After the heart attack

I was filing mum's nails today. They were very ragged and uncared-for, but she has just spent a week in the coronary care unit of the local hospital. Nails were bottom of the priority list, as was hair trimming and matching outfits.

Mum had a nasty experience overnight and was whisked into hospital in an ambulance once the GP recognised that she had probably had a heart attack in the night. Of course mum told no-one in her apartment block and didn't ring anyone to say she was ill, so there was no-one to help or comfort her.

The nurses were wonderful, the GP was very efficient and she had excellent care for the whole week of her stay. Now she is home and we have time to file nails and get a haircut, and have some cuddles.

How normal.

Other mums have daughters too

I had coffee the other day with another Scottish daughter. Her mum lives near my mum and so we met for a chat. How nice it is to talk to someone with similar concerns and issues. We both want our mum to look smart, be happy and eat well, and we both laughed about how our mums try to thwart some of our best efforts.

It was a real tonic to compare notes and funny stories and worries, and how we deal with them. And she gave me some tips about how to get round some little niggles, and said we were doing our best and both our mums appreciate that.

A trouble shared is certainly a trouble halved.