“Just a well done to Carolyn , she has just WALKED up to my house !! How great is that …I am so proud of her and l’m sure we all feel the same. She had to rush back for her evening painting session with Ruby and Jean.

Ain’t no stopping her now ! as the song goes.”

Many of you will have seen Carolyn out and about around the village and will be reassured as to how well she looks – some people have commented that she actually looks better than before! Over the next while you will have the chance to see first hand how her determination and efforts are resulting in continual and noticeable improvements – at this rate she’ll be in next year’s hill race! 

For those of you who’ve not caught up with her yet, here’s a photo of Carolyn from the other weekend – many thanks to Matt, Gill and Issy for sending in the picture and apologies for taking so long to post it…

Carolyn has asked me to put the following message on the website, which she wrote using her new-found skills with her left hand:

Feel free to leave comments on this post for Carolyn, she gets to read them all!
A further update to follow by the end of next week.

This post should have been written a week ago, but events transpired against us. However, we just wanted to let everyone know that we were fortunate enough to visit Carolyn in the stroke recovery unit of the DRI recently, and were obviously delighted to see her again, and to see at first hand what a remarkable recovery she is making.

All who know Carolyn will be very pleased to know that she has lost none of the characteristic strength of character which will undoubtedly ensure a full recovery. Although she is having a little difficulty with speech at the moment (a good time to have an argument with her), she demonstrated unbidden her ability to count to 20 in perfect diction, and to stand up without aid.

We laughed and shared jokes about Parwich life, – she certainly hasn’t lost her sense of humour. I ribbed her mercilessly about the rather trendy line in footwear (black and white trainers with a pink skull motif!) and alluring surgical stockings she’s been given in hospital, and she seems very adept at careering around the corridor of the hospital in a motorised wheelchair with a very appropriate “No.1″ written on the back of it.

She appears comfortable in the DRI, who are looking after her well and helping with her rehabilitation therapy, although she is understandably frustrated not to be back in Parwich. Judging by her progress, we are sure it won’t be long before she is back with us here.

Carolyn is still make good progress and her therapists are “very pleased” with her overall progress; however there is still no news on how long it will be before Carolyn can come home.

On a more positive note, Carolyn’s been out and about again – this time to the Westfield shopping centre for lunch. She has also regained a little more independence this week. She has been given an electronic wheelchair so she can now move herself around the hospital as she wishes. Although she had one attempt at running Howard over in the corridor, she’s now in full control!

Howard took in the CD with everyone’s recorded messages on this week, which resulted in laughter and a few tears. Howard tells me the messages were great, very genuine and they made Carolyn’s day. Howard has also made up an album of all the photos that have been sent. Please keep sending photos and if the opportunity to record messages comes up again please have ago. The photos, cards, messages and pictures are all really helping Carolyn’s progress and they have the added advantages of brightening up her day and helping her to still feel part of the village.

There is a bit of an update as relates to visitors. Non-family members will now be able to visit but this needs to be carefully organised to fit in with her family and to make sure we don’t “double up” and wear her out. I know lots of us would like to see her as soon as possible but since she will be in hospital for a while it would make sense to spread our visits out. If you would like to visit please leave a comment here, call Howard, or put a note through the door. If you’re not able to do this, please email the website with a message and we’ll pass it on. If you do get to visit Carolyn it worth knowing that even though the visiting hours are quite restricted (2-4pm and 6-8pm) it’s not unusual for her to receive treatment during visiting hours. Clearly it’s important that she receives her treatment and so, if you’re visiting and she needs to go for treatment, please be patient.

Once more, Howard has asked me to say thank you and let everyone know how much he and Carolyn appreciate what has been and is being done for them both.

Carolyn has been in the rehab ward for over a week and the treatment she has received there has made a noticeable difference. She is making good and regular steps forward and Howard reports daily progress. In fact, Carolyn has really impressed the physiotherapist as she was able to stand for the first time yesterday, exceeding expectations!

Carolyn is now spending most of the day out of the bed in her chair and Howard and her family have been wheeling her around the hospital and its grounds. The hospital staff are even planning to take her on an outing to a local pub on Friday lunchtime! Howard has completed his “chair training” and is hoping to be able to take her out for the occasional meal soon.

As well as her regular individual treatment, she’s attending group classes and social activities, such as crafts classes, which the hospital organises. Carolyn enjoys the group activities and is, not surprisingly for those know Carolyn, busy trying to help everyone else!

There is still no news on how long it will be before Carolyn can come home and despite her recent improvements she is still likely to be in hospital for many weeks. The best way to help Carolyn at the moment is to keep sending her our news, photos and well wishes. The easiest way to get anything to Carolyn is to put it through her letter box, post comments here, or email the website and we will forward to Howard.

In terms of visiting, the hospital staff have said that friends can start visiting but this needs to be introduced slowly over the next few weeks and incorporated into her family’s visits. There is a difficulty in than that visiting hours are pretty restricted (only 4 hours a day – 2-4pm and 6-8pm) and Carolyn is limited to two visitors at a time. So, for now, we can’t just call into the hospital; visits need to be planned and pre-arranged and we will have to be patient and respect Howard and her family’s needs.

Once again Howard would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has sent messages of support, letters, cards, presents and photos. Carolyn really looks forward to receiving these and looking through them and they are really helping her recovery.

There will be further updates………

A quick update on Carolyn…..
Carolyn is no longer on any medication and has been moved to a Rehab Ward (Ward 1), where she is best placed to receive the treatment she needs to recover.

Howard is reporting steady, daily, progress and improvements and he was most insistent that I pass on his thanks and appreciation to everyone who has sent cards and photos, made voice recordings and to all who’ve left comments on the previous postings. All of these things have been really useful in helping Carolyn’s day to day recovery.

A lot of us are keen to visit Carolyn; however, as much as she would love to see her friends, the hospital has asked that visits to be limited to family for the time being. The reason for this is that the hospital has advised that Carolyn still needs plenty of rest to make the quickest recovery possible. Similarly, there is still no news on how long it will be before we can have Carolyn back in the village, where she belongs! However, the reality is that she will probably be in hospital for many weeks. So, in the meantime any new comments, letters, photos and voice recordings would be welcome!

Howard checks the website regularly and takes all comments to read to Carolyn so this is a really good way to get messages to Carolyn (and Howard)! Don’t forgot there is still the Dictaphone in the shop/pub for anyone who wants to send a message in their in own voice – speaking to a machine can be a bit awkward and alien for some of us, but I know Carolyn would love to hear familiar voices so even a quick “hello” would be great.

There will be a further update next week………

1. Photographs.

We are planning to take photos of familiar people and places into hospital for Carolyn. This is partly to help her keep in touch, and also so that she can let all the numerous new people (nurses, therapists, etc) know something about herself.

If you have any images that you think would be useful, please e-mail them to parwich@hotmail.co.uk and we will forward them to Howard. (To avoid confusion, please mark them as “Photos for Carolyn”.)

Peter Trewhitt will also be in The Sycamore on Thursday evening with a camera, ready to photograph anyone who is willing.

2. Messages.

Do please continue leaving messages for Carolyn in the comments box (or e-mail them to us if you prefer). Howard can take them and read them to her, to help her recovery.

3. Sound Recordings.

There is also the opportunity to record short messages for Carolyn, until it is the right time for us all to visit in person. Mike Atkinson will then burn these to CD, so that Howard can play them to her in hospital. This will not only cheer her up and let her know that we are thinking of her, but it will also be another great way to assist her recovery.

If you would like to take part, then there will be a “recording session” at Creamery Cottage (Creamery Lane) between 2pm and 4pm on Saturday afternoon.

Alternatively, if you can’t make it on Saturday afternoon, then there will be a digital dictaphone behind the bar of The Sycamore, from Friday morning. These messages will also be burnt to CD.

A huge amount of support and genuine concern has been expressed by people from all over the village relating to Carolyn. Most know by now that Carolyn suffered from a stroke last Wednesday and is currently recovering in the Derby Royal Infirmary.

With so many people asking after Carolyn it was thought (following agreement from Howard) that a good way to keep her friends updated on her progress would be to make use of our community website. One of the main ideas behind this is that Howard can keep us informed by sending updates to be posted on the website. Another purpose for this is that we can use the “comment” facility to leave messages that Howard can take and read to Carolyn to help her recovery. We can also use the comment facility to ask questions. A few of the questions you might have wanted to ask are answered below.

Although perhaps an unusual way to use our website, I hope this is useful to many of you and not considered inappropriate.

Howard has asked me to say thank you to everyone who has sent cards to Carolyn. He and Carolyn have opened and read each one together during his daily visits.

Some questions answered:

Q: Is Carolyn OK?
A: Carolyn is stable, comfortable and making daily improvements. Clearly what happened will take some time to fully recover from and Howard will keep us updated on her progress.

Q: What ward is Carolyn on?
A: She’s currently in Ward 9 but is expected to move to the Re-hab Ward next week.

Q: Is it OK to send flowers?
A: Not for the moment, Howard will update us when this changes.

Q: Can I send her anything / does she need anything?
A: Not for the moment, Howard will update us when this changes.

Q: When can she have visitors?
A: Howard will let you know when she can have visitors.

Please keep an eye on PARWICH.ORG for more information, including forthcoming news of a way in which we can all help.