Friday, May 10, 2013

An update of the last few daysP

It has been a busy week and I haven't had much time to keep up the blog.  My apologies to those who faithfully read it.

On the Monday a lady friend of mine and I went for lunch at the club and enjoyed our time together, then on Tuesday I had to go to MacMaster Hospital for my Pre-op appointment.  It took four hours for that and I had Darts both ways.  They are so wonderful! The Pre-Op clinic was very well organized and I was met at the door by a volunteer who gave me a number.  A very, very friendly Indian fellow who was gracious enough to take me to the washroom instead of just tell me where it was.  I appreciated that very much as my short term memory is very poor.

Instead of having to run all over the hospital to get to different departments, it was all in one spot, labeled and easy to reach.  The staff were very friendly and smiled a lot I noticed.  It took four hours to get through everything and then it was time for my Darts bus so thing worked out very well.  I did note that the No. 1 King bus stops rights outside of the hospital, right near the entrance door.  That is good to know if others need to go there. On the front of the bus it says MacMaster Medical Centre.

I had the opportunity to speak to the anesthesiologist, it may be him or it may be one of his colleagues.  I asked if I could request that the former anesthesiologist  not be put on my case, and he said no.  I explained my reason why and he defended this lady to the skies as did the head anesthesiologist when I made the formal complaint at the time.  He also told me that it is not them who determines and administers the actual pain medicine, it is the surgeon.  I will keep phoning the surgeon's office so that that agony will not happen again. I know you have to be awake during this procedure but in agony because the local anesthetic did not work?   I have a few days left to catch him.  As of today, I have to stop most of my medications as well.

I have to say, due to the pain involved if it will be like the first time, I would rather not have this operation but with a faulty defibrillator, I have no choice if I want to continue living.

Now onto more pleasant things.  I hosted some English friends of mine who are visiting his family here in Hamilton.  They both are poets and the lady is also a very wonderful artist as well.  I bought his latest poetry book from him and I already have her lovely book which I bought about 3 years ago when they came from England.  We had a lovely time and both of them were very impressed with the club and its wonderful artwork.  We spent about 4 hours together.

On Thursday, I went to pick my new CPAC machine up and Julie looked after me that time.  Both Christina and her did a super job of explaining it to me and I picked the most simple model which was a very wise decision to make!

The new hose is a heated one so if one rolls over on it during the cold winter months it will be ice cold and also the condensation will be reduced or hopefully eliminated in it.  I tried it out last night and it worked very well.  Julie adjusted the humidity level to 3 as well for me. There is a little card in the back of the machine which gives a reading on how you sleep.  They were able to tell that I only stopped breathing twice in the hour rather than 20 times per hour which will explain why I am feeling much better, happier and energetic and beginning to take an interest in things again.

The CPAC machine has made a tremendous difference in my life and I have been told to bring it with me to the hospital when I go. Julie told me that the hospital should have distilled water and if they don't, then in a pinch, I can use bottled water or even tap water.  Never on a regular basis or it will ruin the machine and shorten its life.

As for the heated hose, Jeff told me to run the tap water through it about every six months and then drip it dry.  Not to submerge it like the non heated one.

I was supposed to have an appointment with the Sleep Disorder doctor that same afternoon but the time was all  off so we had to cancel it.

It was Martini night at the club and I went and chatted with some of the friends there.

Today I will devote to housework and trying to get hold of the operating doctor.  It is all written down in my paperwork about the fact the local anesthetic did not work on me either time, but I have to make sure that the operating doctor knows that too as he is the one who gives the pain meds.

On another bright spot, Saturday I shall be pouring coffee at the Mother's Day bazaar at St. John's. It is always a good event and very well attended with German baking for sale, a white elephant table, a jewellery table and a plant table. To top it all off, they serve a nice luncheon for a very reasonable price which most everybody buys.  Last year they ran out of food as there were so many people who came and wanted lunch.  The coffee and tea is bottomless as well.

It is good to be busy so I won't sit and dwell on the upcoming operation.

There is a six week recuperation time where I cannot lift anything over ten pounds and cannot raise my arms above my shoulders.  That means getting things out of cupboards will be out of the question unless I use my reacher.

My friend Mary is coming here from Toronto to stay with me a couple of days just to lend a hand if I need something.  I always say what goes around, comes around.  I remember when we were much, much younger, she had surgery and she stayed with me and the children for at least a week.  I also have had several friends here in Hamilton offer to help out when needed.

I am such a blessed person and I appreciate my friends and family so much.

On that note, shall go and thanks for dropping by.





 

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