The Bluestocking, where the short days shorten and the oaks are brown

[MarieDeGournay]

Welcome all, regulars and newcomers, to the Bluestocking Women's Pub, a place of refuge and inspiration and camaraderie and silliness, where all alcoholic drinks are non-intoxicating, cakes contain no gluten, sugar or calories, but still taste yummy, and the attentive staff are small but very professional rodents wearing snazzy little outfits.

Other roles - such as acting as foot stools, looking decorative in the garden, or just being impossibly cute when you need something impossibly cute to go awwww at - are filled by a team of miniature pigs, quokkas, wombats, etc etc.

If real life is difficult, you can bring your troubles to the Bluestocking and a comfy chair will be found for you at a roaring fire, a miniature pig will settle down happily to support your tired feet, and a gerbil will serve you promptly with a comforting drink - very large G&Ts or massive mugs of hot chocolate with extra cream and marshmallows are popular choices [don't forget: no calories in the Bluestocking].

Wow, Android!
That’s EXACTLY how I worded my AI prompt!

There's this myth about 24 hour care in the NHS. In hospital, although staff are on call, they don't routinely work nights or weekends. Some nursing staff prefer working nights, but I don't know any doctors that prefer working nights because they will also have to work during the day. The problem is that people don't operate on 24 hour time. We need eight hours sleep somewhere in that 24 hours preferably during the night. We also need rest and recovery and cannot work 16 hours a day seven days a week. So that's normal healthy people.
The big problem the NHS faces at the moment is lack of staff. Lots of places run on agency staff who are very expensive because of the way the system is set up. There's also another myth that people can "access" health services online and have a virtual adviser.

So Myrtle is in an impossible situation. She needs an operation, but it isn't regarded as an emergency or even (it would seem) as urgent, I suspect this is because she's on antibiotics and therefore the infection or infections are mollified. Meanwhile she is told that her operation will be at X time on X day, when really they just seem to have plucked that time and date out of the air. She seems to be bumped immediately anybody slightly more complex or urgent comes up, this is normal, but exacerbated at the moment because of the acute lack of staff in all departments.

If an urgent operation can be scheduled for daytime during the week, and that schedule stuck to, it is better for everyone because the surgeon will be properly awake, the patient will have probably had some rest maybe perhaps, and also there'll be better continuity of care.

What we are witnessing is the catastrophic decline of the NHS in real time, and its impact on somebody we care about, all of us in this helpless situation where we can just watch, and wish things were better, or I suppose we could write to our MP.

At the very least, the staff in the ward should endeavour to tell the truth about your care and about the likelihood of you getting the operation you need. You should have accurate information and not be fobbed off constantly with mealy mouthed half truths.

My message to you Lovely Myrtle, is to keep on with what you are doing, looking after yourself as best you can, speaking up when things aren't right, and take a little comfort from what's available here at the Bluestocking. Don't let the bastards get you down.

That moose is a travesty ⬆️

sigh

Has she been given food and liquids? I am worrying she is going to die of neglect before she gets the treatment she went in for.

I've been hors combat [no, not 'war horse' in French😄] with a migraine - 👋to Magpie -remember I suggested high atmospheric pressure being the culprit when you had one the other day? I think it might be a good explanation..

And still no good news from Myrtle!

I loved the images by Swash and Inky, if only they were true images of our noble brave lioness recovering after her much-needed procedure!

Swash, I like that you foraged a necklace of wild flowers for Myrtle

I've foraged googled an actual Myrtle flower for Myrtle..

May
You
Rise
To
Leap
Every
Large
Irritating
Obstacle
Now
@MyrtleLion

Thank you everyone. The images are so lovely, especially the cute gerbils peeking over the pillows to get to me.

Their policy is life and limbs first and infections last because there is a risk of contaminating following patients. I was very depressed yesterday as it was the third cancellation and two days nil by mouth in a row. Swashy's image of me with two heads was very much on the nose.

To add insult to injury the missed meals menu has the allergens mislabelled, so the beef casserole had milk in the potatoes and I ended up only able to eat half the food.

I was expecting an operation tomorrow, and not today, but I was told at 9am I was nil by mouth for an operation at 3pm. Then I was told I could have a light breakfast immediately and no liquid after 11am. I am still scheduled for 3pm, so we will see. They are aware I have been NBM for two consecutive days.

One of the issues is that my consultant is not always available and he is apparently insisting on doing this procedure.

My VAC dressing is peeling off as it's been on for 10 days and the nurses will redress it if I'm not taken down by 4pm.

I feel better today because I ate some breakfast and the walrus came round as well.

The hospital have said that they will consider giving me a day pass next Saturday if I'm still here so I can see the play, but it will depend on why I'm still here.

As a recap they will wash out and debride the wound today. They also hope to close the wound and if they can't, then I will need plastic surgery to create a skin flap on my foot to be stretched over the wound and close it that way. This will mean a third operation at some point in the next week and 5-7 days' recovery in hospital to ensure the surgery works and doesn't get inflected. I may get a day pass if this is the case.

Otherwise, the final cultures come back tomorrow and I should know if the infection is more serious than the initial swabs showed. If it is, then more serious antibiotics via IV and longer in hospital; if it isn't and they've closed the wound, then hopefully I can go home on Tuesday/Wednesday.

Thanks again for all the love. 💙

My fingers are really firmly crossed in hopes your op goes ahead today, @MyrtleLion - I can only imagine how frustrated you are getting.

Eyes on the clock, fingers crossed, magic thinking set to Warp Factor 9.99 - I'm a bit worried what would happen if it was set to 10=infinity!

Love your.. whatever it's called, Britinme... acrostic, thatis it! isn't google wonderful when your memory fails you?😄
It's very clever, and very appropriate for our Myrtle💙

💙💙💙Mrs🦁

Well, it won't surprise you to hear that the operation has been cancelled again.

I am definitely* number 1 on the morning list for Tuesday. Probably because that's the day my surgeon does his elective surgeries so it's easier to manage. I may be seen tomorrow if the list manager can work it, but it's very unlikely because they will be dealing with ask the cases that came in over the weekend.

If they can't close then I will need plastic surgery which could take another week to arrange.

My VAC dressing will now be changed, 10 days after it was put on during surgery.

*definitely = not definitely but more likely than so far.

Oh, Myrtle! I hope someone's smuggled you in some food you can actually eat. Get your strength up before the op.

In other news, I've been sewing in a bazzilion ends on the stripey strips, doing a hexagon crochet blanket & learning flower stitch (as in Bella Coco's tutorials) except I'm too impatient to do dc rows between the flower rows, & have done tr instead in my sample, which works just fine. Am now going to try the same idea but in a granny square, from a crochet magazine.

I may have bought some yarn.

So sorry, Myrtle!
I agree with Android about food, I think you need carbs and protein to fight the infection and recover from the op - not that I'm an expert on nutrition or anything, but I know the body needs extra fuel in situations like this.

So I hope some decent food that you can eat will be arranged for you by the
hosp and it doesn't have to be smuggled in, it's the least they can do for you and your well-being in their care!

And some smuggled treats would probably do you the power of good

Flower stitch, supposed to look like tulips. Seems to me I could vary the colour of the in-between rows & get a stripey effect, esp as I'm doing 2 rows of tr between the flower rows:

dark row of tr
pastel flowers & leaves
dark row of tr
pale row of tr
bright/dark flowers & leaves
pale row of tr
etc

Goodness knows what I could make out of it though. Probably another cat blanket to donate as mine refuses to entertain crocheted blankets. I can't do shaping, so everything's a blanket or a scarf.

That is beautiful! 💙

Dinner menu only has jacket potato as dairy free and I don't eat potato.

I have chocolate, haribo (Supemix this time) and jakeman's sweets from DH, plus some chilli and lemon grills. They will get me a turkey sandwich for dinner. Not strictly dairy free, but as it's a spread, it will be fine.

New dressing is on.

Boot cuffs complete!

I might try the easy sock pattern next.

I miss Boily.

And very easy, as everything is trebles, with a treble cluster making the flower head.

It's just upright trebles, then V-stitch made of tr in green for the leaves, then tr clusters for the flowers, then back to upright trebles for the in-between rows (which can vary in number).

The square version seems to incorporate a spike stitch without really explaining how to do it - but I've got loads of crochet books that will, & there's always Mr Google.

Boily has brought you a box of her very bestest, poshest, artisan Tunnocks teacakes.

Not as good as the real Boily, but the best I could do at short notice 💙

Your flower stitch does indeed look like tulips, @ifIwerenotanandroid . It’s very evenly worked (good tension) and I admire your neat edges.

Thank you! I suspect Boily would give me out of date ones. She's done that before 😂

So thank you for the extra special ones!

Dinner menu only has jacket potato as dairy free and I don't eat potato.

Gonna have to break out the gerbil picture again.

Thanks, but that's Bella Coco's video!