November 2014 - Goodbye to David, then home

David and Kathie in April 2015

Only ten weeks after the initial diagnosis, David died at his home in Cheshire, surrounded by his family. One of his fabulous Macmillan Nurses was also there giving help and comfort to the whole family. We like to think that he died with a smile in his heart as his beloved Manchester City had beaten arch rivals United for the fourth meeting in a row. David's son Lee told him of the win and he gave a very weak thumbs-up sign. Within a couple of hours he passed away leaving all the incredible pain which had been building viciously.

We had not been able to see him within the last couple of weeks as his wife Kathy had asked for space and privacy but we had seen him a couple of times after his diagnosis so were able to talk to him for brief periods.

The funeral took place in Cheshire and David had planned it all himself including the music. It was a beautiful humanist service and David's coffin was white and covered in pictures of footballs. Mourners were asked to wear any colour they liked and to celebrate David's life and considerable achievements rather than simply mourn his passing. Some people came in Manchestre City supporter's scarves. David's brother Paul wore a red tie and in his eulogy said that after 60 years of arguing with David about Man City and Man United he could now have the last word. Many of David's friends were there including The Loonies from Milnrow in Rochdale who are a small charity organization. They all sang Jerusalem as a final tribute. We adjourned to David's local pub after the service for a potato pie meal and a few drinks before we took our leave.

Shortly after the funeral David received an obituary in the Manchester City match day programme. An honour indeed!

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Our initial delay in leaving for Spain was "meant to be" as Kathie put it and we were both so glad that we were able to be with the family during these final few weeks rather than simply flying in for the funeral.

 

So we rearranged our travel plans, took Kathie's car to the transporter's premises in Preston and took our leave of England.

 

It was so different travelling through France in early winter rather than the summer months when we were usually there. Bare trees, fog, heavy rain, dark evenings, we had 'em all. We skipped the short holiday we had planned in Carcassonne and drove straight home arriving in late November.

 

 

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October 2014 - Waiting

After the shock of my September heart diagnosis we could do nothing but wait for tests. Appointments arrived for initial treatment at Burnley General Hospital, then an appointment for a visit to the Specialist at the end of October.

Whilst I had my minor problem with a dicky ticker, Kathie's brother David was fighting a much worse battle with skin cancer.  He had only been diagnosed a few weeks earlier but the prognosis was bleak. Our delayed departure was a blessing in disguise in that it gave Kathie more time to visit David and see him during what would be his final time with us.

The NHS were wonderful with my treatment. My appointments at the Anti-Coagulation clinic were weekly, on-time, and conducted with good humour and I was given as much information as possible. They continued weekly until my appointment with the Heart Specialist right at the end of October.

Here I was told that my treatment would have to continue indefinitely as the cure would likely not work for me. The cure consisted of shocking the heart back into a regular rhythm but if it worked initially, the likelihood would be that it would fall back to arrhythmia and if I had discontinued my use of Warfarin I would be in a worse mess. The conversation continued with regard to our chances of our return to Spain and we were told that there was now no problem as long as I continued with the Warfarin, and kept up communications with the heart clinic via email so that they could monitor my condition and advise on any change in levels of drug use.

The nurses at the clinic had been advising that this would be the likely outcome and that they had patients all over the world who monitored their treatment this way. My friend Martin had already discovered that blood tests were simple to obtain and that Warfarin could actually be bought "over the counter" in our part of Spain.

I felt as though I had been sprung from prison.

If it wasn't for poor old David and the rest of the family we would have left straight away.

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September 2014 - A Shock to the Sytem

September was to be our chosen month for our drive back home to Spain. Most of the traumas with the Audi were finished and we planned to leave in time to get us back for our U3A Groups Fair at the end of the month.

One last thing to do on the car was replace the front tyres as they had been mentioned in the August MOT. I ordered them via Asda Tyres and called at the fitters in Clitheroe to have them fitted. The owner reported that two of my wheels were damaged and needed to be replaced.

Rather than replace just two I decided to get four done, so as to have matched alloys, and ordered them from a wheel specialist in Chadderton. When I came back for the car after fitting they told me that FOUR of the wheels were damaged and it would appear that a previous owner had had the wheels drilled out due to losing the locking wheel nut socket.

 I FIND IT INCREDIBLE TO BELIEVE THAT THE VENDOR, LANCASHIRE TRADE VEHICLES HAD NOT SPOTTED THIS WHEN PREPARING THE VEHICLE FOR SALE. When approached LTV said that they had not known about this but because I had not advised them of the problem before buying new wheels, they would not pay for the replacements. After various conversations and a mention of Trading Standards they coughed up more than half of the cost. My opinion of this vendor cannot be put into print in order to avoid litigation.

On the same day that my new wheels were fitted I had what I assumed would be my final visit to the doctor. Kathie was at home packing her car ready for it to be transported to Spain.

I was given the news that my heart beat was irregular, Atrial Fibrilation, and that I would have to cancel my journey to Spain until a cure or course of treatment had been decided upon.

Arrangements were made to cancel our journey home, cancel the hotels, cancel the short break we had arranged in the South of France, cancel the arrangement for transporting Kathie's car, and postpone the Channel Tunnel crossing. Luckily none of this cost us anything.

So now we just had to wait for the NHS.

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