Trials and tribulations of a typical family

Understatement of the year coming up - it has been a difficult time for the family recently.

Bil S (brother-in-law) was diagnosed with cancer last autumn and a few weeks ago received the news that he was clear after bouts of chemo and radiotherapy plus an operation.

He celebrated in style – by ordering a new car. That’s the way to do it.

He called one Thursday evening to tell us the news and, as you can imagine, we were pretty delighted.

Then the phone went early the following (Friday) morning. It was Bil D (my other favourite brother-in-law) to tell us that the hospital had telephoned and Sil P (sister-in-law) had been called in for her ……… liver transplant.

P went into the theatre at 1.30pm that day and was out at 12.30am – yep, an eleven-hour operation. Ten days on she is doing really well, touch wood and other inanimate objects, and should have an incredible new lease of life.

Clearly she faces a lengthy spell of recuperation (up to six weeks in hospital) but should then be able to spend some balmy family holiday evenings in the Algarve without wearing two fleeces while yours truly is in shorts and tee-shirt.

P’s condition had been kept under control for the past 30 years (she was told then that her liver might last for 15 years) by drugs and she has borne the illness with good grace and incredible stoicism.

It is still a fairly tense time but things are looking good. P went on the transplant waiting list last autumn and was told not to travel more than two hours away from the hospital as the call could come at any time.

That made life difficult – no holidays, no visiting the grandchildren who live in the south west of England etc.

Anyway, we are off to see P again today and hopefully will find a parking space at the hospital a little quicker than we did on Friday.

Mind you, it would help if people didn’t park so selfishly, like the owner of this Beemer (right).

I wonder if he paid double the parking fee?

What a Muppet.