Month: December 2021

Farewell the Old – Greet the New.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Sunrise from Busch Street.

I sometimes think we started to loose our sense of wonder when we gave the term “Magical” a designation it does not need. We tend to  think two ways about magical- we dismiss it because we have been told so often that ” magic does not exist” and on the other hand we seem to think that ” Magical”, if it does exist, is something “other worldly” or “supernatural”. I think both are wrong – magic  does exist but not in the way we have been conditioned to believe. Magic is all around us in mundane, everyday things. The magic of the  sunrise not just taken from the Wetlands, or the foreshore  or any exciting place, but  just walking along a nearby street with your dog and looking across the spare ground and watch the sun rise slowly from the horizon into the sky. On any day, given the right conditions, a sudden change of wind or a change of sunlight, or even just you- open to change – ordinary everyday things can become magical.  There is a slight rise  – a small hill, if you like, at the Ada Ryan Gardens. As you crest that hill you look down the other side to the  child play area, the, Sea Rescue buildings, the water lapping gently along the sandy beach and beyond to the ships at anchor on the clear blue water as it stretches onwards to meet the sky at the far horizon. A child wakens from sleep and smiles as she/he looks into the eyes of a mother or father. The simplest of things, given time and circumstances can suddenly be magical.

I had a new Covid-19 Restriction Plan from the State Government which would come into effect at midnight on the 27th.  I had not printed it off when an urgent email arrived also from the State Govt. to the effect that we are to disregard the plan due to come into effect on the 28th. The current plan with all its restrictions is to continue in use until further notice. The various State Govts. are concerned about the rapid spread of the new variant and I can see restrictions – perhaps even lockdowns coming into play early in the New Year. Unfortunately where I need to go to for the conference (Norwood)  is in an “Area of Concern”, so it is unlikely that I will go there any time soon. Between that and Annabell’s health concerns I doubt I shall be going  anyplace for the time being.  The weather has not been too bad but according to the weather report on the news this evening it is about to get a tad on the warm side with  Thursday at 35c, Friday at 37c and Saturday at 40c = nice lead in to the New Year. Sunday and it starts to drop down to the mid to high  20s.

Still my Happy Boy!

Benji has changed his morning ritual. Instead of getting his treat then going to check on Annabell, when we come back from our morning walk, he gets his harness off and goes directly to Annabell’s room, then he comes back for his treat. He spends most of the morning  looking after  “His Mum” It’s amazing that it is only in these last few weeks that we have begun to understand how much his “mum” means to him.

We did have a family Christmas but not in the way that we generally plan it. Generally  Annabell and I do the cooking and the preparations and the boys come over , they bring additions  to the table and spend much of the afternoon here. Not so this year.  Christmas was spent at Andrew’s place  still with the family and Andrew’s partner – Rachel Claire.  The food was very good and the Apple Crumble and Cream was a change from Christmas Pudding.  I helped a little bit but not too much as I didn’t want to seem to be interfering. I played with Connor and let everything happen around me.

Well days have passed and Annabell is starting to get a lot better. I am still Chief Cook and dishes washer – and shopping boy  :o) But she is a lot better and I am happy about that. She still sleeps a lot and she still tires, but she is getting stronger. We are concerned about the rapid spread of this new variant and what effect it could have on her Adelaide Hospital treatment and the Day Surgery, but we will just have to “wait and see”.

I think that’s all I have to say.  December has been an interesting month, rounding off an interesting year – in many ways. I could say that I hope 2022 will be a better year, but it will be what it will be and we will take things as they come. I expect I will  stay up and watch the Edinburgh Tattoo ( pre-recorded) and  probably  have something wet, 22 years old and Scottish  :o)   Take care everyone and I hope – wherever you are-  you have a great New Year and a fantastic Hogmanay.

Christmas Day, Annabell, Benji and Me.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Had to happen

Today ( 24th December) is Annabell’s Birthday. Presently she is asleep and still recovering slowly. She  sleeps a lot and tires easily but she is getting better and we have managed to get out  from time to time. It is, however, two weeks today since she came from hospital and Benji is still watching over her. I have not been out much with Benji. We still go on our morning walk but only because it is early morning before it starts to get hot.  Presently the temperature is  wandering around a daily temp of 29 – 35C. I have taken him to the Ada Ryan Gardens, but only once since  the present illness. I do not like leaving her on her alone for too long. I was supposed to be going down to Adelaide yesterday but I cancelled that.  I was only really going to look for a new mobile (Cell) phone so I can  survive with what I have for the time being and probably until I have to take Annabell to Flinders sometime in January. Currently my mobile is going to voice mail and not ringing. My son called and I missed the call, but he called the house phone and alerted me to the  what was happening..  This has been happening a lot of late so with phone in  hand and a large hammer on stand-by  I examined the phone and  found that for reasons unknown, the annoying thing had gone into flight mode and was blocking all calls and sending them to voice mail. I fixed the settings – again,,  With unbelievable will power, I laid  the large hammer aside.   Not too far away though.

And yes, I did consider selecting the phone, paying for it and having it sent up from Adelaide. As you probably know, Adelaide is about a four  and a half drive from here, yet to get something sent up to here would take over two weeks. I asked  if the Post Office Delivery Service had been taken over by the stagecoaches of  Cobb & Co. – which was the 19th century Australian version of the American Wells Fargo. I didn’t get a reply. I was quite miffed about this until a friend, who works for the Fed. Govt in Canberra wanted something from Sydney  30 minutes away, and it took ten days to get there. Fair enough I can make allowances for Covid-19, State Border closures and lockdowns, but to take these time within the State is pushing things just a tad.

The Force was with them not…

Benji is well and he has not changed. We go out for our morning walk at 6am, returning around 06: 40. Has his morning treat then he heads off to check on his mummy and sleeps there for the remainder of the day. I only see him if I rattle the car keys. Sadly, because of the heat I cannot always take him with me. I have a small, mobile  air-conditioner type fan that I can take with me.  If I do take him with me I put that on when I park the car, check my watch ( allow 21 minutes only), partly open the windows and lock the car. He’s generally fine as long as I watch my time and make sure the  cooling fan is directed at him to keep him cool. It’s not bad, a dog with his own personal air-conditioner  :o)

Back to work- I think there is movement and Benji  has left the room..   I should  like to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas – or Happy Holidays if you prefer. I hope everyone has a lovely time. My son and his partner and hosting Christmas Dinner today so, that’s good. Normally we do and Annabell does all the cooking, but not this year I am sorry to say. Andrew is a decent cook – don’t know about Rachel yet  :o) we’ll find out today.   Thank you all for your thought, prayers and good wishes for Annabell’s recovery – it is all very much appreciated.

 

Love and God Bless

Annabell, Hospital and Benji

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
This is so true…..

Tuesday 7th. December (interesting date)   Annabell is recovering, although we still have not determined the cause of the seizure. She was seen by a Cardiologist today and over the next few days she will have some tests to determine what damage this may have caused to her heart.  The brain scan is problematic  because of the damage the diabetes has caused to her kidney, it could not withstand the  contrast that would be needed  for the brain scan to be effective. However, Mr. Alam (Cardiologist) should have the results of the ECG and the blood tests in a few days and then  decide with his team what  the treatment will be. I have been  at the hospital every day and evening but not tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be at home all day. As of midnight tonight because of the Covid outbreak in South Australia,  new rules come into effect, which is one visitor per patient, per day.  Connor wants to go visit his Gran so Andrew will take him tomorrow after day-care.  This means that I cannot visit. This is ok since it will allow me to get the house tidied up and take a wander to the shopping centre and get some shopping in.

I have notified Adelaide and Flinders Medical that she will not be down for the Day Surgery on Friday. They will reschedule early in the New Year. Likewise with the Flinders Lodge- accommodation cancelled. However, I did speak to the Lodge people and they have told me that when we are ready to come down, they will organise the accommodation for us. The people at Flinders Medical and at the Flinders Lodge did call and asked how Annabell was – so that was really kind of them.

Thursday;  Since the new rules are one visitor per patient per day, I did not go to  the hospital until after lunch – giving the doctors time to do their rounds.  I arrived at the hospital at about  12:30 and was told that Annabell was going for an ultra-sound and then she would  be able to go home -depending on the results. Between one thing and another and the doctors examining the results of the ultra- scan, then a few more tests, she was  discharged and I was able to take  her home. By now it was close to 5pm.

Annabell has always said that Benji is MY dog. My response has always been to insist that he loves his dog mummy, “which is why he sits at your feet when you are watchng TV and why after we go for our walk he wants to go into your room to check on you”.   Well, when I brought Annabell home, did he go gaga!  I have never seen him so excited! He ran around us, then around Annabell, the tail going to cause a hurricane and it became difficult to walk forward for a little while, I had to stop him from jumping up on her. I think he was pleased to see her home. I would go missing from time to time, but she was always there.  On the subject of missing, I am on extended Leave of Absence. I did not go to the conference yesterday but I did tender an apology and the reasons for that apology. Did I get a response? Sadly I don’t have those exciting kind of dreams!  As far as I am concerned, my job right at the moment is to look after Annabell.  Not sure….. but I think it’s part of the Job Description I agreed to.

Sunday: Everything today is quiet – of course, it is only 07:30 so I should expect it to be quiet. I did take Benji out at 6am after I checked in on Annabell. She was sleeping peacefully. She did not have such a great day yesterday but we  survived it all and ended the day  peacefully.  Today the temperature is to be around 34c, which is good after all the rain, high wind and cold of a  not so great Spring.  Still raining and flooding  in the Eastern States of  New South Wales and Victoria.

Annabell Very ill

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

At 03;20 on Saturday morning I called out the emergency services. I was wakened by a strange noise and rushed into Annabell’s room to find her convulsing and fighting for breath.  The operator stayed on the line and  advised me to do CPR, which I started doing. She stayed on the line in until the emergence services arrived. I did break off to unlock the doors. When they arrived they took over and I left the room to look after Benji. They worked on Annabell for some time before getting her ready for transporting to the emergency rooms at the hospital. At the time it was a suspected stroke. Once they left I got a quick wash and went up to the hospital. In the meantime I called John and he met me at the A & E.. We knew that Andrew had Connor, so we left off calling him until about about 5AM.   By then he was awake, got Connor ready and met us Up at the ward.  Annabell was still down in the Emergency area and undergoing scans to find out  the  problem.

The doctors here called  Adelaide and  were in constant contact with the specialists there. It was determined through the various tests and scans that she did not have a stroke, however, she did have a seizure but they don’t know as yet what caused it. She was moved to a special Pressurised Room and we were with her for as good part of the morning. Connor was getting fractious, so Andrew went home.  He was going to see his former partner and see is she could look after Connor for the day, but she was already flat out and unable to do so. Because of the medications and the various tubes,  Annabell was in and out of  consciousness for much of the time and unable to speak clearly. However, she did know three words -” Okay / Don’t know.”  She did not know who I was nor John.

The Session Clerk (Helen) from the church came and we sat stayed for a while. Annabell didn’t know who she was either, but she let John sit beside her and hold her hand. John had only finished night-shift so he was starting to tire. I sent him home. Whilst John was away it was decided to move her from the pressurised room she was in to the High Dependance Unit. I telephoned John to tell him to let me know if and when he was coming back. He said he was just about to leave so I said I would meet him at the front entrance and after signing in and answering the questions I would take him up to the H.D.U. Helen left and John and I stayed until about 5:40pm and then went to have dinner at Andrew’s.  After playing with Connor for a bit and then dinner, it was now 7pm, so I  headed back to the hospital for the last hour.

There was quite a difference in her and she was a bit more coherent. Conversation was still a bit disjointed and confused. When it was time for me to leave the trauma nurse asked me to have a talk with her. We discussed the difference between 5:40pm when we left until now. I said that I found her almost coherent, but confused. Also I  still believe she really didn’t know who I was but I sensed that she knew I was someone she knew, so she gave me her hand to hold and we talked a little. She has a new word  “Odd” everything was “Odd”  The nurse said she wanted to know what I thought before  she wrote her report, that she  is able to hold a limited conversation but there is still a  fair bit of confusion and  lack of recognition.  I agreed with that assessment.

I arrived home at 9pm and began the process of clearing up. The rooms were a mess and everything that had to be moved to allow the passage  of the emergency people and the  wheeled stretcher,  had to be replaced. I also Went into Annabell’s room and tidied that up and remade her bed. After that I attended to Benji, made some coffee and sat down for a bit.

I was up at my usual 5:30 this morning (Sunday) and took Benji for his morning walk. I will take the service this morning and then head up to the hospital and hope and pray that a decent sleep overnight has helped her recovery.  It’s been a long post, so thank you for your patience. I’ll keep you informed on her progress, but  suspect it will be a long recovery.