Just to let you all know that I am still in a dark place but the light is starting to emerge.
I do not see how Chris can ever walk again. The medics think she has MS but tests have been inconclusive. What nearly killed her initially was her own intransigence on refusing to accept medical help over a long period - and we are talking years. Since being dragged back from that, a couple of bouts of blood poisoning are what nearly killed her twice more. Guys, unless you have seen it you would not believe how many drips can be inserted into a human body.
Here in the UK, our National Health Service occasionally gets a bad press because it cannot always be all things to all people. I don't care. Without it, I would have lost my wife a long time ago.
Chris grows stronger every day. She has no leg mobility and only semi-mobility in one arm - enough to turn the pages of a book or operate a tv remote control, that kind of thing. She can only come home with the aid of a huge care package - I could not cope alone with her condition. The hospital Social Services team are putting together this package. Unless something else goes horribly wrong, Chris will come home eventually.
Once she comes home, I do not know how much time we will have left together. At least we will have whatever time is left. You could argue that after 42 years, anything is a bonus. For sure it looks like it to me.
I am deeply grateful to all you guys. Thank you. I have a two pronged sanity saviour; one is my work as a piano teacher; the other is shf.