POLITICAL CARTOON – Naughty! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – The spelling mistake was on purpose – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Well, the visit to the produced some action this morning. Fair enough, it was phooey, sticky, falling apart on hitting the water, khaki-coloured mini-torpedoes that evacuated with ease and no pain. Yet somehow produced a little blood to decorate the WC and my bum and legs. Unfortunately I my toe on the floor cabinet corner when I bent down to clean the blood from the WC. No bother, of course, not for the hero of my sturdy, manly-pain-bearing capabilities. No arghs, cursing or swearing, spitting, growling or self-pity. Well, just maybe the odd cringe and wince. Hehe! Carer Jo-Anne called the opticians for me to clarify what they rang me about last weekend. It seems my spectacles are ready to collect, and I have to fetch them to see how I go with them, and then they can do a reading pair. From what I recall, the left lens will be apparent, ready to be swapped when, or if, the left Cataract ever gets done. I’ve no idea if this first pair will be distance or a reading lens fitted. If the Blepharitis is not cleared when I get to the hospital for the left eye cataracts to be done, I’ll be refused and go back to the start of the waiting list again. As it took me over two years to get the right eye done, you can understand how apprehensive I am. Then surprise, surprise, and a Great one too! Nurse Hristina turned up to take my blood today, not Wednesday! The INR level is still worrying them. Far too high!I got the new dosage sheet Yesterday. Far too high. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Night Pouch removed
The legs and ankles were much better this morning!
Trotsky was in charge again!
Taken through the balcony doors and window. Drizzling.
Washed the plates, great!
GOT CARRIED AWAYDoing the day’s blog, I came across a notepad page that was only partly completed; let me spend, wait for it… over 6 hours doing the ode page words! And it’s not finished yet! I simply plodded on uncaringly until the Carer arrived… Tsk!
Got on to CorelDraw. The flipping day’s nearly done. Still, I did stop to take some sky photos occasionally.
Photos were taken while Carer Benjamin was here. Caught Benjamin taking a selfie on the balcony. Hehe!
As of 15@45hrs…
Here are the sky photos in the order they were taken. The first one. Above and below from the balcony. Getting darker earlier now. Looking almost scary now… Still Bootiful, though!
Time to get the nosh sorted out… well, it’s well gone the usual time. If I get a crack one, just knuckle and potatoes, methinks, saving some time. That’s a rarity. No, a sudden change of mind hit me.I had battered balls, bread and peas; that’ll do me. Wonder if I’ve got any crispy onions left in the cupboard? I’ll Soon find out! Nope! So I added some to my Asda order for the morning. The nosh was cooked and served. Nothing special, but So-Tasty! Flavour Rating: 8.8/10.
Washed the pots; I took care cause carrying the night pouch and can be a bit hazardous. In fact, using Metal-Mickey, helped me avoid a when I against the radiator as I went to take these two early morning photographs of the view from the kitchenette window. High in the sky… and down to the houses.
Settled into the £300 second-hand shop bought, c1966. Moth-eaten, cringingly-beige-coloured, grotty, bedraggled, dilapidated, crumb-containing for my nocturnal nibblings, bug-ridden, itch-inspiring, not working recliner. In search of . But he was in a stubborn mood, and it took me a couple of hours to nod off. I noted the time, 03:00hrs, when I knocked a bottle of soda water off the ottoman tray. Used the torch to check it had not burst open and saw the big battery clock. It seemed that seconds later, I was in the land of bliss. Ahh!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – IN ODE… I DIDN’T SAY IT WAS A GOOD ODE! Today has been more than ever surreal, I woke up with a wobbly left heel,. A knee that at times I could not feel? Throughout the day I mustered no zeal! At times I felt a little funereal!. Again, sleep was not acquirable, I felt tired, and Gawdawful, Though it ended with a decent meal… No concentration; I felt so angstful,
But, I can be indefatigable…
But not while life is so insurmountable! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Night pouch contents changed colour?
Or it may be my use of the Kodak Camera?
Morning views… Kitchen ahead. Kitchen zoom in on the City Hospital. Balcony end car park view.
Ablutions – Porcelain Throning.
Rubbish Bags Sorted.
First Mug of Glengettie Tea.
Asda, email with a list of shortages for today’s order.
ASDA ORDER ARRIVED Cheesy curls for the week. Got stored away. Well stocked? Then sorted the nurses, carers, and delivery people treats. Plenty of choices for them now.
Letters from EE, The EENT Clinic, & QMC.
Prepped the cooking for the nosh. Shelled some pod peas, and added them to the rice and veg. Sea salt, and veg Oxo. Tested them after adding a can of chunky veg soup to the saucepan. I left the heavy-duty saucepan on low heat for a little longer. Blogged away for several more hours, forgetting about the veg cooking… FOOL! I rescues the gooey-sticky mess of food, but adding some concentrated Borschst and vinegar to the mix, and gave it a good stirring for a while as it reheated.
Carer Kara returned the laundry for me… and kindly hung up the dressing gowns for me. ♥
I got the nosh served up… And it tasted Grrreat! Flavour-Rating: 9/10! Slurred, gobble, belch!
The last Carer Called; the night bag was attached, to the day bag. The taps & cooker were not checked, though. So I had to carry the night bag with me and my beloved to check on the taps (faucets) and cooker. I’m so glad I did, I’d left the small hob on from cooking the meal. Phew!
Sleep for once came easily. Off into the land of nod in noir time! Had a dream as I recall, I was back as a young whippersnapper, in Brookfield Place in the old Meadows area of Nottingham.I can’t recall too much, other than it was a happy nocturnal dream for once… I think!
Woke up early, and had to get up… a call from the made me get up, and I could not get back to sleep… Fancy that!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Goodness Gracious Me! I dislodged my humongous body from the clutches of the c1966, £300 pound, second-hand charity-shop bought, crumb-containing, odour-retaining, Harold’s Haemorrhoid-testing, nauseatingly beige coloured, non-working, virus-breeding recliner, giving up to the chances of ever returning. The rattling in my head from the consistent eased immediately. Phew!
I had planned to get the ablutions and shaving sorted first thing, with a stand-up bath so as not to disturb my neighbours with the noise from the shower… but…
Great balls of fire! , … , I could spit! That’s the second night I’ve failed to check the taps and cooker, and lost all the hot water! Both me and the Carer, actually. NO HOT WATER to do the ablutions with. No way am I going to risk carrying hot water about again, after the last scoldings I gave myself, carrying it to the wet room for shaving with. At least it didn’t overflow. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
I rose around 02:00hrs and took off the night catheter bag from the . I had a thirst for a mug o Glengettie tea come over me. This is when I found the hot water tap running cold as you like. Self-condemnation and hatred spouted from my mind and loins, I was annoyed with me! This was despite having a sign up in the hallway opposite the door, that Carer Richard had kindly done and stuck up on the airing cupboard door for me to use to remind myself and other carers. As I said earlier, thank heavens I’d not left the plug in the sink! Could have been a lot worserer, I suppose. Humph! I took these two terribly bad photos of the morning view from the kitchenette window. Then cleaned up the mess in the sink and draining board. I got the waste bags sorted ready, and went to get the computer on… always a nerve-shattering thing, hope that Liberty Global will, might, maybe it’ll work… But No! I should have known better than that, shouldn’t I? It was not having the quick solutions to come back on this morning. In the end, I had to lose what bit of work I’d done on CorelDraw, WordPress and the Ode – Spit, Spit, Spit! Turn everything off, DVD reader that’s not right… erm… SD Reader, keyboard, computer and the Liberty-Global thingummy whatsit box and leave things for a while, in the hope that it could come back on in ten minutes or so. I reset the router and hobbled off to respond to the needs of the . shared a little control with again. Not a lot! The thing that puzzled me a smidgeon, was the three shades of brown in the two torpedoes? One of them was almost black. Still, it made a change. I got my first mug of Glengettie made and enjoyed it. A lovely strong brew! Have way through gulping it down and chimed out as the Carer arrived for the first visit. It was the new gal, Marilyn or Maria I think her name is. Nice gal; we managed a few minutes of chin-wagging in between. Nice lady.
I pressed on with the blogging but kept feeling guilt and annoyance at having no water, so no shave. You bet your bottom dollar that tonight when the water has heated up, I’ll have nodded off, with me getting up so early in the morning.
This late afternoon, I managed to take two of the worst photos I’ve ever managed before!
Both pictures were set on the ‘Indoor Option’ on the Kodak. Both, as you can see, came out weirdly reflective, if that’s the right word. I wonder what I did wrong this time?
Made the semi-prepared meal. The spuds were done in the slow cooker, halved and a splatter of BBQ sauce was applied. The fresh garden peas with a bit of mint in them were gorgeous! The cheese pasties were done in the oven. The tomatoes were halved and liquid salt was added. Nice! Flavour-Rating: 7.9/10.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – With my weird sleep problems over the last three days, I have partially lost my appetite for doing this blog. Unbelievably, even to me, I was beginning to feel sleepy on the first Carers call this morning.By the time midday came around and the second call, I was fighting to stay awake! I forgot to hold the tissue in the eye after the drops; I felt half-out of it. I’d not even started on this blog by then. I’m going to call the doctor on Monday morning; this is getting to me; every following day since Wednesday, I began to droop earlier! I’ve never had so much sleep in my life, yet I still feel drained mentally and so tired? I’ll do my best with it, but it’ll probably be far away from my usual wittiness and fun-loving quips being put in. Here goes:
At least Victor had opened the valve on the day bag after fitting the night bag for me.
Off to the wet room for the evacuationing…Still as messy as heck. TT is in control.
Blimey, I’m getting short of toilet paper! The two-and-a-half rolls left won’t last long at this rate. Haha! Wonder if this is owt do with the sleep-craving problem?
The legs were much improved. Grrreat!
Off to make a brew of possibly the world’s finest-tasting medicine, Glengettie. Warming the mug first, making sure that the
whole cream milk was used, just a drop, mind you. Left the teabag to brew, stirring all the while. I could smell the delicious brew wafting up… I got the tongues and extracted all the flavour from the teabag, then…
The milk bottle slipped in response to jiggling my body’s right side. I grabbed at the bottle, which had the top put back on… and was on the verge of going into a , as of all ailments, kicked-off, and I knocked the perfect mug of Glengettie off of the cabinet, onto the floor, via my left foot’s , spilling in every possible hiding place it could find! Did I swear? Yes!
Got the mess cleaned up in my usual happy-go-lucky singing away manner. Made another mug of Glengettie. Very carefully! It tasted amazing and went down well.
Got the computer on… The day is getting worse now…
The second call was from Carer RO, a nice gal. But I can’t hear what she’s saying much. Helped me out when emptying the catheter pouch and got the wobbles from , saved me from another mess, bless her.
Late afternoon clouds… Not sure why I took this one; it looks like the one above? Hey-Ho!
Blogging for ten minutes, then…
Back on again… for 15 minutes. Doing better today… up to now!
Firefox went down! Well, fancy that! Took me hours to get it back on. No idea how I did it anyway, but all tabs had disappeared! Miffed!
The skies were now in a threatening mode. Beautifully, though; rain is to come again, I just know.
I transferred the potatoes from the crock-pot to a saucepan with the chunky veg soup in it. Sliced a few tomatoes. Added a splurt of the Winiary seasoning liquid.A drop more sea salt and a dash of BBQ sauce. Next, the most important ingredient was added and stirred in with some gusto.
Left it to marinade on the lowest setting, nipping back into the kitchen to give it regular stirs.
The rain came when I was about to return to cry over the pathetic computer mess!
It started coming… Fine rain heavily for half an hour or so… Then we had a ten-minute, even heavier downpour.
Carer Kevin arrived and soon had me sorted out
I checked on the chunky vegetable soup and got it served up. By Jimminee, my appetite made a comeback tonight!. I’d thought I’d made too much at first, but No! I gobbled up the lot of it. And ate all of the Milk Roll bread… the strawberry cheesecake too!
Carer Richard arrived for the last call of the day. He was just starting his shift, so naturally, his ebullient wit had not kicked in yet. Hehe!
I looked at the Freeview listings and noticed Death Wish 2 was on in ten minutes. Got the pots washed in a hurry… this was not a good idea at all!
I dropped the tray while putting things in the sink to wash. The only solid thing tumbling was the knife – which managed to land on me. Bending down to retrieve the utensil, I coated my chin against the edge of the sink. Having continued hastily washing the pots so as not to miss the film’s start, I knocked the bowl off the sideboard. No injuries with this one. Worth mentioning?
I got back into the second-hand, £300, c1968, overwhelmingly sickening beige coloured, tatty, uncomfortable, wobbly, germ-producing, falling to pieces, food residue collecting recliner, and got the TV on again. To find I’d misread the TV menu, but it was not Death Wish 2, but Lethal Weapon 2.
Fair enough, I settled while the adverts were on, 15 minutes of the film were missed. Got myself a bag of cheese curls and a bottle of soda water to hand, and the film restarted after the commercials… Then fell into a deep sleep. To wake up, as the credits were scrolling the screen as the movie ended!
Then, after four nights of precious sleep, I assume thanks to the chloroform in the Minims eye drops, now finished; the darned annoying and alarming nasty Thought Storms started again! After four hours of nodding and jumping awake, I gave up and got up! Not that this bothers a man of my distinctly accepting and casual style.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Sorry, but I fell asleep more times today than ever before. Very few reminder notes were made. Mainly photographs later in the day, as the tiredness and weariness dawned in the early afternoon. Later, I looked up information on the side effects of chloramphenicol eye drops. I did, but I made a mess of copying it and got this mess of text into the graphic. Sorry.
On waking up, before nodding off again!
Woke up once more, night bag looking good. Got it detached and emptied, securely wrapped, and disposed of.
The new had fallen down the leg, so I readjusted it – Easy-Peasy this morning, no hassle or bother from , , , or at all yet? A few nicks shaving. As expected Cleaned and refreshed, and feeling rather good after a broken but long sleep, even on 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 I knew it wasn’t going to last long. I’m fading, getting so tired I cannot concentrate on anything but the need to sleep earlier every day! Yet I felt good at this time!
I got some potatoes in the crock pot and flavoured them with sea salt, Winiary Przyprawa, and unfortunately…overdoing the pinch of basil, as the lid shot off! A good stir to dissipate it… Not that it did much dissipating. Got the lid on and left it for six hours.
Made a brew and onto the computer. I did not feel like having any biscuit dunking this morning; I didn’t have any all day. Amazing! Something wrong here!
Five minutes later, it returned.
Three minutes later… Humph! It had not come back on for fifteen minutes, so I had to shut everything down and reset the box again… Another five minutes before it returned.
Got on with the blog updating. For five minutes, then… Left the computer and went on the balcony to take this shot of the mini-mud slide in the end car park. The The Internet had not returned yet.
So I took these shots through the kitchenette window of the falling rain; I wasn’t going to open the window. A close-up. Wide shot to the left.
The abysmal, unreliable finally returned, and I grafted away at the Thursday blog.
Carers Chris and Kara called. Chris was a little late at 09:30hrs. Kara, on the dot at 12:00hrs. Angel Nurse Hristina arrived and got the blood taken. I lovely gal!
Fancy that!
The rain resined, and as I was taking this photo… The Weariness & Tiredness kicked in! I was incapable of continuing to start this blog, and I will have to find time in the morning. Gawd, this dead-beatness since taking the new eye drops is getting earlier each day!
Better get the nosh done now; the potatoes were cooked.
I added them to the saucepan of vegetable soup and added a drop of the delightfully-tasty Krakus Borscht. And some peas to the mix. Wunderbar! A delightful nosh, Rated at an 8.9 on the Taste-Rating
I was struggling to stay awake now. Managed to get the pots washed, then got down in the £300, second-hand, most uncomfortable, decrepit, Haemorrhoid Harold-testing, micro-organism-microbe-bugged, easily-falloutable from, unfit-for-use, not working, recliner. Sleep came almost immediately.
I was woken up by Carer Chris’s arrival. Can’t recall much of it.
Zzz! Returned within seconds of Chris’s departure.
I was woken up again by Carer Chris’s arrival. I can’t recall much of it, well, anything really, other than he put the night pouch onto the .
I think IO had odd dreams, and they were waking me up frequently – but I soon nodded off each time… well, not the last one.That dream was a bad one that had me trying to make heads or tails about it in my mind…
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Mayhap the oddest day of the week so far.
Unexpectedly Busy? Yes! This blog was not started until Friday. Being tired after the EENT runabout made me knackered and drained early in the afternoon. But the extra visits were all welcome, all the same. I faded very early, though; all I wanted and felt needed was sleep. Fat chance. It can’t be helped. Being a mind-testing set of visits, I had no notes as such to use, and time memory was all I had… Oh, and some earlier-in-the-day photos to prompt me a little. Here goes If Liberty-Global-owned Virgin Media doesn’t keep going down again. Naturally, it did!
05:00hrs. No night bag attached again, Tsk! The urine in the day pouch was a deep colour. Tummy ache and wind.
Did the waste bags… Carer Chris arrived to sort me.
Computer on… 2 minutes after getting it back on… Ten minutes after it returned…
Took these kitchen view shots waiting for the internet… Up in the sky. Sun coming up from behind.
Carer Kara arrived. And a blessing she was, as she usually is. She got the bank payment for my Easy-Link debt payment. £79.00 was put through to the bank and sorted. Emailed Easy-Link to confirm it. No reply yet. Did the eye drops. ♥
Struggled, and it was time-consuming, but I finished the Wednesday blog and posted off to WordPress.
The landline flashed. It was Phlebotomy Nurse Hristina. To tell me she would call tomorrow morning to take the Warfarin INR blood sample for analysis. ♥
The Asda order arrived. Nibbles Frozen favourites! Fresh food treats! Drinkies to help the bladder Fridge refilled now
I thought I was doing well on the odeing, then the rush of helpers arrived – Bless Them All!
Two District Nurses arrived. I’d hoped they were going to remove , so that I could have a go at seeing myself after the Finasteride course of tablets had finished. I did not realise that the penicillin tablets had run out, and not the above. I was hoping to give manual wee-weeing a go, and that I could pass water voluntarily again. With the (hopefully) now-reduced in size Prostate. If the tablets had worked. But they seem to have put me on another course of these. The embarrassment brought forth some witticisms from my lips. As the nurse reached for some of my kitchen towels to cover me up – Carer Kara came in while they were ‘doing me’, and I quipped, a postage stamp would have done! Hehehe!
I remembered I’d got some potatoes in the oven for my meal. Kara kindly went to check on them for me. A Lidocaine (a local anaesthetic) and Chlorhexidine, (an antiseptic) tube were shot into Little Inchie. Stings a bit, but a nurse laughed and mimicked, “Oh, oh, oh!” Which took my mind off of the pain. Clever gal! Then… Dang-dang-dang, Dang! The insertion of the new tube began… Naturally, my being the brave, heroic sort of young man, there was no grimacing, chewing of the cushion on the c1966, £300, second-hand charity-shop bought, crumb-containing, odour-retaining, Harold’s Haemorrhoid-testing, nauseatingly beige coloured, non-working, virus-breeding recliner which I was sat on, howls of pain, nor exclamations of any sort, like, ARRGH! or anything of that nature while the tube went in. . But this inserting nurse was a no-messing-about one; I think she did it last time, too, straight in unhesitatingly. It was soon all over and settled! Thank you! ♥
Kara did the eye drops and medications for me.
Then I got the meal ready. Simple food for a simple man. Hehe! Flavour rating: 7.2/10, fair enough
Night carer Chris came early. Which made me think I could watch my favourite ‘Heartbeat’ episodes. I fell asleep after he’s done the eyes and medications, as he sat at the Carers desk. I woke up, and he was on his mobile. No doubt female related. It sounded like he was speaking his native tongue, so I kept my eyes shut to avoid disturbing him for some time. He got the night bag onto the Catheter for me, the pouch in the drip tray, and off he trotted.
No chance of watching ‘Heartbeat’; the first episode had almost finished, and not that it mattered cause I drifted off to sleep again. I’m doing a lot of that lately? Twice at the hospital, several times yesterday in the flat, and now again!
I was woken around 20:40hrs, as Carer Chris came to do the last 22:00hr check. Eye drops and Peptac.
No sooner had he left, I fell asleep again!
This time I was almost jumping awake every few minutes, repeatedly. It wee’d me of this did!
I got up, grabbed and hobbled into the kitchenette for safety checks. Being so tired, I thought I may have left a tap running, a door open on the fridge or oven on from cooking the potatoes. All was okay.
I took this Kodak shot of the beautiful late sun setting. To my Pareidolia’s Delight, I spotted what looked to me like a shrimp in this photograph. Can you see it?
The rest of the night was Sleep, Wake, Sleep, Wake, Sleep, Wake, Sleep, Wake… Grrr!
04:25hrs: I was Gobsmacked, to find the hot water was hot. What happened last night will remain; One of the many mysteries of Woodthorpe Court, with the hobgoblins, spectres, gnomai, phantasms, ghosts, grotesque succubae, extraterrestrials, ectoplasms, spirits, & Fata Morganas, that have been sent to taunt, irritate my already limited saneness of mind? I was so pleased to be able to get into the wet room with hot water available to get my ablutions tended to. IU got the shaving tackled first. Five tiny cuts; which was good considering that I’d got three days of beard growth to remove, and of course, the growth behind my ears and back of the neck. Knowing I was going to struggle to get the feet cleaned… I had a cunning plan… and a Eureka moment while using it! I stood in the bowl with soapy water, and… wait for it… baking powder in it! Jiggling watch foot repeatedly while I did the bleeding… er… shaving. When done, I looked down at the water in the bowl, and all the collected dirt from the soles of the plates had floated up to the top of the water! Grrreat Idea! I pass this tip on to other old farts who cannot get down to wash their feet, free of charge, naturally! It really works! A lot of aftershave was needed to stop the bleeding, a good spray of Brut deodorant and the medications tended to.
Carer Shaquille arrived and helped me into the crippling shoes. Did the drops and tablets, and I got on the computer. Domestic Denise arrived, assisting me to get Velcro’s shoes fastened. I got things gathered together from the list I’d made, to take with me to the hospital. Made the template for this blog, and turned off the computer handmade a brew of Glengettie. I checked on the day pouch contents with a view to emptying the pouch. The colour of it caught me out, and seemed too dark suddenly, compared to the night pouches urine. It was still flowing in. The phone rang, it was a lady who I could not understand a word she was saying. This took my attention away, (it takes very little nowadays) and I forgot to empty the bag.
The landline chirruped and flashed. It was the chap from EasyLink. Advising me that the total owed to them was… £79! Carer Kara called in for a minute or two, and I mentioned that I can still not get into my online banking to pay this bill. She could not do anything until later, but kindly said she’d get around to it for me. Nice gal!
I got down into the lobby with Three-Wheeled-Willy the Walker and awaited the arrival of the lift from Easy-link. Which arrived nice and early. It was the lady who took me to Highbury Hospital. We had a chat and laugh en route to the QMC. The traffic was heavy with queues to get into the EENT department. She had to drop me away from the unit and walked me in through the doors, bless her.
I managed to find my way into the main hall (for once) without having to ask someone. Haha! As I approached the doorway, I felt the nearly full pouch dropping down my leg with the weight! Two nurses accompanied me into the toilet, but I could not get my leg high enough, and almost fell trying to.So the Angels fetched a cardboard pot and emptied it for me.
Then, in to see a female doctor to have the eyes pinhole tested. This took a while; she did a good patient job of it. Then escorted me into another waiting area to await being called in to see the surgeon-doctor. Another good long deep examination. Difficult at times cause I could not hear what he was saying, and moved in the wrong direction a few times. But he was also understanding with me. And pleased with the results. He gave me some different eye drops to use for the next four days, in place of the , and put some in so I can start the course in the morning. Cap on vials, one drop only each time. Four times a day, starting on Thursday 20th July 2023. He handed me a letter to give to the lady in reception on my way out. But I forgot to! Huh! As I got to the desk, I realised I had a long wait for the agreed pick-up time. The driveress did say to phone if I get done early, and I asked the receptionist to call Easy-Link, please. She could not get through to them and told me to take a seat while she tried again. Which I did! I fell asleep, and the lady woke me up to say she was still trying to get them for me. I thanked her and nodded off again. She woke me again, to say that Easy-Link were on the way, but traffic is horrendous with the school holidays. I meandered around taking sneak photos. Exiting patients from other departments. Can’t recall taking this one of Three-Wheel-Walker Willie, or why? Got to the doors and out to take some more. Are folks awaiting lifts? Taxi. Turned back to go inside again. I met a lady who had just had her cataract done and had a gossip. Back out to await the Easy-Link arrival. This boulder was used by smokers going out for a break methinks. Hehehe!
The minibus arrived, and we had a great journey home! Lots of waffling, I was in my element. Said our farewells, and up in the lift to home sweet home… well, the flat.
Took this selfie. Seconds later, the weariness came over me.
Got in the flat and rang Meridian to tell them I was back. Then the absolute pleasure of taking off my shoes. Boy, were the feet aching now! Yes, they were!
The view from the kitchen window was marvellous, cloudwise. Gorgeous! To the left a bit. Then onto the balcony to take these two. To the right… and close-up!
Carer Chris arrived. Started this blog update. Carer Chris arrived later for the last visit. Did some more blogging, and Carer Chris arrived. Explained the new Eye drops change for a fortnight. I think I’ve got it right… but?
Making the nosh, as the evening sunset started, so I took these snaps.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – I realise this may be hard to swallow, but I made yet another worrying set of this morning.
I was sat here at the computer desk… well the 1963-bought, falling to pieces, Hopewell’s E-Plan Sideboard, with the doors falling off, having one of my regular panicky modes. And Carer Kara arrived, which always has a calming effect on me. She asked if both of the Thursday appointments had been moved to Wednesday, or just one of them? Panic-Mode Status up to Defcon three! I’d not thought about that! I think she got the idea I was getting worked up when I started to sob and whimper?
Would the Hospital expect me to go two days running? The thought of having to catch a bus and tram there and back put fear in my heart. Mind you there was a fair bit lingering in there, over the thought of having to get trousers, socks and shoes on after the 2-hour ablutioning session each time, already)
Kara got the details and said she’d try to sort me a lift with Easy-Link and find out about the appointments for me.
When the second Carer, Sam arrived at midday. All had been sorted out, much to my amazement, Easy-Link could fit me in! Also, both appointments will be on! Yes!
A quicker-than-usual blog though, I have to find the time for the full ablutionalisationing session somehow. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
An excellent shade of urine!
Not much rain last night, and no dog to watch bathing in it!
After tending to the needs of the , which was very messy and phooey… I went to make a brew of Glengettie. And took a photo of the tree copse area. Bootiful!
Got the computer on… After three minutes! ARRGH!
As it returned, Carer Kara, my Angel of Mercy arrived.
See the Prodrome above for further details. drops in, medications supplied, then after five minutes, the drops inserted. I remembered this time to stick my finger in the eye for three minutes.
Well, Kara reminded me too!
,
This lasted for about five minutes…
This lasted for about one minute… Then surprisingly, it stayed on for two hours! So I got as much done as I could in that time.
Then Carer Sam arrived for the noon visit.
The great news is that the appointment is for one day only, and the lift had been arranged with Easy-Link. Brilliant!
Sister Jane phoned as Sam was about to leave and answered it for me. Jane said she’d ring back later Well fancy that!
So, I called Sister Jane back. She rang on the mobile that I rang her on, I can’t remember her number on the landline.
We had a good natter. Turns out she’s just had her cataract done again. But the poor thing’s experience was the opposite of mine. She was in pain afterwards, and she still is. Poor Jane!
We still managed a laugh or two though; that’s us!
I got on with blogging, again-this believe it or not, was the last failure up to now… a period of four hours! From the Doing well, aren’t they!
Earlier shot from the computer chair, that I’d missed.
The oddest ever trip to the Throne this was… well, maybe not! I really thought that was losing his grip on the evacuations. For things didn’t seem to want to start moving, naturally, I thought this could mean a cement torpedo or two… but no! After a good ten or twelve minutes on the crossword puzzle... WHOOSH!
Splatter squelch, and all over in less than 30 seconds. What a mess to clean up!
Into the kitchenette… Got the potatoes on the boil… And took this picture.
Then the above snap of the legs, feet and toes.
They did not look like they were mine!
So much improved inflammation in the lower leg, no leaks from the , either! However: and were making up for that. Both get frisky as the day goes on.
Better get the nosh sorted out before the evening Carer arrives.
See you in a bit…
Tuesday Morning Catch-Up
The evening meal Cheese & onion pasties, potatoes, peas and beetroot.
Cheesecake for afters.
Flavour Rating: 7.2/10.
Went to get the evening’s ablutions done – No Hot Water!
Carer arrived. I mentioned the lack of hot water and asked him to get someone to call the NCH maintenance for me. In and out quickly tonight; the lad was looking tired. Eye drops & medications sorted.
I got up to wash the pots. Wonderful view! Close-up of the wonderful view.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Unbelievable! Talk about a reversal. This morning my worries, fears and panic over not getting help done with so many things were exactly the same. Zilch, nothing was advanced or sorted. But, did I care? Nope! I really can’t understand it. I was so laid back about things, but the niggles, fretting, and frustration had evaporated, and stayed that way until a few minutes ago, as I started this blog belatedly. Now, All is back to the tension-ridden, nail-biting, sorry for me, considering silly things. It is possible that the wound beginning to heal, but my ankle infection still itching (a good sign). And even the left hip was causing me far less hassle this morning. The urine colour in the night bag was so clear, too. Comes to something when you have no idea why one suddenly gets the spirits raised a little, but don’t understand why? Another quickie I’m afraid though. because when I got up after removing the night pouch… Liberty-Global went down. Even that didn’t sink me into a depression. Confusion Conrad did pay me a long extended visit, though! Something was amiss with me this morning? Onward…
Pleased with the urine shade, though there was not much of it. That should have concerned me, but it didn’t.
Got the computer on, it went down within a minute! So, I couldn’t check to see if the hospital had confirmed the change of appointment days or not. Not that it mattered much to me this Monday… it normally would have.
Into the kitchenette. to get the kettle on to make a brew of Glengettie. Something else different here. Normally, with my restriction to two mugs a day, I would not have made one so early in the day. (I got up at 0335hrs) The sky was a lovely blue.
A summons me to the diverted me to the wet room. Well, that’s where the bog is. Hehe! I even had time for a few minutes of cross-wording. I even managed things using just a third of the toilet roll.
Back to the kitchen, taking this photo of the morning view as it was getting lighter quickly now.
Waiting for the kettle to reboil, I noticed how well the legs, feet & toes were looking.
When it returned I made a start on updating yesterday’s blog, a fair bit to do… not that it bothered me.
Carer Richard arrived. I believe he was concerned about me being so cheerful. Hehehe! In his usual no-fuss manner he got the first eye drops in and issued the medications. I got him a cold drink from the fridge. Lemon & Lime. Then he did the second eye drop and issued the medicine. Believe it or not, I did not squirm at taking this horrible aniseed-flavoured reflux medicine, for the first time ever I think. Something was still amiss this morning? Said farewell to the lad as he departed, wishing him a good sleep. Richard took the laundry down for me. Thanks.
Back to the computer… Even now I not too wrangled?
I was just about to post off the Sunday blog… Now the irritation was beginning to return.
Got the laundry bag made up. The computer is back on but after an hour or so… Now the bile was brewing!
I started to take photographs each time the went down. I’ve collated them all here with the approximate time taken for up to 17:00 hours. Some great on some of them. More later. 1300hrs 14:00hrs
15:00hrs. See anything in this one? You must?
15:10hrs. Raining a bit… 16:40hrs. And the one below, a few minutes later. How I got the terrible colouring, I don’t know. I was a close-up shot though? Nothing like it looked colourwise, But you can see a man or bear in the left cloud? Or the hand rising? Or is it just me? Hehe! Spitting blood now at
Carer Chris arrived, full of the joys of spring. drops, then the tablets. Next the lousy-tasting Antacid medicine. Then the eye drops. Drink from the fridge, and the Aniseed medicine. Spit! Haha!
We took some photos from the balcony of the clouds. A dog investigating the mudslide water… Decide it was bath time, and had a jolly-good jumping-about session. The tail wagging furiously! Great! Carer Chris took these two for me, catching the shiny rooftop on one house as it caught the sun. Must have sun-power-shields? The cloud formations had changed a lot, but they were still wonderful, almost pretty some of them.
Puffer clouds high in the sky – I love them. Lower, the skyline ribbon. With its fingers pointing up skywards, beasts and I see the abominable cloud-man. Haha! 18:20hrs: An open oyster there?
21:40hrs: Getting the late meal sorted, and captured this late sunset shot. Bootiful!
The Nosh! Imitation ham sarnies 7.2/10 Taste with some of… I find the delicious not-butter, butter, tastier than any proper butter. 10/10 Taste-Rating! Potatoes crock-pot cooked with sea salt. 3/10 Taste-Rating! Canned garden peas. 7.3/10 Taste-Rating! Tomatoes halved. 8.2/10 Taste-Rating! Soy lemon yoghourt. 7/10 Taste-Rating! If my calculation is right, that makes overall, a Taste-Rating of 7.1/10. I used the Windows calculator.
Of course, a man of my education, I could have done the calculation in my head… but would have got a different figure. I recall some results as I read my final school test in 1960. Different days of various exams meant some of the lads had skipped school to avoid whichever they were not very good at;
Mathematics: 34th out of 34 tested. Chemistry: 25th out of 32 tested. Metalwork: 28th out of 29 tested. Technical Drawing: 29th out of 32 tested. History: 29th out of 32 tested. P.E: 32nd out of 34 tested. Geography: 12th out of 28 tested. R.I.: 15th of 32 tested Music: 30th of 33 tested. Woodwork: 18th out of 19 tested. English: 1st out of 34 tested!
The pains from the left hip were the worst ever. Thus my concentration and mistakes were at a maximum,likely the worst ever suffered as well. The mind was all over the place, in utter confusion at times, especially when the eyes kept going… well, how to describe it, I’m not sure. I kept going into a sort of hazy dizziness mode and had to stop whatever I was doing. (apart from when on the Porcelain Throne) Ha-ha! The hip grave way a couple of times, but I didn’t have any tumbles, although it was a close call each time. I right this moaning, whinging paragraph, hoping that people I thought were checking on my health, seem noticeably absent these last few months. Not the Carers. The falls team, Social Services, and District Nurses seem to have either given up on me or are fed up with me. Can’t blame them. Hehe! Four falls in four days I would have prompted a response, then they may have spotted the hip problem I’m suffering with. The Doctor sent me a letter telling me to book a flu shot. Surely she knows how immobile I am? The change in the date of the cataract procedures has put me in the right pickle. Changing the lift arrangements with Easy-Link will likely prove impossible. Taxi lifts are just too painful to get into and out of. So it looks like a bus and then a tram each way for me. Which will mean more discomfort and agony from the hip, from the hobbling about? No time to do a proper blog today. So a short one it will be. Thank heaven I took some photos earlier in the day before I lost it mentally & physically. They helped prompt my already confused, panicky mind and memory. Just feeling a tad sorry for myself – Tsk! Poor old twit!
My night pouch colour was better. Legs & feet are much easier! Misty Morning, through the balcony glass. A rarity here – a breakfast. Managed to get the left slipper on, but gave up after 25 minutes of struggling and failing to get the right one on.
Another cock-up was made. I would have sworn I ordered the Iceland order for next Tuesday, I think I remember checking that I had, but still got it wrong… it arrived this morning A mega-full fridge now!
Set about getting the spuds in the crock pot. Had a meal that I don’t recall being very tasty.
Then, the Mind-Blank episode. During this, I had a carer call that I know nor remember anything about other than. But they had signed the book. A smidgen worrying these are, but I’ve told the Doctor, who seems to think I have to expect these things when getting older, so nowt was done to relieve the situation. Understandably!
The last photo was taken. Not sure why or when. Always, I get wearier. tired, and the ailments seem more serious as the latter part of the day arrives.
That’s all I’ve got, Which is not a lot, There must be such a lot… that I have forgot! What can Do to better my lot? I’ll have a sniff of the gluepot? Hahaha!
