Chilly winter greetings

Saturday 30 November 13 Good day to all, family & friends, far away and near! The Sun shines – there is no wind and it is the last day of November – tomorrow is officially WINTER! Blue skies and birds singing! Odd to hear them sing! In my life it is not only the sun that shines but I count my blessings one for one with every step I take! In fact it is winter already for a few weeks but you must not confuse the issue and nights are very cold and days very pleasant! May be you know, maybe not, but I am now BIONIC. The new knee works well –I comply with all regulations and have just been outside for my walk which takes place 4x every day. These are followed by exercise regime and little rests in between- I became very desperate the first few days – the antibiotic made me so nauseous and being allergic to every possible thing on earth the Paracetamol was not giving me enough cover- In hospital I received at Night a Morphine injection with anti-emetic which were great but the last night I refused it and that was the night I had them all on their toes. I will write this in sections as I cannot sit that long without a stretch!! The operation went well, to avoid breathing problems I received a spinal anaesthesia which was excellent I went into theatre at 10 am , everything state of the art. I was back in the ward awake and compus mentus 2 ½ hrs later. You get up with the physio the same afternoon and take your first walk. Pain control was tricky with only Paracetamol and Morphine as a choice –Eventually It was agreed I am good enough with all my exercises to go home on Tuesday. The last night, and as your whole body go into state of confusion with change of diet and strange surroundings, I had to visit the toilet @ about 2am ( By now I would be getting up all by myself but at night they hook you to Cryocuff and AVPulses to you feet–I had to call the nurse! I had no Morphine so you cannot blame the drugs. When I got back to the bed, I parked the crutches neatly against the wall I stood one step away from the bed and turned to take the step .When I eventually came round a few seconds later I sat on my bum 2meters away from the bed! The lovely lady in the bed beside me had the fright of her life and so the rest of the staff, 2 Doctors, and about 3 nurses one a male ,otherwise I would still have been on the floor, standing over me! When you fall in hospital it becomes a big thing, observations are done every few minutes until all has settled but with this flying backwards I must have hit my head somewhere and my Blood pressure which was perfect throughout the stay in hospital went through the roof. I fell asleep and woke ½ hr later with all these people around me again as I experienced a bad broncho spasm –with nebulizer and oxygen pumping from everywhere –all I wanted to do was to lift my arms above my head because that is the only way that I can breathe and all of them telling me to drop my arms! I asked for my Ventolin and another ½ hr later I am breathing again normally. 2 reports for the house doctor to write. The nurse in tears because they are all so scared of the consultant because he is so particular. I re-assured them that I was fine and that he knows me and will not be cross with them which turned out to be the case but he wanted x-rays etc, I thought I caught my right big toe , in the fall on the corner of the bed –very swollen and extremely painful, he ordered Xrays! The Lord carried me through the fall as my knee was fine – a miracle I did not fall forward because that might really have been a disaster. Finbarr came to fetch me and I am now home since Tuesday afternoon I groaned and made noises and poor Barry was a wreck after the first few hours –I explained that these noises are normal and he does not have to jump when he hear any of them I will call HELP if it is serious. During the first night I nearly succumbed to the pain in my toe – It must have dislocated in the fall? Just wake up the next morning after about 2 hours sleep and Barry exhausted, realizing I had GOU! Dead scared that Constipation will set in with all the tablets I ate only prunes for every breakfast and they problem solved! Started with anti-inflammatory ointment and felt better eventually also knowing what it was, causing the pain was a great relief! I have improved tremendously and every hour I make an effort to do something more than the previous hour. The only exercise I cannot perform is my cycling but I have to improvise. From Monday I will be visit the physio 3x a week until I am well. Have to see the Consultant on Thursday after an x-ray and hope to get the ok! I am very thankful that the Dr decide to rather do the operation in Dublin, it meant better facilities although Barry was far away- he came on Sunday by train which was brilliant- I travel to Dublin also by train and Finbarr picked me up at the station and all worked out well! In the end the Medical Insurance covered every cent! All wonderful blessings! The cats are gorgeous, fat, big and so cute! They are fascinated by the crutches and I have to fight my way between the 2 of them when taking my walk which I take outside – The car park is the least slippery and The safest! The church minister has been visiting which is highly appreciated! I will not be in church tomorrow as , 10-15 minutes is the limit for sitting in that pew position and I can hardly get up every 10 minutes and take a walk!!! Well every-one that has had an operation in last few months you all have my sympathies and hope you have recovered as well as I did! To all who had birthdays and will have a birthday in the next week –Just the very best wishes for the year ahead- I do not have my birthday calendar nearby! Congratulations to all the new babies, their parents and grandparents and great grandparents. I met 3 more SA in the hospital x-ray dept. It was lovely! I also saw my dear friend Rachelle, the first friend since the day I arrived in Ireland with her Mom who was visiting! That was a most wonderful experience sick and all! I think that is enough for the time being! Thank you for all the sms’e and well wishes, emails and calls and visits. Please look after your selves, be careful on the roads and lock your doors! It is just after 3pm and dusk is setting in! The fire is burning and my knee is frozen from my ice pack! May the Lord be with you all! Winter darkness and chilly greetings Barry & Christina