Well...it could've been worse. My first shift back at work passed without any undue hassles - the worst thing I had to deal with was having a technician under my feet for a couple of hours trying, eventually successfully, to resurrect a broken piece of equipment - although the alarm going off just after 4:00 this morning was a decidedly groan-inducing experience! My line manager appeared just before I was due to finish, brandishing a "Return to Work after Sickness" form, which is required for anyone who's been off for longer than 20 days - there's got to be a paper trail for everything these days, it seems - which he needed to complete with me. One of the questions raised a laugh - "How is the employee intending to ensure their fitness to work?", to which I replied "I'm looking for a new job!" Fortunately, my manager has got a sense of humour, and, given that it's an internal application, knows about my interview last week.
My mother-in-law had a hospital appointment today, to discuss treatment options, and my wife went with her, which means my family will be away for an extra day. The hope is for good news, but the reality is that the prognosis isn't too wonderful. It's obviously going to be an issue eventually, because both my in-laws are in their seventies, but I know how devastated my wife would be if anything happens to her parents - she's the 'baby' of her family and they've always been really close. I know it's going to fall to me to help her when the time comes - I just hope I'm up to it.
Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B
Glad your first day at work went ok.
ReplyDeleteI hope there is good news for your mother-in-law.
You will have to be strong for your wife as this thing progresses.
Hi there, Sammy
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear "day 1" went well - you seem a lot more phlegmatic about the 4am wake-up than I would have been!
Best of luck for your mother-in-law's health, and for whatever ensues. I'm reminded of your wife's question of a few weeks ago, more or less, "why are we still together?". I think the emotional support that each of you can provide the other in situations like this is a very important part of the answer.
Meanwhile, I was sure that I had posted a "good luck" comment on your previous post, and yet it doesn't seem to be there today. However, it was rather late last night, and I may well have closed the webpage absentmindedly, rather than hit the Post Comment button :-(
*hugs*
Mark
Hello Brian and Mark
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind thoughts. Day 2 hasn't been too bad either, but I'll reserve any more judgment than that until after tomorrow's first late shift - 99% of the problems we get seem to be between about 6:00 and 10:00 in the evening.
Now that my wife is back, I've had a few more details of my mother-in-law's health problems. In summary, it's potentially bad, but it could be worse - no-one seems to be suggesting that she's in her final hours, thankfully, although from what my wife said, the consultant was relatively vague over timescales. There are treatment options, so, as I've said, it's a case of hoping for the best while bearing the realities of the situation in mind. Thank you both for your good wishes.
Love & best wishes
Sammy B
Hi there, Sammy
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update. It sounds like "wait and see" on both counts. Best of luck, for tomorrow evening in particular - I'll be thinking of you.
*hugs*
Mark