I went in to see Isobel just after a quarter past five. When I arrived she was asleep. Isobel had eaten almost all of her breakfast and a pot of balanced supplement in the morning. She had also eaten both parts of her lunch; a pot of balanced supplement was noted as having been fully eaten during the afternoon - more about this later.

I had brought in some liquid fertiliser for the amaryllis and applied it. As a result or the warm conditions in the room the huge red flowers are already starting to fade; they would have lasted longer if somewhere cooler and well lit had been available.

One of the carers mentioned that tea would appear in a few minutes. I decided to start Isobel on a beaker of blackcurrant squash and prepared it. Isobel was easy to wake and started drinking the squash (spoonful by spoonful). We had got about halfway through the squash when tea appeared. Isobel ate the first course (some kind of cheesy potato concoction with baked beans - it is not easy to tell exactly what food was originally when it has been liquidised) quickly without any difficulty. She drank a little more of the blackcurrant squash, then tackled yogurt for dessert. The swallowing tired her and by the time she had finished the dessert and the drink she was swallowing slowly and weakly. I gave her the news that her old yellow Micra had been restarted today for the first time in a year and a half, although my pleasure at getting it going was tempered by the knowledge that it was of no use to Isobel. Isobel did not react in any way.

Isobel indicated that she would like her book read to her and I did this for about ten minutes until she fell asleep. I let her sleep until just before seven o'clock - the sun shone down the corridor onto Isobel at exactly four minutes to seven. My intention had been to give her another drink before I left, and I made up a beaker of orange squash. While I was doing this I moved the various tissues and napkins on her bedside table and was surprised to find an opened but uneaten pot of balanced supplement with a spoon in it underneath a napkin. I guess this was the afternoon pot, left for some reason to be taken up again later, but could not check with the day staff who had just gone off shift. I gave Isobel the orange squash which she ate with no problems, a short sleep refreshes her for further eating or drinking. We moved onto the pot of balanced supplement which Isobel started out to eat briskly. However she rather ran out of steam then, and toiled over the last quarter. After she had finished it she fell deeply asleep almost at once.

Isobel's nurse, Rose, confirmed that the reduced steroid dosage had started today, there was no visible effect yet. I left at twenty past seven. At home both the children said they had reservations about the modification of the steroid dose. They felt that there was virtually nothing left of the mother they knew and felt efforts to extend her life were pointless. They reminded me, correctly, of Isobel's stated objections to the prolonging of life for anyone who was unable to benefit from the extension.