A few of my close friends will know that my Mum suffered a huge 'silent' heart attack four weeks ago (at the grand old age of eighty five) and if I hadn't got to her in time, and if the ambulance crew I called had not decided to take her to the best cardiac unit in London, she would no longer be with us. It's been a tough time.

After many stops and starts, Mum was eventually transferred to her local hospital (Mayday) but the nursing care was far less than it should have been (incident forms filed) and Mum was very depressed, so my sister and I (with Mum's approval) decided that we should take her home soon.

The effect has been quite enormous. The hospital staff seem to have now got their act together and, more importantly, Mum has really rallied around. We've been kindly 'bullying' her for weeks to eat and walk and she's surpassed herself these last few days. She's so looking forward to going home :) The hospital is still faffing about so we've bought, begged and borrowed the stuff that we need from other sources. We should have Mum home on Wednesday. Wish us well :)