I went to the doctors in mid November for my annual review and made the mistake of commenting that I was feeling well and that my breathing was good (I have asthma). The very next day I had a sore throat and started sneezing - typical! I have now had a cold, sore throat and horrible chesty cough for three weeks and I am struggling to breathe. It is just a cold and it is annoying rather than serious, but it turns ordinary life into a real effort because I have no energy.
Putting up with a cold is really not such a big deal in comparison with Robbie who has to cope with more or less constant leg and back pain because of his spina bifida. I know he can be challenging at home sometimes but I think he does remarkably well to remain cheerful, determined and positive most of the time. I feel really sorry for him this week because his legs are misbehaving and he has got my cold, he was burning up last night but he was determined not to miss work, he has some important deadlines looming and he has his Christmas meal today - I hope he is well enough to enjoy it
I wasn't too happy with Robbie on Sunday night. He was telling me all weekend that he was looking forward to getting home, and he promised me lots of attention. He spent the evening listening to train noises on YouTube, then when I told him that I was going to bed he said he would be there in a minute. He even came up to bring me a drink and to tell me that he just had to lock the front door and put the dog out before coming to bed, then he vanished. I waited and waited, but after an hour I gave up and went to sleep. He finally arrived over an hour and a half late and he got a very short answer when he tried to cuddle up to me. I didn't get a chance to discuss his vanishing act with him until this morning, We went through the usual ritual, first he denied it, then he said he was mistaken about the time, then finally he admitted it. He was doing something that he has to do in private, he doesn't like talking to me about it, but apparently it really did take him an hour and a half - he was packing his bag for work!!Robbie was unwell this morning, he had 'the trots' and being Robbie I was treated to a detailed account of his troubles. He got ready for work as usual, but then he came into the lounge and announced that he felt dreadful and he had a really bad sore throat. I suggested that going to work wasn't the wisest move, even if it wasn't swine flu, he wouldn't be popular if he passed on his troubles to everyone else in the office. In the end he decided to work from home today. To be honest I am a bit worried about Swine Flu, I have been in contact with it, but I hope that Robbie just has a nice ordinary bug. I was OK this morning, but then I developed similar symptoms and I had to come home from work feeling very unwell.
It's official Robbie is ill! I just want to make sure that everyone knows that, because every time he has spoken to me today he has informed me that he is 'not very well' and then he has gone on to accuse me of not caring. Of course I care, I know how rough he is feeling because I have had the cold/flu or whatever it is for a week and I still feel rough. He has an evil sore throat, a high temperature, a heavy cold, a nasty cough and he feels like death warmed up. I am not unsympathetic, but honestly we need to get a sense of proportion about this! I went out and bought him two giant boxes of tissues, some maximum strength cold relief tablets and some stuff to stick up his nose to help him breathe. He is sitting in the corner sniffing and sighing surrounded by a mountain of tissues looking like misery personified. I hope he gets better quickly because I'm not sure how long I can cope with this!
This morning Robbie listened to The Archers while I tried to get on with my writing work. Despite his sore throat he couldn't be quiet and he fired a series of questions at me about storylines in the Archers. I answered each question and tried to get on with what I was doing, but then he began to ask about another character and we had a slightly confusing conversation for a few minutes. Suddenly I realised that he now talking about a family member who by coincidence shares a name with the character I thought he was talking about. I moaned at him for not giving me any clue that he had leapt from one subject to another, but he just grinned and said 'they don't call me Random Robbie for nothing'.
