chalk.

Love to all

Robert and Pikey