For various reasons, the phone was hot yesterday with lots of calls including one from a doctor at our GP's surgery to say that he had sorted out a prescription for steroids to help improve Steve's appetite and boost his energy.
I collected the prescription during the morning and Steve took his first dose at lunchtime - six x 5mg tablets a day of Prednisolone, a highly potent glucocorticoid steroid used in the treatment of a variety of illnesses.
He's on a two week course to give him a boost, then will be weaned off gradually as abrupt withdrawal can cause serious problems. Long term use can result in side effects which outweigh the benefits so this is only a short term fix. But, oh boy.....It kicks in quickly!
How much of it is the drug and how much is psychosomatic, we don't know. But in the last 24 hours his appetite has improved, he has felt hungry and eaten just about normally. No gagging as he swallows, or coughing up bits of foods stuck in his throat which has been a problem recently. Whether it will help him gain weight is another matter. We shall monitor. The baseline weight taken yesterday (9.10.15) is 54.8 kilos/8 st 6 lbs (fully clothed).
However, although he says he's a bit dozy this morning, in general, he looks and feels brighter too! So much so that he has decided to reduce the dose by one tablet a day so that he doesn't go completely hyper, and take the medication in the morning so that it doesn't keep him awake at night.
What a difference a day makes....
There has also been progress on probate relating to Steve's mum's will. The "estate accounts" are done, forms signed and dated and will be delivered by hand to the Probate Registry here in Oxford on Monday.
One of the so-called liabilities on the estate is a bill from Aabletone Nursing Home in Bristol where Jean died in September, on a Sunday evening. But because the family didn't collect her belongings until Monday morning, we have been billed for the whole week. That's £578.00 for two black bin liners, less than a couple of hours in the room to pack away her belongings, and not being able to tell us where her body had been taken. We had to go hunting ourselves via the nearest funeral directors. I kid you not!
What a difference a (half) day makes.....
I collected the prescription during the morning and Steve took his first dose at lunchtime - six x 5mg tablets a day of Prednisolone, a highly potent glucocorticoid steroid used in the treatment of a variety of illnesses.
He's on a two week course to give him a boost, then will be weaned off gradually as abrupt withdrawal can cause serious problems. Long term use can result in side effects which outweigh the benefits so this is only a short term fix. But, oh boy.....It kicks in quickly!
How much of it is the drug and how much is psychosomatic, we don't know. But in the last 24 hours his appetite has improved, he has felt hungry and eaten just about normally. No gagging as he swallows, or coughing up bits of foods stuck in his throat which has been a problem recently. Whether it will help him gain weight is another matter. We shall monitor. The baseline weight taken yesterday (9.10.15) is 54.8 kilos/8 st 6 lbs (fully clothed).
However, although he says he's a bit dozy this morning, in general, he looks and feels brighter too! So much so that he has decided to reduce the dose by one tablet a day so that he doesn't go completely hyper, and take the medication in the morning so that it doesn't keep him awake at night.
What a difference a day makes....
There has also been progress on probate relating to Steve's mum's will. The "estate accounts" are done, forms signed and dated and will be delivered by hand to the Probate Registry here in Oxford on Monday.
One of the so-called liabilities on the estate is a bill from Aabletone Nursing Home in Bristol where Jean died in September, on a Sunday evening. But because the family didn't collect her belongings until Monday morning, we have been billed for the whole week. That's £578.00 for two black bin liners, less than a couple of hours in the room to pack away her belongings, and not being able to tell us where her body had been taken. We had to go hunting ourselves via the nearest funeral directors. I kid you not!
What a difference a (half) day makes.....
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