UP, UP AND AWAY (NO BEAUTIFUL BALLOON)

I slept well again last night.  This was the result of taking a higher dose of gabapentin.  I have discussed my situation with the doctor and my dosage of gabapentin has been increased to 2400 mg which is double what I had been taking.  Not only does this deal with nerve pain,  it enables me to sleep.

 It is very surprising to me just how much lack of sleep affects me.  Don't misunderstand I do sleep I do not lay there unable to sleep. In fact I fall asleep fairly easily.  However, I wake constantly and I rarely sleep for more than 90 min without waking up.  This is not good sleep.  The drug controls the pain enough so that I can sleep without disturbance.  

 Obviously I have concerns  about all this.  Mainly, what lies ahead in the future.  There is a maximum dose of gabapentin that is safe and there is also a dose of morphine that it is rather pointless to go beyond.  Then we will have to be talking about the use of different drugs.  Although the chemist told me today that it is not necessarily so that I will need to increase the gabapentin again.  It is a matter of finding the right dosage that will permanently work.  It is not an addictive or tolerated drug.  Its main use is for epilepsy and neuropathic pain.

 The man who is going to do our kitchen turned up today.  He was on time.  He listened and he understood  how the dog cages had to be part of the plan.  He said that he has dealt with dogs before but not at this level!

 We have chosen real oak for all of the cupboards.  I am uncertain as to the surface yet. The sink is large and will fit a fully grown fully coated adult Lhasa Apso very well.

 The plumber is coming on Wednesday evening to discuss changing the bathroom into a shower room and also to check our water pressure because if the water pressure is good enough, and I think it is because cold water comes out very fast, the tank in the airing cupboard will be changed to one that works directly from the water mains so that our hot water will have the same pressure. This is essential for me to be able to bath the dogs.  It will also mean that we can have a plumbed in shower and not one of those electric jobs.

 We also have to have the largest bedrooms window changed and that has to be done before the conservatory is built.  It is just as well that I mentioned it to Mike, the man who is doing the conservatory, because it had not occurred to me that it needs to be done before that glass roof is put up directly underneath it!  The front door is also going to be changed as our wooden one is not completely sealed  and it lets in cold air.

 All of this is very exciting and of course it is also stressful.  During the kitchen work we will probably go away.  After this and the conservatory we need to have the whole house redecorated and down stairs much of the skirting board will have to be either replaced or repaired sufficiently where the Dachshunds and American Cockers  we used to have chewed it all up.

 No doubt there is stuff that I have forgotten to either write about or have just not considered yet.   The laying of the carpets and other flooring will have to be done after everything else is done. Either way this is going to go on for some time and I am just going to have to  take it in my stride.  I cannot see how we could stay in the house while the decorating and carpeting is being done.  The fumes from the paint would not be at all good for John's COPD and I doubt it would be that good for me!  I cannot really imagine being here whilst the flooring is being laid either! 

 Whilst the kitchen is being done we will go and stay in the hotel that we like in Calais, France and we will take day trips from there.  Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, Lille,  and other places are all reasonably close.  Perhaps Brussels is a little too far for a day trip now.  We do not need to go away whilst the conservatory is being done because that will not interfere much with my daily routine inside the house.  The dogs, however, will be going away.