Apart from our visits to the dentist, chiropracter and podiarist, Colin had his appointment with the neuro-psychologist at Worcester Royal Hospital just over a week ago. He gave Colin some strategies to help deal with finding his way and (just as importantly) his way back, when in an unfamiliar place. He also explained how things get into more longer-term memory, and how working memory can be interrupted by the environment (noisy, cold, anxiety, etc). He stressed the importance of being honest about having poor memory. Now all Colin has to do is put this into practice!
We've been up to quite a lot over the last few weeks. A fortnight ago we attended one of the 'science and faith weekend' talks at the Chase. We heard Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Professor Eric Priest, and Dr Chris Lintott (Sky at Night fame). This was a very interesting afternoon.
We have met up with a few friends: a trip to Ledbury through the 'great flood' to be cheered up; coffee and cake with a long-lost friend at the Bluebird Tearooms and a 'day out' to Worcester with lunch at the 'Old Palace' with a couple of other friends. All of this makes the days more cheery!
And finally, Colin has completed some more volunteering tasks at Regents and 'the Well'. When one of his usual slots was postponed we decided to take ourselves off to Tredegar House (NT) near Newport. We hadn't been there before so it was interesting to see what the council had left for the Trust! It was also good to see how Colin fared in new surroundings - interestingly he wasn't that good at finding his way around the gardens or park! But then, Jane expected this. Even with a map - which wasn't that great, Colin still found it difficult to orientate himself. This was replicated in the house which, at the time we went in, was filled with school children. And the heating had broken down that day so it was really cold inside as well as noisy! So all of this didn't help Colin's memory but it was a good example to talk about with the neuro-psychologist a few days later.
So, this week coming is getting busy too. Tomorrow we're planning to meet up with two other people in Malvern who have brain lymphomas. Then apart from the scheduled volunteering, Colin has an appointment with the ENT consultant about his hearing. We have a day in Worcester run by Macmillan for people with cancer and their carers and the really great thing about next week is that a couple of friends are coming around to see us!
Colin and Jane.