Friday, June 24th

Well, I did write an entry yesterday but there appears to have been a blip in the system and it has not appeared.

I am trying to broaden our horizons and be a little braver about going out and about, so yesterday Elizabeth enjoyed her first experience of the shops. She was wide awake which gave lots of lovely Newcastle ladies the opportunity to coo over her. There is nothing more guaranteed to get the attention of ladies of a certain age than a small baby with an oxygen supply. I bought her the cutest baby bonnet you have ever seen in a shop just like Unity House (one for our Hartlepudlian readership) to cover up her tubes a bit.

We are getting ever nearer to going home and it looks like this weekend we will get an overnight stay. The oxygen supply is being installed today and we now have 'mobile' oxygen too. A and my mum have done great work setting everything up. The community nurses will come in to see us on Monday, so that they know what supplies are needed. We are already experiencing some of the frustrations of dealing with a huge organistion like the NHS - some of the processes seem to be a little more complex than strictly necessary. However, I did my time at the BBC and have found that the NHS works the same way - you just have to keep on nagging away and never take it for granted that things have been passed on from one team to another!

If we are at home over the weekend we will keep you posted on how it's going. A and I are hoping to be able to watch Glastonbury on BBC3 on Saturday night, which will be bliss. I can't tell you how excited I am about spending a night in my own home - the first time since May 18th!

J
xxx