Morning all,
Thanks all for the advice re the photographs, everyone. I checked out the % cut and it seems to be about the norm for this type of agency. The contract states that I retain ownership/copyright, but no fixed term for the license, which seems to be how its done with this sort of thing. Aside from the issue of non-payment/waiting forever for payment (which again seems par for the course) a lot who have let this agency deal with their photographs have actually had them published, in quite a few instances quite widely. So - I've gone for it. Its just 8 images, and I guess you guys are right - nothing ventured, nothing gained
Slugsta, I'm so sorry that you felt so uncomfortable at the funeral, hun. Your outfit sounded perfectly respectable to me x I have to say that I can't remember the last funeral I went to where everyone was dressed in 'offical mourning', either. It just doesn't seem to happen these days. My own view would be, if I were a friend or family of the chap who passed away, that the fact that someone turns up to pay respects is far more important than what they wear, and I would just be glad that you had come and not worry one bit about what was being worn xxx
I ended up not working yesterday. I very occasionally get labrynthitus, and yesterday I woke knowing that it was starting. I have medication for it to hand, and usually, I catch it early enough that I can stop it dead within a couple of hours. Didn't quite work out that way yesterday, by 8.00 I knew that no way could I spend all day working at a laptop screen, so I emailed in that I was unwell. I'll take some of the hours I am owed, to cover it. Frustrating, as I have a lot to do this week
Thankfully, the symptoms seem to have gone this morning, so I will just have to try and catch up as much as possible.
OH took the soup in to Mil, to be greeted with the news that she had been up all night, very agitated, and was now sleeping. He went in to see her, but she was absolutely flat out so he decided not to disturb her. Last night, however, we got another call from one of the nurses at the CH - not one I know, and can't say I took to her! She told me that she had called the out of hours GP because Mil had been violently sick
She was pretty graphic in her description - which I didn't see the need for - and also made a point of letting me know that she should have finished work, but had stayed over, waiting for the GP, who had yet to arrive. I felt like telling her that I'd organise her a medal! Not at all sure what I was supposed to do about a GP keeping her waiting? Anyway, she said she would ask the GP to ring us after he had seen Mil, which he did about an hour later ( This chap was the on call out of hours cover - not Mil's usual, useless GP ).
The GP basically told OH that Mil is 'vey poorly'. He said he could arrange for her to be admitted to hospital and given intravenous fluids because of the sickness, but he felt that 'at this stage' he had to question would it do more harm than good in terms of causing her stress. OH said a firm no, that he would prefer hospital admission to be avoided. The GP agreed and said that instead he would give Mil something that would hopefully ease the sickness for her. He told OH that her blood oxygen levels were very low, (although improved slightly from when she last saw a GP a few days ago) and said he felt that this was possibly down to Mil's COPD worsening, as again, there was no sign of any infection. And that it would be a good idea if OH came in to 'talk to the staff' today.
Obviously, we don't know which way this will go, but after talking to the GP, OH felt that we should let the kids know that things are really not good. He is pretty sure that when he goes this morning, all talk of the medication strip will now be considered unnecessary and that Mil will have been put on end of life care. Neither he nor I can see that the staff would be willing to risk putting her through any form of withdrawal from her medication at the moment, and we both agree with that. He says he is OK, that he was half expecting this after the deterioration of the last couple of weeks. He said that he is glad that he and I have talked about this situation, that we are clear about what we want for her if this is 'it'. But, we both know that we can't predict anything, that we just have to wait and see - as you all know, Mil has had two bad chest infections that had both the staff and us expecting to lose her, and yet she pulled through. That might happen again, or it might not, no way of knowing - its back on that rollercoaster, that so many of us are familiar with, isn't it?
OH said he would prefer it if I spoke to the kids, so I phoned both oldest dau and son. When my own Grandmother died, I was living miles away from the family, in London, and though Gran had been ill for a couple of weeks and they knew it was serious, they didn't tell me as 'you are so far away, there was no point worrying you'. The first I knew was the phone call telling me she had died. That was horrible, no way would I want to put my kids through that, and I know they would rather be prepared. Both were sad, obviously, but they do know that she has been unwell for a couple of weeks and I think, like us, they have been wondering if things would go this way. Son said he didn't want to sound bad, but if Mil does die, it would be almost a relief because 'It's horrible to see the way Nana is now, it's really horrible for her, Mum' - we all know exactly what he means, I guess. Youngest just went very quiet and said 'OK' before going to her room. She is the one who concerns me the most out of the three of them.
I'll keep you all updated, sending love to you all xxxxx
