Ode

INCHIE TODAY: Saturday 4th March 2023

/ Inchie / 4 Comments

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Can life really be so confusing?
Baffling, grinding and bemusing?
Painful at times, but what the hell…
It’d Doreen Dementia I’ve got to quell…
The brain is ever battered and bruising,
But how to extinguish her? Nobody can tell?
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Blood in the night pouch.

I tried so hard to make these photos clear. But, no!

Straight down on the bottom field.

To the right, a smidgeon…

To the left, a little smidgeon.

Then into the maze of houses opposite.

Oh, good colour this time on emptying.

I got an email telling me that the Amazon order had been delivered!

My two boxes & other deliveries for 3 other
flats in the block, Consisting of six packages,
were left in the ground floor lobby.
I got my dressing gown on, emptied the part full day bag, grabbed the 3-wheeler walker trolley, and set off down to the lobby. When I saw the stack of parcels on the table, my heart sank. This is the second time this week that items have been left to be stolen from the lobby area. Last time, I was not in good health, and two ladies helped me up to the flat with the items. This time, I was in better Physical Health. Not necessarily mental health. If I recall, the flats’ destinations were the 4th, 9th and 11th floors.

I got up to the first flat, and no one was in. So I left the parcel near the front door of the apartment. Then up in the elevator to the 4th floor and handed the man his parcels.  Up to the 11th, and gave the lady her parcel, then I made my way back to my flat, got inside and hate kettle on…

But… acci-whoop –

As you can see above, I started to open my parcels and took out the contents of the split one… Ladies thingies! I got the spy-glass and realised it was for the lady on the 11th floor – I’d misread the label.

I grabbed Wally the 3-Wheeled Walker, exited the flat, and got back down to the 11th floor and apologised for opening it, and handed it to the lady. Who was alright about it.

Back to the flat, and opened what was my delivery. Tsk!

Food seasonings! Which were used later in the making of, well, potato & veg soup, I suppose. Then, I tried to catch the end of a film #I was watching when Amazon emailed me to lie about the delivery being done.

A proper good enjoyable oldie it was too. Peter (overacting) Cushion, Doug McClure – pure take-yourself-out-of-yourself stuff!
At The Earths Core
1978: Terrible acting, scenery, and special effects…
I Love IT!
Shame that the DVD does not have any subtitles.
Else I’d have bought a copy.
Brilliant entertainment. Go with it to enjoy it!
Anyway, thanks to Amazon, I missed it!

I also missed the sunsetting. Humph!
Still, I took these later on… of the dank dark night…

I got the veg soup seasoned, simmered and served up.

Flavour rating: 9.2/10.

Emptied the day pouch in readiness for the night pouch to be fitted. But it wasn’t… I forgot all about it.

Heckithump! Blood in the urine again!

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INCHIE TODAY: Friday 3rd March 2023

/ Inchie / 8 Comments

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At certain times today, I was with it -ish!
But not very often, really.
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The night bag this morning. 5-6 on colour patch.

Blimus! This is the day pouch an hour or so later.
Full and bloody – or bloody full. Hehehe!

Two more hours later, this!.

Carers table.

Bad photo of right foot.
But it is better than yesterday.

Evening shot of the sky.

Evening shot of the sky, slightly lower.

Down a bit more…

Down to the car park.

Now you may be wondering where all the details
and other photographs are?. So am I!
I remember having problems with the computer last night. Seriously disconcerting. It was so bad that I had to force close the computer and reboot it again. I think as this was done, It was Carer Jozef that arrived, and I moaned and groaned at my luck a little. Sorry, mate.
Worse was to come!
I’d lost six hours of CorelDraw work. The Ode, photographs, header cartoon graphics, and what was saved were virtually too hard to find, as they seemed to have been saved all over the hard and external storage… I was furious!
But defeated. I turned off the computer, hoping to sort it all out in the morning. Then took the evening shots above and got the stew made.

Well, not stew, more a can of soup, to which I added a mass of soy imitation bacon bits and a load of baked mini-cubes of potatoes.
Along with the traditional for me, tomato passata, liquid smoke, BBQ sauce and salt and vinegar.
Despite my so low mood, I enjoyed it.
Flavour Rating: 7.8/10.

Worran ‘orrible day!

INCHIE TODAY: Thursday 2nd March 2023 – New & Old Odes

/ Inchie / 6 Comments

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– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –Level ‘4’ on the NHS Urine Listing – Not good!

Aha, right leg for less swollen this morning.

Amazing change in the urine colour on the first emptying

Social event notification.

Early evening.
No sunset as such, but…
I captured these two close-ups.

A man shouted at the panel…
DELIVERY!
I opened the foyer lock door…
Then as I made my way to the door, I
spotted the Amazon van pulling away…

GCscowl B
Crap! He’s left the stuff down in the foyer, I bet!
No choice left other than to go down and find out. Here I go!
Which meant going down in my dressing gown with the catheter on display.
Although at the time, this did not occur to me at all. (thanks, Doreen Dementia!) When I got down, and saw a stack of parcels left on the table near the door, some for me, and number 5 and 42 flats. It was when two ladies returning home came in, and I saw their faces as they looked at me, that I realised I had only got on the dressing gown and slippers!
The kind ladies helped me with the parcels, one of them carrying one for me that would not fit on the three-wheeler walker. ♥ Bless Her! ♥

I’d ordered some giant cans of French Casserole. Citric Acid and vegan Bacon bits… Oh, and BBQ flavouring.
I opened the boxes and got the waste I had made to the bin in the foyer.
Then opened a can of the above meals… Of which five of the six cans had dents of varying degrees in them. Tsk!
I got some potato chunks from the freezer and got them in the oven. Planning to add flavouring to the meal, then add the potatoes.
Got the oven on the top heat setting, opened the can, and deposited the ingredients into the thick saucepan.
It didn’t look particularly appetising to look at, but smelt rather delectable to me, anyway. 800grm of food, to which I added…

I settled into my crumbling rotting c1966. charity shop bought, the second-hand, wincingly grotty, beige coloured, not working, crumb-covered from the nocturnal nibblings, itch-making, uncomfortable, virus breeding, easy-to-fall-out-of, recliner. With the intention of watching an episode of ‘Heartbeat’. Drifted off into sweet oblivion for about an hour. (Bliss!)
pressing the door chime to release the tune “Oh, Susana” blasting into my face from the box opposite my location, bringing me back to the scary reality of my tormenting, , and torturing, plaguing real-time, and the actual reality that life’s quality is sinking fast. (Shame).
Jozeph issued the medications, and . He enquired if I was cooking something cause he cols smell food burning… Potatoes; I’d left them in the oven – for over an hour!

Hobbling at warp-three to the kitchen, in a semi-panic, only to find that the potatoes were burnt… but to perfection, for me, just how I love them.
A bit of good luck there; after so long, surely they should have been just cinders? Is the stove on its way out?
Farewell to Jozeph or Jozef; I wish I could remember to ask him. Hehe!

On with the meal making such as it was. I’d added the tomato passata, basil, liquid smoke and liquid salt & vinegar earlier to let it marinate in the saucepan for a while to get the flavour. I served it on the tray and took a photo of the feast. But, into the ether, it went from the SD card. It must be something I’m doing wrong, surely for it to happen so often? I left half of the meal in the saucepan, intending to transfer it to a dish and put it in the fridge to have tomorrow – but changed plans when I went into the kitchen in the morning and found it had gelled together and did not smell too nice. So, I dished it. Huh, all that cost and effort as well! !

It was while eating and enjoying it that I could smell some burning? I returned to the kitchenette to check things. All seemed okay to me?

Back into the front room to have another session with the fodder… then I got a Peripheral Neuropathy delayed reaction; and felt the pain around my knuckles… Yes, I supposed must have burnt myself taking the potatoes out of the oven? This often happens to me. With the nerve ends, neurotransmitters are dying off (Peripheral Neuropathy). Sometimes, the supposedly instant transmissions from the nerve end to the brain get delayed. So literally, the brain did not get the message until much later.

Keepeth Safe!

INCHIE TODAY: Sunday 26th February 2023

/ Inchie / 4 Comments

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A lot better colour this time.

Murky kitchenette.

Junk room.
Oh, I mean the main room.

The massive hallway.

This is the offending, oh, so painful right foot bottom.
Where the yellow circle is, denotes where the pain is coming from. Despite Carers, two nurses, and three paramedics taking a look at it, they had no idea why I was in agony with it.

Chair, vacated by the morning Carer after giving me the medications nada checking the catheter. Checked the taps and stove; bless her!

To hate left from the kitchen window.
And to the right…

The urine is a bit darker now…
Flowing suddenly, and the bag is filling quicker than usual.
A good sign… I think.

Sun out occasionally, no warmth with it mind.

Sun is out for an hour or so. took another shot.
Bootiful sky!.
Nice!

A decent-looking meal?.
It was crap! Either my insides,
Taste Buds, or whatever?

A sadly short sunset breakthrough…
Went down so quickly tonight.
Farewell…

I was still chesty and coughing.
The foot & Catheter hurting.
Fell blissfully asleep…

Carer Richard woketh me and sorted the Catheter Night bag.
So tired and can’t remember much more…
Zzzz

INCHIE TODAY: Friday 24th February 2023

/ Inchie / 2 Comments

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HOW LONG CAN THESE HORRID DAYS GO ON?

I woke at about 06:00hrs. The pains in the sole of the right foot were agonising. I tried to stand up, but the pain was so tender I had to sit down again. After a minute or two of ponderisationing, I decided to press the Wristlet Alarm. For I could not even get back up on my feet, let alone get to the Porcelain Throne (I don’t think I need to tell you what happened, very embarrassing indeed!) or unlock the front door.
I was having great difficulty hearing what the nice lady in Nottingham City Homes Control on the monitor was saying. This was hurting more than Mystery Rib Pains Petunia, Shaking-Shoulder-Shirley, or even Catheter Kathleen’s tune had been! It was only about, last a guess, 20 minutes before the Paramedics arrived, and the pains were already reduced to a level-5 rating as they arrived. But walking, or rather hobbling, took me a little longer to tackle. There were three of them, one I think might have been a trainee.

They did the usual ECG Temp etc. But could not even guess what was causing the pain in the foot. The lady had a close look underfoot, declaring that she could see nothing that might be causing the pains? However, they put a pad around the foot that should ease the pressure of standing up.
I just had to go to the Porcelain Throne, which I painfully did.
The pad fell off on my way back to the room.

They asked many questions, many of which I could not answer. The Carer not turning up for the medicationalisationings concerned them. I said they had probably had someone not turn in for work. And they were only about an hour late. Pressure on those at work today, methinks. They came an hour or so later; not their fault, no blame attached.

I told him about the Brain Scan due today and the lack of transport to get there. He assured me that the NHS transport would collect me. The man in charge, wrote a note for the carer to ring the number he’d circled on the QMC letter to ask for a lift for me. During their attendance, one asked me if I usually speak the wrong words. I said others had mentioned it, but I was not aware, pointing out that Dementia Doreen is to blame.

I remember ringing Meridian, but I could not hear properly. I went into a Mind-Blank-Mode for a while. A Carer arrived, Adele, I think. She medicated me. Then, I tried to get the blog for yesterday done…

I seemed in and out all day, mentally. Finally, at about 23:00hrs, the pain in the right foot became bearable… what the heck is it?
Carer Jozef and Carole Anne called. No idea if any others did. The pan had left me terribly confused… which, of course, I always am. But this was more acute in handicapping me.
The day flew by all the same. I’ll get the photos from the camera now and see if any memories ate prompted. I think they will be in order… Huh!

The day is now a blur to me. (Saturday A.M.)
The level of pain from the Mystery-Underfoot-Pain varied throughout the day, I think. From bad to chronic, Tsk! Yet some bits I recall in detail, others not at all, or vaguely. Then again, maybe I just think I remember? But do I? I sense I was laughing and joking with some Carers? But was I?
I’ve had a painful lump or bruise on my neck this morning. Mayhap, I had a tumble or walked into something. But did I?
I’ll get the photographs from the SD card and see if they help. I can recall the sunset being stronger… I think. I’ll get them loaded and onto CorelDraw to sort out and post here.
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Woke in agony with the right foot underfoot pains.
Pressed the wristlet alarm when I realised it was too painful to stand up, let alone hobble around. Controller called the paramedics. Three arrived. (See above, please) Man left a note for Carers in their log book. Asking them to ring the QMC to try to book a lift to the Brain Scan job.
The District Nurse, or the Warfarin DVT nurse, or both (I think) arrived. O~ne rang the QMC for me, but I could not get through. She rang their main switchboard, and they tried but could not get through, (Leave a message each time). The lady will ring back as soon as she knows.
She did ring back. No lift was available, so she cancelled the appointment and rearranged it for March.
I got through to Easy-Link, and the kind lady accepted the booking for Wednesday, 15th March, at 13:15hrs for the brain scan. Bless her!
I was not in a good state, panic-wise and mentally, by then.
I thought it would be a good idea to let the Carers know that I am not going out this morning. So they do not get confused like what I am. Haha!
As I dialled Meridian, I suffered a Stuttering Stephanie Attack, and Dizzy Dennis joined in. I must have been waffling on intelligibly cause I was told I was talking rubbish. Which I naturally assumed I was, no doubt about that. I apologised and rang off.
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Feet-Leg

Paramedics notes
View from the computer chair
Hear perfect Urine Colour.

Getting late…
Possible sunset brewing?
Not made it, but beautiful all the same!
Loved this one…

Nightie-night!

Has urine stopped flowing?

Totally Crap Meal Made!
Chips tasteless…
Marmite Cobs stale…
Frankfurter Sausage was tasteless…
Strawberry dessert, horribly over-sweet!
Tomatoes were bitter!
Flavour-Rating 2.2/10

Evening all!

INCHIE TODAY: Thursday 23rd February 2023

/ Inchie / 2 Comments

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Iceland Delivery

Naughties?

Blimey, it’s brightened!

Morrison Delivery

Chips (Limited to one pack!) and.
non-alcohol brews.

More naughty treats… Tsk!

Made a belated Wednesday nosh.
Not bad, Taste-Rating 6.5/10.

Around 01:00hrs, with a full belly of contentment
I Fell Asleep in The Recliner

Woke to the sound of the door chime ringing out, Announcing the arrival of .

The Sunset could not get through!
How sad!
It did its bestest.
Still, a beautiful view!

At long last, I made a start on this blog proper. Then despite the earlier taken, much-needed, magnificently partly rejuvenating.

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Not so good this time.

Went to clear up the kitchen and espied the part moon showing. Got the Fuji… eventually, after a long search… a painful one with pain under the right foot. And took these two snaps…

A distant shot, and at that, I nearly missed it off of the frame altogether. Not one of betterer photographicalisationing efforts.
Ah, this one’s a little betterer!

Cutting the Warfarin tablets, as the carers are rightly not
permitted to use the bladder cutter.
For my mass of fans and followers… Would you like to guess
which of the following happened? (Only one did).
A: I cut my finger on the blade twice.
B: I dropped a Warfarin strip, then fell off of the chair retrieving them, I had to wait for a carer to arrive to help me back up.
C: I dropped a Warfarin strip, and then I hit my head on the edge of the 1960 cabinet, receiving it!
D: The phone rang, and I knocked nearly everything off of the top, grabbed the phone and dropped that!

Then got down and dropped off to sleep post-haste!

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BONUS ODE FOR WHIPPER SNAPPERS

EVENING, ALL!

INCHIE TODAY: Monday 20th February 2023

/ Inchie / 3 Comments

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But my hatred outweighs any fear

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Heartbreaking, I bet Rishi is worried about her?

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Hopeless crooked, creep!

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Yet another depressing demanding, busy, can’t-get-anything-done day.
Several acci-whoop of note:
After approximately. six weeks of suffering, bleeding, blood in the urine, and general agony with , I got a letter from City-Care with help and advice on using and coping with the painfully stuck-in Little Inchy tube of .
After several… no, many with bleeding from the filling pouch pulling at the tubing, I went a step further today, and the connector from Little Inchie to the pouch came off altogether!
Having unknowingly and. unintentionally weeing all over myself, the letter with the tips arrived. They were in print to faded and small to read, mind you, anyway. But just one of the graphs, I could decipher. Drink no tea or coffee other than decaffeinated, Green or Herbal tea. I couldn’t read 80% of it; far too small a print… have I said that already?

Also, a Urine Score Card.
Tonight it was level 7, I fear!

First photo of the day.

Blood in the night catheter.

Cleared up during the day, and the flow was much freer and more frequent. It did stink a bit, mind you. Dettol and air spray to the rescue.

Looked like there was a fire in the Basford area.
I didn’t see any blue lights, though.
Ten minutes later, and the clouds were preparing for the sunset?

Phase two…
Phase three…
Phase four…
Then the mail arrived…

Confused, and wanting not to miss the sunset photos, I left them in a pile for perusing later back in the kitchen…

Wow!
Awe-inspiring!
Great colour variation!
An almost marbled sky…
Amazing, this looked like something solid and cream?

Tendrils…

Looks like a cave opening?

Tendrils back?
Could be used in an alien film this one?
Shot down at the car park
Back up to the beautiful sky…
To the left a bit…
Gorgeous!
Nightie-night!

Copy of last week’s BP results, etc., that cost me so much time in preparing to send to the Doctors as requested. You would not belive the mistakes I had to correct… probably still some in it. Humph!

TTFN

INCHIE TODAY: Monday 27th February 2023

/ Inchie / Leave a comment

INCHIE CARTOON

ALL THE MISTAKES IN THE ODE ABOVE WERE NATURALLY INTENTIONAL. Ahem!

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I woke and had to force myself not to nod off again. The ablutionisationing just had to be done early today. So as to try and get the Sunday blog finished and get through the marathon shower[shaving and shi…, erm Porcelain Throne Sessioning done. get dressed and all the paperwork etc., ready for the trip to the hospital done in time. A challenge? Yes!
But for a man of my calibre, brave, sophisticated, on the point of being heroic. Such a challenge is welcome. Yes, a two-hour-plus struggle, yet I relish such things. Indeed, I crave them!
Please bear in mind I have not yet taken my medications.

On fumbling my way free of the clutches and crumb-containing aged, grotty-looking c1966 made, charity-shop-bought, horribly beige-coloured, £300, Harold’s Haemorrhoid-testing, non-operational, acne-giving, virus-breeding, rickety, easy-to-fall-out-of recliner…

Signs of much nocturnal nibbling having taken place were found on and around the waste bin at the side of the chair. Ahem!

I tackled the night bag detached.

A smidge dark, traces of some blood in there?

The bag was filling up quickly, but it looked a slightly better colour.
I was planning to shower, so I thought I’d get rid of some urine in case it came on again while I was in the shower.

The teggies were done, and I got my feet in the bowl on the floor soaking in Dettol and was about to start shaving… the was suddenly needed. So it was to be – But what a messy affair!
Of course, by the time I’d cleaned things up, the water in the bowl had gone cold. No problem, I’ll empty it down the WC and refill it… Did I say No Problem? acci-whoop I dropped the bowl. Had to clean things up again, but I was undaunted. Little did I know what dropsies lay in wait for me later in the day, as well! I got the shaving done with only three little cuts,
I reached up to close the shower curtain…

I felt a little discomfort in the armpit… I got the camera to try and get a photo of it…
A right red mark in there, and all the hairs had disappeared???

Was dried off with paper towels.

All looked well with the contraption.

I got things medicated, dropping the ear-holes olive oil and spilling much of it on the floor. Got dressed and off to the kitchen to get the kettle on. I knocked the saucepan off of the stove top when I dropped the milk bottle… I have to report that; There’s more to come later… Tsk!

I took a reasonably decent photo of the blue morning view.

Carer Richard arrived. Got the medications done, but he did not look very well. I felt guilty asking him to help in putting my socks on. Poor lad looked proper poor;y to me. Fingers crossed for him. He a grand chap.

I got the paperwork checked, including the times of the lift. Got myself downstairs to wait for the Easy-Lift minibus. Jenny was down there sorting some of her charity work to be collected, bless her cotton socks. Lovely to see her. The van arrived, and the lady got me to the hospital with no bother. Thank you.
I’d not taken the camera with me, cause it’s bigger than the new ones and would be awkward to use and keep safe. I got these two photos from the web when I got home.

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I got inside and joined the queue for the receptionist. A nice lady greeted me, and I gave her the paperwork, which she checked, and told me someone e would be down to see me shortly. I thanked her and moved into a seat as instructed. Remembered that I’d not got my mask on (Covid), so got it on post-haste. After a minute or two, Mr Mann came to me, checked m name and commanded (I’m not joking), to follow him, which was not easy as he’d got a good rate of speed on him. Into his office, sat down, and I was out and going back to the reception in… I’d estimate five minutes max.
He got annoyed when I could not hear what he was saying. But he only asked me three questions anyway. I think they were; how long have you had the catheter on? 8-9 weeks! Have you had a bladder scan? Yes! He asked a third question that I had to guess. 
Then he said; That’s it then; we’ll see how you go when they take it off. You’ll not see me again! Very nice!
Back to the reception area to await the lift home. It was due in about an hour or so. I got the pen and crossword book out and gave it a go for gouty minutes or so. It was hard work reading the clues, but I enjoyed it. Even if I didn’t get many answers, it kept my brain going.

I got the pains in Little Inchie, and I knew that the catheter bag must be full and filling the tube with nowhere to go. I couldn’t check it, because it would mean taking off my trousers.
I thought I’d join the queue again to ask if it was possible for me to use the WC to empty the bag. But the kind lady who greeted me came over to me and asked if I was waiting for a lift or do I want her to call anyone. Kind! I explained my unfortunate condition, and she got two… I say two nurses who took me to the closet and emptied the pouch ♥!
Not only that, but as I was about to go with them, the Easy Link minibus arrived. The kind lady said you get your bag seen to; I’ll tell the diver what’s happening. She made me feel important. Unlike the Doctor, who knew I was an NHS imposter and had no qualms about looking and talking down to me.
The two nurses, by the way, I think, were in the photo from the web. Fourth and sixth from the left. ♥♥♥

The driver, chappie, was patient with me and soon had me back at the flats. I gave him drinkies from the three-wheeled-walker trolley basket.

I met Carer Carol-Anne in the lift.
She sorted the meds for me..

Dropped a mug of tea!

All clean up.

SOD ME!
AGAIN!

Peed off now!

Started A pan of vegetable stew.
Knocked the knife box off of the ledge when taking photos.

AGAIN!
Knocked the box off!!!

Great space-related shots? Hehe!

Later…

Carer Charly.

Time for Food!

Oh, no, it isn’t!

Carer Richard Arrived. Very tired and not looking well at all, poor lad. He got the night pouch attached to the , and he gave me some Peptac. I got him a cold drink of spring water to help cool him down. Richard was sweating and had a croaking voice. I fear he may have to rest and see his doctor soon. Fingers crossed!
Hope he can get through the day; bless him.

Time for Food!

It started with a can of cheapo Asda vegetable soup and a can of tomatoes. I seasoned it with some BBQ marinade, sea salt & Oxo cubes. I added some peas and potatoes from the slow cooker. Then cooked some potato cubes in the oven until nice and crispy (the ones that Richard rescued as he arrived), crispy hard on the outside, and added them to the saucepan of vegetable delights. It was a struggle getting it prepared, what with the four-pronged walking stick and carrying the night pouch about with me. I did manage one more , spilt some soup on the kitchen floor while dishing it up.

Not that it bothered me or got me grinding my teeth, cursing venomously, encouraged self-loathing, nearly making me cry, or spitting blood…

Then, the feasting started!
Somehow or other, I ate the entire bowlful, and it was a large bowlful.
I enjoyed it and even went into the kitchen afterwards to wash the dishes and check if anything had been missed in my previous cleaning up.
All went well… apart from I’d left the cold tap running, the hob heat on and dropped and broke the sauce pot washing up.
ARGH! An irritated, self-annoyed Inchie could then not get off to sleep… well, not for ages, anyway. Grrr!

INCHIE TODAY: Saturday 18th February 2023

/ Inchie / 6 Comments

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Today, I received two letters. Neither of which exactly perked me up, cheered me up or made me sing or yodel with pure joy.
But first, I’m afraid this is another rushed blog. Due to the hours spent sorting out the mail in hate form of four A4 pages of the very small print of details required by the hospital for the upcoming operation on the Prostate that needed to be filled in. But, I made a right mess of it.
THe Carer who came pointed out that I could do it on the Internet.
So, I did, and that took me over an hour and a half to get right! Had to ring Sister Jane to confirm her address and telephone number. But got it done and tried to send it, but it wouldn’t have it.
So I double-checked that I’d filled everything in properly.
Which, of course, I hadn’t! There was a disclaimer box that had to be clicked on. So, I clicked on it. Another messy day!
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I got out of the recliner, caught my balance, and went off to the porcelain Throne. Messy! Very Messy!
Checked the batteries and made sure the Fuji was working.

Took a snap from the window.

Stripped t get ready to go to get the ablutions done.
The toes had lost their brown colouring but were more twisted and swollen.

07:40hrs: I started the Ablutionings.
My teeth were cleaned, my nose cleared, and I shaved while I was standing in a bowl of soapy water and Dettol. 
Eye drops in, medicated certain delicate areas. I actually felt worn out; the whole session took ages. I took a photo of the wrist alert bands

Right wrist...
Left wrist… Which meant after looking at the clock, that I’d spent
erm… 08:55 now, started at 07:40hrs – that was good for me!
Smug-Mode Engaged!

The two errant toes were stinging a bit.

Blimey sunshine out!

Carer Adele arrived a little late, not that it mattered in the slightest to me.
She’s collected the two letters from the door box on coming in.
One was a bill from Easy-Link.


The other (above). was the dreaded questionnaire from the Woodthorpe Hospital. I have to fill it in and register before they can see me.
It cost me over four hours to get it all done!

Carers came and went, but I worked like a good un trying to get this blog done… I had to keep stopping for the carers visits, phone calls, answer emails that came in, emptying the daub pouch of the catheter, and forever adjusting the tubing that was giving me some right bother; the bleeding had not stopped since the first accidental pull on the tube. Not bleeding badly, more like a little leak. But it keeps drying, and when I move, the dried blood cracks and starts flowing again; Humph!

Nothing to eat yet. Not that I want anything. I did nibble and dunk a few biscuits each time I made a brew… although five of the mugs of tea went cold cause I was concentrating on doing the graphics.

Tea time, and I went to make another brew, intent on making sure I drank this one. I didn’t. Cause I espied a slimmer of light on the horison – Aha… Sunset was coming, methinks!.

I took a closer shot.

Over the next half-hour, I took several photos of the wonderful sky until the short sunsetting had gone.

Finally….
Ta-Ta Sunshine!

Get something to eat now… I hope!

A much-doctored bowl of veg soup.
I was halfway through it when the new Carer Zika arrived.
He was late arriving, and muggings here forgot he’d not been.
I am a plonker! He’s a nice lad.
With chatting with him as he got the medications sorted, I also forgot all about the night pouch that needed fitting to the on the .

He took the waste bags and checked the taps for me as he departed.

Then I got the dish, and cutlery washed and settled down in the second-hand, £300, charity shop bought, crumb-retaining, microorganism-microbe producing, gungy, moth-eaten, beige-coloured, non-working, bacillus encouraging, incommodious, Haemorrhoid Harold testing, c1968 recliner.

Another much-interrupted sleep. For I had to keep checking and emptying the smaller day bag, if needed, overnight. Lost count of the times I had to get up and free the urine into the bucket. Tsk! I think seeing a new face and nattering a little helped me forget about the night pouch.

I also got a visit from Dizzy Dennis every time I bent down to undo the release valve. A little disconcerting they were.

TTFN

INCHIE TODAY: Friday 17th February 2023

/ Inchie / 2 Comments

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Foreboding: What does that really mean?
I’ll look it up; just a moment, please…
Ah, yes, hats the word.
Today has been a get nothing done, but, been a busy all-day scenario.
A new medical appointment at the Woodthorpe Hospital arrived via a long complicated difficult-to-hear telephone call from the Doctors surgery.

For an Initial Prostate investigation. I think it was called a TURP procedure, so I looked it up to know what’s what to expect.
“Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP)”
Further investigationings came up with:
In transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), a combined visual and surgical instrument (resectoscope) is inserted through the urethra, where it’s surrounded by prostate tissue. An electrical loop cuts away excess prostate tissue to improve urine flow. Oh, good!
I made nine phone calls today: Easy-Link to try and book a lift to and from the Woodthorpe Hospital for the procedure – No chance, told to ring back on Monday morning. I’m hoping that I remember to!

The last five procedures I’ve had all came on a Friday afternoon or evening. Easy (Easy? Haha!) link finish early Fridays, do not have anyone on Saturdays and Sundays. But I’m not complaining about them, they are a charity with wonderful kind volunteers.

I had eight phone calls come in today, and every single one came when I was either in the wet room or kitchen. Thus did not hear them or heard late and missed them… well, five of them. I also made nine calls out. Five being to get through to Easy-Link, which didn’t work out, did it?

A most frustrating day. Thinking about it; nothing went right at all that I can remember. I just got more and more frustrated as the day wore on, grinding me into a Dracula depression.

It all started when I woke up!
I could at least stand up a little easier this morning. But hobbling, more than walking nowadays, was dodgy as the swelling of the ankles and toes was throwing what bit of balance I’d got out of sync.

I took the above abysmally bad photo of the right foot… Dropped the Fuji camera, and the batteries fell out. Could I find them all? No! I found them all, bar one. Where it went is still a mystery as I type this. So, no photos for the blog. Although, many hours (18:00hrs) later, I trod on the escaped battery that had rolled under an overlapping chair cover and found it as I ended up on the floor – luckily right next to the Inchy-Elephant-Lifting-Aid, the recliner, os I got back up actually thinking… Aha, I can use the camera now.
No idea why, but it let me take one shot of the sky clouds and refused to be turned on after that at all. I shall have a look for the spare batteries again later. Maybe if I can find them, they will save the day? Prevent me from topping myself with frustration? Only joking!

Carer Kara came, I do like her. But she looked a little tense today, hope she’s alright. Managed to get a laugh from her before she departed.

The one and only Porcelain Throne Session went okay. Yes!

Liberty-Global -Virgin Internet went done for a short while. Well, would you believe that? Amazing, it hadn’t gone down since yesterday!

Carer Sam arrived. Had a mini-natter, and she looked well.

Went to make a brew of Glengettie, and the mobile rang, which of course, I can’t hear when in the kitchen. I caught the last few rings as I got to the phone too late. The receptionist rang me back minutes later, but it was impossible to hear what she was saying as things kept breaking up.
She tried again on the landline. Not perfect, but easier to hear more of what she was saying about the appointment at the hospital.
Then ~I tried ringing Easy-Link. After several failed attempts over the next hour or so, I got through. But there was no one in; they had just closed down for the week. The lady said to ring back on Monday.

Bit of a Panic: Doreen’s fault!

I’d got it mixed up a little, and I thought for a moment that the appointment was for next Monday, so can they supply a lift with such short notice, I thought. Minutes later, it clicked into place, and I realised the Prostate was being inspected on the 27th, not the 20th. Panic-Over!

Care Jozeph, or is it Josef, arrived, and I asked him to see if he could let someone know to remind me on Monday to call Easy-Link. I’m not sure he’ll be in, though, on Monday. I’ll ask the others too.

Hello, Hello, Hello!
I went to wash my tea mug and spilt some water with citric acid in it, and some went into the drawer – I hastily grabbed some kitchen towel and pulled open the drawer…
It was at this precise moment that I remembered where I’d put the Amazon double-A batteries. The moment I saw them lying there in the drawer!
Yeehaa!

I got them into the Fuji and, with a certain disappointment, realised that there was no sunset to see tonight! But took this shot. I had some wonderful shots these last three nights as well.

Then to make sure things were working Fuji-wise, I
took this shot of the main room.
Getting on now.

I pressed on with the blogging duties.
Sad that there were not many photographs.
And I thought I’ll make it up to my
many followers and fans and put some of my
favourite sunset pictures of the week on.
I hope they both like them.
Here they are:

And the week before:

That’s yer lot.

I’ll get something to eat now…
Oh, no, I won’t.

Carer Sarah arrived to put the night pouch on to
No time for a chat; the gal was busy.

Now I’ll get some sarnies made. Vegan ham,
on oven-baked rolls with BBQ sauce.
Sounds okay to me; better just make sure
I’ve got some plasters before I start to slice
the pretend meat or burn my fingers
in the oven. Hehehe!

Vegan ham, fresh Kenyan peas, two rolls with Marmite
and cheese, dunked with the ham into some BBQ sauce (Of course). A pot of cheap strawberry jam cheesecake, and eaten along with a bag (Or two) of the delicious, irresistible Marmite crisps!

It was well gone midnight again before I got settled into the aged, grotty-looking c1966 made, charity-shop-bought, horribly beige-coloured, £300, Harold’s Haemorrhoid-testing, non-operational, acne-giving, virus-breeding, rickety, easy-to-fall-out-of recliner.

But Sweet Morpheus soon had me… Zzzing!