Nurse Michelle Howard arrives and is a godsend to look after Della as first Diana and then Debbie fall ill with a tummy bug and I manage the household to keep them apart from Della as we could do without that complication as she already struggles to use a bedpan
I was woken by Debbie this morning who brought news that Diana had fallen ill overnight with sickness and diarrhoea which she thought was gastro-enteritis that she had caught from the young children of Holly Ward. I got showered and dressed and then saw Debbie off to school before settling down to my breakfast. I got her to take a letter in to the Prep to say that Della was home. Della had just woken up and was in a bit of a bad mood and did not want to join me until I had finished but then she perked up and I helped her use the bed pan before she got into the wheelchair so that I could take her through to the kitchen for something to eat.
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She had cereal and then two chocolate cakes which was a bit naughty when I wanted her to have toast. Soon Nurse Michelle Howard arrived and I showed her around as Diana was not able to. She got Della washed and dressed and did her hair so that she looked quite tidy and then played Monopoly with her for the rest of the morning as I tidied up the kitchen and thought about doing some work. I told the gardener that Della was home and introduced him to Michelle in case she needed any help with anything and then I chatted to him about the outstanding gardening chores.
There was not much I could do to help Diana apart from washing out her sick-bowl, getting her some water and looking in on her. I was just glad that we had organised the nurse to keep Della happy as it would have been very difficult for me otherwise. I was on my own with Della this afternoon and we passed the time by playing Monopoly for most of it. When Debbie came home, she was not the fit playmate that I had hoped for to keep Della happy, but she too was suffering from feeling sick and having a painful tummy and I feared the worst. The District Nurse had come round this afternoon and looked at Della and pronounced herself satisfied.
She also looked in on Diana and offered the same advice as the agency nurse - to just keep drinking water until her system had become settled again. I put a TV in Debbie's room and parked her there for the evening and tried to keep the family apart and using separate toilet facilities in the hope that Della and I could avoid getting the infection. Apart from all this, Della was making good progress today; walking a little on her crutches, keeping care-free and cheerful and eating well on the lunch and tea that I got her. I hoped that she could at least get through the next night without getting the tummy bug as we could do without that complication at the moment.