Rosemary went in to see Isobel at mid-day. Rosemary has not been in to see Isobel since Christmas so I briefed her by telephone, so that the deterioration in Isobel's condition did not come as a shock to her. Rosemary has a lot of caring experience, and got stuck into the task of feeding Isobel her lunch. Isobel ate only part of the first course but all her yogurt after. Rosemary left at ten past one.

Pat and Den Ball (Chris's parents) went in during the late afternoon. They had also been briefed about what to expect. They found Isobel fast asleep and she did not wake at all during their visit. I bumped into them in the car park when I arrived at five o'clock.

When I arrived, Isobel was asleep. She had eaten all her breakfast but had slept for most of the day. Her right arm was not too swollen and I gave it only a brief massage. Isobel woke as tea was delivered. She ate the whole of a very large first course fairly steadily. Then she drank a beaker of thickened tea, but slowed up dramatically and needed a number of long pauses before she finished it. She was finding swallowing more difficult that in the past few days and was showing signs of tiredness. I did not offer her one of the pots of balanced sweet.

I have arranged to see the doctor at 2pm tomorrow,

We watched television until half six, then I chatted to her. Isobel's speech was again very limited, usually just one word answers or comments, occasionally three or four word phrases. Isobel drifted off to sleep at about seven o'clock. I woke her up at half past seven and helped her drink a beaker of thickened blackcurrant squash. She finished this very briskly, with no problems. It seems as if the tiredness that effects swallowing can sometimes be overcome by a short period of rest.

Isobel confirmed that she would like some of her book read to her. I did this until she fell asleep at five past eight. When I was sure that she was fast asleep, I came home at 8.10pm.