Major surgery - Synopsis II

I went to church as usual in the morning.

I discovered I'd left my mobile phone at home.

Wasn't too happy about it but nothing I could do till I got home.

When I got home I found a missed call.

I listened to the message and found it was from the hospital.

Called the ward and found that Pa was having the operation that day!

Hmmmm....they don't generally operate on a Sunday.

 

Let the folk know who needed to know.

Popped in to Johnsonvale tell Ma that Pa was having the operation.

Found her with tears running down her cheeks.

My sis had told her Pa had the second stroke.

Ma somehow got it in her head that he had died!

Poor lady.

The staff told her it wasn't the case but I don't think she fully believed them.

I was able to reassure her that he was alive and doing ok.
She was a bit happier after I told her a few more details.

 

The operation was a Carotid Endarterectomy

Pretty complicated, but hopefully would help prevent further strokes.

The operation went well.

I was called to go into recovery as Pa was a bit confused.

Pretty common after surgery.

Pa ended up in recovery almost 24hours as his blood pressure was playing up a bit.

 

When I got home even though it was almost midnight I called Johnsonvale as they'd asked so they could give Ma a message when she woke that Pa was doing ok. 

 

Pa continued to improve and after a few days was discharged.

He did have one little glitch.

He had a seizure or blood pressure drop.

It was never fully decided!

 

Once Pa came here I gave him breakfast in bed the first week or so.
The stroke alone can cause fatigue, let alone recovering from surgery as well.

 

This is his usual breakfast. Two pieces of toast, the toppings change though.

Black tea. Plus the tablets!

 

By now it was nearing the end of June.

Life just went CRAZY!! Synopsis I

There I was merrily blogging away trying to remember the days Pa was in hospital in June

THEN.......Life got a little busier.

By then Pa was living with us and doing ok.

I just found that my days were even busier.

So I'm going to give a synopsis of the last few months!!

I'd got up to the Thursday Pa was in hospital and an expected Polar Blast!

We had it all right. Extremely high winds and damage all over

Here is some info about the storm.

I mentioned that Pa had decided to have an operation.

So the hospital in its wisdom decided Pa would be more comfortable at home

waiting for the operation, scheduled for the following Wednesday.

Pa wasn't so sure.

So on one of THE worst days since the Wahine disaster Pa was discharged!

He came to our place rather than to his home.

I was very glad he did.

Early hours of Saturday he had a second stroke. Again affecting mainly his right arm.

Except this time it was hanging there pretty uselessly, though he did have some movement.

Just before 7am I called the hospital and then an ambulance.

It was wet, cold and he was in his pyjamas.

Also though he had walked to the bathroom I wasn't prepared to have him walk down the path.

It's not too bad, but can be slippery and....

what if he had a further stroke or his leg went from under him??

We had been caring for our newest grandbaby, 6wk old Globug as well.

I got him organised and left instructions. Locket got up to help Boar look after Globug.

She's a great little mother :)

So it was back to the emergency room.

Pa was readmitted as I expected.

I was texting to see what was happening with Globug too.


I went with Pa up to the ward then headed home.
Globug had been picked up by then.

The days go on

The Thursday - 20 June   

I got up in the morning and after some breakfast got on with the tutu bag.

It went together well and didn't take too long to make.

I had it mostly completed by the time I went in to see Dad around 11am.

I had planned to have it finished and deliver it.

I had a few more closures to put on it though.

Both Brains and Locket wanted to come and visit their Grandad.

My sis, R, was also coming over from Masterton with her youngest son.

We arrived slightly before them.

I checked in with the staff to see if there were any changes.

Not really.

My sis had just received some sad news.

A friend of theirs had just that morning died.

He had been battling cancer.

Rest in Peace J.

We had to head off at 1pm.

The ward closed but we also had to go home as I needed to complete the tutu bag.

Brains and Locket also needed to eat and get organised for their dance class.

When we got home I got on with the tutu bag.

It didn't take long to finish it.

I got a text from the dance teacher to say that the young teacher who normally took the younger childrens class had injured herself.

Miss L-M was going to take the younger kids and could Brains do something with his own class.

Usually they do comtemporary.

Today they were going to do some Hip Hop.

Brains rose to the challenge and sorted out some music.

Their cousin, R, arrived after having text me to check we were home.

He and his mum were visiting Mum and updating her on what was happening with Dad.

The staff had given her one of Mum's hearing aids as it needed fixing.

R delivered it then spent a short time with Brains and Locket.

Sis R arrived soon after, I'd said we needed to be away by 3.30pm.

I dropped Brains and Locket off at dance and headed back across the city.

The reason I'd wanted to drop the bag off earlier is that the Hospital is in Newtown and the tutu bag needed to go to Island Bay.

The two suburbs are relatively close together.

By this stage of the day the wind was really blowing.

A Polar blast had been forecast for the entire country.

The wind sure was blowing strongly when I got to Island Bay.

The client lives across the road from the beach.

Bag delivered I headed back to Tawa to pick up Brains, Locket & E-R.

The weather was wild! Really strong winds.

We stayed at E-R's home for a while as we usually do on a Thursday.

We left a little earlier than usual as I wanted to have plenty of time with the rain and wind.

On a Thursday I drop Locket and E-R off at Girls' Brigade

Locket has been going since she was 5 and E-R from soon after we met her.

Which if I remember correctly is when she was 9yrs old.

The girls safely delivered I headed home with Brains to sort out some dinner.

There were already reports on the news of trees blown down,

power out in a lot of places.

We were expecting the power to go out as ours often does.

This time though we were lucky.

I had a text from Miss L-M to say their power had gone out and did we have any spare torches! Or candles.

I sent a torch via E-R as I figured she would need some way of getting from the car to the house.

In the end the leaders decided that E-R would go home with the leader who lives in Tawa.

I don't think Boar was very happy about it.

He is a much more experienced driver than the young leader.

Not much you can do on a wild, stormy night other than tuck up warmly in bed!

We were fortunate that we had power.

Many would spend a cold night.

As we have a woodburner we have heat, can cook on it plus it is a wetback so when it is going it heats the water as well :)

The ups and downs of life: Part 4

The Wednesday - 19 June

Slept pretty well.

Had a few texts asking how Dad was doing.

 I had a text from a neice asking if she could come and visit as she had been in Wellington overnight.
I said sure thing :)

Opted to go in to see Dad early afternoon.
Had to do some work before I went in as the tutu was being picked up that evening!

The young lass had a competition down in Blenheim over the weekend.

J arrived and we chatted as I worked. She likes to sew as well so had a few questions.
She ended up helping me finish the beading. There was only half of what I needed to do left and so we each started at one end and met in the middle.
J learnt something new and the job got done in half the time.
J headed off around noon as she had to head for work in Martinborough

Brains and Locket got up and I could sense a fair amount of tension.

Locket especially was winding up to a meltdown.

To divert that I told her she could come with me to see Grandad.

No arguing allowed.

Separation of the two seemed the best policy.

So Locket got organised and off we went.

Dad was still in MAPU.

I'd had a text from one of my nephews, IK, to say he was heading over to see Dad that afternoon.

His visit was going to coincide with ours.

An ultrasound of Dad's Carotid Arteries had been done just after 1pm.
A doctor came in later in the afternoon.
The right was partially narrowed.
The left was 70-79% narrowed.
They get gunked up with plaque and sometimes bits of it break away and can cause
strokes or CVA

Dad was given the option of an operation to help reduce the risk of further strokes.
Some choose not to have the operation but Dad chose to.

Shortly after this IK and Locket headed off.
Locket was getting a bit restless and as IK was heading towards JVille
where we live he kindly took her home.
And took up the invitation to stay for dinner :)
He also wanted to pop in and see his brother who lives nearby us before he headed back over the hill to Masterton

Dad was transferred up to a ward.
There was mention the operation may be on the Friday or on Wednesday of the next week.
Once he had settled in I headed home for some dinner...
and a tutu pick up!

Dinner over and goodbyes to IK said I headed upstairs to my sewing area.
I took a couple of photos of the tutu so that I would have a record.
I had hoped to get the tutu bag all done, but time had run out.
Soon C arrived to pick up the tutu.
I explained that I would get the tutu bag done and delivered by the next afternoon.
C was fine with this, she completely understood that the last few days had been out of the ordinary!

We chatted for a while and then C headed off....with the tutu.
I tossed up whether to sew or not.
In the end I cut out the material for the tutu bag.
Then I headed for bed...best to get up early to work on the tutu bag.
Experience tells me I will only make mistakes if I sew when I am too tired!


 

The ups and downs of life: Part 3

The Tuesday... 18th June

In the morning I dragged myself out of bed.

Brains and Locket were still asleep when I left to go to the hospital.

Neither of them had settled early as they were both concerned about Grandad, Mr P.

Locket had completely cleaned up the whole kitchen which was a real blessing.

She has discovered that when things like this happens it makes her feel more settled to clean and tidy up.

I guess it's being able to restore some order when something happens that is out of your control.

It restores a sense of order...and uses up some stress hormones.

Brains had appeared downstairs when I got home...I'd noticed his light was still on and expected he would come down. Not that he was worried you understand! 16 yr old males don't always like to admit to these feelings :)

Before I left for the hospital I had a call from a social worker.

Her role was to find out how much support Dad would have when he was discharged.

He was going to return to us..perhaps temporarily, he hadn't got that far in the decision making yet.

The social worker seemed to think I was very organised!

If only she knew :)

I had some breakfast and headed off to the hospital.

Dad was reasonably comfortable.

He had been seen by a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist (OT)

The OT came back while I was there which was good as I had a few questions.

I think a doctor popped in as well, plus a person I recognised immediately, though I couldn't remember what her role was.

The OT had a good chat with us, asked some questions and was able to answer one of mine.

We have a shower over the bath so the OT arranged for a bath board to be delivered.



It is similar to this one and sits on the rim of the bath, useful if he needs to sit down in a hurry.

He also left Dad with some excercises to do to strengthen his right hand.

Later the woman I hadn't recognised came back.

It was the stroke nurse. She commented that she had recognised me as well.

She was the stroke nurse for Mum back in 2009, which is why I recognised her.

After she'd attended to the discussion that was needed for her role as stroke nurse she asked for us to remind her about Mum.

She had recognised the surname but not Dad's first name.

I happened to have Mum's Total Mobility card in my pocket which has a photo of her on it.
I showed it to L and she recognised Mum.
It all came back to her.
It was quite good to have someone who was already familiar, in a way, with us.
Though I wish the circumstances had been different.

Whilst all this was happening I sent a text to Monneypenny asking if it were possible and they had the time that they call in to see/spend some time with Brains and Locket.
They do pretty well, but in these sorts of things I don't like to leave them alone for too long as emotions can run high and they are neither of them shy about getting into an altercation!
Moneypenny replied that they would be able to.
I could relax a little :)

Dad had the CT Scan and also a physio came back to see him.
She seemed pretty impressed that he could jump off the ground with two feet!
Not bad for an 86yr old...even though it wasn't far off the ground :)

They decided that they would keep him in another day.
During this time I'd been updating my siblings, the adult grandchildren and also Dad's pastor.
Since they were keeping Dad in I headed off mid-afternoon.

I called in to see Mum on the way home.
I'd called in to see her on the Monday as well since Dad wasn't able to go.
She has been a resident at Johnsonvale rest home since August 2009.
Dad usually goes to see her every day and spends a couple of hours with her.
I needed to tell her in person that Dad had more than likely had a stroke and was in hospital.
Also the staff so that they could keep an eye on Mum.
Plus the staff have got to know Dad quite well over the last few years.
Some have changed but there are many there who have been there since Mum was admitted and so know us. They care about the families of the residents as well as the residents.
As I thought they were a bit shocked as well.

Home, dinner, update who I needed to by text and a call to my sis, R, to let her know the latest.
Then bed.
I was pretty tired after a short sleep the night before.
Hmmm I think I was working on a tutu as well...it was being picked up on the Wednesday evening.
Things are a bit hazy now! Life seems to go into some kind of weird time warp when stuff like this happens.
It moves slow and fast at the same time.
A day goes past but you could swear it's been a week!

The ups and downs of life: Part 2

Lives can change in a heart beat

I'm travelling back in time to Monday 17 June... a few weeks ago.

Mr P, my Dad, rang me around lunch-time.

He hadn't had a good night, was very restless.

He was going to bed for a sleep...most unusual for him so my "What's up?" antenna

was quivering. He also wasn't going to see Mrs P as he usually does.

I tried to get more info out of him but he didn't give out much!

I asked him to please call me in the evening.

Around 7pm he called back, felt a bit more rested but still not that great.

After around 5mins of talking to me he said....

"I'm not sure but I think I might have had a little stroke"

I replied I was coming and picking him up and taking him to the after hrs Dr!

Mr P didn't think that was necessary.

I replied it most definitely was!

So off I went.

Subtle changes, if you didn't know him well you may not have known.

His speech was a little slurred, his thinking a little slower,

he'd found a few things difficult to do with his right hand.

E.g. cutting an onion, peeling the skin off his boiled potatoes for his tea.

All of these he'd noticed all day long....

but doesn't let me know!

When we got out of the van I noticed he was hardly using his right arm.

When I queried it he said it was quite sore but,

"Maybe it's my arthritis"

He could hardly hold a pen to sign his name, which was basically illegible,

usually it's easy to read.

Thankfully we didn't have too long to wait to see the doctor.

She looked him over, asked him a heap of questions,

obviously from a stroke assessment tool on the computer as she kept referring to the screen.

She didn't seem to think he was too bad!

No, this wasn't a stroke with severe effects but a stroke is a stroke!

One of the things he had to do was draw a clock face.

He did ok but for him it was really untidy.

"Oh, that's quite good!" she stated.

"Not for him!" I replied

He had to spell "World" forwards...then backwards.

Forwards he did fine.

Backwards he had two goes and got it wrong both times.

"Would he normally be able to....?"she asked

"Yes, he does cryptic crosswords!" I stated.

I was getting a bit annoyed...

No, he may not be paralysed on one side...but something is going on!

He has had a stroke.

Thankfully she decided to ring the medical registrar at the hospital.

I guess with small effects from a stroke it can be hard to tell.

The med reg got her to do a few other simple tests with Mr P and.....

we were off to the Emergency Department.

If he had have been sent home by the Doc I would have ignored that and taken him to the Emergency Department anyway!

There are times having trained as a registered nurse stands me in good stead.

This was one of them as I knew he needed the hospital..and most likely admitting.

He was assessed by the triage nurse...then some more waiting in the waiting area.

They have a new system at Wellington Hospital

Sometimes instead of going through the ED a patient is admitted to MAPU

(Medical Assessment and Planning Unit)

This is what happened with Mr P.

So sometime overnight on Sunday/Monday

a clot from somewhere travelled to his brain...and a part of it died.

And his life was changed irrevocably.

Up till now he has been living independently, slowly sorting things from almost 58yrs of being in his own home prior to moving in with us.

He had spoken with me a couple of weeks earlier and commented on the cold.

I replied that we thought he was going to be with us by winter.

"Oh, I'll just sort a bit more of this up...but if my health changes..."

"You'll move in with us." I stated.

"Yes" he said.

One of the things that has changed is that he has lost the use of his driving licence.

For up to a year.

A huge loss of independence.

So by around 1am on Tuesday morning he was all tucked up in a bed.

I wended my way home around 2am, I think, as I waited till he'd been seen by the Medical Registrar and it was comfirmed he would have a scan in the morning.

I'd sent texts to my sis and 2 bros earlier to let them know what was happening and that I'd update them in the morning.

Home to bed for a few hours before I returned to the hospital the next day.

We've been through this before with Mrs P, though her strokes were worse.

Thankfully Mr P's hasn't been too debilitating physically...at least so far.

The ups and the downs of life

Monday 1 July 2013

Once again life has carried on swiftly since I last updated this blog.

The great parts of the last 2 weeks and a half have been.....

Butcher our second son had an interview and has been employed in a sawmill in Featherston

about two minutes down the road from where they live.

Butcher is really enjoying the work, doing a variety of jobs.

It may only be for a month as it can be seasonal...but for now it is work

and something that can go on his CV.

He has been there two weeks.

This has also meant a time of adjustment for Chuckles, his partner

and for Halfpint their son.

Chuckles has been taking Halfpint to some of the local activities,

which they have been enjoying.

Later that same week Frosty  turned 21

A happy belated birthday on the blog Frosty.

We love you very much!!

We wished you happy birthday on the day so that's the important thing :)
Frosty and Jester chose to celebrate with some friends.
We were blessed to have Globug stay with us for the night.
Globug is six weeks old already...the time goes so quickly!
He was such a settled wee boy. He had a botttle around 7.30pm, then settled till
around 11.30pm.
Then he slept till 5.30am!
Can't complain about that :)
Then he was roused around 10am by Boar & Locket as I was occupied elsewhere!

Another up...I can now tell... we are looking forward to the birth of our 4th
grandbaby. Absent-minded Prof & Moneypenny are expecting
their 2nd baby in Novenber :)