View from a bed

To be precise; a hospital bed. Yep - that's right - my leg got progressively nastier with first the cut itself becoming infected followed by a haematoma developing that got itself to the size of a grapefruit then also became infected.  Eek!

The long and short of it is that I went for a dressing change on Wednesday, the 'tissue viability specialist' was none too happy with the state of my leg and called the hospital. They agreed I should be sent in and I was told they'd need to operate to get rid of the haematoma; which at this point we didn't realise was also infected.  I'd get done either weds evening or thurs morning, either way I'd be home thursday; having spent my first night since I was born in hospital and had my first ever operation.  My state of calm (or lack thereof) wasn't helped by the knowledge that the Chap was working away so would not be on hand for morale boosting hugs but at least it was just one night and I'd be home by the next day.

So we must ask ourselves why I'm writing this on an annoying touch screen pay as you go contraption hanging from the wall above my bed in the RD&E hospital on a sunny sunday morning?  Welllllllll... 

It took some time to get me admitted, even with them expecting me.  I got assigned my bed at 10pm weds having arrived at 4.30pm.  So no op weds. This was when they first concluded that the grapefruit sized lump in my leg was infected too and swiftly got a cannula - the thing in your hand for drips to attach to; fitted to my left hand and shunted some antibiotics straight into my system.

Thursday morning brought the news that although I was scheduled to be the final procedure of 4 booked in for that afternoon, there was a chance I'd be done in the morning as there was only 1 person booked in then, and of the afternoon's batch; I was the only person already physically on site.  Oh false hope thy crusher of the spirit - it was not to be. After being 'nil by mouth' (which includes water to my surprise - remember I never had an op before) since 7 thursday morning; so in effect since the 2 bits of toast I scrounged on getting to my bed at 10pm the night before, I was taken to theatre at 5.40pm and knocked out at 6.10.  Op went fine but on awakening I found I had a vacuum pump drain thing attached to my leg. It transpires that when the sugeon went in they found the damage was deeper and more extensive than anticipated so had to fit the drain. 
This had 2 knock on effects for me; firstly came the news that I'd have to have a second operation in 3 days time to remove it and close the wound. Secondly, although I was hopeful both friday and saturday mornings of being let home, the extent of the damage and the drain in my leg put the kibosh on that.
So, here I still am and I've just received the news that they have me on the list for theatre today at 12 noon.  Barring any emergency cases coming in hopefully this means I may be able to go home tomorrow.  I am crossing my fingers because no matter how lovely all the staff are that have been looking after me, it's not the same as being in your own home. I miss the Chap and Zeke and I'm looking forward to big hugs with them both.
(I'd also quite like a meal with a texture other than easily-masticated-with-no-teeth sludge but that's another post.)
So, all being well, I'll next post after op #2.
Oh - latest news is it could be earlier; 10/10.30 possibly.  Fingers firmly crossed now blog buddies!

Older, certainly no wiser though!

I've just turned another birthday older.  [36 - shhh!!]  Mixed feelings - really still don't feel like 'an adult' whatever that means.  Still enjoy celebrating my birthday with my friends; and this coming weekend I shall see my family too.  Not massively taken by the 36 thing - no longer in my mid thirties then!  Hey ho.  Anyway, due to my work I had to spend the morning until 2.15pm sitting in our accommodation blocks booking new students in and repeating the same info over and over again.  Truly joyous when it's sunny and lovely outside!!  [I'm well aware that sounds whingey but having done over 7 years in retail I've done my time working weekends and when the only weekend day of the entire year I have to work is my birthday...well frankly that's just insulting really.]  After this however we took a wee bike ride down to The Double Locks, a picturesque pub on the canal about 3ish miles down river from us.  We had a few bevvies, more people came, some left and soon enough it was time to head back up river to the second designated meeting spot of The Prospect on the quay.  Which is the point it went a little bit pear shaped for me.  I totally admit that this was entirely my own fault as well.  I will also at this juncture warn you that if you are a nervous disposition, or dislike the sight of blood scroll no further, or avert your eyes from the pictures.  This picture here i (it's ok it's safe!) is your last line if you like, with my injury-appropriate mug and sunny (and messy) back garden this morning it's your barrier between here and what lies beneath.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

Being newly aged [in my head the difference between 35 and 36 is fairly vast due to the aforementioned perceived leave taking of my mid-thirties] I guess maybe I was having a mini crisis moment, or possibly (and more likely if I'm honest) it was my natural 'why not try that' compulsion coupled with a couple of pints that led me to think as we left the 'Locks that it would be a good idea to pedal until I was going as fast as poss on the flat then pull a massive skid on the gravel. I think there was a certain amount of 'I never did this as a kid so why not do it now' going on as well.  What I missed out on by not doing it as a kid however is the small but vital piece of information that you don't suddenly jam both brakes on, oh no - just the back one as The Chap later informed me.  Oops!!  Bike and I came to an abrupt halt and fell over in as undignified way as possible with me ending up on the floor intimately entwined with said bike and covered in gravel dust and pine tree needles.  Hey ho - get up and dust yourself down, no worries.  As I turned to that chap I said to him 'That's gonna bruise' simultaneously patting my leg where the handlebars had clipped it a beauty.  Er - thinks I, that's wet - bring hand to level with face - my fingers are red.  Hmmmm....  that wasn't really the plan!!  Quick investigation reveals (remember my warning - I'm gonna make these pics small though) that I appear to have smacked into the handle bar with such force I've  ripped a big gash in my leg.  Which now has the underlying subcutaneous layer of fat coming out of it.  (Sorry - I really did warn you though.)  Also it's bleeding somewhat. 

Luckily one of our party is a trained nurse so she got the pub's first aid kit and stuck me back together with plasters and bandaged me up with strict instructions to get it sticky stripped back together properly in the morning.   Another friend took my bike back up the river path and we got a cab and all was ok.  Met further friends at The Prospect and took it easy until the fatal moment another friend (who shall remain nameless) forgot my injury and launched herself onto my lap.  Seconds after which I thought to myself - I can feel blood dripping down my leg now.  Quietly let The Chap know and skeddaddled into the ladies to check it out.  Yep - blood now dripped off me onto the floor all over the place; somewhat less clever than earlier.  The Chap had at this juncture unbeknownst to me dispatched another friend after me who in turn got the second qualified nurse in our party to come and have a look.  Long story short (though tbh this won't really cut the entire post by much at all) against my wishes (and without my knowledge) an ambulance was called and I was bundled off to A&E in it.  Tsk - pesky friends eh??!  [I don't mean that - they were great!!]

The ambulance peeps were fab, and suitably impressed at the amount of damge done considering my jeans hadn't even ripped.  They patched me up and got me safely delivered to the hospital where the staff there inspected me, cleaned me, left us sitting for so long I had to wrap myself in a blanket and stumble bare foot across the ward to use the toilet and could also take a pic much to the Chap's disapproval, then eventually got me seen by a doctor who injected the entire area inside and out with local anaesthetic and sewed me up.  Firstly 2 internal stitches then 8 external ones.  Which I found fascinating though the chap less so I feel - he kept telling me not to look away anyway!

So - I've now been signed off from work for the week and I can hardly stumble about the place (stairs are particularly troublesome).  I've been for the dressing to be changed yesterday and will be going again later today, then again on Thursday then in theory all being well to get the stitches removed on Saturday.  For now though I'm just entertaining myself by checking what colour my gargantuan bruised and swollen leg has got to so far. 

Moral of the story - it's the BACK brake only when you want to pull an impressive skid.  Must remember that for next year...

Edit: Went for the wound to be rederessed and this is what it now looks like.  Hmmm - did it good and proper didn't I?  'Proper job' as they say this end of the country!!!

PS - I will make this the last pic (probably) of this I share and try and return to more interesting, useful, informative and hopefully recipe / frugal/ upcycling based posts soon.  :-)

Overdue....much!!

I'm afraid this summer has been a bit frantic at work and has led to some serious slackness on my part in the realm of blog posts.  I'm painfully aware that I have yet to write about our jaunt to the Scilly Isles and that was back at the end of May / start of June!!!  Eek!!!  Being a Virgo and thus a little bit OCD in certain respects I also have an irrational dislike of the very idea of posting stuff out of sync which means when I get behind with my posts everything gets backlogged - stuck behind some as yet unwritten so therefore only existing entirely 'in potentia' post.  I am trying to hoof pick (like shoe horn but fittingly it sounds more painful as is this process) myself out of this habit so as to allow some of my sputterings and scribblings out onto the world.  An uncaring world most probably but hey - I just write the stuff (occasionally) - once it's out there it's really not my problem any more.  ;-D
So - a short post this will be but it's purpose is to break the long gap and give you a little smile (hopefully) at the following spotted on the menu of an Italian restaurant in Teignmouth; on the coast about 15 miles down the road from us and one of my favourites of the little coastal towns in this neck of the woods.  I like the 'to the point'edness of the Pizza Mafia.  :-)

 The restaurant itself is The Colosseum and is now firmly on our 'to visit' list as they looked very nice with a good sounding menu.  There were several seafood pasta dishes on the menu including a 'lasagne di mare' I'd like to try so I'll let you know how it is if we go there.

Quick bit of crafting

I know I haven't been in evidence for far too long (over a month - I think this must be my longest gap yet) and I'm somewhat annoyed with myself for that.  All I can say in defence is that work has been hideous, chaotic, overly-busy and massively under planned for by the powers that be.  Grrrr....   Now - I will get round to posting the Scilly Isles trip up - some good pics (I think) but for now here's a quick little purse revamp I did the other morning when I woke up at silly o'clock and couldn't get back to sleep.

Do you remember my pretty purse I made using Ma's sewing machine - I was ridiculously pleased with myself over it. 

Well, a year has passed and it was looking rather more sorry for itself.  The satin fabric starting giving out along the bottom edge then just frayed hideously, the zig zags came loose and finally I recently decided something needed to be done. 
In the back of the second pic here you can see the old top I had decided to upcycle to be the new purse.  Sadly the zip had gone on this but I think the fabric's far too pretty to just dump it so wanted to find something to use it for.

Well, a little bit of cutting round the purse, sewing along the bottom edge and sides of the resulting rectangle then stitching the envelope thus created onto the top edge of the existing cotton 'under-purse' as neatly as poss and ta-daa!!  Cost even less than the last one as no power other than my own was used in it's making and it reused the existing zip and cotton backing.  (Incidentally - you're quite right and I'm sure that 'under-purse' isn't widely recognised as a descriptive term but hey - you instantly knew what I meant right?)

Not too bad for a 5am job eh?  :-)

Holiday - wow - I almost remember what one of those feels like...

Just a quickie to let you know I'm still around.  Had a rare (ie first in 4 years) holiday with the Chap so have many pics to sort through and meals to reminisce over and lanes trodden to share.  For now here's a couple of teaser shots of Penzance and Newlyn before we hit the thoroughly beautiful Isles of Scilly.

Blackcurrant and Liquorice ice-cream the Chap bought me in order to get me back for making him try things like squirrel apparently.  It was however thoroughly lovely.  :-)













View from the Red Lion pub in Newlyn.




A shop sign - love it!

The flag stayed home

Today the Olympic torch left Exeter at 7.25 this morning to continue it's journey round the UK before this years Olympic games in London.  Although I had previously planned to pop along before work to cast an eye over the proceedings (incidentally it's very hard to maintain the pre-requisite level of world wearied jaundiced coolness whilst simultaneously waving a flag, jumping up and down and going 'squee') my ongoing illness prevented this so, as mentioned, the flag and myself stayed home. 
I am attempting to work from home today which would normally be totally do-able.  Unfortunately sitting at my pc at home is not comfortable at the moment so I am struggling somewhat.  Also; having notified my boss this morning I wouldn't be in she started discussing what she wanted me to do today 45 minutes before my normal work start time!  I had hoped to inform her that I would work from home as well as I could and then be able to get a little sleep in after taking this mornings painkillers, before then starting work as I spent nearly all of last night trying to find a comfortable position in which to snatch a few moments of rest.  Tsk...

Anyway - the bit of positive news is that apparently it isn't pleurisy, which can be pretty nasty.  It appears that I have instead damaged my intercostal muscles that are between and around the ribs whilst having at the same time pulled the muscles in my back.  Apparently this can take some time to heal as well as being pretty painful and awkward with your breathing (I can certainly attest to that!) so I have to keep taking the painkillers and rest it to let it heal itself.  We know this as I went to the walk-in centre in town yesterday being sick of still being in pain without knowing what was wrong with me.  The nurse there listened to my chest and sent me to the hospital.  After being seen by the doctor there she called through to check on my x-ray and they reported that it was clear so we finally knew that it wasn't pleurisy.  About time!  She prescribed me codeine to be taken in conjunction with paracetamol and the Voltarol (diclofenac) I've been buying over the counter.  Apparently these 3 in conjunction should give me some relief.  Hmmm - not totally convinced yet I must say.  Hey ho - at least we know what we're dealing with.  I'll just have to wait for the next Olympics to get the flag out again...

Health - it's a worry isn't it?

Recently it came up during a routine check that I had slightly high blood pressure. It had apparently been this way often enough over the preceding 12 months to flag up as needful of further investigation. Whilst it probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to those who know me that my blood pressure should be high it caused me some worry – exactly what you don’t really want if your blood pressure is already high! Anyway – they tasked me with keeping track of it (I borrowed a monitor from my boss of all people) and getting it checked again in 1-2 weeks, then another 2 weeks after that if it was high again, then a referral to my doctor if it should still be reading high then. I went and researched food and drinks that can help lower blood pressure and found celery, broccoli (calabrese), low fat dairy, pomegranate juice, cold water fish, beetroot juice and oats amongst others have all been shown to help in various ways.
Well to cut a long story short all my efforts seemed to do little to affect my blood pressure at the clinic although at least some of my home readings were well within the ideal range. There is something called ‘white coat syndrome’ – because you’re stressing about having your bp taken at the docs this very stress causes it to go higher. Whatever the cause may be I ended up in the position this Wednesday of having to see my actual doctor for my bp to be checked as a result of this process. Now I’d managed by this point to get myself in a wee bit of a tizzy over this so as I crossed through the park on the way to the clinic I felt more like I was going to have judgment pronounced upon me for some nameless heinous crime rather than see what she said about that days bp reading. (I know – seems silly and totally out of proportion but as someone who has never been seriously ill, nor broken any bones nor even stayed overnight in a hospital except for when I entered the world I have a vast untapped lake of drama to draw upon in such matters.)  I went through the park and in the morning sun decided to cut across the grass in my flip flops. The grass was wet and as I felt the dewy blades swoop over my feet a smile inched onto my face. It probably helped that this was what seemed like the first sunny not-raining morning we’ve had in what feels like at least 2 months! In fact cutting over the grass made me slightly late as I lost a flip flop 4 different times due to my feet getting so wet but this small thing calmed me immeasurably and made me feel alive in a way that the coldest/wettest April and May on record here in the UK hasn’t done so far this year.
Anyway – the doc seemed a lot less concerned about my bp than the nurses I’d seen for the previous checkups had been and I left feeling much buoyed up. Whilst there I had also mentioned the evil cough I’ve been suffering from for 4 weeks now which has caused me to pull a muscle in my back the previous week then once that had healed something in my ribs was hurting rather. She listened to my lungs and said she thought this could be ‘a small bit of pleurisy’ which I have to admit to being ignorant of at that point. Anyway – back I came through the park snatching a few moments to admire these fresh faced flowers and off I went to work.

At the end of the day I had yet another coughing fit and suddenly felt the pain in my chest worsen sharply and at the same time I felt the muscle in my back go again. Ow ow ow!!!! After an intensely uncomfortable night which garnered a bare 2 hours of sleep and that with the help of varied pain killers, I steeled myself and went into work. This was a very bad idea as even though I was sparing my right side – where both the chest and back pains were sited opposite to each other on my body, it was getting jolted with every step I took. By the time I attained my office I really was in a lot of pain and was instructed by my boss after one look at me to call the docs and NHS direct for advice. I ended up talking to nhs direct first having filled out their on line diagnosis tool. After a lot of questions designed to allow them to rule things in or out she advised me to see my docs or a walk in centre again even though I’d seen my doctor only the previous morning. Her opinion was that it was either pleurisy or the inter-costal muscles (that are inbetween your ribs) and that I could have pulled these in tandem with the muscle in my back. ‘Ace’ think I in an unnecessarily sarcastic manner probably, but I was a bit grouchy and thoroughly regretting going into work by this point.

I called my doctors to be told there were no appointments but that the emergency doctor would call me as he always preferred to triage people over the phone before booking them in. He duly called and did a very good job of appearing pretty disinterested and dismissive. He scoffed at the idea of me having developed pleurisy 'overnight' though I did try and point out that this was what my own doctor had mentioned to me the previous morning. End result was – I was sent to the local hospital for a chest x-ray. Feeling somewhat shunted about now I caught the bus up there, stumbled painfully along the endless warren of corridors and eventually got x-rayed in a truly fetching gown thing. Pah. I was then told ‘that’s it – your doctor will get the results in 5 days.’ Oh – thinks I – so the point of me coming here today was what precisely??? What a waste of time, expense and resources. The dismissive doctor called me back later to see what they had said and I didn’t bother hiding the unimpressed-ness in my voice when I told him they had said nothing to me other than that the results would be with my doctor in 5 days. ‘Ah’ – he reassures me – ‘if there had been anything serious to worry about they’d have had a conflab then talked to you.’ So the upshot is A) I still don’t know whether I have pleurisy – an infection that could be treated with antibiotics and save me all this pain and as of today; time off work or just damage to my muscles in which case keep taking the painkillers and B) I have had a totally unnecessary x-ray at needless cost and rendered useless by dint of the timescale involved needed to get any results. Also C) I am still in considerable pain – even when not moving it hurts constantly and it hurts to breathe and I am unable to determine the best course of action as I don’t bloody know what’s wrong with me! Considering the nhs direct woman told me they could tell if it was pleurisy or the muscles just by listening to my chest and lungs I’m pretty peeved off with the dismissive doctor for not taking this course of action. So – I now have to wait and see. Although the weather has once again gone grey I will continue trying to find some small joy in the little things like these spotted at the hospital and in the park.














 I am also well aware that there’s a massive proportion of the population of the planet that is worse off than me in all sorts of ways and that this post is essentially one long whinge. Sorry – but hey, don’t forget –it’s my blog eh?! Lol. Just bear with me and hopefully normal breathing service will resume shortly. :-)