To our great relief Isobel was rather better today. During the night she needed a lot of support whenever she got out of bed. In the morning she was able to walk independently for short distances. Her legs were easily able to support her weight, but she was rather tired and did not feel like doing much that involved an effort.

Jane came to see Isobel in the morning and they chatted and ate iced buns. I drove Jane home and Isobel came along for the ride. After lunch Iona arrived and she and Euan did the shopping.

Isobel had chicken and mushroom risotto for dinner followed by apple crumble. Over the course of the day her walking has become a little worse as she has got more tired, but by 10pm it was still much, much better than yesterday. Her balance was also considerably better. Over the course of today Isobel has made a real effort to help us look after her; this has very greatly reduced the problems we face. Days such as today are easily borne, but yesterday was desperate. There is no predictability for Isobel's symptoms from day to day, and we know that inevitably there will be more days as bad as yesterday.