Thread 15 - TalkLair: “I Can't Lie To You About Your Chances, But... You Have My Sympathies.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 14).

Autumn seems to have gone straight into winter. It's cold, wet and windy. In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them). The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch though, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics.

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Some mosaics:

The melon caused a swollen mouth, sore throat, cough, general exhaustion and feeling extremely unwell for several days. It is not supposed to be a dangerous allergy (so no need to call for an epipen) but was very nasty. I used to eat melon quite often.

@Britinme I remember him! I don't remember which threads I used to see him on but remember thinking he was a GBOL. Hope you have a lovely time.

@SqueakyDinosaur so pretty. It must have taken them forever to make.

@DeanElderberry gosh, that sounds horrible. I get quite a bad skin reaction from kiwi fruit, not sure if that would extend to my mouth though as I don't like it.

Please pass on my regards, Brit.

Nice one , Mouse- there's nothing quite like a freshly changed bed.

I'd appreciate it if people could send a thought or 2 in Ma and StepPaBint's direction today. He's got his cancer op, from which we hope he will emerge either cancer free and with no worsening of his dementia or heart condition, or not at all. But given the recent steep decline in the dementia and the fact the various medical teams have been faffing about for 8 months since his cancer diagnosis, there's a sizeable possibility of the result being heart and brain worse and the cancer not removable.

@Britinme please give him my love. We met up in Brighton about a thousand years ago and I agree, he's a good chap.

Will do!

Do say hi from moto as well, Brit!

This is an awful situation, I'm sorry Bint. Sending my thoughts their way and hoping for the best outcome for StepPaBint.

Sending positive health vibes to StepPaBint and virtual to MaBint. Sounds very worrying indeed!

Thoughts for the aged P Bints are heading in your direction. It all sounds, well, just horrible. Thoughts for them and love to you, @NoBinturongsHereMate x

Thanks, all. He's through the op now, so first hurdle cleared.

Sounds like MaBint and StepPaBint have a lot to cope with. Fingers firmly crossed for the best possible outcome.

I remember the name BuddhaPest but can’t remember what threads we might have crossed paths on. Do say hi though!

Best wishes to the Bint parents, fingers crossed all turns out well.

I remember the name BuddhaPest too and recall the poster being a good sort, but can't remember what about, but say hello anyway!

VictorianBigot · Today 08:12

Are you not supposed to sniff? Maybe that's where I've been going wrong!

You're supposed to sniff the nasal spray, I meant sniffing a runny nose before, even seconds - it just poured out.

I'm a bit peeved and glad to be off tomorrow, even if I land at 10pm. This company is disorganised, I'm on my own with 24 hour operations. The last week, I've done an 18 hour day and 3 x 15 hour days with another long one coming. I was off shift 90 minutes ago, but stayed up to finish a section.

There's a big gap in the data, because the surveyor didn't look at my map image properly, so now we're traipsing back to finish it off, which could be another 2 hours. (I'm an hour ahead of UK time).

Last night, I went to bed at 9pm and after 10, there was a fire alarm, so I got out of bed, dressed, got my life jacket and went to the muster station. Alone. Shortly afterwards, an announcement came over the tannoy, saying it was a false alarm.

I couldn't get back to sleep and only had about 4 hours.

I'm somewhat grumpy.

SqueakyDinosaur · Today 08:15

Some mosaics:

Where were the mosaics? I somehow missed them earlier; me, a trained observer!

All the best to him, bint - glad he's through the op at least.

I'd be somewhat grumpy, too, Sinner.

😃

Plovdiv, in Bulgaria. A really amazing old town in the midst of a large industrial city.

I'm glad he's through the operation, @NoBinturongsHereMate and fingers are crossed that his dementia is no worse and his heart is okay. It must be so awful to be lost in your own mind and going through this sort of thing not really understanding what's going on. I hope it makes it easier for him rather than harder.

He'd got to the stage of not being able to remember the cancer, so each time it was mentioned it was a 'new' diagnosis to come to terms with. This treatment should be a one-off, so if we can now stop mentioning it that should remove a source of distress as well as making him more physically comfortable.

I’d be way more than a bit grumpy @SinnerBoy - hope you get a decent night’s sleep tonight and get home at a sensible time tomorrow.

Oh god @SinnerBoy, how bloody incompetent! And what a horrible way to wake up. What @artant said - hope you manage to get some rest.

@NoBinturongsHereMate dementia is so cruel. In the mid stages of my grandmother’s, she would become distressed and not understand why she couldn’t go home. By the late stages she thought my dad was still alive, she thought he was my brother I never had the heart to correct her. I’m crossing my fingers for StepPaBint that he emerges cancer free and you all have one less thing to worry about.

@SinnerBoy that sounds really crap, I'd be feeling very cross in your situation. I hope you get home soon and have a good long sleep.

When my FiL was going demented he got people mixed up. One day I was watching the 1969 version of 'True Grit' with him and he though Mattie Ross was me, which made me smile. As things developed he started to get very aggressive which was frightening as he was a big burly man and quite fighty in his younger years. One morning he threw my MiL across the living room and she had to run to a neighbour's to escape. He had to be sectioned after that and was put on anti-psychotics. Sad way to go.

That's brilliant, @Vegemiteandhoneyontoast ... and very flattering. I fear that when MrG gets to that stage, he's much more likely to mistake me for Cruella De Vil.

We've had one of those full-of-weirdness days. There was the Covid jab at the pharmacy, where the lovely Polish pharmacist asked if I had any allergies. I laughed and said "only to rapeseed oil, which is not so much an allergy as an invitation to spend 24 hours on the toilet". This set her off about the nastiness of seed oils in general and we agreed that unsalted butter, EVOO and ghee are the way to go.

Then there was the massively bearded, hatted and robed man sitting in the queue for vaccinations, clearly a priest in some Orthodox church but not Greek or Russian because when he answered his phone, all I heard was noise. I wonder if he was Georgian? I'm kicking myself for not asking. (If I posted that on any other thread here, I'd probably be accused of racism!)

Then on the way home we dropped into the Coop and had to leap out of the way to avoid being flattened by a couple of men on their way out with armfuls of meat. One leapt into a van and the other on to a motorbike, and off they sped! Thanet, eh? Hate it or ignore it, you can't love it.