What a drip

Keith had his operation yesterday afternoon. A steel rod was inserted through the bottom of his heel as the skin there is healthy, so there is less risk of infection. He was pleased to have had it done, even though it sounds gruesome, as he can now have his foot bandaged and wear a 'boot' rather than having another plaster cast to his thigh, which is what they tried before. As it seemed to be almost impossible to find a vein in which to insert the drip, they resorted to putting it in his neck, which proved quite uncomfortable once the anaesthetic wore off. Another problem was that he had to turn his head to one side for the drip to work, and as it contained the all important anti-biotics, this was a problem. So during the course of the evening, he informed any staff who came close enough to listen, that the drip was not working properly and could someone please sort it out. Not an unreasonable request, you would think. However, by the end of the evening, nothing had been done, which meant that he had gone for several hours without the anti-biotics which he needed and the only suggestion forthcoming was that he would have to keep his head turned to the right to enable the drip to work and, yes, they expected him to spend the whole night with it in his neck.
Finally, as he put it, he had to get nasty and point out that this operation was his last chance and that if the foot did indeed become infected, it could mean amputation, so he was now not asking but TELLING them that they had to sort it out!
Within 5 minutes, the drip was reset and a line put into his leg rather than his neck.

Something which made the incident even more annoying was that, a couple of hours earlier, another patient on the ward had asked to have his bed moved from one side to the other 'for a change of scene' which was done almost before the words were out of his mouth. But although they had time to do that, they hadn't time to sort out Keith's drip.
Oh and, to put the tin hat on it, he wasn't given his night painkiller. This morning, when he questioned this, he was told that 'they had been busy.'

Maybe part of the answer to improving the NHS, rather than throwing even more money at management is to review the calibre of some of the applicants for nursing training!

Still not home

The bones have moved again, so the doctors decided they would have to insert a steel rod through the bottom of the foot, which sounds scary but would mean a much lighter and smaller plaster, so Keith would be able to be more mobile. This sounded good to him, so he fasted from midnight on Wednesday and waited.......................and waited....................................
At 4.30 yesterday afternoon, he was finally told that, due to an emergency operation needing to be done during the day, his operation was postponed until today. This, by our calculations, means that he won't be able to come home until Monday now, and that's if all goes well.

Amid frantic demands for me to bring more food, more DVDs, a mouse (for the laptop), more food, some CDs, more food..................Keith has had to resign himself to carry on the waiting game.

Drought?

Up here in the wilds of North Wales, we had snow yesterday, lots of it, and everything ground to a halt. Today, most of it has melted and instead of smowshoes and shovels, we needed flippers and snorkels.
Down in the south east, Thames Water is worried about the lack of water and is introducing a hosepipe ban. Crazy world!

The death of Common Sense

This piece, which I'm sure some of you will have seen before, is another offering from T.K.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.
Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they failed to do in disciplining their unruly children It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Panadol, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student; but, could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know MyRights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm A Victim.Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone.If you still remember him pass this on. If not join the majority and do nothing.

What's going on???

I sometimes wonder if 'Him up there' is having a laugh. This morning, I woke up to 5 inches of snow and still falling. After lunch, I struggled out to shovel the snow off Keith's Range Rover, in a bid to use that instead of my car to visit him in hospital. Having finally gained entry, I turned the key in the ignition and............nothing. The battery has evidently gone flat as a result of not having been used for ten days. So, as it was now raining and there were faint indications that an early thaw could be on the way, on to plan B - use my car and hope for the best.
The tricky part is getting out of the estate as the exit is a slope, but I managed that and set off down the road, driving in the tracks left by those who had passed before me. Before long, I felt it was not very safe and so decided to turn back for home. As I did so, a snow plough sped past, scattering grit as it went. "Great!" I thought, "I'll follow that and have another go."
So I did. I'm not sure what sort of grit they were using, but it didn't seem to be making any difference to the road surface and half way along the road, I skidded.
(By the way, I would like to offer my grateful thanks to the two men standing in their front garden, who watched my struggles as I turned the car yet again and headed back for home. I hope I gave them a few moments of entertainment.)
Back home again and I attempted, without success, to turn round so that I could park in an outgoing direction, as usual. Next plan, drive to the end of the cul de sac, turn round there and come back, which I eventually managed to do with a great deal of slipping and sliding.
So now, my car is once more parked outside and hopefully awaiting its journey to school in the morning................we live in hope!