Holiday Newsletter
I'm aware that I've not been keeping up with LJ very well lately and a few people have been asking how things are going. So thanks for your interest, and here's a bit of an update.
First, Tom. His situation does seem to be deteriorating - on the positive side we are closer to an official diagnosis, which is very likely to be Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or something very like it. Tom has become rather better at managing his routine but clearly lacks the energy to do a full week in school. The most he's managed was four consecutive days, but that wore him out even though he came home and went straight to bed at 6pm.
Now we have medical back-up the school are being more accommodating. He is getting assignments by email and does what he can to keep up. The official plan is still to get to University and read Philosophy, and his first choice would be Sheffield. We've had to learn to accept his limitations, as all carers in this situation must, and whatever he manages to do we'll support him. One thing that's helping a lot is he's learning bass guitar and that's given him a real creative outlet and a sense of achievement.
It may sound foolhardy under the circumstances but we still plan to spent Christmas in New York. We haven't had a family holilday for well over a year and we're hoping that the complete break and absence of academic pressure will be good for Tom. The worst scenario is that he's barely well enough to leave the hotel, but even then we've booked for "Spamalot" on Broadway as a Christmas treat. He doesn't know that yet - we plan to tell him on the plane.
If I was staying home I'd be spending most of the Christmas night in front of the TV. First "The Next Doctor", then a long compilation of leading actors, including DT, on the joys of playing Shakespeare followed by a film of Ian McKellern in "King Lear". I'll have to clear some space on the Sky hard disc and avoid the Internet until I've had time to come home and catch up. I eagerly await the last few minutes of TND.
It's slightly terrifying to realise that in less than a month's time I'll be in Stratford. I have a substantial reading list, of course. In the first unit alone we pull apart seven major plays - fortunately one of them is Hamlet. The others are Taming of the Shrew, Comedy of Errors (I have an audio version with DT in it), Richard II, Henry V, Titus Andronicus and The Tempest. Tickets for an exciting production of The Tempest with an African company at the Courtyard are part of the course. I've also booked a ticket for the highly acclaimed Twelfth Night with Derek Jacobi - the Master as Malvolio.
It's the last thing I should be doing at such a busy time, but I just bought myself a new tapestry kit for Christmas. It's a vegetable garden sampler laid out in the style of a Tudor knot garden. That means a lot to me because it combines the Stratford and Didsbury sides of my life. Our front garden is set out in a very similar pattern - four quadrant beds of veggies with a bay tree in the middle. I do hope I get a few minutes here and there to complete it.
Not much more to report, except I just heard a lovely interview with DT on Radio 4. He's been nominated Cultural Man of the Year, or some such title, and they had some nice audio clips of Hamlet. It's great that he's up and about again (assuming they didn't record it weeks ago).
Anyway, all the best for the holiday season and the year to come. At least we have the Obama presidency to loo forward to. Keep well and drive safely.
First, Tom. His situation does seem to be deteriorating - on the positive side we are closer to an official diagnosis, which is very likely to be Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or something very like it. Tom has become rather better at managing his routine but clearly lacks the energy to do a full week in school. The most he's managed was four consecutive days, but that wore him out even though he came home and went straight to bed at 6pm.
Now we have medical back-up the school are being more accommodating. He is getting assignments by email and does what he can to keep up. The official plan is still to get to University and read Philosophy, and his first choice would be Sheffield. We've had to learn to accept his limitations, as all carers in this situation must, and whatever he manages to do we'll support him. One thing that's helping a lot is he's learning bass guitar and that's given him a real creative outlet and a sense of achievement.
It may sound foolhardy under the circumstances but we still plan to spent Christmas in New York. We haven't had a family holilday for well over a year and we're hoping that the complete break and absence of academic pressure will be good for Tom. The worst scenario is that he's barely well enough to leave the hotel, but even then we've booked for "Spamalot" on Broadway as a Christmas treat. He doesn't know that yet - we plan to tell him on the plane.
If I was staying home I'd be spending most of the Christmas night in front of the TV. First "The Next Doctor", then a long compilation of leading actors, including DT, on the joys of playing Shakespeare followed by a film of Ian McKellern in "King Lear". I'll have to clear some space on the Sky hard disc and avoid the Internet until I've had time to come home and catch up. I eagerly await the last few minutes of TND.
It's slightly terrifying to realise that in less than a month's time I'll be in Stratford. I have a substantial reading list, of course. In the first unit alone we pull apart seven major plays - fortunately one of them is Hamlet. The others are Taming of the Shrew, Comedy of Errors (I have an audio version with DT in it), Richard II, Henry V, Titus Andronicus and The Tempest. Tickets for an exciting production of The Tempest with an African company at the Courtyard are part of the course. I've also booked a ticket for the highly acclaimed Twelfth Night with Derek Jacobi - the Master as Malvolio.
It's the last thing I should be doing at such a busy time, but I just bought myself a new tapestry kit for Christmas. It's a vegetable garden sampler laid out in the style of a Tudor knot garden. That means a lot to me because it combines the Stratford and Didsbury sides of my life. Our front garden is set out in a very similar pattern - four quadrant beds of veggies with a bay tree in the middle. I do hope I get a few minutes here and there to complete it.
Not much more to report, except I just heard a lovely interview with DT on Radio 4. He's been nominated Cultural Man of the Year, or some such title, and they had some nice audio clips of Hamlet. It's great that he's up and about again (assuming they didn't record it weeks ago).
Anyway, all the best for the holiday season and the year to come. At least we have the Obama presidency to loo forward to. Keep well and drive safely.