Time out

Holidays aside, I've never left it this long between posts. 

By rights, I would have published the final episode of my travelogue by now, telling you all about what we did on the last two days of our September holiday. I even made a start with editing photos and making a batch of collages.

Alas, all is not well in our world at the moment, so that I'm obliged to take some time out.

In the weeks after our return, Jos started feeling unwell, slowly but surely sinking into a depression. We initially attributed its trigger to the less than perfect circumstances of our holiday, although I'm sure the time of year, with the dark Autumn and Winter days ahead of us, must have had its role to play.

And then there was his impending birthday. He definitely wasn't looking forward to turning 77 in September, particularly since there is no denying that he is starting to feel his age. So much for saying that age is just a number, there's just no stopping the hands of the clock.

As in times of stress the first thing to go is his appetite, he started eating less and less, until we were forced to get him some protein drinks from the chemist to tide him over.

As if by magic, his appetite briefly returned around his actual birthday, only to dwindle again after less than a week. He constantly needed reminding to at least drink plenty of fluids, so it was almost a given that at some point he contracted a nasty UTI.

This made him finally see sense and go to his GP, who promptly prescribed him a course of antibiotics and started him on anti-depressants.

We are now one week later and thankfully he's got the worst of the infection behind him, although he's not out of the woods just yet. 

His appetite is yet to return as well and it's a constant struggle to get him to eat, as apart from some cut up banana, tiny pots of rice pudding and small bowls of soup, he just isn't able to force anything down.

As a result, he is feeling constantly exhausted which, according to his GP, will improve once the infection is gone completely. 

As I went for a walk in the park on Sunday morning, I implored the lady living in the shrine (below) for a miracle or two. Surely, it's not too much to ask to give him back his appetite and joie de vivre, both of which seem to have done a disappearing act at roughly the same time.

Meanwhile, we are waiting for the anti-depressants to work their magic. We were told that not only would this take a couple of weeks, things might even get worse before they get better.

I desperately miss blogging, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed this time out won't be taking all too long. It's just that my energy is currently being diverted elsewhere.

In the meantime, I'll keep reading your lovely blogs and try to comment as much as I can, as I would hate to be out of touch completely.

See you soon!