its been a while

Its been over two weeks since my last post, due to the fact i have been off work. I have had holidays to use up and needed to get away from the place. the rest done me the world of good. I got to spend some quality time with the family. Aisha had a few hospital appointments. One was a test for Autism. This was really tough to watch. Me and Kim sat in the room and watched as aisha sat with a psychologist and done a series of tests. She was given toys and asked to make a story with them, or to build something. As the test went on she clammed up and communication stopped. It was so hard to watch her without being able to help her. After an hour she was given a pen and paper and this seemed to change her as she found a new way to communicate. After the test both the psychologist and doctor said she had done well. We are still waiting for the results. another appointment she had was to get her bladder X-Rayed. She still continues to wet herself. The test was a simple scan the same as a pregnant mother would have, but with a full then empty bladder. Her full bladder had 95ml of urine but when she went to empty it she still had 15ml left, so she isn't emptying her bladder properly. This may mean she feels she wants to pee most of the time and holds off until she is bursting, and inevitably ends up wetting herself. We have another meeting next week to discuss what can be done to help her.

She also had her eyes tested again. This went really well. She has astigmatism in her right eye, and it is slightly weaker than her left eye. As the eye sight still improves until the age of 7, we are putting a patch on her for two hours a day to try and help it. She has to be watching TV or playing her Nintendo DS, something that requires the eyes to focus. We will be back in three months to see if there is any improvement.

I also spent some time with mum. Her carers are really struggling with her just now. The main issue is her lack of ability to control her diabetes. She is going hypo three times a week sometimes more. On Monday i phoned her at 5pm and she told me she was hypo coming home on the bus, and her carer had to help her home as she couldn't walk. A neighbour ran out and help as well. Then at 9pm that night i got a phone call from her carer to say she couldn't get in to mums house and she had went hypo again. I went out on the Tuesday and had a talk with her, telling her what she had to do, what to eat etc. the carer told me that night the conversation had a big impact on her. then the next day i phoned her to see how she was and within 24 hours of our talk she had slipped back into her old ways. I don't know if she is ever going to be able to sort it out. The carer, the nurse and myself are meeting in a month or so to decide a way forward.

The diet/fitness regime has been going okay, but the weight wont shift. I feel better for it, definitely. But the weight is still a major issue. I know the reason why. I eat a fairly decent diet, plenty of vegetables, fruit, and good honest Scottish cooking. I also enjoy a beer or two. For me to lose the weight I need to stop all that and really cut my calorie intake down. I need to get into boiled chicken instead of fried chicken. i thought by eating sensibly without making too much issue of it, along with exercise the weight would fall off. It hasn't. i have enquired about a weight loss programme through the Rowan Institute who are running a four week programme, aimed at losing about 5% of overall weight. It would mean daily visits for blood tests, and a very controlled diet. I'll see what info they send me to see if i am suitable.
The exercise is okay, last week i went down to the beach for a run. Christ, that was hard work, running in the sand. I am also still swinging the kettlebell when i can. the days are stretching and once the weather improves the bike will get dusted down!!