March
A dramatic start to the month
for Teresa, who was taken ill while swimming at the spa. The main symptom was severe vertigo: she could hardly walk, and had to be driven
back home by the spa manager. But there
were also chest pains and numbness in the limbs, and feelings of nausea. She spoke to the duty doctor on the phone,
and she advised us to call the ambulance service. Within minutes (a very quick response) we had
two ambulances in the drive and three paramedics in attendance. They gave Teresa the standard tests for
stroke and heart attack, which thankfully proved negative, and decided that it
was acute labyrinthitis, probably triggered by a virus, for which they
prescribed a short course of pills to combat the nausea (similar to travel
sickness pills). After a couple of days
mostly in bed, the symptoms started to ease off in frequency and intensity, and
after ten days or so were more or less gone.
After a fortnight, she returned to the spa and has started swimming
again. Although we read that
labyrinthitis can be a chronic condition, the viral variety does not normally
recur, so we are crossing fingers that this is the case.
We
were very grateful to the spa manager for getting Teresa home, and also
returning later so that Roger could pick up our stranded car. And we also received some good advice from
friends, some of whom were, or knew, fellow-sufferers.
Meanwhile,
Jay’s car was giving her problems – the old problem of poor starting and
frequent stalling had returned. We had
it looked at by a garage in
Which
brings me on to Rovy, which had its annual service and MOT towards the end of
the month, and a further check on why the coolant needed topping up so often –
it was thought to be the water pump, which has now been replaced. While on the subject of leaks, the central
heating boiler had its annual service and a further check on its persistent
loss of pressure: this time a faulty
seal on a valve was found and repaired.
Fingers crossed on both counts.
Sunday 18 Mother’s Day: Teresa had these lovely flowers from Helen ►
The
weather turned warm in the week of 19, still remaining dry, and, as the evenings
grew lighter, Teresa was able to resume her evening walks. Roger’s outdoor bowling got nearer – there
was a men’s meeting on Thursday 15 to outline plans for matches, competitions
and green maintenance for the season, and the green mowing rota started, with
Roger taking his first turn on Saturday 24.
◄
In our garden, the daffodils flourished.
On Wednesday 28 we visited
Moreton-in-Marsh, calling first at the large garden centre there. However, we were unable to find the excellent
seed potato variety we bought there last year.
In the village itself, we were just early enough to park in the centre
and had a pleasant hour looking round.
Teresa particularly wanted to see the Bell Inn, which apparently has
Tolkien connexions, but the bar and courtyard both looked too gloomy for lunch
on a warm spring day. So we went back
via Evesham for a fish and chip lunch in Morrison’s and satisfied our gardening
requirements at B & Q – Wednesday of course being their day for a
pensioner’s discount.
◄ The Bell Inn, Moreton-in-Marsh
Roger in the
main street ►
Saturday 31, Teresa’s
birthday, and a fine display of cards.
We had a quiet day at home, Teresa’s main present having already arrived,
a new phone to replace the somewhat unreliable HTC Desire she lost a couple of
months ago. However, we did have a small
birthday cake to celebrate, with the prospect of trying Nando’s for the first
time the following day with the girls in