The Thought of Cake

Robin's Coffee and Walnut Cake

In the night I wake and fret about Robin's sore shoulder and the muscle weakness in his arm. I get up early and Google it.  I scare myself with what it might be, so make our green juice smoothie for breakfast instead. 

Later we walk down to the surgery for his appointment with the physiotherapist. He's lovely and asks Robin all kinds of questions which I answer. The one word which we both find hard to explain is numbness or pins and needles in his fingers. Robin can't describe it  - just says his fingers hurt a bit. He can't say if the pain is dull or sharp. We just have to look at his face to see if he grimaces or not when the physio asks him to raise his arm as far as he can. Not very far.

In the end after long deliberations with the medial student who is observing all this he says it's an unusual case and is undecided about who to refer Robin to - spinal/neck or shoulder orthopaedics or the neurology dept. I want him to go to neurology where he can have an MRI scan but he says let's start with spinal. What can I say.

At lunch time he rings me - says he's had second thoughts and will refer Robin to neurology after all.  Yes - result! I like his dedication. Meanwhile keep observing him and see if anything changes. Which I do anyway.

Tonight I watch Robin as he stirs the diluted coffee granules into the cake mixture for the coffee walnut cake he's making. He uses his right arm but awkwardly, like he has been for a while now. Says it doesn't hurt though. Maybe the thought of cake has the power to numb any pain.

It's certainly a good cake. Out of the oven in time for me to watch the final of Celebrity Masterchef. Very touching to see John Torode almost moved to tears by the dedication of contestants. I was too. I wanted them all to win.