adamsbr

John,

My wife has a dear aunt that has been afflicted going on 20 years now. We hope for the best for Paula.

Ruairidh

Yes we are. All of us.

nine64

Sorry to hear this John, My prayers and best wish to you both.

John Boggiano

An update...

I have pulled myself together somewhat! The wreck has returned to being a rock!

I think lack of sleep had things getting away from me for a while there.

Thank you, everyone for the support. It is really, really appreciated by both of us.

Paula had some lovely flowers arrive, courtesy of Howard (Kahdmus) and his wife. How incredibly thoughful. Very moving, in fact. Mind you, if anyone else is considering soemthing simillar, it might be better not do - we don't want to be overwhelmed! But your good wishes are so welcome. If I have time, I will try to post the picture I took of Paula and her mother with H's flowers just as they arrived.

We decided to put off the hospital until tomorrow, when it can be aprroached in a more considered way. More prayers needed for tomorrow, then!

Right now, Paula is dressed and in her wheelchair. She is stable, not in pain, just very tired. I think she is rather like someone who has been run over by a bus without being physically injured! Imagine that if you can.

Special thanks got to Rob - he knows why. Cheers, mate.

Special thanks, also to everyone else. I'll repay you all, one day, I hope.

Phil Raby

John

Thanks for going to the trouble of posting an update. I'm pleased you feel able to.

Let's not forget Paula's parents. It must be very distressing for them to see their daughter going through this. Do pass on our thoughts to them.

As always, best wishes to you all.

Phil

Kahdmus

So, so sorry to hear things aren’t looking up John. Paula looks so vibrant and healthy in your picture too, which just makes the knowledge of what she's going through that much harder to contemplate. I don’t know how well I would personally be able to cope if the tables were turned and I was in this situation…TBO I don’t think I would.

Thanks for posting the picture and update. Its a good thing that you are coming online and taking 5 minutes to type and put things in perspective. Remember to get your rest and try to distract yourself with a newspaper or the Internet or something to take a break now and again. I am sure Paula will be much worse off if you get yourself worn to a frazzle!

Best wishes,

--H

John Boggiano

Good advice from all, as ever.

Goodnight for now.

Jeff Curtis

John, sorry to hear of this, again, I can only say that I hope to hear things get better - for lack of anything else to say.

She smiles at you because she knows you care...deeply...that's a good thing.

JoeW

Thank you so much for the updates. You asked for prayers ... on the way! For Paula, her folk, and for you.

Joe

John Boggiano

Big day has just dawned.

Paula is very calm about it (what else?!) and I am fine also. (Except that reading this thread makes me wobble a bit!).

In a few hours she should be in hospital, and we will be heading for our first night apart since we got married, nineteen years ago (I think!). Since 1989 (when we bought our pharmacy), we have been together 24 hours a day, almost every day...

Imagine how brave it is, then, for her to handle all this so calmly.

I keep telling us both that the hospital is a very temporary step, which I'm sure it is. Please.

Much go now. So much to do...

For me, at the moment, the entire internet consists just of email and this thread.

Mind you, I might have time for a peek at the post about Phil's old car being for sale.

Phil Raby

John, good luck with it all today.

Phil

robmug

Spoke to John a short while ago, and if there's a time when he and Paula need our support, thoughts and prayers then that time is now.

robmug

Update; having spoken again to John, he's asked me to post an update.

Paula had a massive fit (seizure) this morning, resulting in John having to recussitate her (Paula went blue very quickly) and call for an ambulance. Paula was unconscious when John first rang this morning. It sounds like it was very fortunate that John and Paula's mum were around when she had the fit.

Paula is now in hospital, is awake, coherent and lucid. Quite what has changed in the last few days no-one knows yet; John is speculating that Paula has had a series of strokes, but whether these are MS related or not is unclear.

This is undoubtedly a very tough time for Paula and John, and I know he values Rennlist as a network of people (friends) who send their support.

Rob W.

Dear John, via Rob

I've just returned from Holiday and am so sorry to hear of Paula's condition. I have only met you and Paula once, briefly, at Castle Coombe and was delighted to put faces to names.

My thoughts are with you both at this difficult time...keep your chin up.

Rob W

robmug

John called from the hospital sounding absolutely knackered. Paula's had more epeileptic fits today, and after each one has a few minutes of clarity & lucidity (where she's "like a frightened rabbit") followed by hours of the opposite - John is preparing for her not knowing who he is.

...and they still don't know why all this is happening, but the most likely answer is that it is tha MS.

John has asked me to keep you all informed, and I'm sure he'll appreciate comments and direct communication by email, PM or phone etc.