Come and tell us your dull and unexciting news 34: Calmly through the day

[Mumtobabyhavoc]

New one!

Previous:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5276546-come-and-tell-us-your-dull-and-unexciting-news-33-calmly-through-the-day?page=1

She and SiL fly in on Sunday and fly back a week from Sunday on the 27th, so bloody poor timing, innit?

What a shock MissC so near Christmas. You are not doing things by halves, are you? Well you will get an enforced rest now. Take it easy and hopefully you will get to spend extra time with your family, even if you are still in hospital. Thank goodness the food isn’t too bad. When I was pregnant the first time I had pre-eclampsia and was admitted to hospital for 3 months, but only Monday to Friday and we were allowed home for the weekend. Four of us shared a room and it was at Christmas time as well. We had been pressganged into going to a Carol concert, which was fine, but when we got back to the ward our pre-ordered meals had been given to four newly admitted patients and we were left with sandwiches that were left over from earlier! I still remember that disappointment!

I had an unexpected video call tonight from my DGD1, who was counting down the hours to them getting on the plane. They have to be at the airport at 4 am, but it means they get here by 10.30 ish, so we get almost a full day together. We were discussing what sort of sushi we were going to order on the night his parents were going out, as they are not particularly fond of it. He loves making plans.

I was presented with poached eggs on toast for breakfast this morning, not on sourdough unfortunately, but wholemeal. Delicious.

Not the Monday you were planning - but thank goodness it will all be treated and done in double-quick time, @MissConductUS!

Oh gosh @MissConductUSwhat a rollercoaster of a time for you. I’m impressed with the service though!
@Umanresourcesthat egg looks delicious.
All my family are out working or socialising and I have an evening to myself.
Tomorrow I’m looking forward to having a lovely walk along the canal and then watching the game - the opponents pitch is alongside the canal, and although their main pitch is underwater the second pitch is playable. I always enjoy a walk in the fresh air.

MissC - sending you every good wish. I hope you're comfortable and getting some rest.

thanks, math. I got six hours of sleep last night. At one point last night someone’s nurse call bell started and went on for 15 minutes. I had to get up, find the night nurse and ask her to answer it as it was preventing me from sleeping.

The cardiology unit here is enormous with 141 doctors and god knows how many technician, PAs and RNs. They sent for an echocardiogram yesterday ant it was like an assembly line.

They took five more vials of blood the morning and tried to give me a new med that no one had discussed with me and I haven’t even met the prescriber. I told the nurse to chart it as “patient refused”. If someone wants to medicate me, they can bloody well discuss it with me first, and yes, I am a little cranky this morning. 🤣

Oh Miss! How difficult for you. I also spent time in hospital in October (nearly 3 weeks) and sleep was very difficult, so I feel for you. I hope your operation goes well on Monday and you can be home on Christmas Day.

I drove nearly six hours in total for my hospital appointment yesterday - a nuclear medicine lymphoscintigram. They injected my feet with a tiny amount of radioactive material and scanned it through my lymph system. I then had to wait two hours and they did it again to see how quickly my lymph drains.

I misread the instructions and wore my compression socks but I couldn't put them back on between scans. I should have worn or brought non-compression socks. I sat in the waiting room in bare feet. The scans took 20 minutes each and I listened to my audiobook during them - Lionel Richie's autobiography Truly.

At one point on the drive home through central London, my Waze satnav told me it would take 13 minutes to reach and cross Southwark Bridge. I thought that was hilarious because it was less than half a mile. But it actually took 27 minutes.

We then went to our local restaurant by the river. I dropped my glasses case but didn't realise. Fortunately we found it on the way backand the glasses were dirty but undamaged.

And now it is Christmas! So breakfast was fried eggs and bacon with toast and tea until the 4 January!

We will be collecting our new electric car at 3.30pm. We always name our cars after their number plates. The car we are selling has LP in it, so she's called Lady Penelope. The new car has a version of UXB which means unexploded bomb, so DH has decided he will be called Dangerous.

Last night chanuka. Home made doughnuts. Stuffed!

Ella, your sufganiyot look delish!!! I tried my hand at making them during the pandemic. Not easy. Brava!

Thank you 😊 its definitely a once a year treat!

Myrtle, that sounds fairly serious. Are you ok?

Uman, three months in hospital?! That's unbelievable! Thank you for supporting the egg theme. 😋

Sprouts, how was the game? I forget, soccer or rugby?

Miss, how was your night?

Havoc, it was okay. I got almost six hours of sleep. It does quiet down after 10 PM or , then they wake you up around 5 AM for vitals.

Not much testing today, but had visits from two PAs to discuss the surgery. I’m not looking forward to the post op recovery, but the alternative is likely an emergent MI at some point in the future, so it’s not debatable. I’m really fortunate that it was caught at this stage.

DH and DS visited and brought me a few things I need, including a med the hospital pharmacy doesn’t have. I’m going to do a family FaceTime shortly including DD and dear SIL.

After dinner I’ll shower and they’ll do the first sterilization with a chlorhexidine solution. I should be on the table by 8 AM tomorrow and in the ICU by noon or so.

I’m really impressed with this hospital and the fact that I was admitted on Thursday and they have everything set for Monday morning. The nurses even have time to chat with you.

Somehow I wound up with the chairman of the cardiac surgery department as my surgeon. I don’t know if that was dumb luck of if my cardiologist called in a favor, but it’s very reassuring. He’s stopped by twice to discuss the procedure and answer my questions, and seems lovely and very competent.

@MissConductUS i really hope everything goes well for you tomorrow.i think we’ll all be thinking about you and wishing you well. It sounds as though you have got the best of the best looking after you.

I’ve finally got the family here. DS and DIL went off shopping and we had our marvellous sushi. It was fabulous and GS2 said that the broth in his ramen was ‘amazing’. His brother ended up helping him out with eating the ramen, after the sushi and the rest of the ramen has been put into the fridge for tomorrow. We then had some tiramisu, which was also described as ‘amazing’. What a lovely day we had, chatting, playing games, watching the Monkees, which they asked for and my OH took them to the park and they played frisbee. They did the latter each day they were here in summer and had been looking forward to doing this again. They are off out with their parents tomorrow, so I’ll have chance for a bit of a breather. It will give me the opportunity to make a list of the Christmas meal items and print off the timings, which are found on the site the Christmas meal came from. It was so easy, once you’ve decided what time you would like to eat and the times work backwards, I just have to remember to add on the extra vegetables and DD loves the extra garlicky roast potatoes in goose fat. My GS1 asked if we were having sprouts because he loved them. I said yes, but some children didn’t like them. He said, “Do you know what I call those children Granny? Picky eaters! Such a funny little chap, bless him.

@MyrtleLion I hope you get the right result for your medical tests, and quickly too.

@Mumtobabyhavoc have you got everything prepared for Christmas holidays? I bet the little ones are excited and looking forward to it.

Uman I have such fond memories of watching the Monkees as a child. Your DGCs have excellent taste. What a lovely day you all had.

MissC thinking of you.

I had a busy weekend - finally finished decorating the tree, baked and dropped off a gift to a good friend, raided a local liquor store (off licence), baked cookies for colleagues (cookie exchange tomorrow), and fished out a sparkly top that will have to do for 'Holiday clothes day' at work (grrrrr). Also, laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping, with a good few items still to be bought. Traffic was terrible.

Uman your grandson sounds adorable!
mathanxiety I love the idea of a cookie exchange! Much better than secret Santa.
I must confess I do miss going out and seeing all the Christmas decorations and watching all the preparations and all the Christmas songs in the shops. Especially when the weather was frosty. There’s a lovely feeling in the air.
MissC we’ll definitely be thinking of you 🫂 sounds like you’re in the best hands

myrtle I love the car names. We had the most atrocious name for my mum’s car as kids (she insisted it was a car, it was closer to a van size). Too revolting to share 😆

You're in my thoughts Miss. 🩷 I'll be keeping an eye on the thread for your news. 🩷

Just a few pics from today. Took dc to Burnaby Village Museum for a walk around and look in the historic buildings, to look at the lights and a ride on the carousel. Then drove into the downtown area/ Yaletown for a solstice lantern parade that featured traditional English dancing. I guess you could say we partied like it was 1525.

https://tiddleycovemorris.wordpress.com

Sending you all good wishes, @MissConductUS.

@Mumtobabyhavoc, you saw Morris dancers! We see a troupe sometimes in our nearest town, which is an historic one with a famous cathedral. It is a very old form of country dancing, though I believe the modern Morris tradition is very much a revival, from the start of the 20th century. It’s sometimes regarded as a bit of a joke over here, although it’s quite a thriving thing.

Thanks all, I’m up and the nurse should be in soon to finish preparing me. I have one more shower to take with the chlorhexadine rinse. I’m tired but feeling okay otherwise.

Thank you, havoc! I thought I posted at the time.

I had an ankle fusion in August and was rushed out of the door less.than four hours after surgery. The wound reopened about five weeks later due to an infection accidentally introduced during that operation.

I needed an operation to debride (clean out) the wound and had to wait while they cultured the cells to find out which infection I had and consequently which antibiotics I needed. I was on IV antibiotics during that time. I was left with an open wound on a vac machine to keep it clean.

I then needed another operation to further debride the wound so it could be closed and that was cancelled four times. Fortunately it was closed when they did operate and I had to wait a further two days before I was discharged.

I have been on very strong oral antibiotics since then and the course finishes on the 13/14 January, 12 weeks after the final operation. They make me feel very sick and dizzy for an hour or so after taking and I can't eat for two hours before or one hour after taking them. Christmas will be interesting because I can't have snacks after 8pm. This is the only time of year when I do graze - chocolates, biscuits, other nibbles etc - so it's a bit disappointing.

I can drink but it's not the same. It doesn't taste right, I can't drink heavily and I feel peculiar but I don't get hangovers. Again, we drink quite heavily at Christmas and not throughout the rest of the year.

It's been very difficult but only three weeks left now.

Hope the operation goes as well as it can @MissConductUS and you are back home with your family soon.

Lovely to see you too @sproutsandparsnips and @Mumtobabyhavoc and everyone else.

Thinking of all those in the sick bay at the moment. Room for one more? I have no idea what has happened to my leg but I have been in excruciating pain when ever I moved it. I couldn't lift it up to get into bed when I finally went upstairs. OH had to lift it up and he lifted it higher than it needed to be. I was in agony and let out a yell which woke some of the family who were really worried. I can put up with quite a lot of pain I think. I didn't need pain relief when I gave birth and as I was hooked up to a machine measuring contractions the midwife told me when one was imminent. It was mildly uncomfortable but that was about all. I know I'm very much in the minority and very lucky, that's why this pain today was unbelievable. I sent an online message to the doctor's surgery requesting stronger painkillers and within 5 minutes the pharmacist rang me and after a few questions said I could have them later today. The surgery also got in touch and asked me to make an appointment with one of the practitioners. That's excellent service I think.
I may be slightly spaced out for a while, and I know there will be no alcohol consumed. I don't drink that much anyway, but I would have had a glass of wine with Christmas dinner. It will be sparkling water with cucumber and mint. My GS1 likes this as well but adults who tried it say it tastes like savoury water and they don't like it. 🤷