Thanks for the messages everyone - I'll print them out and pass them on to Marian at the end of the week. In the meantime, Geoff, Marian's husband, has just told me that the hospital have now said (after another battery of tests) that it wasn't a stroke after all. However, they have identified a problem with her thyroid gland, which was causing the unsteadiness, and are conducting yet more tests. In the meantime Marian will be in the hospital in Exeter until at least the weekend. More info as I have it.