Getting back to normal, and a day out

I'm not completely better yet, but am getting better every day.  My mouth and face are still a bit sore, the abscess site itself is sore, as are all the points where the two dentists gave me several anaesthetic injections (blimey, the ones they give you on the inside of your gums don't half sting!).  And of course the gum socket where the tooth was taken out is also very tender and smarty.  I still feel like I've been smacked round the face, and my shoulders and back of my neck are really achy - I think because I was so rigid with fear in both of the dentists' chairs.  Mr Grainger, who took the tooth out, gave me express instructions not to clean my teeth or use mouthwash for 24 hours.  I hadn't been able to clean my teeth properly for several days anyhow, due to the awful pain of the abscess, so being able to do it finally yesterday was bliss, that in itself made me feel so much better.  Well, it's all over now and this is the last time I'm going to mention it!

Got a doctor's appointment this morning, then we're going out for the day, to a village not too far away - it's supposed to be very pretty and 'olde worlde', with thatched cottages and lovely gardens and no tourist tat shops, we've not been before.  We're taking Betty - there is a tea room with nice garden apparently which has a very good reputation and very reasonable prices, so we'll have lunch there, they're dog friendly.  It'll be so nice just to get out for a few hours, although it's not far from here it'll feel like a hundred miles away.  According to the forecast, today is the last nice sunny day for a while, so we're making the most of it.

Mum has seen the consultant for the results of her CT scan - there are no significant problems with her bowel or stomach, other than the diverticular disease and hiatus hernia.  However, the scan showed a shadow on one of her kidneys, just like my sister had a couple of years ago.  Sister's did turn out to be cancer, in the early stages, she had a lumpectomy and is fine now.  Mum's shadow is apparently smaller than sister's was, the consultant said it's probably a case of wait and watch, most likely no action required at the moment.  He's referring mum to the kidney specialist for further discussion though.