Got the Call

Our phone has not stopped ringing since last Friday and emails and texts are arriving by the minute. It seems that everyone who ever knew and loved my dear mum-in-law, wants to attend her funeral service next Saturday. As many people will be travelling by air, they are making a weekend of it and so it’s rapidly turning into a 3-day event. It’s gonna be a busy weekend. What was that I heard about getting rest?

It’s a bank holiday here today so the hubby and I set-off on an early morning walk to clear our minds. Our peace and quiet was soon disturbed by the sound of my mobile phone ringing. It was Nottingham letting me know that my operation had been scheduled for Friday. Help! I pleaded exceptional circumstances in light of the funeral on Saturday and managed to get the surgery postponed to the following week. The date has yet to be confirmed.

Frankly, this is one call I could have done without today. As Nancy says, it never rains but it pours around here! You’ve gotta laugh.

A Real Supergran

I feel very out of touch with the blog world.  It’s been a roller coaster week here.  It’s got to the stage where when the phone rings, my heart falls.  No news, really is good news.

It all started on the day of the Heineken cup rugby final when my father was rushed to hospital by ambulance with chest pains. After an anxious wait in A&E, news came through that his pain was non-cardiac in origin and so once my dad’s condition had stabilised, he was discharged back to the nursing home.

The following day, my mum-in-law’s health suddenly deteriorated and we were told that her end was nigh. Thus begun a round-the-clock family vigil at her bedside which lasted for five days.  She died peacefully on Friday surrounded by her nearest and dearest. Her funeral will take place next weekend when family and friends will gather from around the world to celebrate a dear life. She was a wonderful mum and a real supergran and will be deeply missed.

In the midst of all this, my son Robin woke last Friday morning with a very swollen foot. He was due to leave at lunchtime on a walking holiday with friends so we had to act fast. His problem was solved by a visit to a VHI SwiftCare Clinic which had him assessed and processed in less than one hour and on his way to Kerry. The following morning Robin phoned to say that the swelling had moved up his leg and a phonecall to SwiftCare confirmed that he should return home.  I collected him off the train several hours later and ferried him back to the clinic for re-assessment. Again, Robin was seen very quickly and thankfully, this time the news was better. He was instructed to rest-up and allow the antibiotics to take effect. SwiftCare is a privatised clinic funded by a health insurance company, to deal with minor injuries and illnesses. I could not fault the care that Robin received there. It would have been a very different story had we attended the A&E department at our local hospital. By lunchtime today, Robin was back on the train to Kerry to re-join his friends.

Thankfully, today has been a rest day.  There’s been no news as yet on a date for my surgery.  Right now the silence from Nottingham, is a welcome reprieve.

It’s a big YES!

Something extraordinary was witnessed on the ‘Britain’s Got Talent‘ show last week.

This lady has talent.

No one’s laughing at her now. There’s a lesson in this for all of us. Enjoy!

Preparation for Surgery

Here’s another excerpt from my little book of Home Nursing.  It details the preparation of the patient for surgery…

“On the day before the operation the nurse should ask the surgeon how he wishes the patient to be prepared. If no specific instructions are given the patient should if possible be kept quiet the previous day: he should take only light food, have a warm bath and an aperient in the evening. On the day of the operation he may, if the operation is not to be performed too early, and with the surgeon’s permission, have a light breakfast of tea, with toast and butter, and, three hours before the operation, a cup of tea or bovril.

His preparation begins with a simple enema first thing in the morning. Then he may have a warm bath or be well sponged down.  The area of the operation must now be sterilized by shaving and then cleansing thoroughly with either soap or spirit soap, which must be washed off with hot water; the skin must again be washed with hot biniodide of mercury solution, and covered with a compress of lint or gauze wrung out of the same solution: or, after drying, the skin may be painted over with mild tincture of iodine, allowed to dry and covered with a dry sterile towel.

Before the operation artificial teeth, hair-pins, jewellery, etc., must be removed, and if the hair is long in a woman it should be plaited in two plaits tied at the ends. The patient must put on warm flannel clothes which can be removed easily, and long woollen stockings.”

Now that’s what you call pre-operative care. These days, patients are admitted to hospital on the day of surgery and the pre-op preparation is left almost entirely to the patient. I can remember once getting it completely wrong and I paid the price.

I had a young baby at the time and instead of resting the day before my surgery, I rushed around putting preparations in place for during my absence. The following moring I insisted on getting myself to the hospital so that my husband could stay at home to look after our baby. Having fasted from the night before, I travelled by train to the hospital and arrived feeling totally parched and exhausted. I had a particularly difficult post-operative recovery from the anaesthetic on that occasion and it taught me a lesson. In today’s world of conveyor belt medicine, it’s really important to rest the day before surgery so as to optimise your powers of recovery. Allow yourself to be pampered!

UPDATE: I’ve just spotted this letter to the Irish Times from a Consultant in Emergency Medicine, which fits in nicely with the ‘ patient care’ theme of this post.

“And the Minister should focus on the universal need for a familiar smiling face. Let us have carers who have the time to care and the moral support of a loved one in our hour of need. Health economists may have factored these basics out in their many dubious prescriptions, but Mother Nature has not”.

Home Nursing

While sorting out some old family belongings recently, I came across a  little handbook of nursing, titled  “Home Nursing – The Authorized Textbook of the St. John Ambulance Association“. This book was first published in June 1932 and contains some wonderful gems on patient care. These were the  days when patients were literally ‘nursed’ back to health.

BEVERAGES AND INVALID COOKERY

“Beverages may be refreshing, nourishing or stimulating”.

a. Refreshing.

Beverages for this purpose should be taken in sips, and the patient urged to hold the fluid under the front of the tongue or at the back of the throat. The effect will be a refreshing sensation of coolness, whereas a large draught does not so well allay the thirst and may induce flatulence.  Rinsing the mouth with cold water will often effectually allay thirst.

Teas made from Jam – Blackcurrant tea is especially suitable. Add a tablespoonful of jam to a pint of boiling water and allow to stand; strain.

Toast Water – Soak a slice of well toasted bread in a pint of boiling water; stand till cold; strain.

Apple Water – Slice thinly an apple without peeling or coring; pour over it a pint of boiling water; stand till cold; strain.

b.  Nourishing.

Barley Water (thin) – Add half a pint of boiling water to a teaspoonful of washed pearl barley, with a pinch of salt: stand by the fire for an hour, stirring occasionally: strain through fine muslin: allow to cool.

Albumen Water – Stir the whites of two fresh eggs in half a pint of cold boiled water, to which a pinch of salt has been added; leave for half an hour.

Gruel (Oatmeal) may be made with mild or with water. Mix into a paste with water two tablespoonfuls of fine oatmeal or groats in a saucepan; add a pint of milk or water, as ordered, and boil gently for half an hour, stirring frequently. Flavour with salt or sugar.

Egg Flip – Remove the speck; beat up a new-laid egg with a teaspoonful of sugar; add half a pint of milk and, if ordered, a tablespoonful of brandy; stir well.

c. Stimulating.

Tea/Coffee.

Beef Tea (quick) – Remove the fat and skin from half a pound of gravy beef, which should be cut in small pieces and placed in a saucepan; add sufficient water to cover the meat and a little salt; while warming over a moderate fire, press out the juice of the meat for ten minutes; removed the meat and boil the liquor for one minute.

Those were the days! Do you think the  HSE could learn any useful tips from this book? More to follow…

Nothing Else Matters

While sitting with my Mum today at the nursing home, I spotted one of my favourites books on a nearby bookshelf.  It was a LARGE PRINT version of  “The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw” written by Sheila Hancock. As my Mum was sound asleep in her wheelchair, I had time to flick through the book and was reminded of what a wonderful read it is. Inside the front cover, I came across a beautiful piece of writing which Sheila had borrowed as she felt that the sentiments expressed in it applied equally to her late husband. I have taken the liberty of reproducing it here as I was so taken with the words.

“When Clare Venables was dying from cancer, her friend Peter Thompson wrote her this letter. ..

My much-loved friend,

It matters to have trodden the earth proudly, not arrogantly, but on feet that aren’t afraid to stand their ground, and move quickly when the need arises. It matters that your eyes have been on the object always, aware of it’s drift but not caught up in it. It matters that we were young together, and that you never lost the instincts and intuitions of a pioneer. It matters that you have been brave when retreat would have been easier. It matters that, in many places and at many times, you have made a difference. Your laugh has mattered. Your love has mattered. Above all, it matters that you have been loved.

Nothing else matters.”

What a beautiful tribute! Now I can’t wait to enjoy my own copy of Sheila’s book all over again.

D’Unbelievable

Yes, we’ve done it!

Ireland has won the Grand Slam, the Triple Crown and the Six Nations Championship.

After this, anything is possible. I see trees of green…

Oh, what a night!

I Cork! Just back from the Irish Blog Awards.

Here’s my prize!

I found him in the Ladies Room 

And here’s Grannymar with another toyboy at her knees. Something tells me Conn was enjoying his initiation ceremony!

We’d a bit of a struggle getting Grannymar into the back of the hotel shuttle bus but we got there in the end 

We partied long and we partied hard. As Grannymar says, no trophies to polish but that’s not what the blog awards are about. The company, the craic and the friendship was mighty and I loved every minute of it.

Serious blogging will resume once the fog clears.

You Can’t Win

Today is as good a day as any, to publish the results of a recent study to find out which days of the week men prefer to have sex?

It was found that men preferred to engage in sexual activity on the days that started with “T“:

Tuesday

Thursday

Today

Tomorrow

Thaturday and Thunday

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Ladies Only

“What good is sitting alone in your room?
Come hear the music play.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret Ladies Tea Party.

Put down the knitting,
The book and the broom.
Time for a holiday.
Life is Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret.

Come taste the wine,
Come hear the band.
Come blow your horn,
Start celebrating;
Right this way,
Your table’s waiting.”

The wonderful Sabrina Dent has organised a pre-event session to get us ‘Ladies’ attending the 2009 Irish Blog Awards, in the mood!

You need to complete a registration form, if you’d like to attend. It’s limited to 30 people and is already half-full so sign-up ASAP.

Who: You. A pre-event mixer for Ireland’s women bloggers
When: Saturday, 21 February from 4 – 7 PM
Where: Cork Airport Hotel, Apartment 201 (NOT room 201)
What: Food, drink, occasional knitting, general merriment
How much: €17 per person
Registration: NOW OPEN.