Herbs, that is so miserable for your dn and her family.
MI, sorry to hear about the back trouble. I can recommend a book called "The End of Back Pain" by Patrick Roth. I do the exercises he prescribes every other day, having graduated on to them from my physio exercises. I find the exercises will even sometimes get rid of the pain for a while.
I have submitted an honestly completed medical form to my prospective employer, submitted yet another DBS check thing (had to do one for my voluntary stint with ds's school as well at the beginning of this term) and spent the day at the school yesterday observing some teaching and sampling the cuisine in the exquisite school canteen that looks like the restaurant in a nice hotel. Perk of the job = free lunch. Ds is all 
as he is currently hating school and wants to leave. :(
For an explanation of why, see here
This is the new grammar test for 11 year olds. As someone who has spent the last 17 years translating and writing for a living, as well as correcting the less than splendid English of non-natives, there are a bunch of questions that made my head hurt. Why oh why does anyone think that this is going to make them better at reading and writing? I just don't see the point in them knowing whether 'after' is being used as a preposition or a subordinating conjunction, ffs. I note that in the school I shall be working in, they are still bumbling along using the term 'connectives' and fudging the entire issue, as was previously the case in the state system.