Wetlands and Dogs

These last few days Benji has been very reluctant to go out for out early morning walk. I can understand this – it  has been very cold. I thought that I would leave the walk to later in the morning – say 8am instead of 6am. I also thought it might be a good idea that we go to the Wetland instead of a local walk. It was a cold but lovely morning this morning and the  ponds at the wetlands were like glass – no breeze at all – not a ripple.

Wetlands this morning

However I  decided it was not such a good idea. There were a good number of people about and all of them had a dog, or dogs/. Benji does not get on well with strange dogs so the walk really wasn’t much fun for him. I think we will just stick to the local area in the morning and go to the wetlands in the afternoon when it seems to be a lot quieter. The interesting thing was that all the people with dogs this morning were males.  If I want to go to the foreshore I have to remember to take bags with me as the council has not yet replaced the dog waste bags that it removed for the upgrade.

Benji is a rescue dog and we have not known what his true age was.  In October of this year it will be

Hello peeple..

four years since we adopted him. At the time I was told he was three years, so plus the four we have had  him, that would make seven. I always felt he was older and it turns out I was right – he was born in November 2010, which means he will be nine years, not seven, this year. All of this is academic because in the end I don’t care what age he is, he’s my boy and I love him dearly. However, it may go a ways to explaining why he is so reluctant to get out of bed and get out of the house at 6am on a winter morning – and – I shall have to take the pace at which I walk into consideration and slow down a tad. Of course the reluctance to get out of  bed and get out of the house on a cold winter morning could simply be a kind of human trait, since sometimes we are pretty reluctant to do similar ourselves. I had out longer than usual last night and he actually did slow down and he seemed to me to be a bit tired, so I lifted him up on my shoulder and carried him for a while. One of the neighbours asked  “who was taking who for the walk?” After a little while I put him back down and he seemed to have a lot more energy

This coming weekend is the weekend of the Whyalla  Show (Fair). The RFDS will be on display again this year but  I will not be attending this year as I will be in Adelaide for a Presbytery Meeting. We have Yogi here! Jim took what is believed to be a slight stroke and was taken to hospital. Fay is spending much of the day there so she asked if we would look after Yogi for a few hours. I said I would and went down and collected him at 8am this morning (Wednesday) I  said before that he has not been a well dog and he has certainly lost a fair bit of weight and he is crying a lot, but that could be because this was all so sudden and he is anxious  and does know what is happening. At the moment he is a sad little dog, but Benji and me will look after him for a bit.. Yogi was only here for a few hours and he “cried”much of that time. I held him up on my lap but I had to be careful and not put Benji offside.

As it turned out, Jim did not have a stroke – not even a minor one.  He underwent a brain scan an ECG and various other tests and when they proved negative he was allowed home. When I took Yogi back home Jim was

Benji at the Long Beach

sleeping.  He will check in with the hospital every few days for a little while to make certain everything is ok. However they really don’t know what caused the turn he had. Fay was chastised by the doctor because she drove him to the hospital instead of  calling an Ambulance. Her comment was that  the ambulance can take too long to arrive and is was  quicker to drive him to hospital.  That’s a worry…

 

Annabell, Quorn and an Orange Kitten.

Lower Ranges from Stirling North.

Well, it’s been a while, but I am still here. Nothing has changed and Quorn are still trying to find out why Annabell is like she is. The effects of the seizure in December last are still with us.  She has symptoms that are similar to dementia but it is not. What the seizure can produce is Delerium, and it was that which caused her to have conversations with her friends in the ceiling of the hospital last year.  I have been informed that sometimes delirium can take months to resolve and there are concerns that this is what is happening now.  They have taken extra blood tests and  the doctor in Quorn has been in contact with  our hospital to determine if  a brain scan has been done because there is nothing in the records, they have that indicated this – and one should have been done. I won’t find out until Monday what is being done but if the doctor here determines that there should be a scan, she will have to be moved to Port Augusta for this to take place. Other than that, she is fairly well. There are times when she does not know who I am and other times when she is quite “chatty”. Have to say though, the chatty times are few and far between.

The boys still visit Thursday and Friday but there is a bit of concern with the clocks going back, which means that it is dark when they start driving through the Pass on the way home and there can be a lot of wildlife on the road at night, particularly kangaroos. Hitting one of them can cause massive damage to your vehicle – unless your vehicle is a truck. Don’t know what we are going to do about this concern.

Since the last post I have acquired a kitten – an orange kitten — Which I don’t want! – I have tried to  take it to the RSPCA they are overloaded with cats and kittens,  and they are full and have no room. Don’t know what I am going to do and to add to my concerns – Benji does not like it, so I have to try and keep them apart I know there are lots of lovely cat people out there but I am not one of them,  This kitten is really my Neighbours but they vanish  regularly and the three kittens from the last litter  (born in MY garden) were abandoned. Two of the kittens I buried, and I really didn’t want to have to bury a third one, so I trapped it, caught it and have been looking after it – buying cat milk and kitten food. I assumed the RSPAC would help but they didn’t so for the time being I am stuck with it. And yes – that’s it on the right.  Yes, it is a cute little thing, but I am not a cat person. I would like it gone but I want to make certain that it goes to a good home and will be looked after. I have spent time and funds on this kitten, and I would like that not to be wasted.

I have been getting a little depressed of late but not with anything concerning Annabell or, indeed, my health. I am fine. What is depressing me is the house and housework. I am not getting time to get things done. I barely have time to wash and dry the dishes let alone do housework. I can manage the laundry – just stick it all in the machine, put in powder and conditioner and let it get on with things Now with a kitten to look after it is a complication I really didn’t need. I have started taking Benji with me to Quorn because I can’t leave the doors open as normal and I am not sure how he would react to the cat near his food dish. Quorn has a large fenced off garden area so I can let him loose there. I have also been allowed to bring him in so I have brought his blanket, and he sits quietly on that.

Black swans at the Wetlands.

During my two days off I have managed to take him down to the wetlands and much to my surprise I discovered that there is not just two black swans there – there are Serven of them. I thought about the seven and I remembered one was injured last year and was removed by the local vet. Perhaps it died and that is the missing eighth swan since I understand they mate for life. It was beautiful to see them and all the little ones.

Quorn Home and John Denver

Friday 22nd.

Another week gone and nothing much has changed. I am still driving back and forth to Quorn. There has been very little change in Annabell’s condition, which is a bit of a concern

 

. She is awake but spends her time staring blankly at the roof. She does not talk to me, and I really am starting to believe that she has no idea who I am. She lets me feed her most times but that’s about it. As soon as that’s over she is back to staring at the roof. Andrew still reads to her but there is no response. However, I have to admit that last visit, everything was so quiet I actually dozed off for a bit. I just don’t know what to do- but one thing we are absolutely certain on is that we will not stop coming to visit her – even if she doesn’t know who we are – we know who she is.

I was out to dinner last night. I had a call from an old friend that some people were coming to the hotel to celebrate his birthday and he would like me to be there. I was a bit reluctant at first but I said yes and went. I knew some the people – mostly from the RFDS, so that helped a lot. I am starting to get a bit concerned about me.  I take Thursday and Friday off and make plans in my head for what I am going to do with the time. Somehow nothing seems to get done and next thing I know, it’s Saturday and I am heading North again. I sometimes think it’s actually me that’s going gaga.  The days just seem to blur into one another and sometimes I am unsure of the actual day. I tend to play cribbage against the computer. I actually win sometimes.  I have been playing and listening a lot to John Denver CDs recently, particularly in the car, and I found some of his songs quite emotional – which is annoying because I actually thought I was passed that stage. For those of you who know the music of  John Denver “Perhaps Love” is my favorite song.

Friday and Barry visited me. He stops off at Maccas and gets two coffee and we share coffee together. Sometimes – like today -he had  some things from his wife to go to Annabell. I will take them up with me in the morning.  I will give the things to Annabell and talk to her about them. I’ll open the envelops and read the card to her, although I am not sure that it registers. Still, I will talk to her and see how we get on.

Fortunately, the days are starting to get cooler – still in the mid 30s but at least away from the 45c+ that we have experienced. We have also been fairly dry here although there has been heavy rain further north. That’s what I have to keep an eye on rather that what’s happening here. Parts of the Pass are fairly low and subject to flash

flooding, so I have to keep on the weather in the far north as well as here.  Benji and I still go out for our morning walk, and I have put the stroller away for the moment and have him walking again. Coming up for 14 and he’s doing well. Once the weather really calms down and it’s cooler, I will think about taking him up north with me and he can visit his “mommy” like the rest of the family. I know he misses her – as we all do.

Saturday 23rd.

Tomorrow is not looking good either!

Was later in getting to Quorn than I anticipated due to road works on the   Port Augusta highway and a “Convoy” system to move traffic in either directions — not at the same time, of course – with part of the highway closed off.  Still, wasn’t too bad and I was there just after 11am – so only 30 minutes late. She was in the mini-bed chair (what they call the “Princes Chair”) and I read her the cards and the latest letter from Glasgow. She never responded.  The nurse came in to give her the Insulin Injection and asked her if she knew who I was, and she just said “no”. She did not talk to me, but she let me feed her.   I have no idea what is happening. When she is not sleeping she  has her eyes open and stares at the ceiling. She very rarely talks and only then it’s yes or no. As when asked by the nurse if she knew  who I was she simply said no. Now the boys were here Thursday and Friday – as normal – I asked her if she had seen the boys recently and again she just said no. I know this not to be correct since John generally telephones me to let me know how she is and he did on Thursday. I am a bit concerned that this might change things -I do not know how or why but this is all new territory for me and I am not sure what happens from here on.

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I wrote this post after my last visit to see Annabell in Quorn. I believe I had posted it – and I am certain I did- but for some strange reason it seems to have got stuck in drafts. I don’t believe it actually was posted and I cannot find it.  If it is posted and you have read it please forgive me for posting it again, but   along with everything else at the moment, the computer is playing  up.

Well, here we are again. Nothing has changed since last I wrote. Annabell is still in Quorn although she is showing some small signs of improvement, and she did talk to me whilst I was there.  She is still unable to move so I still feed her lunch when I am there. The nursing staff considered that I was slightly crazy since it was 44c and I drove from Whyalla to Quorn and will drive back home during the hottest part of the day.  Yes we are in heatwave conditions at the moment and the temp has not dropped below 41c for most of this week and since the end of the heatwave is still a few days off, I felt I had to be here and to wait out the heatwave would have left her unvisited for too many days. I will have tomorrow off and be back up again on Wednesday as normal. Sometime during Thursday, the cool change will start to move across the state dropping temperatures down. Thankfully I have an excellent A/C in the car and  there were times during the drive north that I had to turn it down as it was getting just a tad cold . o:)  I will have my break Thursday and Friday and back north again on Saturday, however, two days of housework, laundry, garden and shopping and I might manage to sit down for a bit. There is plenty of cold water in the car for me and for the car- if required. In this weather I make a point of checking water and oil each morning after a Quorn visit.

Since I resigned from all duties I have just about been abandoned.  Only one person comes to see me – no one calls and asks how things are. This is how 33 years of service ends.

My Companion

Still there is one left and he visits me each Friday because he knows I  am home – and his dear wife sends lovely cards for me to take with me when I go to Quorn. Also – she has made a couple of meals that have been brought to me, which is really very kind of her. When I was in the shopping centre, one woman said that if she had not heard my voice, she would not have known it was me – I have lost so much weight. Not so much now but yes, in the early days of worry and stress.  I was talking to the Senior Nurse the last visit and she was looking at a photograph I had of Benji, and she asked if that was our dog. I said it was, and she asked me why I had not brought him up for a visit.  I said I would once the weather starts to cool down. One good thing is that Benji is not a head out of the window kind of dog, he merely curls up on the front seat and goes to sleep.

My Gift.

He has had to put up with a lot this while back, being left in the house on his own whilst I travel up North to visit Annabell. I try to make it up to him when I get home. We still go out for walk in the morning even on a Quorn visit day and it is no matter what the temperature since the walk is at 6am and still dark. I don’t leave for Quorn until about 9am. On this last visit to Quorn I was given a gift by a young lady. I was reluctant to accept but she insisted as did her “companion” Well, I figured when a  two year old gives you a gift with the approval of her mother, It would be very rude. not to mention, ungentlemanly, not to accept. I did and her gift is now sitting beside my computer.  I always wanted as Unicorn of my own..

Travelling Man.

Lower Ranges from Stirling North.

 

Annabell is still in hospital in Quorn, about 75 miles from here. Which is, as I said before, 150 miles round trip each visit. My doctor is slightly concerned about me, so I have been for blood tests and on Monday he wants me to go for an ECG. I know not why – the blood tests were good, and I am fine. I expect he is just being cautious. If I can get that done in the early morning I can still get to Quorn to visit.  I went to visit on Thursday since the blood teste were on Wednesday, my usual day for going north. Not the best of days to be travelling – temp. here 41c – temp.  Port Augusta 44c and temp. in Quorn, 45c. The hospital was nice and cool, and I have a good A/C in the car although as happened last time – the car sitting in the sun all day made for an uncomfortable drive until the A/C  took over.

Annabell has not really improved a great day. Yes, there is some improvement, but not as much as I would have hoped. For a few days I was very concerned in that when asked directly who I was, she said she didn’t know. Asked if she knew my name, she said no.   This set bells ringing in my head, but they went quiet yesterday when the boys were up with her. They held the telephone next to her with the speaker on and she spoke to me to for a few moments., so my fears were set aside. I will be up there myself today.

The Pichi Richi pass is not my  favourite  place to drive but I am starting to get the feel of it. I still can’t go whizzing through like a local, but I manage to keep a fair

My favourite sign !

speed and the good thing are the frequent areas cut out of the rock for slower cars like me to pull in and let the quicker cars pass. Despite all that I do have a favourite area of the pass – the long straight road at the other side and there is my most loved sign.  Having said all that, the Pichi Richi Pass is   22 klms. long. Not great by Rocky Mountain standards but it’s still a trial. I think I did mention before that there is an easier way though and that’s through Horricks Pass but it would mean adding a further 80- klms to the journey and I feel it’s long enough as it is.

Going back to temperatures – as I said it was in the mid – high 40s and a bit of the warm side. Then the cool change came in overnight and today I took Benji out for his walk at 6am as usual. I had to cut the walk short because I only had light clothes on and I was freezing. The temp. today is a mere 18c this morning rising to about 26c this afternoon – nice for driving today. However, this is not called a windy place for nothing and as well as the low temperature, the cold high wind was bighting, so we gave up trying to walk against it, and I was cold, so we came home. The other reason is that this street is lined with Eucalyptus trees which have killed one and injured two people more this week in Adelaide and I didn’t like the way the wind was pushing the branches around. With these trees there is no warning, and they can just drop branches. That’s what happened to the lady in the park – she was walking, sat down for a rest and the branch came down and she was killed.  It took the emergency servi9ce to basically cut her out from under it so that gives you an idea of how big the branch was.  Another incident was a near miss and the third one was hit and required hospital treatment. There is an investigation underway to determine whether or not the trees should be part of the parkland. The tree in question that killed the visitor, had been inspected by Council three months ago and was said to be fine. And generally, they are fine – in the bush where they belong not in an urban area. But they are plentiful, cheap and don’t use much water so councils like them as do countries that want to regrow areas that have been over  harvested. Me – I don’t like them, messy things that. drop toxic leaves and shed bark which makes lovely fuel source in a fire.

Question: How can a Scottish person tell when it’s summer?

Answer: The rain is warm.

To Quorn and Back

My Companion

Visiting Annabell at Quorn is 150 miles round trip, so three times a week- which is what I do – means that I am covering 450+ miles

Flinders House, Quorn

a week. Given the cost of fuel, added to the Respite Hospital Fees I can only keep that up for so long. The boys go up as often as they can, given work commitments.  The whole idea of Quorn rather than Port Augusta, was that if anything happened Quorn is right next to the hospital and problems can be attended to. She became very sick, and her blood reading shot up to a dangerous 22 and her test showed an excessive amount of Sulphur in her blood. Well, Quorn is not equipped with equipment or specialists to attend to this kind of concern, so the nearest major hospital was notified, and Annabell was moved there. The closest major hospital is Port Augusta!! Everything is slightly chaotic at the moment and although I cannot find things I have written, I have the feeling that I have told you all this already. She stayed in Port Augusta and the specialists there re-started the insulin injections., which the doctors at Whyalla had stopped. She is now back in Quorn and her blood reading today was 12 – not great but better than what it was.

There has been some improvement but there is still a long way to go. I was with her today and fed her lunch, which she finished – great!  I did talk to her but her responses were correct, but response times were slow. By that I mean that I made a comment. and she responded but it took a bit of time before she did respond. A dear friend in Glasgow sends a letter every week and I take that up with me and read it to her and when I can I try to get comments from her. Most of the time she sleeps. Sometimes I arrive and she is asleep and remains so for all of my visit. I sit and read.  As I tell people she may not know I am there – but I do!

Look first.

Benji still misses her and each time I come home; he greets me then goes to the door to look for Annabell.  I found out recently that some laws have changed, and it is now possible to take a dog to Quorn – in fact some of the tourist facilities are being advertised as       ” Pet Friendly”. So when the weather is very much cooler ( 41c today – 45c tomorrow with 46c in Port Augusta and Quorn), I will get Benji in the car and we will go North. We have not been out for walks because the ground is just too hot for his paws. Well I tell a lie, we did go out yesterday, but it was almost 8:30 and it was quite dark when we finished our walk.  There are two trees. Look at the first one and try to enlarge the second one which was taken a few minutes later. Interesting.

Benji and I have changed our walk a little. Still the same time and mostly the same area, we just changed the last section a little. The

Second photograph – same tree.

photograph of the tree was taken just down from my house and across the road. We seem to have an abundance of Galah in the area recently. We have always had a number of Magpie in the area, but with no “suitable” trees to build nests, there is very little in the way of swooping. Further don in Parfitt Street, it is all suitable trees and watch out for swooping Magpies!! I am sort of not popular right at the moment. I took the opportunity of the free day to go shopping.  The Benji was not a happy pup – daddy going out without him. I would have loved to take him with me but to do so would have been criminal not to mention dangerous. It is 45c out there but slightly higher than forecast because there is a North Wind coming off the desert. What that means is that leaving the car windows open would have been a waste of time because the hot wind would have pushed up the temperature in the car, even with the windows open. Anyway, a cool change is forecast for this evening and, according to the forecast for tomorrow the area will have a mid – to high 20s+c, so that won’t be too bad for driving to Quorn. The white flowers are nice, but I am not sure of what they are called.

Patience is a virtue and I regret to say it is a virtue I have in short supply – although I am trying. As Annabell used to say ” Yes, dear, you are very trying.”   My reason for mentioning this is to ask you to be patient. I do read all your posts and when I can, I will respond.

Writing this is the longest I have been on the computer for a while. I’m just so blooming tired these days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annabell, Respite and Flinders Ranges,

That’s where I am heading

Annabell was moved to Quorn on the morning of Monday 8th January. We have no idea how long she will be there – we just have to deal with things as they happen.  I did not go over on Monday, but I did spend most of Tuesday with her. At the moment not a lot of change – she sleeps I sit and read. I had intended to return to Quorn on Thursday – which is today – but instead I was asked to bring two sets of her clothes, which I did on Wednesday. The idea is not to have her in bed all day but to get her dressed and working with the right people to try and get her moving again. Personally, I don’t see how, since she sleeps all day. I don’t know but perhaps it’s something to do with the medication they have her on. Anyway, I did set out two sets of clothes and took them through to Quorn yesterday – Wednesday. Today I am trying to have a free day to get some of the neglected housework done and the laundry folded and put away.   Sigh…. housework is never done!!! LOL  I told her yesterday that I would have to buy new dinner plates – either that or wash the ones piled up in the two sinks.  Not true, of course, but I thought I might get a response from her — I didn’t.

Anyway, Quorn is a small town in the Lower Flinders Ranges. about 125 klms (about 77 miles) north of here. The drive to the Port is fine – a straight – direct road.  The road to Quorn through the lower Flinders Ranges, is very tight, bendy, up and down with some very sharp bends. It’s a road that requires concentration and careful driving. Overall, though, it’s not too bad. However, it is 150 miles round trip, something that I cannot do every day.  Some time ago I said that Port Augusta was talked about so why not there? Why Quorn?  Well, Port Augusta Nursing Home (Brilliant Place I am told) is at one side of the port, Port Augusta Hospital is at the other end. If anything happened it would require calling an ambulance to take her to hospital.  Quorn (Flinders House) is attached to Quron Hospital so it was felt that given her current situation she would be better off (medically) at Quorn rather than Port Augusta. Yes I am inclined to agree but 150 miles a day – every day – is just not possible. A tank of fuel twice a week, added to Medication and Fees for Flinders House, would push my budget well into another ballpark.  I will be back there tomorrow (Friday) and that will be my third trip this week.  And yes, we did consider a mobile (cell) phone for her but we feel that currently she would be unable to use it.

My wheels in Quorn.

You know, throughout all of this- missing his mummy, looking for her each time I came home, being left in the house all day on his own, getting fed late (sometimes 8pm) – Benji has been really great. Not perhaps as great as a Ninja, but great in his own way. Howefferr  he has had a couple of “accidents” but I can forgive that considering what he has had to put up with. Today is a day he has not had since 11th December – I am here in the house with him all day. And after lunch we’ll go shopping and I might take him down to the wetlands for a little while.  Why not Quorn, you may ask. Well, I can’t— Quorn is within the Flinders Ranges National Park and dogs are not allowed in SA National Parks except in two somewhere in Adelaide – two out of 360 National Parks in SA.

As it transpired, we did go to the shops but not go to the Wetlands. There is only one area of shade and since the temperature started to reach 35c, I decided that it would be a bit too much for him. I will be getting ready for Quorn tomorrow, but I will have a day at home on Sunday so I will try and get him down there early in the morning before it starts to heat up. Although Andrew (my son) did suggest that I could take him down to the Wetlands after dinner when it starts to cool down and whilst I agree, I am concerned that there might be a lot of dogs there at that time.

Benji, New Year and Home.

Whyalla Hospital Main Entrance

Well, here we are – 2024. This year Benji will be either 12 or 14, which is confusing to say the least – He is a rescue dog as you know, but one set of documents. say he was born in 2012 and another set of documents say he was born in 2010.  Still he’s my boy irrespective of how old, or how young, he is. In  the major news, it is unlikely that Annabell will be coming home. She is now been in the hospital for 25 days and is currently awaiting a place in a nursing home. There is no  place available here, so she will either go to Port Augusta(60 miles away) or Quorn (75 miles away) Yes, she will be going into care. This last seizure caused a lot of damage, mentally and physically making her unable to do anything. Currently I spend most of my day at the hospital. She sleeps I sit and read. The nurse feeds her breakfast and I feed her lunch and dinner. During a period of clarity I once asked her – as I was feeding her – ” when you said I do all those years ago,  did you ever imagine that I would be hand feeding you?” Her reply was ” no I did not, but did you ever imagine you would be doing it?” — Annabell is still in there!

The boys are not too happy with me. They wanted me to stay with them and Connor for New Years Eve. I said no, I wanted to be  home. Just me and Benji, but it was where I felt I needed to be. Yes other than Benji and I, an empty house, but as I said this is where I wanted to be and where I felt I needed to be. Don’t ask me to explain that because I can’t. Weird, but there you are. I have already been through the depression stage and, having recovered from that, I feel quite fine. I did have a good analyst to see me through – his name is Benji and he is really a great listener  :o)

So, that’s our start to the new year – sitting waiting  care placement for Annabell. At the moment I spend most of the day there at the hospital but that’s a cost of about $90 a week in fuel costs. Travel on the Port Augusta/Whyalla Highway is not too bad during the daylight hours, but not so good in the night and early morning – Kangaroo times… I will have to sit down and work that out. Although it is summer and still light late at night, so I have until March to think about that. By that time I hope there will be a placement back here – well, actually I hope long before that.  I am told that the Port Augusta facility is very nice and that might be so but it’s still  60 miles away.

My Companion

Benji is very good. He is left in the house for most of the day. I do come back about twice each day to check on him, ensure he has enough food and water and so he knows he is not abandoned. And yes, before you ask- there is a dog door!  When I come home from the hospital in the evening, we gear up and go out for a walk. Of course we still go out for our morning walk at 6am.  Between hospital – home – hospital and walks with Benji,  I still manage about 14,000 steps a day – roughly about 6 miles.

Goodness, January 2nd already!  Yesterday was not the best of her days and apart from  some  exchanges in the morning, she was out of things for most of the day. She had breakfast but refused to take lunch. I was not there at lunchtime. I fed her at dinner time, and she finished off almost all of that and the Ice-Cream as well! Then I helped her drink some coffee.  I suppose, more than anything else, that the sleeping is doing her good and will, partly, help in the recovery. A recovery that  is taking a lot longer this time.

Now that the holiday  period is over and people are back at work, I  hope that we will see some movement. I am not anxious for her to go to Port Augusta but at least there will be  staff back in the hospital and I might find out a bit more that  what I have been told over the holiday period. However unless something changes, I don’t see us not going to Port Augusta. There are six wards in the new part of the hospital and four of them are closed down.

What next from here?

On Sun, 10 Dec 2023, 8:54 pm , <tiglaith@internode.on.net> wrote:

It’s been the best part of a week and things have been “interesting”.  Annabell has not improved, and she sleeps a lot as well as forgetting things quite a lot. She almost fell the other day transferring from her chair to the wheelchair to go to the toilet. Fortunately, I was able to move quick enough to get my arms around her and keep her from falling. Of course, she was able to use this to her advantage in that she now says that she still loves me and to prove it she just fell into my arms again :o)  We did have a telephone call   from Flinders Medical during the week which let us know that it is unlikely the operation will be this year. However, they did want assurance that if there is a cancellation, we would be available. I indicated that that would be ‘ absolutely.” Also, the temperatures this last week have been all over the place, with 39c – 32c. – 44c. 39c.  today was forecast to be 45c but THANKFULLY it never happened and since about 10pm last night it has been raining and still is.  Because of the predicted and unstable weather this weekend all our fundraising activities for this weekend were cancelled. Also, the Christmas Pageant (due this morning) was also cancelled. It is believed that this is only the beginning, and the rain will get heavier over the next 36 hours with predicted local flooding in the Eyre Peninsula (that’s us)  with between 60 and 100 ml of rain forecast.  We saw the Specialist on Thursday afternoon and he is – not overjoyed – but “pleased” that her kidney functions have improved and partly restored since the disaster of the peptic ulcer incident.

It is now 2pm Sunday  Dec. 10 afternoon and I have spent the entire morning at the A & E at the Hospital. Annabell had another major seizure at 7am  this morning and was transported to hospital. I stayed with her until about an hour ago when I came home to get cleaned up, have something to eat and shortly I will head back to the hospital. The reason I left is that they were getting her prepared for transfer from the A&E to the main hospital, so I decided I could get home then get back up with young John. Apart from which, she is still not conscious, but I expect she will be later on today. I will finish this when I get back from the hospital.

When she took the seizure this morning and was attende4d by the paramedics she was not good. Even in the hospital she was still not good. She was removed to a room in the hospital, but they were not too happy with that and decided that she needed more attention and observation that can be had in a general ward, so she was removed to the High Dependency Unit – where she currently is.  I have spent most of the day with her and she has really not improved any throughout the day. I am looking for some improvement tomorrow.  John and I had dinner together here.  I cooked dinner for both of us then we went up to the hospital to be with Annabell for a while. That’s  about as much as I can tell you. I will know something better after the doctors have been for their rounds and perhaps made some decisions. As I said, I hope for some improvement. At the moment she is still not fully conscious.

The sands of time have probably sunk.

Connor and friend

I have come to the recent conclusion that WordPress is no longer my friend. I have tried several times – in fact more than several times – to comment on Anabel’s page and on Monika’s page without much success. Yes, Anabel I was the “anonymous ” person on your site. Anyway, I think I am being told that it’s time for me to go. Probably just as well, since I have not contributed much to anything online of late. Everything is coming to an end, and I will have to change my email address soon as our provider will no longer be supporting emails. Actually, we do have a new family email which is active – and I do use it – but not in general use at the moment.

I have reverted back to my younger days and developed a “scruffy” look in that I am living on noodles, have not shaved nor had a haircut in about two months or more. Didn’t set out to do that, it just happened. Still, look on the bright side, I’m not scruffy and smelly – just scruffy  :o)  I was asked if I was planning to audition as one of Santa’s helpers this year, but then it was also suggested that I have lost so much weight I no longer meet the requirements. Oh well, back to the noodles! As for Annabell, well she is not getting any better – she sleeps a lot, and she forgets things these days. Keeps me very much on my toes. I don’t get out much – in fact, not at all really and my garden looks like Putin has paid it a visit.   I make frequent trips to the shops mainly because I cannot spend the time away from the house to make a major shopping trip, so I nip out and get a few things as I start to run out. We have completed all the tests Flinders wanted and passed them all and have had clearance for surgery.   So, we wait. I believe that it will not be this year, but I hope, early next year.  I  thought we would have had to go to Adelaide to get the inserts replaced for at least one more time. However, it’s getting a bit late in the day now.

My Companion

Benji is well. Sleeping a lot but that’s good. He is eating well and we still get out for walks – very much shorter than they used to be but a lot more frequent. Still , at least we are getting out, and that’s something! Sadly, it is starting to heat up. The temperature yesterday was 39c with today being 35c and what this means is that I can no longer take him with me on my frequent shopping trips. I cannot leave him in the car in that heat – even with the windows open (which doesn’t really do much anyway) We ” adults” understand this, but Benji just sees me going out without him. So, like yesterday, (39C) I did the shopping trip with a guilt complex :o)

There is a lot of indications that we will be in for a long hot summer with the fire danger extended. Western Australia are having major bushfire problems at the moment and I think there are bushfire problems in Queensland. If Europe is anything to go by, it’s not going to be too much ” fun in the sun” this summer.  Well, there we are. I have no idea if this will actually be posted or if there will be anything after this. I should really like to think so, but  my thinking has left a lot to be desired lately. So, we will have to wait and see what happens. I am sorry that I have not been on-line much lately, but as you can understand, there have been reasons.

Yes, I’m sure we did!!