Anita is spot-on about the name, of course - no doubt attention to detail is a part of her training! My Deb was definitely a singular person!

I will post details of the crem as a separate item.

But imposible to read this thread without choking up - again! Wow, what kindness she evoked!

Game over, I'm afraid, at midday.

Lots to do!

I was invited yesterday to stay in Deb's bedroom ovenight, and my night at the hospital could certainly have been worse. I arrived about 8, and the bed was all made up. Deb was being a bit restless, kept displacing the oxy mask. When I replaced it and asked her to wear it "just for me", there was a bit of a nod. Later in the night the nurses were concerned that she was displacing the bedclothes as well, and applied a foil blanket - surely the world's noisest bed-linen when the patient is restless! Deb has a history of waking up with fewer covers than she started with, so this was not news to me. About 2 they found it "necessary" to change the bed (i.e. it was!), but seemed to do so without any resentment. They also adjusted the medication, and from then on Deb slept soundly, as did I for a few hours. Regular checks were made throughout the night and I cannot fault the service, really, just smashing girls. I left just after 7, drove the 25 miles home in the overcast dawn. I am welcome there tonight - if there is a need.
 
Thankyou for all the warmth. I am finding it very therapeutic to write this stuff down, but apologise for sometimes providing "too much information". It is quite hard to be truly balanced in every judgement just now!

Sorry, chaps, I was called back to the hospital tonight, and you know what that implies. In fact Deb is still with us, and I left when she said she'd had enough and wanted to sleep - but the hospital think she could be gone at any time. Evidently today's exams have shown various other problems, and she's beyond real help except of the comforting sort, which she is getting in spades.

While I would love to tell you that Deb is feeling better, I can't. She is still dreadfully short of breath - despite the oxygen supply bieng increased earlier today - to the point of being unable to plug the lead into her netbook. She spends a lot of time rinsing her mouth out - with Coke! This is provided for her, as is a bowl to expectorate afterwards. No doubt a tiny % goes down her throat. She is also using one of those water atomiser sprays. I cannot claim that the hospital aren't caring. After all, it's the weekend, when we know from experience not much happens, and since attempts to drain her abdomen have failed up to now, we had little hope for today. But they did their best, sending her for an ultra-sound scan, to look for the best place to make an incision. Sadly even this didn't work, so she still looks very pregnant. She is now on morphine, and some sort of drug to stop her worrying - thanks, psychologist!

I'm sure they will solve the bloating problem - it took a few days last year, and that was in a surgical ward - but it can't happen soon enough for me, or the patient. She will have a knockout drop tonight, so should sleep a bit more. Her new room-mate, a lady of 54, is obviously well-known to the staff, and we wonder if she has a brain tumour, as she really is out of it, sleeps a lot, clearly not at all affected by these Anglais jabbering away in the next bed! You can always find someone worse off than you.

I visit tomorrow, but unless there is some turnaround will not bore you with all the same dreary stuff. Hopefully Monday more resources will be brought to bear!

Brad - Deb was very eloquent about the effort you had put in to return her keys, in the face of enormous pain at home. She had told me the whole detailed story on the way back from Calais, and had clearly been mortified (sorry!) by your evident distress.

She thinks you are a hell of a fella!

Just had a txt to say she's been seen by a psychologist, a masseuse, and a doctor. The old lady, probably gaga, with whom she's been sharing since Weds p.m., is being moved out. I visit this afternoon, natch, and we may try to get Deb online.

It goes without saying that CA warmth goes a long way with us, TVM to all.

Take a deep breath chaps - Deb's cancer is back, but now on her liver. More than that I don't know at present, but, as ever, I'll try to keep you informed.

Hi, guys and gals. When I post under this heading you may guess what comes next. Deb had been in the UK for three weeks, had been in great company with a number of you here and there, had had a really good hol - but about 10 days ago her appetite vanished, and there was general and increasing discomfort down below due to massive bloating. She soldiered on, enjoying Silverstone WEC with Wishy and Brad - maybe others? - but was quickly running out of energy. Tuesday she managed to drive to Calais, where I met her, having gone by train, and I drove her home. We saw our GP, who referred her to A&E in Le Mans. She spent the night there on oxygen, with a drip (not me!) and has had an ECG and a scan, and now also has a tube down her throat. She has recently told me she is being referred to Oncology, and I expect to vist her there this afternoon.

Not good news, but there we are - it may get better, and as ever, I'll try to keep you posted. You all mean a great deal to Deb, and your support for us both over the last four years has certainly helped me.

He was paired with Corrado Manfredini in a private 512S in the 1970 championship, so had been driving near the top of the tree for decades. I think he was driving the final stint in LM'97 - our first year - and spun several times before bringing the 333SP home.

Deb had a bit of a frightening setback last night, just after I'd wheeled her back into her room after a pleasant day at home. She suddenly found she was passing quantities of blood. A nurse attempted to staunch the flow with no success, then a doctor ditto, so she was rushed down to theatre, where they gave her a spinal block and then operated - the surgeon taking about 10 minutes. In fact it looked more dramatic than it was - but it's easy to say that when it's not your blood! Inevitably she is still in dock, therefore, on a drip and looking a bit wan. Worse, her 3G dongle credit has now expired, so I must try and renew it in Auchan tomorrow.

Nothing's ever straightforward, is it?

Having had a Rover V8 Landie, I have one piece of advice - do not skimp on the oil-pump. Ours clapped out at about 50k miles, cost us a fortune to rebuild the engine. Talking to a pub-friend in the trade he knew of similar cases on this engine.

Termietermite and I agreed years ago (a rare thing in itself!) that the Ferrari 250LM is just about the finest racing car ever, so I'm sure we'd want to own the one that won LM in 1965 with Rindt & Gregory on board. Termietermite has, of course, had her head a bit turned by those Saleens, and getting her Saleen hat personally signed by Steve Saleen at scrutineering a few years back was pretty mega - but I'm sure it'll pass.....

The regulation seems to be that they must disconnect you after two weeks if you haven't registered your details. That would cover most race-goers' needs, anyway. Just don't expect to be able to use the same dongle next year. I have no idea how this "one-use" price compares to the higher per-minute cost of using an existing UK dongle in France for the same period.

By the way, phones are just the same. I bought a pay-as-you-go phone some years back and had to give the shop full name, rank and number stuff. By contrast, the Virgin phone I bought in 2004 in London had no similar requirement, and has never been registered with anyone.

It would be nice if I thought this was about security in the C21 - but I think it's just a combination of paranoia and bureaucracy, helpfully creating jobs at the same time!

Well, I'd said I wouldn't mention the f-word again, but Deb thought you all deserved to hear the tale.

By 14.30 today she still hadn't "broken wind" but by 14.35, she had. A few mins later a nurse popped in - "I've farted!" said Deb. "Ooh, good!" said the nurse, and opened the door to tell her colleague, who just had to then pass it on to another nurse. "She's farted!" was thus going up and down the corridor on a Sunday afternoon. And you thought it was a subject women never mention except when you've been unpleasant!

Thanks for the link. This is the first year in several that termietermite & I have not been present at Spa for this excellent race. I hope CA-ers have a great time!