We are no stranger to sirens in this village. We are evidently one of the routes that the ambulance drivers habitually use, and we generally have 1, sometimes 2, ambulances per day pass through the village with sirens blaring and lights ablaze. We weren’t unduly surprised to hear a siren approaching the village this morning, just as we were sitting down with the first brew of the day. The surprise was that the siren stopped in the middle of the village, outside our little Post Office.
I saw the police cars (2 of them) outside the Post Office as I took the dog for her morning walk, and took a snapshot on my phone to post on Twitter – perhaps someone there would shed some light on what had happened? We continued our walk to the field by the village hall, and came across 2 more police cars in the village hall car park, and half of the car park had been cordoned off. As we returned to the house, a police dog unit vehicle arrived. What on earth could have happened? As soon as we got home I posted the picture I had taken on Instagram and Twitter. Within 5 minutes I received a Tweet from the Eastern Daily Press asking if they could use my photo. It transpired that the postmaster had been attacked and knocked unconscious as he arrived for work this morning. His assailant had taken his keys and then burgled the Post Office. I do hope he is okay – I often have a good old chinwag with him if I pop in there for a stamp or a card… It’s a shock to think this could happen in our sleepy little village.
I have a fair bit of tremor on both sides this morning. I’m not sure if the events of the morning have had an impact on it, but it certainly won’t have helped. It seems a little stronger on my right side than on my left today, so I increase the voltage to my right side by 0.1v and leave the left side alone for the time being – if I provoke any side effects I need to know which setting has caused it. My device is now delivering 1.8v to my left side, and 2.8v to my right.
We are going to The Vernon Arms this evening to meet a local couple, friends of one of our neighbours. He is also a Parkinson’s Disease sufferer, and is currently being evaluated for deep brain stimulation at the NHNN. He and his wife want to talk about the operation, and how effective it has been for me. I had better not self-medicate prior to our meeting because I want him to see exactly how my condition is with DBS but without any medication at all. I have a bit of tremor in my neck and jaw this afternoon, and I turn up the voltage a click on the left hand side just for a moment to see if that will calm it. It does. I turn it back down again for the time being – I may increase it later on tonight if there have been no adverse effects from my earlier increase of stimulation to my right side.