WOYWW 497

Sorry not to join in WOYWW last week. It’s been an extremely busy time with a lot going on and I’ve got very exhausted and have had to rest as much as possible between our various activities.

No desk pic again this week because my mystery project is still under wraps but hopefully all will be revealed next week. In the meantime, here’s a fun little gift I made for the friend we had lunch out with today (writing this on Tues. evening).

“Peachies” is a joke we have with our friend over a mistake made with our name when we were together once, and it stuck. Hope you like my vintage-style label.

Lunch Out

One of several meals out this week – today’s lunch at a lovely place where they have peacocks wandering around outside, and they had decorated their Christmas tree with a peacock theme. I just had to photograph these gorgeous decorations, which included clear baubles with a peacock feather inside, baubles made with overlapping sequins in peacock colours, and peacock feathers sprayed with something to stiffen them, and painted with glitter – just gorgeous!

Sourdough

After a break for a week, I made sourdough again this week. A great success. I think I’ve really cracked it now.

Car Woes

The steering on the car has been a bit ropey for a while so we took it in to our friendly car mechanic today and he put it on his lift, with me in it, and I spent the next hour or so up in the rafters of his garage, doing my knitting – a most uplifting experience! He can repair it, but had to keep the car in overnight so he sent us home in his courtesy car. My hubby should be able to pick it up tomorrow, all being well.

Computer Woes

A nightmare week, having to format my hard drive and reinstall everything. I had a minor problem which online research assured me could be safely cured with the removal of a couple of small files from the registry, after safely backing up the registry in case of problems. Problems? I’ll say. The computer wouldn’t boot up at all! What use is a registry backup if you can’t access it? Grrrr. Major stress, huge amount of work, some things still not operating as they should and needing tweaking. Two external hard drives not being recognised by the computer but eventually I narrowed this down to a problem with their enclosures (they hadn’t been tried before) and they are now being examined in our local computer shop, and I should get them back in a day or two. I wasn’t worried about my data etc. because I back everything up religiously. It’s going to take me a while to get things back to normal, though.

Kitty Woes

Ruby is grounded. Again. Despite extra defences, she was straight over the fence again. Stronger defences were installed by my hubby, and after a short period of frustrated yowling because she couldn’t get out, she made another attempt and succeeded. My hubby says he will get this sorted, and in the meantime she is strictly an indoor kitty. Lily gets so anxious when Ruby gets out, and comes running to tell us, in great distress. She’s such a good girl, and Ruby is an absolute terror! They are so different.

They are different in their tastes in TV, too. Lily likes educational programmes like wildlife. Here is Ruby watching Star Trek.

Health Update

I am seeing my surgeon on Thursday, following my recent CT scan which showed the return of my parastomal hernia. I am hoping he will agree to leave it alone and just keep an eye on it for now, as I really don’t want further surgery after being so ill earlier this year. It’s not giving me much trouble.

It’s been quite a week and I’m not surprised I’m exhausted.

I shall be glad when this season is over. It’s my least favourite time of the year!!! Can’t wait for January and a good rest and at least another 11 months till next C. (I’m not a bah-humbug type – really – but at this time of year I always feel like emigrating.)

Here’s a seasonal funny.

WOYWW 487–Boxes and Leaves

Where does the time go? Another Wednesday has rolled around in what feels like 24 hours, all ready for another desk fest, and we are now into October!

Here is my desk as of Tuesday evening.

I have made good progress on my two boxes this week. They are now assembled, and in the above photo, the lids are just laid on top. I have yet to make flaps for the lids, and hinges for them, and also I was awaiting the arrival of some metal embellishments that I’d bought on Ebay, which came on Monday.

I may not use the corners on these boxes because I’m not sure they will work with the lid design I’ve chosen, and the feet have their own corners on them. The handles are a little bit smaller than I’d hoped, and I may not use these either on this project, but the two clasps I bought are absolutely gorgeous and will definitely be used. The rest can be kept in reserve for other projects as they are always useful to have in. All these metal fittings came with numerous small screws or pins for attaching them, but using them on mounting board boxes, I shall attach them with brads instead, and also use some glue.

To see what else I’ve done, you can see my previous post here, and in the meantime, here’s a shot of the finished decoration on the insides of the boxes.

Crochet

I’ve made a few more leaves for embellishing my striped scarf.

These are a bit larger than the previous ones, from another lovely pattern on Youtube. You can’t see very clearly in this picture but the design incorporates some decorative holes. They are fun to do now I’ve stopped getting lost with the pattern and forgetting to turn the work, and ending up with something looking distinctly un-leaf-like! They are nice to do when I’m resting with my feet up.

Cooking

Not a lot of activity in the kitchen this week because I’ve been really tired, having been burning the candle at both ends recently and needing to step back a bit and rest. I made more sourdough at the weekend, though.

I’m getting generally consistent results these days and I’m quite pleased with my loaves, but I’d like them to rise a bit higher. Nice open crumb, though, and a lovely flavour and texture. The only trouble is, the loaf doesn’t last the week! Sourdough keeps much better than regular bread but we do get through it rather quickly! It is time consuming to make, not involving a great deal of work, but I have to be here to attend to it regularly throughout a whole day. I’m not set up for making larger quantities so I think I’m going to have to go back to making normal bread in between, so we don’t run out!

Kitties

Only pictures of Ruby this week – sitting comfortably on my hubby’s chair…

…until he decided he wanted to sit down, so he bundled her up in order to dump her on my lap!

Lily was upstairs on the bed. Earlier this evening, my hubby told me they had a bit of a spat, fighting and swearing at each other. It was apparently mostly Lily, and we have no idea what brought it on, but perhaps Ruby was doing something to irritate her sister? A bit of sibling rivalry, no doubt. Fortunately everything was soon quite all right again. They really love each other and are usually together. We are getting tremendous kitty choruses at feeding time now the weather is getting colder and they are getting very hungry!

Health Update

I cancelled two things on Sunday because I was so tired. My activity level has crept up quite a bit lately, which is good in a way because it does prove I’ve got a bit more energy these days (I put this down to my change of diet and especially the inclusion of the fermented foods) but I was getting to the stage when I was starting to feel a bit desperate because I was so busy. This also meant that for months I’ve hardly had any time to spend in the studio, and getting back to that again just recently has shown me just how much I was missing it, and how much I need to be making art. As a result I have decided to cut back on some of my activities in order to take the pressure off a bit.

Regarding my ongoing gut problems, I don’t think there’s any doubt now that my hernia has returned. It seems to have grown over the past week, and I can now see it and it’s quite large. This is reassuring from one standpoint, because at least it’s not as likely to cause an obstruction as a small one, according to my surgeon. On Monday I had a lot of trouble with my stoma as a result, having to change the bag twice because of leaks, but I think that may have been my fault. To provide a bit more support, I decided to wear two pairs of worn-out support pants instead of the one. They certainly did feel nice and supportive but perhaps they were exerting too much pressure and stopping things working properly. I’ve gone back to one pair again and so far, so good! Hopefully the first of the new set of pants will arrive soon, and if they fit OK, I can order the remaining two pairs straight away. If I get further problems in advance of my CT scan on 18th, I shall make an appointment to see the stoma nurse and ask her to sort something out for me and maybe arrange for me to see my surgeon asap. The last thing I want is further surgery. It’s all very disappointing because it means that I went through all that terrible experience in the spring for nothing.

Have a great week, everyone.

A Major Health Setback

Warning – medical details, but some nice photos at the end!

After being discharged from hospital recently for the second time after the bleeding from my stoma, I was hoping to make a good recovery and start picking up the threads of my life again.

However, although the early days seemed to be going OK, I didn’t pick up as quickly as I’d hoped, and for several nights running, woke up soaked to the skin having had night sweats – something I’ve never suffered from before, even during the menopause. I mentioned it to the district nurse and she agreed that it could be a reaction to ongoing use of paracetamol and I tried cutting this down but it didn’t help. Later, several doctors and nurses said that paracetamol didn’t usually have this effect. (So much for Dr. Google…)

Towards the end of that week I was starting to feel worse and was off my food, until on the Sunday (15th April) I couldn’t bear the smell of it cooking. I kept feeling extremely cold and shivery and that night we took my temperature and it was around 38 degrees – I didn’t really trust our little thermometer and decided to ask the district nurse to take it again the next day when she came.

That night I started to feel quite poorly and my hubby phoned the out-of-hours doctor – why is it that I always get ill over weekends and bank holidays when nobody is around??!! – he was absolutely useless and was clearly going down through a printed checklist and wasn’t really listening to me. At the end I said, “What about my high temperature?” He said I’d probably got flu!!! I said I definitely hadn’t got flu because I’d had no throat or nose symptoms – he said you can get flu without those. I knew I hadn’t got flu! Anyway, if someone reports a temperature and has recently undergone surgery, you don’t think “flu.” He said to phone the GP surgery in the morning if I was still concerned.

In the morning I felt terrible and collapsed in the bathroom. My hubby happened to come in just at the right moment and helped me back to bed. We took my temperature again and it was still high.

Then the district nurse arrived and we asked her to check it and she was so concerned that she immediately phoned the GP surgery and a doctor came up within 20 minutes. He examined me and said he was calling an ambulance. I was apparently showing two markers for sepsis and this needed dealing with immediately. Apparently if we’d left this another 24 hours it could have been curtains for Shoshi…

Once we got to hospital we had a bit of a wait but at least I was able to be lying down. I was in a cubicle in A&E and various people came in and took details and examined me, and all the while I felt absolutely freezing cold and my hubby wrapped me up with extra blankets etc.

Eventually a bed was found for me and they said that my feeling cold was my body deceiving me – my temperature was in fact quite high – nearly 39 degrees – and if they didn’t bring it down I was likely to have a seizure. They therefore proceeded to take away all the blankets, saying that they were actually making things worse rather than better, and turned electric fans on me to cool me down! I spent the next two nights shivering uncontrollably and not sleeping at all, but my temperature did fall a bit, and over the next few days was up and down.

The first thing they did was to try and identify the source of the infection I evidently had – I had a chest X-ray and they tested my urine, both of which were OK. I had a CT scan that revealed some post-operative haematomas and this was believed to be the source.

I saw my surgeon and he said that haematomas can often cause night sweats, so that was the explanation for those. I continued to have them during those first few nights in hospital – one night having two – what a hassle having to change all the bedding etc.

I was put on my first cocktail of IV broad spectrum antibiotics and was given one unit of blood as my haemoglobin levels were falling alarmingly. They were supposed to give me two units but they said a side effect of blood transfusion can be to increase one’s temperature so they held off on the second one – this happened a few days later.

Once they had established the location of the haematomas, they inserted a drain on the left side of my abdomen, with ultrasound guidance under local anaesthetic. I was pretty nervous about this procedure but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. This drain was a fairly fine tube and didn’t penetrate very deep; it was attached to a bag from which they took samples for culture, and at the top end it had a two-way tap to enable them to flush the drain daily. This drain wasn’t uncomfortable at all but limited my movement somewhat. It also had the effect of lowering my temperature quite rapidly as the infected fluid was draining away, but it was apparently not having completely the desired effect, so a couple of days later I had another CT scan that revealed more problems.

It’s hard to remember the exact sequence of events because I was feeling pretty lousy most of the time.

 

I do remember that my surgeon wasn’t on call for ward rounds for a few days and I was looked after by one of his colleagues, and he hummed and haa’ed about the infection being under the mesh, and query remove mesh? He wrote this on my notes. This gave me great cause for concern because this is a very serious matter and extremely difficult to deal with. When my own surgeon came back, he read this and said, “What’s all this about removing the mesh? We don’t need to do that!” He wrote in large letters in the margin, “Leave mesh alone!!” and signed it, putting my mind at rest straight away.

He said I needed a second drain, and as this one would be bigger and deeper, it would have to be put in under general anaesthetic. This was done, and afterwards I remained in severe pain until a couple of days after it was removed – it was very difficult to get out of bed and I managed to get onto the commode and that was it. This drain was connected to a vacuum bottle to assist the drainage of fluid, and with drains on both sides of my body, with a bag on the left side of the bed and a bottle on the right, my movement was even more restricted.

During the rest of my time in hospital, they tried me on two more cocktails of IV broad spectrum antibiotics because we were clearly dealing with what my mum would have described as “a very virile germ” haha! The final lot did seem to start working, and all through this time my temperature remained within normal limits, and my blood pressure (always on the low side) began to climb a bit so that the systolic pressure was up to three figures again – when it was down in the 80s they were quite concerned.

After a few days my surgeon decided I should have another CT scan to see how things were going, and said that the large drain on the RH side needed to be withdrawn by 2 cm in order to continue to drain more effectively. When the nurse tried to do this the pain went through the roof, before it had even moved a millimetre, and she said she wasn’t going to touch it any further without consultation.

They tried again, this time administering gas and air, but this had absolutely no effect except to make me feel slightly woozy. The pain was absolutely excruciating and I dreaded the moment when the wretched thing would have to come out altogether.

This drain was the first of the two to be removed. I told my surgeon that the gas and air had been useless and he said that because of the risks, it was not usual to remove drains under general anaesthetic, but he would give me some sort of sedative. I was given a Valium tablet which I had very little faith in, and again, all it did was make me feel slightly woozy – and less so than the gas and air. When they pulled out that drain I thought my last hour had come! It was about the worst pain I’d ever experienced.

By this time I was at a pretty low ebb, having been through so much, and all my reserves seemed to have gone, and everyone who did anything to me seemed to hurt me in one way or another! My poor hubby was so worried because I was at such a low ebb physically and emotionally, and it didn’t take much to reduce me to tears. Everyone has told me in the past how strong I am but on this occasion I definitely wasn’t, and felt completely at the end of my tether.

My surgeon said that that drain was very large and deep, and had penetrated through the same complex muscle layers to the right of the stoma (which is why the hernia operation had caused so much pain as well), and when a drain has been in for a few days, one’s body tends to develop tissue which “glues” it in place, which is why it is painful to remove. He said that after a day or two the pain should reduce, and it did. He said that the other drain was of a different sort – a much finer tube, less deep, and into simpler muscle layers. It came out a day or two later, and although it was pretty uncomfortable, it was nothing to compare with the removal of the deep one.

From the beginning I had problems with cannulae failing again. I had requested a PICC line from the outset before my hernia repair surgery but they were reluctant to do this and for once, the cannula they put in did stay the course. However, with this recent admission I was having endless problems, and having them dig around for a new site, causing me yet more pain and then for the wretched thing not to work from the outset, was becoming very wearing. They left the first one in for a couple of days longer than regulations required because it was still working and I was anxious about how a new one in a different vein would perform, but eventually they said it had to come out because of the risk of infection. Over the weekend I again requested a PICC line and they muttered on about risk of infection, and it not being necessary for short-term treatments, etc. until I was getting desperate. On the Monday my surgeon turned up again and I told him the trouble I’d been having, and immediately he said, “Let’s get the vascular access team straight down here and get a PICC line in right away, shall we?” He cuts through all the flim-flam with such authority but with such charm, and I always feel so safe in his hands! While I was in, I told him I’d already trusted him with my life three times, and he knew more about my insides than anybody but God, and I didn’t want anyone else messing about with me! He laughed! My hero.

I must share this funny photo with you. My hubby was endlessly amused by this chair – there was a stack of these chairs in the corridor for visitors. He pointed it out to quite a few other visitors and everyone had a good laugh!

Note the redundant apostrophe before the final “s” – this is something that always bugs me lol lol! We both thought that the writer’s spelling and grammar left a lot to be desired!!

After being in for 2 1/2 weeks they said I could be discharged. The infection was 90 percent plus dealt with, the drains had done their job, and the current course of antibiotics (now being taken orally) would do the rest. Because I’d had almost total bed rest during that period I was almost unable to walk, but could only shuffle very slowly with a walking frame. Because my hubby was so tired and so worried, and to give him a break, and also to allow me a transition period during which I could regain enough strength to be able to wash and dress independently and also to be more mobile, he fixed for me to spend a few days convalescing, and found me a room in the home where Mum had been.

This was rather a bizarre experience! I had had pretty negative vibes about the place because she had been so difficult, although I knew it was the best place and the care second to none. I knew a few of the staff and knew them to be efficient and caring. So off I went, last Friday, 4th May.

I didn’t sleep well throughout my time. On arrival there was a regular mattress which proved to be too hard after resting on it for half an hour, so they gave me an air mattress – I spent several hours sitting out of bed getting very tired indeed as they tried first one, and then a second, mattress – both of whose pumps were not working properly – they had been put away without being checked. In the end, I had to sleep the first night on the regular mattress, and they found a third air mattress the next day which did work, but the pump made such a loud buzzing noise that I had to continue to wear my earplugs as I’d done in hospital! Also, the room was small and the window couldn’t be opened very wide and I got very hot. I had come out of hospital in winter woollies and suddenly we were in the middle of a heat wave!

They cared for me so well. After that first night, a carer showered me and washed my hair – I was still very weak – and this gave me a tremendous boost, not having been able to do this for nearly 3 weeks!

The next day my mobility improved greatly, and I was able to walk, not shuffle, with the walking frame, up and down the corridor several times. The weather was glorious, and my hubby came over and we spent quite a bit of time over the few days I was there, sitting on the wonderful roof terrace they have, high up, overlooking the beautiful bay, and it was so hot that I began to catch the sun, and we had to go back nearer the building to sit under the umbrellas there.

The care home is part of a retirement village, which consists of the original beautiful Victorian manor house where I believe there is some accommodation, and where you can have meals; they have various functions there, and people who are not resident can join the club. My hubby belonged for a while during the time Mum was in the care home – he would often sit in the lounge with a book and a cup of coffee if his visit had been a difficult one. He got to know the staff there quite well.

Another part of the complex is a small building above the care home which is for convalescence, but since there were no available beds, I had a room in the main care home.

Below, there are some luxury apartments for people who are able to live independently. You can see the edge of this building on the left in the next photo, opposite the manor house.

Last year they had an open day and we were able to visit a couple of vacant apartments, and they were stunning – one or two-bedroom apartments with a small kitchen, bathroom and a lounge with a balcony looking straight over the sea.

Higher up, above the retirement village, is a block of luxury apartments, privately owned. In the foreground is the overflow convalescent home.

Looking back towards the care home from the roof terrace.

I think if the weather had been bad during my few days’ stay, I would have gone stir-crazy a lot sooner than I did – but sitting up in the sunshine and getting my first taste of fresh sea air and warm sun, and the sight of natural beauty after so long being confined in a place where everything you looked at was functional, was bliss. The views over the bay were stunning, and just what I needed!

On bank holiday Monday (2 days ago) my hubby took me out for a little drive and we went along the sea front, and enjoyed seeing all the holidaymakers in their summer clothes and the kids fishing in the rock pools with their little nets – some things never change – I remember loving this when I was a child! – and being so grateful for the glorious weather which would attract the holiday-makers and give a boost to the flagging economy of the town.

It was so lovely to get out and about, to be in the car, to see how much more green the trees were – just to look at something different and alive!

During my stay at the home, I got to know quite a few of the other residents (I was the youngest by far lol!!), most of whom were absolutely delightful and charming. I sat with the same people in the dining room and they were good company. The home has a weekly schedule of entertainments and activities, and on my first full day, you could go down to the manor house for a meal, and my hubby joined me for that. Half way through the meal my energy suddenly drained away and my hubby knew immediately that I had to go and rest, and said afterwards that it must have been serious if it prevented me from staying and enjoying some pudding!! He knows me too well… Yesterday was the day when residents could go out for a meal – this happens about once a fortnight. They have a mini-bus which can accommodate quite a number, including several wheelchairs, but my hubby drove me, and joined us. We had an excellent meal in a place near Dawlish, and when I came home, arrangements had been made for the continuation of my injections by the district nurse at home, and I was allowed to go.

Staying there opened my eyes to a few things. I was aware that there were social activities laid on, and how kind and efficient the staff were, but when Mum was there, she did not avail herself of any of this and preferred to spend her whole time in her room. I know that her deafness really isolated her, but having met the other residents, it saddened me that she didn’t make the effort to make any friends because they were all so lovely, and it was not surprising that she got so depressed, not taking advantage of all the lovely facilities in the home – there were several beautiful sitting rooms, one with a TV (she preferred to watch the TV in her room) and the beautiful sun lounge on the top floor giving access to the roof terrace. There were always jigsaws out, and lots of books and magazines. One of the things they provide is for someone to sit with residents in their rooms to keep them company on certain days each week, to prevent loneliness for those who perhaps are not well enough to leave their own rooms. Mum never took advantage of this, and then complained that nobody ever talked to her!

I am very glad I went, but oh so glad to get home yesterday afternoon – a few days was enough for me. My hubby had anticipated me being in for a week, but as I was so much better and he was looking so much more relaxed and less tired and strained, we decided to call it a day and get me home. Never has “Home, Sweet Home” meant more to me!

As for the kittens, when I first got home, they ran away from me, and when I attempted to get close to Ruby she was having none of it – I tried to cuddle her a couple of times but she squeaked and pulled away. Very disappointing when she had missed me so much during my absence but I thought maybe I smelt different! However, later in the evening I had two lovely long cuddles with her and she purred her little head off and got quite drowsy in my arms – this morning she’s again been a bit wary of me but things are definitely improving! My hubby says she’s a lot more settled since I got home, and isn’t looking for me and crying any more. I’ve never been away from home for so long and it must have been very worrying for her, wondering where I’d suddenly disappeared to for so long. I have missed them so much and last night I told my hubby how glad I was to be home, back with my little family! Life will soon return to normal, I am sure.

Meanwhile, he is doing the meals, which he was doing anyway in my absence, and having had that few days of convalescence, he doesn’t need to help me with any personal care. He is coming and going, and not worrying about leaving me on my own – all visitors (including the district nurse) have been told to let themselves in round the back to save me from having to get up to answer the door! Oh, it’s so good to be home!!!

Second Pre-Assessment Appointment

Yesterday I had my second pre-assessment appointment at the hospital, in advance of my upcoming operation. This time I saw one of the anaesthetists, and I was able to go over a few points with him that I’d covered last week with the nurse.

The main thing I wanted to talk to him about was having a PICC line installed at the outset, to avoid the problems I had last time with all my cannulae failing, and me ending up like a pincushion. He wasn’t over-keen on the idea, and said they like to do the minimum of invasive procedures – in this case there is a small risk of embolism, but when I asked him how small, he said “less than 1 percent” which I said was certainly very small, and I’d be prepared to take that risk, for the sake of an easy life and peace of mind!

He said it was really up to the anaesthetist in charge on the day of the operation, and also my surgeon, and suggested I speak to them on the day. He then said that if I were to have it done, they would need extra time on admission for the procedure, to which I responded that if it was up to me to talk to them beforehand, it would already be too late – he took my point, and said he’d put it in the notes and speak to them about it himself. He said different people had different ideas about risk, so opinions varied.

He said that a year on, my veins may have recovered sufficiently by now for the cannulae to work anyway, and was I prepared to try. Reluctantly I said perhaps I would, but I would still prefer the PICC, to be sure. I told him that my neuropathy and bladder problems had not improved at all in the last year, but he said that not all effects of chemo recover at the same rate, and veins recovered more quickly than nerves, so there was a chance that I’d be fine.

I’ll just have to wait and see what they decide, and if they prefer me to try the regular cannula first, I’ll go along with that – I have at least made my preference clear, and it’s up to them now. If the first cannula does fail, then I shall definitely request a PICC, and I am sure that at that stage, they will agree, but that will be after the operation.

My hubby chipped in that each time a cannula failed, I was not getting the pain relief, sometimes for several hours, and this was most unsatisfactory.

We discussed post-operative pain relief and he said he could see from last week’s appointment that I was happy to have the rectus sheath catheters and PCA (morphine pump) that I’d had before – he said that often the rectus sheath catheters were less satisfactory than an epidural, but I said I wasn’t too keen on this, but added that this was probably because I’d never had one and didn’t know what to expect, and that I had found the rectus sheath catheters helpful. He said as long as I was happy with what I’d had before, they’d go ahead on that basis, although I may not be able to have them if my surgeon thought they would interfere with the mesh he will be inserting during my hernia repair, so again, we shall have to wait and see.

I told him that last time, after my emergency surgery, I was in a lot more pain initially, and he agreed that was to be expected, given that I was already very poorly and not as well as possible like the first time, which was elective surgery. We also agreed that this was why last year’s experience was generally very much worse than before, and why it took me so much longer to recover. He asked how long I’d been in recovery that time, but I couldn’t remember – the first time, I spent the whole night there, and went onto the ward the following morning.

I asked that they would insert the NG tube while I was under the anaesthetic, because last year it was done while I was conscious and it was truly a horrible experience. He said that they are not inserting them as a matter of course now, and it may not be necessary for me to have one at all – it depends how much my bowel will be handled. Again, my surgeon will decide, but in any event, it would be inserted under anaesthetic; the reason for it being done while I was conscious last year was that it is the standard treatment for an obstruction, which I knew, and once it was in, it did make me feel a lot better and prevented any further sickness.

He told me to stop the Rivaroxaban (anti-coagulant) two days before the operation, which is more or less what I thought.

On the subject of the ward staff being aware of the limitations imposed by my ME, I explained the unpleasant experience I had after my first operation, and that obviously my concerns had not been passed on. He said it was in my notes, but because these are extensive, not everybody might see that, and also that nurses tended to be very much procedure- and routine-driven and perhaps not so easy to convince of individual special needs, although the nurse last week said that she hated “blanket rules” and everybody should be treated as an individual! He said I should mention this concern to everybody, to make them all aware, in case they had not been told, or had not seen my notes. My hubby confirmed my low energy levels, and how I can suddenly run out of energy and need to rest. I told the anaesthetist that anyway, at home, I spend much of my time with my legs up on the recliner as this is a lot more comfortable for me and less tiring, and sitting in this position in a hospital bed is really no different. I told him that I do try to keep my feet and legs moving, and that I am normally moving around the house quite a lot, and only use the wheelchair when out and about, but after an operation it is a different matter.

We agreed that major surgery really takes it out of even normal, healthy people, and that allowances should be made when one is starting with an already low base-line. I am hoping that after this discussion, I will be given more leeway and won’t get bossed about – I told him that on that first occasion I was already feeling very vulnerable immediately after major surgery, and didn’t feel up to having to fight my corner, and it upset me that it was necessary for me to do so.

He asked what were the main symptoms of my ME and how they affected my life, and I told him that it was mainly very low energy levels, and rapid muscle fatigability, balance problems, disrupted sleep due to my internal clock being out of sync, and brainfog.

I said that before, as a matter of course, I had been given an airflow mattress and foot pumps, and was keen to have these again, and he agreed with this. Having the foot pumps should certainly help prevent DVTs especially if I am less able to spend time out of bed, particularly initially.

He also raised the subject of the coronary artery spasm I had in 2014 and asked if I suffered any angina attacks, to which I replied that they were extremely rare. He asked what brought them on, and I said in each case it had been stress! I told him that the main cause of the stress had now been removed (Mum, before she went into a care home, and how difficult it had been for me in the run-up to my first operation) and that as far as my heart was concerned, I was really pretty well. They are obviously aware of this, though, and will take it into account, along with the left bundle branch block which they are also aware of. I told him I’d been under considerable stress recently, with my hubby breaking his leg and Mum dying, and so much more being put onto me, but that things were very much better now. Thankfully none of this brought on an angina attack.

That more or less covered our discussion. Everything else had really been covered last week, but I did feel it was beneficial to discuss these matters with an anaesthetist as I had done at the pre-assessment before my first operation. I didn’t have one before the second operation, of course, because that was an emergency.

I told him that I was very impressed with how thorough they were, checking all these things in the days leading up to surgery, and how much things had improved in the twenty-odd years since my hysterectomy, when more or less all they asked was if I’d had any previous operations and did I have any allergies! I said the pain management was so much better as to be almost unrecognisable compared with that time, and he agreed that great progress has been made in these matters.

We are still waiting for a date.

WOYWW 444

Nothing on my desk yet again… Just when I thought I might actually get some studio time, last Tuesday afternoon my hubby slipped in the street and broke his leg. He is now in plaster from toes to knee and is not allowed to put his foot on the ground, so he’s hobbling around on crutches which is a real struggle for him. Added to this, for the first three days he was in a temporary plaster to allow the swelling to subside, and this has seriously abraded his skin, causing him a lot of pain. He’s been back to the hospital a couple of times, and at the fracture clinic they put a new, permanent plaster on, and dressed the blistered skin. On Monday they drained off quite a bit of blood from the swollen blisters and this has relieved the pain somewhat. He’s going back on Friday for his scheduled appointment, when they will re-X-ray his leg to see how the bone is knitting.

He will be in plaster from 4-6 weeks. He’s sure it will be 4 weeks, but I am a bit more realistic, given his age, and think it more likely to be 6!

This has caused a major disruption in our lives, because we are needing lifts everywhere, and during this first week I was very busy with activities and appointments out of the house, after a relatively quiet period. I was unable to attend the Ileostomy Association meeting I’d been looking forward to at the weekend, because I had no way of getting there. For other things I managed to get lifts, but this isn’t as straightforward as it might be, because I need the wheelchair, and not everybody has a large enough car to carry it. I’ve taken off the powered wheels, which are extremely heavy, and hard to take on and off, and am using the regular, lightweight ones which are easy peasy to snap on and off, making the chair easy to transport, but it makes it a lot harder work for me to propel myself. Fortunately, so far, I haven’t had far to go.

On Thursday I had my six-monthly oncology appointment at the hospital, for which I got a lift. No problems there – I knew from my CT scan in September that all was well, and my recent bloods confirmed this. We spent most of the time discussing the hernia problem that I have, and I said I was concerned that I still had not had an appointment to see the surgeon. She said she would chase this up herself, which was a relief – I thought she might make better progress on that front than I could! Still nothing, though, and it’s been another week. I’d been told I would be seen before the end of the year, but this is looking less and less likely. The hernia is larger than it was and is causing me more discomfort, and I am scared of another blockage, and ending up in hospital having emergency surgery again. What I want is a proper, scheduled operation performed by my own specialist colorectal surgeon, and I think that the way things now are, that he is more likely to agree to do this, but I’ve got to see him first!

Fortunately we got the kittens’ spaying out of the way before my hubby broke his leg. We had such a lot of trouble with both of them pulling their stitches out, necessitating numerous return visits to the vet, and this would have been a nightmare had my hubby not been able to drive. For their final appointment, I got a lift and took them down, and they had their little body suits removed, and their wounds had both healed up beautifully, and the fur is starting to grow back again. Lily has now finished her antibiotics and no longer has diarrhoea, and she seems in much better spirits; the two of them have had endless chasing games and wrestling matches, and my hubby has been sitting with them in the flat and enjoying their antics, and when they have worn themselves out, they have loved cuddling up on his lap for warmth.

They are now six months old, and have had a growth spurt! They do look a lot bigger since their body suits were removed, because the fur has fluffed up again. The vet weighed them and they are both over 2 kg each. Although Lily looks bigger than Ruby, Ruby surprisingly weighs more – she must be more dense! Lily is incredibly soft and fluffy with the most amazing fur I’ve ever felt on a cat, and she’s so relaxed and floppy when you cuddle her – I can’t get enough of it (and neither can she, it seems!). Ruby is a great wriggler and very active, and it doesn’t take her long to start fidgeting when you’re holding her, but she purrs and purrs throughout, and she will lie in my arms with her paws in the air, just gazing up at me!

Yesterday we decided that they probably needed to be eating more, so from today, I have been giving Lily a whole pouch of kitten food at each meal instead of 2/3, and she’s been wolfing it down like there’s no tomorrow, and ending up with a round little belly like a football! Since the early days, Ruby won’t touch wet food and will only eat biscuits, and I’ve increased her quantities too. She drinks a nice lot of water, which is a good thing, since she’s not getting any in her food. They definitely have their own preferences and likes and dislikes, and it’s fascinating watching these emerge as they grow. They’ve really been enjoying my hubby’ immobile company and when I’m not there, they spend most of the time cuddled up on his lap, but they always get off when I come in, and come to greet me and demand cuddles. Highly responsive, loving and affectionate kitties!

I am having a job trying to get my hubby to rest, though, and let his leg heal up properly. He has loads of things he’s arranged to do, and thinks the world will collapse if he cancels anything! Just watching him trying to walk makes me feel tired! He can hardly get in and out of the front door, and the whole effort of walking, even from his chair to the loo, is taking a lot of energy and is obviously tiring him.

When he was out a couple of days ago I had a bit of “me” time and had a friend from our cancer group around and we had a lovely chat over coffee, which was great. It made me feel more human again! She’s such good news and it was a real tonic to see her. Today I have been out for lunch with the two friends I met in hospital when we were all in together two years ago, and have remained friends ever since, and get together when we can. This also really helped keep me going!

I’ve also started doing some Christmas cooking which is very therapeutic – over 2 dozen mince pies yesterday. It is tiring though! Over the next few days I’m hoping to get the stuffings made, and some other advance preparations that can go in the freezer. It’s been over 10 years since I’ve cooked a Christmas dinner and for the first time I feel well enough to tackle it, and I shall really enjoy it, even though it’s just for us two! It’s so lovely being able to spread the load and freeze things in advance, and I shan’t be making a pudding or a cake – Lidl does such good ones, and very reasonably priced, too. I love the aftermath, because you get all that fabulous cold meat that you can do so much with, and above all, the carcass from which you can make gallons of delicious soup! I’ve bought a medium-sized turkey and this will keep us fed for ages into the New Year. There’s absolutely nothing like home cooking!

No time this week to make much progress on the second pair of socks I am knitting for the homeless but I’ve been assured the project is going on after November, and anyway, there is someone in our church liaising with the groups helping the homeless, so there’s nothing to stop me continuing after the official programme ends. Here’s a picture of the socks so far – I’ve completed the first one and made a start on the second. They will look less lumpy after they have been blocked.

WOYWW 440–Kitten Spaying

Again, nothing on the creative front – too busy, then too tired… Also, we’ve been very involved with the kittens who have had a pretty eventful week. I am writing this late on Tuesday evening.

On Sunday it was the Pet Service at our local church and we took Lily and Ruby!

They were very well behaved, and everybody admired them greatly. Those who had visited them when we first had them were amazed how much they had grown. The service was lovely – not long, but very touching, with everyone having the opportunity to introduce their animals by name, and it was so nice to see everyone’s pets – mostly dogs, including a beautiful guide dog. There was one other cat. We had a young lady from our local Animals in Distress charity to talk to us about their work, and she showed us photos of six puppies that someone had brought in – they’d found them abandoned in a cardboard box. They were thought to be no more than 24 hours old. How can anyone do something like that?? Anyway, the staff worked with them round the clock, bottle feeding them every couple of hours and bringing them on, and they only lost one. They are now about to go to their forever homes. The local paper reported on it.

Today we took them to the vet to get them spayed (what my hubby calls having their squeaks removed!). It was really strange not having them in the house all day. My hubby took them in about 9 a.m. and we went to collect them at tea time.

Both had done fine, but by the time we got home, Ruby had pulled her stitches out. Their wounds are tiny – I can’t imagine how they got everything out through there! My hubby took Ruby back and they super-glued hers shut again and put a lampshade around her neck to stop her biting at it. By the time he got her home, she’d pulled that off, and she went bananas when he put it on her again, and she managed to get her lower jaw on the outside of it, so off it came again. We are keeping a close eye on her and it looks as if the wound might be opening again – he will take her back in the morning if necessary. They said that if the lampshade didn’t work, they could put a kind of suit on her but I can’t see her taking kindly to that either!

They gave us some easy-to-digest food for them but of course Ruby wouldn’t touch it because she doesn’t like wet food. We gave her a few of her biscuits instead.

We have to take them back in ten days for the stitches to come out and to be checked over. While they were there, the vet discovered that Lily has got an ulcer under her tongue – we can’t imagine how that happened. We have got antibiotics to give her, and when we take them back for their stitches, they’ll have a look at it again if she’ll let them.

Lily has behaved as one would expect – quite subdued, and needing to sleep, but Ruby has been wild, rampaging around and playing, and trying to wrestle with Lily (which we have been stopping) – all this leaping about is not conducive to her wound healing, is it!! She is such a baby still. It’s awful to think that in about a month, she would have been ready physically to be a mother herself… Talk about teenage pregnancies!

I always go to bed very late, and I’m staying up with them as late as possible to keep an eye on them, but will have to go up soon in order to be up early in the morning for my grocery delivery, and to check on the kittens as my hubby has to go out first thing.

What a worry this all is! I hope things settle down and that things soon get back to normal again.

Other stuff

My hubby decided on Saturday, bless him, that we hadn’t been out on a jaunt for ages, so we went out for lunch in a local pub and then went over to Plymouth to visit the National Marine Aquarium – one of my favourite haunts. I’ve done a post about it with lots of photos, but here are a couple.

Health Update

Still no news about my hospital appointment to see the surgeon about my hernia. I really hope I hear something soon. My ME continues to be a pain and I’m just not getting on top of things as much as I would like. Every time, art gets pushed to the bottom of the heap. I’m back to doing the monthly accounts again now and need minimum brainfog to deal with that!

WOYWW 439

I’m sorry to have been AWOL recently, but my ME problems have been ongoing, and I’ve been alternating between busy days when I’ve kept going, and less busy days when I’ve crashed out unable to do much of anything! No change on the desk, just stuff still out for the ongoing project, the Infusions mini-album which I wonder if I’ll even get finished this year!

A week ago we had our regular cancer Cakeathon meeting, and I managed to do some baking for that, so here are some foodie photos to keep you going. I made an apple cinnamon twist loaf from a recipe I found on Pinterest and it was a huuuuge success – definitely one to make again! It went down very well.

Here is the loaf out of the oven with its dusting of icing sugar, ready to be cut, photographed on my grandmother’s lovely old bread board, together with her antique knife with its bone handle carved into a corn cob.

When it’s cut, you can see how the twists give a marbled effect.

The filling consists of a spread of apple butter and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. Deeeelicious!

Here’s a small tub of the remaining apple butter. I’ve never made this before, and it’s really easy to make, and very tasty.

I found several recipes online, most of which are stuffed with sugar and/or maple syrup, but I made mine from a sugar-free recipe – the apples off our tree are so sweet that the healthy option is fine. At final count, we got about 35 lb of apples this year! I’ve got several large bags of sliced apple in the freezer to use throughout the year.

Kittens

Can you believe that our kittens are now five months old? How quickly the time passes! They are getting so big now, and Lily especially is getting quite a grown-up look, although to my eyes, Ruby still has her baby face! Long may that continue… I simply adore that kitty! A few weeks ago, Lily suddenly developed a really soft fluffy coat which is absolutely fabulous. My hubby is thrilled because he really misses Beatrice’s fluffiness which was legendary – she never grew out of kitten fur! Lily has definitely adopted my hubby, and Ruby is my baby.

We have moved the big cat tree back into the flat. They behave so badly in our sitting room that for now they are banned unless under the strictest supervision, and so they were unable to use the cat tree while it was still in there. Now, it is in constant use. They love it because they can be high up (as all cats like to be), and it’s nice and soft, and they can sleep on it. It has lots of interesting platforms and little houses on it, as well as dangly mice to play with, so it’s been a huge success.

Here’s Lily in one of the little houses.

Ruby being queen of the castle, right on top.

The two of them.

This latest one, taken today. Not much room for both of them on one platform – Lily’s leg is hanging down, and just after this, Ruby nearly fell off! (Note the curtains still tied up – a preventative measure against kittens climbing them!!)

They get really warm when they’re snuggled up together like that.

The other day I found them acting like two naughty little bookends on the flat kitchen windowsill. They’ve just got to the stage when they can jump up onto the kitchen worktops so absolutely nothing is safe from them now!

They continue to be very affectionate and relaxed and happy. They have now had their booster inoculations, and sometime during this coming month they will have to be spayed, or as my hubby calls it, “having their squeaks removed” – for little boy kitties it’s “having their pockets picked” lol!

I was hoping to get some art done this week but again I have failed. Apart from not feeling well, I’ve been very busy preparing sessions for my Bible study group which meets weekly – this is something I can do from the comfort of the recliner and in addition to all the research, it does involve a certain amount of creativity in the form of the PowerPoint slides I prepare, which I try to make artistically.

Diet

I have now reached my target weight!!!!! Yaaaayyy!!!!! I shall continue with the 5:2 in order to maintain it from now on, which shouldn’t be hard, as it’s a way of life for me now. Since I started in the summer of 2014 (stopping for most of 2015 while I was being treated for my cancer) I have lost 4 1/2 stone (63 lb) and lost 10 inches around my waist. I hardly recognise myself these days. It’s so lovely being able to wear some of my old clothes again, that I could never bear to part with, and also have an excuse to buy some new ones! If I can do this, especially as I can’t take exercise to burn off excess weight so it’s been by diet alone, then anyone can do it!

Health Update

I’ve been experiencing some pain from my parastomal hernia which the recent CT scan showed had definitely returned, so I phoned the hospital yesterday. My surgeon’s secretary couldn’t tell me exactly when my appointment would be, as appointments are dealt with by a separate department, but she thought it should definitely be in November, and if I hadn’t heard anything in a week to ten days, to phone again. She said she would pass on the fact that I was getting some pain – when I last saw my surgeon, he told me to phone his secretary if this happened, or if I had any other concerns. She told me that of course, if I developed another blockage, I must go straight to A&E – I said I knew to do this, but it was something I wanted to avoid because I wanted my own surgeon to deal with it and not have anyone else messing around with it like at the beginning of the year. I am hoping that when I see him, he will finally agree to fix it properly and insert some mesh to reinforce it. I’m not happy being in this limbo state. I’ve also got an oncology appointment in November, which should mark my 2-year all-clear – all being well, this will mean that for the next 3 years she will only need to see me once a year instead of every six months, and after that I’ll be discharged! Obviously as far as the stoma is concerned, they will continue to keep an eye on things and be available if I have any problems – all last year I was fine, and thought that was it, but then everything went pear-shaped at the beginning of this year which just goes to show you can never anticipate what might happen! Life is never dull, that’s for sure.

A couple of funnies I found this week on Pinterest:

This one sums up my current brainfogged state:

WOYWW 437

My desk late Tuesday night.

Not a great deal going on – all my distress inks, Infusions etc. are still out for the ongoing Infusions Mini-Album project.

On Monday I did manage to make some cards because my stash had pretty well run out. Not my favourite activity – more of a chore than a pleasure and I wasn’t terribly happy with the result but I ended up with half a dozen passable ones that will be useful for upcoming birthdays.

I’m still very up and down with my ME, alternating between busy days when I manage to keep going and don’t feel too bad at all, and then rest days when I just crash out. It means I get behind with stuff that needs doing and it’s a bit frustrating! We both seem to be quite busy at the moment.

I had a really really lovely day on Saturday when Margaret (glitterandglue) spent the whole day with me! She was coming down to Devon for a Pergamano course and arrived a couple of days before it was due to begin, and she was able to come and visit! I so value these opportunities to meet fellow WOYWW-ers because being down in the SW we are a bit cut off and not being able to travel much, I rarely get the chances others get for crops etc. Here is Margaret with some of her absolutely stunning Pergamano work.

I think she was hoping to get me going on it but seeing how incredibly fine and detailed it is, and how very time-consuming, I didn’t think it was for me, despite the beauty of the results.

The kittens are getting so big now. They are now nearly 5 months old! They weren’t very impressed with me yesterday morning and one day last week because I shut them in the bathroom for several hours while the electrician was here doing some work. They are very lively and also very loving – especially Ruby with me. She comes running to me and when I pick her up, she purrs and purrs.

Here are the latest videos of them – Ruby attacking one of my hubby’s new slippers, and then both of them having fun playing with a leaf. So much for the expensive toys we bought for them, which they never touch!!

 

Our apples from our tree have finally come to an end. We have sliced and frozen 5 big bags of them, each containing over 6 lb of apples, so this year’s yield has been well over 30 lb! I’ve got 3 lb of them in the slow cooker at this moment – I’m in the process of my first attempt at making apple butter from a recipe I found online. I want to cook an apple cinnamon loaf for our monthly Cakeathon meeting for our cancer group this Friday. I’ll try and take some photos of it if it’s successful!

WOYWW 436 A Tidy Studio and Some Zentangles

At last I have tidied my studio! As always happens when I haven’t been using it, it had turned into a dumping ground and was an absolute mess.

This is the further side of the room.

On the left, by the lamp, is my little gallery area. In the corner is my sewing zone with my sewing machine, and the storage boxes on the shelves contain mostly textile stuff. On the right is my drawing zone.

This is the side of the room looking back towards the window.

On the left is my iMac. My cutting machine is across the corner. Misc. supplies in the storage boxes on the shelves. I’ve got all my distress inks and Infusions and Dylusions sprays and paints out (in the plastic boxes on top) so it’s not over-tidy at present! To the right is my main work area – my desk, for the purposes of WOYWW! The white unit in the foreground is one of several pull-out units. When stowed away, this one would go under the main desk but it never goes in there because that’s where I mostly sit. When pulled out, it provides an extra surface and still gives me access to the shelves – this one holds card and paper.

Here’s the desk itself.

Apart from being a bit tidier than before, not much change – you can still see the current work in progress – my Infusions mini-album.

I continue to alternate between being busy with various commitments, domestic tasks and looking after the kittens, and crashing out on the recliner suffering from extreme exhaustion! I am taking a bit of a dip with my ME at the moment which is a tremendous bore because it’s preventing me from getting much creative stuff done – this is always what gets pushed to the bottom of the heap when energy is in short supply! I am trying not to overdo things on better days – I run on adrenaline on busy days and then pay for it later. My internal clock has gone all haywire again so I’m not getting to bed till well into the small hours, and then struggle to get up in the mornings – normal ME fare!

Zentangle

I was getting so fed up with not being creative that I charged up my Apple Pencil and started drawing Zentangles on the iPad again. I can do this from the comfort of the recliner or in bed, and I can also flip back and forth to look at the step-outs for the various patterns, either in my own folder on the iPad, or online. I can also listen to audio books while I’m doing it! Multi-tasking…

Here’s my experiment with Diva Dance flowing through Paradox – I’ve always found the latter pattern problematic but think I’ve mastered it at last! Full details here.

Yesterday I completed another one, which had taken me several days to do. Full details here.

Kittens

Lily and Ruby are now 4 1/2 months old – I can’t believe how quickly the time is going, or how big they are getting! As my hubby says, they may be growing, but they are not growing up! Here they are in the kitty bed, suckling on the fluffy toy.

They won’t use the lovely new kitten bed I bought for them, and they are now getting too big for it! I got the old bigger bed out for them and they wouldn’t use that either, until my hubby put the fluffy thing in there, and now they go in to suckle, but sleep either on top of the wooden cat tree my hubby made, or in the kitty castle.

Lily pending…

(In my hubby’s pending tray in his office!)

Together on the scratching post, looking like two little meerkats on a train.

They are getting on quite well with the clicker training but both tend to have off days when they won’t concentrate! Also, when I try and put what they have learnt into practice in a situation where there are distractions that they find far more interesting, they behave as if they’ve never heard of clicker training! We persevere, though.

A couple of weeks ago they discovered what fun you can have for a minute or two with a new roll of loo paper.

The latest video of them, wrestling on the scratching post.

Health update

I got the result of my recent CT scan this week and the hernia has definitely returned. The emergency repair done in February when I was admitted for emergency surgery because of a blockage, has not even lasted a year. I knew it would fail eventually. I am seeing my surgeon again soon, according to his letter, and we will discuss options then. I really hope he agrees to admit me for elective surgery for a proper repair, and doesn’t wait for another blockage…