Spring and sunny greetings

Sunday! Dear family and friends far and near! We have had dry weather now for more than 2 weeks- a record to all Irish standards, the fields are drying out and most days we have had some sunshine, so deeply appreciated. The temperatures are still not up to Spring weather but we are getting there. It is some time since my last writings and apart from our wonderful protected lives living in the country between wild-life(only small variety), cats, minks, foxes and birds there were a few things worth mentioning. The wonder of prayer is heavy on my heart, just 10days ago the Lord put into my hands the life of a man that was refused surgery in the County Hospital and the surgeon decided to do the replacement of his peg tube and catheter in our hospital, The patient also suffered from Motor Neuron disease and were not well. He breathes at home with the help of a C-pap machine to improve the oxygen intake which the family left at home and never mentioned to the staff. Back from theatre where he has already been in difficulty and a tube was placed in his nose to assist with a few things- I will leave the detail out- he got through the night . I was suppose to be on duty with another nurse, but, when I came on duty I was alone, only with a carer to assist me with 12 patient of which this very sick man was one! At 05.25 the hair on the back of my neck suddenly caused me to get up and look in on this man- I have been with him most of the night but had to do some writing and was in the office, just to find him in severe distress- I prayed and prayed and with adrenalin pumping at speed through every vein, my carer assisting me , later the Doctor ,the ambulance men, all summond in the minutes that felt like hours while I performed CPR. Eventually we got a heart beat and he showed signs of recovery but only for seconds- he was practically dead but with the grace of God he eventually, with airway access through the tube in his nose and ambu-bag assistance we got him over to the County where the Respiratory team took over- He regained some consciousness and recognised the family but died 24hrs later. It has been the most traumatic experience since my arrival in Ireland. But I got him through with the help of God so that he could still see his family! In the meant time I worked over 100 hrs in 2 weeks and hardly hads time to enjoy the sunshine! The horse meat debacle has now taken over the main news after Oscar and the killing of the Taxi man! Our Government are playing games – scaring people into disaster management and suicide, just to turn around when the workers are threatening to withdraw their services. The rich stays rich and even get richer to the detriment of the hard, middle class worker- a disgrace! I played the organ this morning after a heavy night with a lot of sick women whohad hysterectomies and more, but stayed awake and the singing was great- all to the glory of God! The daffodils are blooming and every morning there has been another one opening- such a wonderful way creation works. Thank you to all who wrote letters in the past 2-3 weeks, I sometime read them late at night and sometimes days later but every bit of news and experiences is treasured. To all those who are preparing to write exams, we wish you good papers and bright minds. Birthdays- happy returns to all! It has been wonderful to experience the longer days and shorter nights. The children will be, God willing, here next weekend and we are looking forward to it! Take care, be careful and alert With sunny greetings from Cranleymore Barry & Christina