As I write this, I’m at my parents’ house, waiting for a delivery. It’s to replace a mobility aid which was already delivered for Dad, but my sister tried to demonstrate how it would fold down to fit in the car and one of the plastic levers broke off in her hand. Dad’s still in hospital but could be home by the time you read this, it’s that close.

The last week or so has been chaotic, including Dad having an operation and then a false alarm late last week when the hospital staff briefly forgot that they hadn’t finished the job off. Dad was looking too well to still be in hospital a couple of days after going under the knife and they were so pleased with his recovery they told him he could go home later that day. I got a somewhat jumbled message which sounded like Dad might be taking French leave and trying to make his own way home (with no money or house key), and had to make an unexpected hospital dash to track him down because his phone was going straight through to voicemail every time. By the time I got there, he’d been told it was an error and everything looked normal apart from the bed looking like it had been made up already for the next patient.

There are still a few loose ends to tie up, but moves are now underway to sort out the final details after Dad escapes. I’m half expecting him to do a little dance when he gets here; he has had his bags packed and ready to go for several days already after last week’s near-miss.

The plan earlier this afternoon was that when the replacement kit arrived, I would phone someone from the hospital, and that would be the trigger to finally allow Dad’s escape from the hospital. I’m still waiting, but the goalposts have moved and they are going to allow Dad to go home this evening, as soon as his meds have been dispensed. Sensible decision: it’s only a lever for folding the mobility aid down that broke off.

It seems like every time Dad has been moved to a new place during the 4 months+ that he’s been in hospital, it has snowed this winter.  So it’s fitting that today we’ve had a few blasts of heavy snow – interspersed with bright sunny weather.