Yesterday we had a two hour wait at the surgery. However this time it wasn’t for me, it was for the person we shall just refer to as Divot Head, who not believing when I said he needed two hands to push wheelchair – needed to prove it to himself by tipping the chair and falling under it. I had little more than my pride (the little that is left) bumped as I led there legs in air looking at the sky. Divot meantime managed to give himself little-boy knee grazes and a nasty chop in one of his fingers. As I laid there looking at the sky a number of things went through my mind. ‘Poor Ian’ was not one of them.
So it was with slight satisfaction that Ian had to drop his pants in front of the nice nurse and she rammed his backside with a needle. I also felt a tad smug at his whimpering, and indeed his scream as she came at him with a needle – and he had not even been jabbed at this point. He now looks slightly ridiculous with a bandage round the top third of his finger. I think the frosty silence – and the fact that he was threatened with loosing some of his vital and not so vital appendages should he ever come close to me when I’m in the wheelchair again might have made my feelings perfectly clear.
I felt a little embarrassed as we went to the surgery yesterday – not just because of the above, but also because my bandage was such a state; kittens and general wear and tear over what had become a week between changes had taken it’s toll. The nurse always sends me out looking neat and tidy with the top of the bandage neatly folded, and I return with some unravelling mass looking like something that has been found in an Egyptian tomb. The end of the plaster is decomposing a little too - but I'm not too worried as I am at the hospital tomorrow.
The nurse normally gives my foot a little wipe too, however because it was a week since my last visit it had gone rather crusty. A bit like what is left in the bottom of a Greggs Cheese and Onion Pasty bag after the pasty has crumbled whilst eating. Uuuuuuuugh. Embarrassingly large flakes of skin fell off in a heap. Poor nurse. I think that it was more apparent as the swelling has gone down quite dramatically and this made the flaking worse.
I am getting quite good at hopping down the stairs from the workshop. Going up is crawling, but going down is getting easier. The trick I found is have my bad leg forward rather than back and to hop on the count of three – not let momentum step in. To start of with I had my bad leg behind me which didn’t give me my balance easily after each hop.
I was a little surprised at the thunder and lightening we had again on Saturday, I think as a weather forecasting tool seaweed is probably more effective than my ankle. It cleared the air and it is not has hot as it has been.
Tibs and Fibs are settling in well, they spend quite a lot of time playing and the rest sleeping. Last night they were sat on the back of the chair and both hitting Ian on his head. And they say you can’t train them……
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Tibia and Fibia and thunder
We have our new additions to the family - Tibia and Fibia. They seem to be settling into their new life - and we have been very surprised that Dookems hasn't taken more to them - but I think it is the big animal / small animal thing where big animals are actually scared of kittens/puppies as they don't know what they are. I think in a couple of weeks they'll be able to play so they'll be more 'normal'
Yesterday I woke up, felt a twinge in the ankle and knew it was going to thunder. It did - but not until 12 hours later, wonder if that means I am going to have a weather-forecasting ankle now. I didn't really rain, but the thunder and lightening rolled around for quite a while and into the night.
I got a prescription from the doctor for calcium supplements, they are huge - so I checked the packet to make sure they weren't horse tablets or something. They are chewable ones - lucky I checked it out as I could foresee a horrible tablet-stuck-in-throat accident otherwise.
I am back in my workshop, and am navigating the steps by shufting up on my backside and crawling to the table, and getting back down in reverse. Not elegant but it is good to be back in there again (particulary as this is where kitties are living).
Yesterday I woke up, felt a twinge in the ankle and knew it was going to thunder. It did - but not until 12 hours later, wonder if that means I am going to have a weather-forecasting ankle now. I didn't really rain, but the thunder and lightening rolled around for quite a while and into the night.
I got a prescription from the doctor for calcium supplements, they are huge - so I checked the packet to make sure they weren't horse tablets or something. They are chewable ones - lucky I checked it out as I could foresee a horrible tablet-stuck-in-throat accident otherwise.
I am back in my workshop, and am navigating the steps by shufting up on my backside and crawling to the table, and getting back down in reverse. Not elegant but it is good to be back in there again (particulary as this is where kitties are living).
Sunday, September 03, 2006
A wheelchair arrives...
Ian wondered if we may have said yes to a Belgium cat – or any variation of cat/wedding/Belgians ,but the next morning the doorbell went and there they were with a wheelchair – Hoorah!
Within the first 20 seconds I drew the first blood – mine unfortunately as I wheeled myself into broom handle. Not too bad – but enough for me to spend the day looking as if I had dribbled tomato ketchup – not a look I was aiming for. I then managed to wedge myself into a corner and unable to reverse out. As I was randomly bumping off walls and doors, Ian told me I looked like I was playing solo “coches locos” (bumper cars) and that it might be easier to ‘drive’ if I imagined I was a tractor reversing a trailer. No doubt excellent advice had I been a tractor driver.
The other thought that I had was remembering when Dad was in hospital last year recovering from the removal of his brain tumour – and one day when I was visiting we ‘lost’ him. Somehow Dad had taken himself off around the ward in his wheelchair – apparently much more adept than I am. And this was a time when Dad was still getting confused as to who I was so quite remarkable really. I realise quite how remarkable now I am trying to negotiate corners etc.
We then took our first trip out into the village. Because it is such a hassle to get the car out for such short journey’s I’ve not been out – however it was great to be able to get to the health centre without messing around with the car. Ian pushed part of the way and I self –propelled the rest. However we did stop for a small ‘debate’ as to whether he thought pushing me with one hand over cobbles at what appeared to be 50 miles an hour seemingly out of control, was a responsible way to push ones already slightly damaged wife, and he, in turn, wondered if my screaming ‘watch the car/house/curb’ was completely justified (which it was).
On Friday night we went to a birthday party. It was a surprise party – which was lucky really as we didn’t know the surprise bit and could quite easily have let the cat out of the bag and for it to have been a not-such-a-surprise party.. We didn’t take the wheelchair as the party was in a house by the castle and I had a horrible vision of doing something similar to the cresta run back into the village. My theory was yet again proved correct – get 3 spanish people together and a guitar will appear. There were 10 people there when we arrived with three guitars and a couple of bongo drums. I should have bought my guitar – I am sure that everyone would be delighted!
Yesterday we took the chair out again and went to one of the bars. The ‘quick drink’ developed and we spent a pleasant afternoon – there was quite a group of us around a table and people stood around the table. I hopped off to use the loo (we took the crutches as well as the chair) and my almost-worse nightmare was realised. I didn’t pull anything off the wall, but the chain came away in my hand and I could not reach up to put it back. So I hopped back to the table with the chain discretely in hand to give to Ian to sort out, who was unfortunately choosing this moment to be particularly dim and thought I was giving him a present. Quite why I would give him something resembling a toilet chain, I have no idea, but whilst Ian was waving it around wondering why I had given it to him, he gave everyone the opportunity to see what I had done – and as he went off to fix it, the bar erupted into more laughter. So much for trying to be discrete.
However – all in all the wheelchair is a Great Success!
Within the first 20 seconds I drew the first blood – mine unfortunately as I wheeled myself into broom handle. Not too bad – but enough for me to spend the day looking as if I had dribbled tomato ketchup – not a look I was aiming for. I then managed to wedge myself into a corner and unable to reverse out. As I was randomly bumping off walls and doors, Ian told me I looked like I was playing solo “coches locos” (bumper cars) and that it might be easier to ‘drive’ if I imagined I was a tractor reversing a trailer. No doubt excellent advice had I been a tractor driver.
The other thought that I had was remembering when Dad was in hospital last year recovering from the removal of his brain tumour – and one day when I was visiting we ‘lost’ him. Somehow Dad had taken himself off around the ward in his wheelchair – apparently much more adept than I am. And this was a time when Dad was still getting confused as to who I was so quite remarkable really. I realise quite how remarkable now I am trying to negotiate corners etc.
We then took our first trip out into the village. Because it is such a hassle to get the car out for such short journey’s I’ve not been out – however it was great to be able to get to the health centre without messing around with the car. Ian pushed part of the way and I self –propelled the rest. However we did stop for a small ‘debate’ as to whether he thought pushing me with one hand over cobbles at what appeared to be 50 miles an hour seemingly out of control, was a responsible way to push ones already slightly damaged wife, and he, in turn, wondered if my screaming ‘watch the car/house/curb’ was completely justified (which it was).
On Friday night we went to a birthday party. It was a surprise party – which was lucky really as we didn’t know the surprise bit and could quite easily have let the cat out of the bag and for it to have been a not-such-a-surprise party.. We didn’t take the wheelchair as the party was in a house by the castle and I had a horrible vision of doing something similar to the cresta run back into the village. My theory was yet again proved correct – get 3 spanish people together and a guitar will appear. There were 10 people there when we arrived with three guitars and a couple of bongo drums. I should have bought my guitar – I am sure that everyone would be delighted!
Yesterday we took the chair out again and went to one of the bars. The ‘quick drink’ developed and we spent a pleasant afternoon – there was quite a group of us around a table and people stood around the table. I hopped off to use the loo (we took the crutches as well as the chair) and my almost-worse nightmare was realised. I didn’t pull anything off the wall, but the chain came away in my hand and I could not reach up to put it back. So I hopped back to the table with the chain discretely in hand to give to Ian to sort out, who was unfortunately choosing this moment to be particularly dim and thought I was giving him a present. Quite why I would give him something resembling a toilet chain, I have no idea, but whilst Ian was waving it around wondering why I had given it to him, he gave everyone the opportunity to see what I had done – and as he went off to fix it, the bar erupted into more laughter. So much for trying to be discrete.
However – all in all the wheelchair is a Great Success!