A Good Clear Out

Last Thursday afternoon Fester returned from the Mining Institute looking even paler and grumpier than usual.   

He leaned around the living room door, growled 

“I’m knackered and my guts are playing up” 

and retired to bed.   

He felt sufficiently strong to make the boys’ tea but I got 

“You’ll have to shift for yourself”.

On Friday morning I included this in the email to my blog-mailing-list

“Fester has taken to bed - again - however he's strong enough for me to put the telly on for him.”

Fester’s habit of taking to bed is why Mrs Eft now refers to him as the Little Hot House Plant, however on this occasion her response was

“Poor Fester.  You must be treating him badly..”

He was well enough by Saturday morning to go on the bus to Alnwick with Ferretfingers.  When he came home he returned to bed.   At bedtime he asked 

“Have we got anything like Imodium in the house?”   

I rummaged in the corner of the dark cupboard where we keep such things and came across a packet of Imodium.  He took two despite my warning that I had no idea when it was bought or the expiry date. 

“It’ll be fine.”

On Sunday morning he and Ferretfingers went to North Shields.

I examined the Imodium box in bright daylight and was able to make out the expiry date: 08-2011.  

I asked Thunderthighs to pop into whichever pharmacy was open and get a new box of Immodium or the own brand equivalent.  Which he did – one of each.

On their return Fester admitted it had been a stressful trip and that the tablets hadn’t had much effect.  He took two of the new ones which, thankfully, seem to have done the trick.

I got everything out of the ‘medicine cupboard’ and discovered:-

Senokot expired 1/08/19-1/08/22

Germolene expired 10/2020

Anbesol oral gel expired 05/2020

Health Essentials Ibuprofen tablets expired March 2020

Spar Paracetamol tablets expired 11/18

Numark Anti-Diarrhoea Capsules expiry date 08/2018

Fucicort Lipid cream expired 04/2012

Fucidin cream expired 11/2010

Medigel for mouth ulcers expired August 2010

Sainsbury’s diarrhoea relief tablets expired 08/07 – three packets

Calgel Teething Gel expired 05/2004

Boots Soluble Asprin Tablets 300mg use by July 03

Boots Sore Mouth Gel, tube not in box

Canestan cream, tube not in box

These are all being disposed of (Middlesister would approve).

Wondering why we had so much anti-diarrhoea stuff I remembered we’d brought most of it back from Sheffield (Fester’s little brother had problems).

Even so that was in 2012, when some were already a good five years out of date.