Tag: Flinders Medical Center

On The Road Again

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Part of the Main Entrance at Flinders.

Again we are waiting on  conformation from Flinders regarding the arrangements for next week. What I know (perhaps) is that she will be admitted sometime on Friday for an operation  (procedure) on Saturday, recovery and tests Sunday and discharged Monday. It is not an “operation” as such but it does require anesthetic. Anyway, that’s what we were told, but that could change and until we get the letter we wont know. It makes it difficult for me to try and book accommodation. Still, not to worry I do have a tent, sleeping bag and stuff  :o)  It’s been a strange week and despite not reaching the  predicted 43c it has remained in the high 20s  but still fairly warm. According to our long range weather forecast this will be a warm but wet summer – lots of rain and perhaps some local  flooding. Some of that forecast rain will start this weekend.

Saturday and still no word from Flinders – and it is raining. Not that the two are connected but I just thought I would mention that the for

Sorry I ,missed it this year.

ecast rain is here. No walk this morning. If it clear up I’ll take Benji for a walk round the wetlands later in the day. I meant to say in the last post that I am very sorry

about missing Thanksgiving. Of course I don’t celebrate but I generally make a post and this year I didn’t. I was  in Adelaide and otherwise occupied. Apart from which I didn’t have my computer and my laptop (Apple) does not have this program. (WordPress)

Annabell is well – she gets tired easily but otherwise not too bad.  I let her sleep and if I do go outside I generally take the mobile(cell) and the cordless with me – one phone for each ear  :o) I have never been involved with cancer so I was unaware of the Cancer Council or the fact that they operate two lodges, the Flinders Lodge and the Eastwood Lodge. Both of these offer accommodation for cancer patients and their carers (if necessary) if and when they have to come to Adelaide for treatment.. I have only just found this out and had I known I could have made use of the

facilities when we last were down. There is also a volunteer transport service from the lodges to the treatment centers. Now that I do know this I will telephone them tomorrow and see about accommodation although I can’t book it because I still do not know the dates. The hospital telephoned today and although Annabell was on the phone for the best part of an hour, we are still no further forward. We now know that her “operation ” will take place around 8am on Monday 14th December and all being well she will be released late afternoon on the 15th. However, there  is still the need to meet with the anesthetist on Friday. However, that could be done by telephone that’s up to him to decide and we wont get told that until Thursday. If it is by telephone, I can delay the drive to Adelaide until Sunday, which would be a great help. We have also been told that what they are going to do works for most people, but not all. We will work on the assumption that it will work but the major surgery is still possible in a year or so. Exterlunt!! The Anesthetist telephoned and we did the consultation by telephone. That being so, we will get the blood tests done here in the morning and I wont have to leave for Adelaide until Sunday morning for admittance to the hospital at 7am Monday morning. We have been told that Annabell is the first on the list Monday morning – so that’s  good.  Still  no church but we believe most of the restrictions will be lifted on Monday so we should be back the following Sunday – 20th December.  We will see what the Premier proposes next Monday.

Hospitals, Gardens and WordPress

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Ada Ryan Gardens
Also Ada Ryan Gardens

Monday Nov. 2nd. The ultrasound  took place last Friday morning and we should have the results – or at least the consultant will have the results tomorrow. When we get them is another matter, Although having said that, he has been pretty good in keeping us informed when he has been here. He is not resident here. But this scan should tell us where the ‘infection ‘is  and how widespread it is. At this stage the results seem to indicate that it is in one area and not widespread, but one never can tell with this.  I attended the RFDS Meeting last night and   drew back from any further

major involvement  for the time being. Some things I  will continue to do because  they are done by telephone and do not require me to be somewhere. I have put my name down for the Men’s Christmas Dinner as has Annabell for the Women’s Christmas Dinner not knowing if either of us will be there at this stage. Everything is very uncertain until we know what is to happen.

Annabell is still very unwell and will require major surgery but the ultrasounds and the blood tests have been quite encouraging, so now we  just wait for a bit. Yes we do have the results but we need time to discuss them with the boys. At this stage we don’t know if it will be at the Royal Adelaide or the Flinders Medical Center – this  will determine where I will stay when I am down there with her. I understand that the Flinders have  a couple of houses that can be rented for a short period so if it is the Flinders I will organise that. If it if the Royal Adelaide I  will probably stay at the Princes Lodge, which is where I will be staying this weekend – maybe!!

’tis a hard life – all this walking

I will need to get back on to WordPress again and see if they can fix my problem.          I can read all your posts – no problem there – if you comment on my post, I can reply – no problem there either. Howeffer, if I try and make a comment on your posts – ah, that does present a problem in that, I can’t. So it’s not that I have not been reading your posts it’s just that I can’t comment on them. When I try to do so,  it tells me that my login to WordPress.com has expired and the  comment is terminated. I haven’t been ignoring people, I just can’t get in touch with you. On the other hand –

Me likes this

perhaps there is nothing wrong with WordPress.com and you are all trying to tell me something  :o)

As an aside, I liked the Spinach and Cheese Ravioli  recipe and have downloaded and printed it ( see, I do read them) . Depending what happens and where I go, I will take this with me and perhaps I will be able to use it as a quick meal when I am on my own. Since Annabell cannot have tomato products, I  can make it here but it would last me for a few days – and – I suppose that’s good. I love pasta but hate lasagna – strange…

I have booked the hotel in Adelaide for the Conference  but I also indicated that I could cancel at a moments notice and that seemed to be fine after I explained why this might be happen.  I made a comment on a post this morning –  Tippy Tales, –  which was good. Perhaps the problem is rectifying itself.

Benji  is well. Like the rest of us he is getting older although his enthusiasm for early  morning walks has not diminished, he is not so great on mid-

More Gardens

afternoon walks and a couple of times an night I have gone out on my own. We stopped going round the back on the Wetlands to feed the geese and ducks mainly because the path has been upgraded with  gravel and he has soft paws and the gravel hurts, so we stick to the main  paved paths. Some may say I spoil him – not so – I just look after him a lot.

Dogs and thunder storms.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
It’s been a rough week alright.

Now that I have returned to Classic Editor I can reply to people – all except two. For reasons , which are unknown, any comments I make on these post are deleted. I have no idea why this is happening because I thought we had fixed this. Seems I was mistaken, but I don’t know what the problem is. These are the  Monica and Annabell Marsh

Annabell is home but the problem is not  sorted.   Everything from the exploratory surgery on Tuesday (20th)  has been sent away for analysts  and we should have these results when I take her back to the hospital next Friday  30th.

Right at the moment there is a major storm front settled over the Eyre Peninsula. The noise of the storm was incredible with rolling thunder which seemed like it was sitting on the roof – not a lot of lightening. The thunder is still happening but it is a bit further away than it was when it woke me up at 3:30. I am happy to say that the dogs have not been bothered. Benji is ok and Yogi is deaf anyway :o)

Monday 26th. Jim was released from hospital yesterday afternoon and I took Yogi home late this afternoon. Too much happening on Sunday and this morning was shopping day. I had intended to take Yogi home after shopping, which would be about 12(ish) however, as the Bard wrote “The best laid plans of mice and men…” We were no sooner back in the house when the hospital telephoned and said they had a cancellation would Annabell like to have that appointment rather than Friday. We thought this was good and accepted the offer. I phoned Jim and told him we would be late returning Yogi and why.   I have to take her for tests tomorrow (Tuesday) and again  for another scan on Friday. However, the initial test results from last week are not good. We

Just passing time, Mummy – not buying Ice Cream or anything – just passing time…

do have a result but it needs to be confirmed. She’s comfortable with the result, or at least she has accepted it – I’m really not.  I just wish I was but I’m not. Sooner, rather than later, regardless of what

happens this week, we will have to go down to Adelaide for an operation. At this stage we believe it will be at the Flinders Medical Center. I wont be able to take Benji with us so I  either find someone to look after him, or I  lodge him in the Kennels for a few days. Adelaide – well most of South Australia really,  is not pet friendly. Yes, I know I look after other peoples’ dogs from time to time , but that’s different. We are talking about my Benji here.  Jim does not keep good health and has enough to look after Yogi – his own dog: Dougal’s family also have health problems and  would not be able to cope with Benji and although Max is a lovely Pug, Benji did not get on well with Max – so I have no place else to go other than the Kennels.

We had further blood tests and we go for the final scan tomorrow (Friday) these will confirm the results. Once that is done I will telephone the boys and ask them to come over and we can have a family conference. The boys  need to be told, something I was going to do on Wednesday but Annabell said to leave things until it’s confirmed and we know for definite. On a positive side we have been told that it is not a “deadly” form and she  should respond to  treatment after the initial infection has been removed. We can only hope and pray that this is so,  and on Sunday I will be obliged to let the congregation know.

Council, dogs and trees

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

20130207_120419When I head off to Adelaide on Friday I will not be alone. I contacted the SADR ( South Australian Dog Rescue) and I will be taking two little dogs down to their new homes in Adelaide – or surounds.  We stop about 30 minutes before we hit the city proper where we have a hand over point, in a well known location that everyone can get to.  The new family meet me out there and I  hand the dogs over. Generally I contact them about an hour or so out to give them time to get to the drop off point. I went in to see the SADR and told them I would be leaving on Friday. I didn’t take any dogs down with me last trip because I was going directly to the Flinders Medical Center – a very large teaching and research hospital on the far side of the city –  which takes me well away from the drop off point at Gepps Cross.

The argument continues and the planting of any tree has been halted whilst various council members  battle it out -native trees vs exotic trees. Personally I prefer the exotic trees particularly the Jacaranda . One particular councillor suggests that an avenue of native trees can be quite striking and I suppose that’s so, if you hire people to clean up the mess of limbs and bark and and are not too bothered that nothing will grow near them. So, all you get is a tree that will  break in a reasonable wind, shed bark and clutter up the drains and enhance the dry, dusty outlook of the town – great, go for it.. But they  (council) have admitted that the greening project has not lived up to expectations. Repairs to the system are in the process of being carried out whilst we continue to argue about what trees to plant.20130207_120734

After a week of fairly cool weather we went back into heatwave conditions again, but I don’t think we will make the  necessary conditions for a “heatwave”. Already the temperature is starting to drop back to manageable levels.  The dogs have been inside for most of that time. If the temperature starts to climb again then it will be unlikely that I will have companions on the way down to Adelaide because I, for one,  cannot drive for five an a half hours without some sort of break and I will need fuel and having them remain in the car whilst I fuel up is not a good idea. Without the A/C the inside of the car can become very hot very quickly- even with windows partly open , and little dogs don’t handle the heat too well. Generally when the temperature is above 35, we don’t transport dogs to Adelaide. I generally stop a number of times along the way when I have a dog with me – more than I do when I am on my own. However, tomorrow should be ok.

These are two photographs of parts of the town. The top one is taken from the  Lookout – actually they are both taken from the Lookout – the bottom photograph being the Foreshore.

Tornadoes, Cyclones and Bushfires – it’s all go around here!

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

White PoinsettiaI suppose all countries are strange in their own way but Australia seems to be strange in every way. South Australia is scorching, Victoria is burning, parts of New South Wales are burning, Western Australia is wet and Queensland,  battered by cyclones and a couple of  tornadoes is flooding, battered and bruised. At the Australia Day celebrations yesterday we were running a fundraising barbecue for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and just after 6pm, my son went home and got a pullover. I’m not silly, I already had one in my car so I just went and got that, and by 6:30 people were donning jackets and pullovers as the wind became stronger and colder and by the time the fireworks were set off (9pm) it was very cold. Despite that, it was a good and very busy day which stared at 1:30pm and finished at 8:30pm and everything we had was sold. I think somewhere around $900 will be added to the funds. Our small group has contributed $100,000 over four years whilst places like Roxby Downs in the far north contributes $100,000+ every year. Mind you,  it is one of the largest mining areas in Australia and they have a much greater need of the service than we have..

My  brother-in-law is back in hospital again and not very well so I will be going back down to the Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide to see him.  I would like to go down now but it will be chaos on the roads as this is a long weekend and school starts back on Tuesday so there will be families returning from holidays, students going back to University and  school and people returning home at the end of a long weekend.  Not a good time to be ravelling. Tuesday should be much quieter. On the way home I will most probably call into the big Garden Centre  at Two Wells and see what’s available. I know — self-inflicted punishment –  but I  have this weird theory that sooner or later, something will take and my efforts will be rewarded,  then I can sit back and relax and count the pigs as they fly past.

Things seem to be going from bad to worse in Queensland and the State Government have asked the Feds. to give Army assistance because the  state emergency services can no longer cope. It’s not quite of the scale of two years ago, but getting pretty close. We are lucky in South Australia – we get hot and the temperature goes up and down like a yoyo at times, but really, we don’t get the extreme weather conditions coming in from the Pacific and Indian Oceans.   ——–A White Poinsettia – never seen one before so I bought it.