Week 92 (20 – 26 Apr 2008)

Photo: Taken in Frinton but reflects the sun and daffodils around this week. The church has been around since 1160 or so.

Instead of going to the hospital for an MRI scan on Sunday as planned we went to church. Our friends were very sympathetic and by the time we left two, Chris and Geof, had offered to take and collect us from central London. This meant that we didn’t have to negotiate the underground or driving and the dreaded “congestion charge” on our own. The thought of managing the journey on our own was depressing so their very practical offers were literally a godsend and cheered us up considerably.

The travelling to InterHealth on Monday worked well and we arrived in good time. Dr Ted Lankester was excellent and took a full history and asked Andrea’s opinions too. He referred her for both a CT scan and an MRI scan and arranged a good deal for us. The appointments are for Tuesday of next week. As there was a cancellation, I also had a medical examination just to check and so far the results of the blood tests (for both of us) are OK. He didn’t do a test for brain activity.

Andrea’s brother, Ian, and his wife, Pat, came to see us on Tuesday. The weather was warm and sunny so made the trip to Bedfords Park so pleasant that we had ice-creams sitting out in the sun. It’s a long time since we’ve spent so long in direct sunlight!

On Wednesday we visited Ann Nash, who talked “knitting” with Andrea. Lyn, from the AIM Central Region office in Kampala, has returned for her home assignment so she and I spent a while setting up a PowerPoint presentation for her talks. It was strange seeing her in the UK and looking at pictures of Kampala and her flat where we stayed while Andrea was ill.

My (James’) Thursday home group have started a series on 1 & 2 Timothy and I was given the opportunity to lead – something I haven’t done for a while! I enjoyed having something to prepare and use but found that I had to think differently for a UK group who would understand more difficult words and concepts! Even so, I gave copies of an “Easy to Read” version of the passage just in case!

On Friday Broomfield Hospital phoned to give us another appointment for the MRI scan. This is the NHS one that was postponed because the machine broke. Thursday 8th May. Only another two weeks away. We cancelled and will go for the private one on Tuesday. The Uganda school term ended today and the students left for a month. The exam marking will continue and results should be issued in a couple of weeks. It seems strange to be missing that.

Saturday was knitting day. Is there a National Day of Knitting? Andrea spent a couple of hours with the “King Pins” knitting group at the church but I think she did more talking than knitting. I walked the streets again – but it was warm and sunny this time. I did spend some money on a book. A whole 20p (about 900 Ugs). In the afternoon we returned to the church for afternoon tea – and more talking. Nigel and Ruth, owners of the flat in Frinton, are moving away from Brentwood soon having lived here since 1973 (35 years) and between them have done a wide range of jobs around the church during that time. We will still see them around as they’re not going far, but it was important to recognise their contribution to so many people in so many different ways.

Week 91 (13 – 19 Apr 2008)

As usual, we spent so long time talking to people after the Sunday morning service that we were among the last to leave – again. Being in Brentwood for longer means that we’ve been able to spend longer with more people than has been possible on previous visits. It was good to see Lyn back from Kampala. It’s just over a month since we left her flat – she has come back for her four month home assignment.

I’ve still been suffering from “senior moments”. Last Friday afternoon I suddenly realised it was Friday and that I’d completely forgotten to go to the Home Group meeting on Thursday evening! I was a bit annoyed with myself as I’d missed a week due to Spring Harvest and will miss this week too. In the afternoon we visited the Goldings again, with the intention of going for a walk or cycle ride. That’s Steve and me – Andrea’s not up to it of course! In the end we were only able to go for a short walk due to the sporadic rain. We did a little more exercise on their Wii game too. It was good to be able to relax – so much that I fell asleep!

Monday was very “warm” (UK warm, not Uganda warm) and sunny as we set off for Frinton-on-Sea and the Davey’s flat. It’s right on the front and from the dining room table I can see a great view of the green and the sea. Andrea finds the journeys a bit tiring and is generally in more pain for a while afterwards, but it’s very quiet and she can knit or sleep without interruptions. It does mean she has to put up with my “cooking” though.

It was bright and sunny on Tuesday so I went for a brief walk to the shops and along the front. It’s fine when there’s no cloud but a bit nippy otherwise. We’ve been reading and listening to the radio – and catching up with the blog and other things. The weather deteriorated a little through Wednesday and Thursday though we were able to get out and find some more sheltered spots. It has been good to be on our own for a while with no particular agenda and in beautiful surroundings.

Not only was the weather outside cooler and windier on Friday but it was distinctly cooler inside too after we received a phone call to say that the long awaited MRI scan (due on Sunday) was being postponed because the machine was not working. All appointments from Saturday, Sunday and Monday were to be rescheduled but who knows when. It was a bitter blow having waited so long only to have a further indefinite delay. We were even more frustrated when we contacted InterHealth and received an appointment for a consultation on Monday 21st! We hadn’t contacted InterHealth before now as we thought we were in “the system” and would start getting treatment soon.

WEEK 88 to 90 (23 Mar – 12 Apr 2008)

Folk in the UK will remember the snow on Easter Sunday morning and made our trip to church a little slower than usual. It had cleared up by lunchtime and before I managed to borrow a camera. My camera is still in Arua. It snowed again a week later – and I managed to get a photo.

The Elcomes visited us in Romford on the Bank Holiday Monday and Laura had volunteered to organise the catering for lunch. So we started with another trip to Tesco’s and ended up with a selection of bits and pieces from around the world, with a particularly Indian theme. The Elcomes have visited India recently and visited some of the same places as Laura.

Andrea and I saw the consultant on the following day – and arranged for further tests but with long waiting times. A bit frustrating. I took the opportunity to make a quick visit to my family in Winchester and stayed for two nights. Laura travelled down with me – but in separate cars – and stayed the first night before going on to Exmouth. I intended to check e-mails via Brian’s (brother-in-law) wireless broadband. My laptop switched on – the fan was working – but no screen display, a sad event with laptops as this is often the most expensive part to replace. There have been a few other faults too so it’s not surprising – it has been used a great deal and suffered much travelling. Fortunately, I backed up everything on an external hard drive not long before we left Arua, but again, the hard drive is in Arua and of no use while we’re here in the UK.

We were able to put our aches and pains to the back of our minds for a few days as our friends, the Taveners, offered us a room in their chalet at Spring Harvest, Skegness. They even re-arranged the booking so that we could have a ground floor flat with disabled access. Andrea couldn’t have managed the stairs each day so it made it possible for here to get out twice daily. The theme was “One Hope” with stimulating and entertaining Bible Readings in the morning and other good seminars and events later in the day. We even managed to spend several hours just browsing through the extensive book stall during one of it’s few quieter periods. Three of the Taverner’s present have a distinct mathematical interest and expertise. The fourth was just returning from South Africa. So Andrea provided a few mathematical style puzzles which led to some very odd meal time conversations. Linda and I just concentrated on eating!

Sunday 6th Apr was Jonathan’s first birthday – he is Mary’s fourth child and we were reminded again of how much we are missing our friends in Arua. We have had a few e-mails but it’s not the same. It also made me realise that I need to keep up the blog, but this time for our friends in Uganda.

On our return from Skegness, we ordered a replacement laptop. Andrea managed to do the research on the internet based on some criteria I set and fortunately they narrowed the choice considerably, with price being the final factor. We have gone for a lighter and therefore slightly smaller version as I get more than a bit weary lugging it around.

We had another visit to the hospital – for the first test, exactly one month after we arrived back in the UK. We don’t know the results yet but Andrea seemed to think that it went as well as could be expected. We’ve been unsuccessful in getting an earlier MRI scan (currently scheduled for Sunday 20th April). The waiting is getting a bit tiring and Andrea is tired of being tired and aching. Our friends have been very good in visiting or offering meals and cups of coffee. Andrea’s Mum appreciated the break from looking after us while we were at Spring Harvest – it’s not easy looking after two extra people for such a long time. The extra shopping, cooking, washing and ironing must be very tiring for her let alone having to watch TV programmes she would not normally consider! We do appreciate having somewhere to stay – and of course the use of the car.

WEEK 85 to 87 (2 – 22 Mar 2008)

As Andrea seemed to be recovering a little she summoned up the strength and patience to give me detailed instructions on how to make a vegetable soup. It took over an hour, mainly to find all the bits and pieces and cut up the vegetables. But it tasted fine even if my dicing was not as fine as some and the lumps were the size of actual dice. I thought that’s what it meant and was grateful I didn’t have to add the numbers to each side of the cubes!

I contacted our insurance company to start making claims and requesting assistance for the next stages and were referred to a consultant in Kampala. We only had to wait 30 minutes and were then sent for a CT scan and X-ray. Although we travelled across Kampala we were able to get them and return to see the consultant the same day. No 3 month waiting lists here! However, he then wanted to send her for further tests but after some discussion agreed that the best option was to return to the UK. Even so, the insurance company wanted to send us to Nairobi but eventually agreed to make arrange and pay for the flights home. By this stage it was too late to return to Arua – I could get there but not back again so we had to travel very light and with only summer clothes.

The flight back wasn’t as bad as we expected although Andrea had to be carried onto the plane at Entebbe. We were told at checking that there were there were no upgrades available but the chief steward directed us to a more comfortable seat as soon as Andrea got on the plane. The seats were larger with more space between making it easier to get in and out. Of the seats, not the plane. Only 7 of the 22 seats in this section were occupied so it was much quieter too. We were met at the plane with a wheelchair and taken through passport control very quickly. Even our one (small) bag appeared quickly and our taxi was waiting for us too.

We saw our GP fairly quickly but the earliest appointment for the consultant is two weeks away. I also had the opportunity to attend a memorial service for Dennis. He was a member of the paras and parachuted behind enemy lines 5 days before D-Day. He was seriously injured a few days later. We used to sit in the same row at church and spent a week with him and his wife at Spring Harvest. It was not surprising that the church was full and extra seats were needed. He was so gently and friendly and we will miss him so I was glad to be present.
I was able to watch the last matches of the Six Nations Rugby – all three on one day. This was another unexpected bonus, even if Ireland were beaten. But I’m not saying by whom.
It was strange going to the service at Brentwood Baptist Church, partly because Andrea wasn’t well enough and partly because I shouldn’t be here! But it was good to see our friends again and participate in a Palm Sunday service. Peter Thomas visited on Monday morning. In the afternoon we went to Weald Park but the Visitors Centre (and coffee shop) is closed on Mondays so we just sat in the car and watched the deer and ducks. Barbara visited in the afternoon after school.

Another highlight was the arrival of Laura from Exmouth. She planned to stay for a week – the longest we have seen her for several years. Even visiting the storage and Tesco’s with her was entertaining! However, she didn’t join me on the March for Witness in Brentwood on Good Friday morning (too early?) nor on our visits to friends. Poor girl, she needs a break from her parents already! She also has some work to do and would get on with it better if we’re not present. Though I can’t understand why she didn’t want to join her mother at the church knitting group.

WEEK 82 to 84 (10 Feb – 1 Mar 2008)

Well, it’s been a while since the blog was updated. As regular readers will know the reasons – and some of the details I won’t attempt more than a summary.

The first Sunday of the term (which seems a long time ago now) saw a change in the time of the morning service. We had agreed that an 8am start was too early for many visiting preachers to get to such a remote place – some asked to stay overnight in Saturdays. Unfortunately, the new time we thought we had agreed (9.30am) was not passed on to the visitors for today so they arrived for an 8am start! The service started at 9am - but we arrived at 9.25am. So both communication and timekeeping are issues here!!! The visitors are students at the local Uganda Christian University (UCU) study centre at Ringili where Anne Houghton, one of our AIM neighbours works. The only other notable thing that happened today was that it rained! Notable because the temperature dropped and this is the dry season!

One day we left school early to collect the Cassels family from Arua and brought them to Ushindi for coffee. We had a brief tour of the school before leaving for the White Castle. There were no other customers so we had the swimming pool to ourselves – very refreshing and relaxing. We have planned to have Tuesdays and Thursdays free from lessons so that we can explore other areas where we can be useful so won’t always use weekdays for recreation!

Our teaching continued for a while – until Andrea felt ill. We stayed at Ushindi for a time, consulting with local and more distant medical people. As she wasn’t getting any better we decided to fly to Kampala for further advice and tests. It was hard to leave both the staff and students even for a few days. We assured them that we would be back in a week and only took enough belongings for 4-5 days. Well, we got that wrong! We went straight to the surgery (called The Surgery!) and were seen by The Times journalist in the film “The Last King of Scotland” (about Idi Amin). Dr Stockley is a member of the amateur dramatic society – but also a good doctor.

While we were waiting Ronald from Ushindi phoned to say that his 4 year old son, Godwin had come off a boda (bicycle which carries passengers) and had a serious injury to his head. Godwin was later referred to Mulago Hospital in Kampala but we were unable to meet up as travelling even within Kampala is not easy, especially when unwell.

Wednesday 20 Feb was Laura’s birthday but she was in India so we were unable to contact her. We learnt later that she had TWO birthday cakes and had a good time celebrating.

We stayed in Kampala with Lyn, from our church and she made us feel very much at home – there was no electricity or water! She has moved flat since we last stayed with her and although it is older and further away from her office there are other AIM folk nearby and two supermarkets (small by UK standards) nearby.

Andrea spent most of her time sleeping while I read and caught up with some computer bits and pieces as it was so quiet. Otherwise we were visiting the Doctor for further tests and treatment. This included staying in overnight for observation. There were many ups and downs, especially as Andrea’s birthday was on the 1st March and it wasn’t a good day for her. I think she’s planning to make up for it by celebrating as often and for as long as possible when she has recovered. Lyn and Christine both bought her presents and cards which cheered her up. My present is still in Arua but I managed to get a substitute card in time. Phew!