Not a Good Place

I left early this morning, headed to Pretoria to pick up Matthew at his university res and I took him down to Boksburg to see Carol, his mother. Carol is not well and we got a message yesterday that she became critical condition and was hospitalised. 

We arrived at the hospital expecting the worse but thank God, Carol has stabilised. Although she can not talk nor has any ability to move much, Matthew spent the morning with his mom, just talking to her and playing with her hair. I feel she heard Matthew and turned her head towards him. She must have recognised Matthew and tried to speak. 

The doctors are not sure what happened to Carol as the CT scans show nothing abnormal. Currently the doctors are re-hydrating her in hope that she comes right by her self.

Matthew is trying to stay brave but deep down I can sense he is devastated. 

Operation Mom

Today Matthew wrote his Maths bridging exam and I had to pick him at 10am in Pretoria. From there we popped into the hospital where my mom is for a visit. She was supposed to have an operation on Tuesday but that was postponed until today because of life critical complications that cropped up.

Now that my mom is stable she can have the operation today at 1pm. Reports that I received from my sister that it all went well and the surgeons are satisfied with the out come. After the hospital visit while mom was in theatre, Matthew and I met up with my brother, Anthony, and his wife, Helene, to sign papers for Matthew's student loan.

There was 3 things that I prayed for this morning, mom's operation, Matthew's exam, and his student loan, all by end of the day was successful, thank you God.

New Wheels

It is another sweltering day and I had to take Matthew to Pretoria as he starts his Maths course at the Belgium Campus today. He had to be there before 8am and although schools haven’t started, we didn’t take any chances with the traffic so we left just after 5am.

It was an early start and after dropping off Matthew, I went to the hospital to check up on my mom who is having a vascular operation today, and of course to check out her new wheels.

Nora 91

Last Thursday, Nora fell while getting out of bed and broke her hip; it was a bad break according to the emergency doctor. Two days later, today Nora turned 91 years old and her family and friends gathered at her hospital bedside and wished her a happy birthday and a speedy recovery.

Yes, a tough Nora may only be 91 years young but she is an active and positive woman, still looking after her two daughters, Marilyn and Desiree. Now sporting some titanium parts in her hip, bionic Nora can’t wait to get out and back on her feet. Well I think she should take this time and rest, she deserves to be pampered.

Happy Birthday Mom

Okay the day did end a little weird but it is my mom’s 69th birthday and sadly she had to spend it in hospital up in Pretoria. So off we went to spend the afternoon with her and make her day special.

Anthony and his wife Helene, joined us later and gave mother dearest a lovely birthday which ended in the weird part, Anthony dropping his pants to model the latest in men’s under garments. As you can see, you can choose your friends but when it comes to family well you can only love them.

Last Goodbye

With all the trauma from that vicious attack on Patch by my neighbour’s pack of Jack Russells, the prognoses from the vets at Lammermoor Veterinary Clinic was not good as there was no blood circulation in the back leg which would mean damaged arteries and blood clotting. Because of Patch’s advanced age and the amount of trauma, the vets did not think that Patch would survive a full amputation so they suggested that the best course of action was to say goodbye.

After a lot of heart wrenching deliberation tearing through my mind and listening to many other advice, I thought it best to go see him this afternoon and somehow Patch would let me know what would be the best course of action knowing that in the back of my mind it could be our last goodbye. Trying to finish my work before setting out to Patch, I received a phone call just after 1pm from Alex, one of the vets looking after Patch and he told me that Patch had decided to cross over that rainbow bridge himself. My emotions already very shaky, didn’t hold out as my voice broke and I choked on any words I could say. Patch must have known that this was a hard decision for me to make so he must have made it himself. And I never got to say goodbye, and that how sorry I am for not protecting him enough.

We were already booked to see the Majozi and Monark concert in Pretoria this evening, I was not sure if I should go but I thought it was best for me to go to get my mind back to the living and away from my wildly swinging emotions of heart brokenness and my new hated of Jack Russells but one of Majozi’s songs, Last Goodbye brought all my sadness back to the fore. You can see some of my memories of Patch here RIP Patch 1999 - 2016

Okay I am not sure of exactly how Majozi's lyrics go but I changed it a bit from a father saying goodbye to his daughter on his deathbed to Patch whispering his last goodbye to me even though I didn’t make it to him on time.

Don’t let your love go to waste ‘cause I’ve gone to a different place. But if your heart, if your heart breaks just know that there are always higher stakes.

You are my moonlight oh in the rain and when I am gone I hope you will feel the same. Oh my provider, don’t you cry, this is our last time, our last goodbye.

Come close to me, I want to see your eyes before I leave and say I love you and I can’t believe you chose me. You are the tastiest treat of my eye, I give my life for you I die. Oh my protector don’t you cry, this is our last time, our last goodbye. Our last goodbye.

And as death is anchored on my shore, your light is tethered to my soul. For now I have to let you know this is the last time, our last goodbye.

And when I see Jesus Christ, I know he will greet me with arms stretched wide and he will say he is proud of you and one day we all will be by his side.

And heaven’s gates will take your soul but for now my guardian you must be bold. And heaven’s gates will take your soul but for now my caregiver you must be bold.

Oh my guardian don’t you cry, this aren’t our last time, our last goodbye.

Patchy Prayers Needed

It is not looking good but we will wait till the results from the kidney tests come in before making a decision on what to do. We want to give Patch a fighting chance but at the same time we don't want him to suffer.

Because Patch is 17 years old which makes him about 90 in human terms, the vet says that in most cases their kidneys would be so overwhelmed and won’t be able to cope and will shut down in a few days. So we are running some tests to monitor Patch’s kidneys and if it starts to shut down then I am so afraid, sorry I am battling to write this, that we have to make the decision and say goodbye to Patchy.

But for now although it looks bad we will give all the support Patch needs as he has this powerful will to live. When I found him arriving home on Friday, he in all likelihood should have been dead but he was so relieved to see me and tried to get up to welcome me home. You don’t understand how much I hate Jack Russells right now. Sorry but I know I shouldn’t but they just must not come near me.

Thank you all for you kind words of support and your prayers.

Reality Hits Hard

It is not looking good for Patch after he was viciously attacked by a pack of Jack Russels in his own back yard. Covered in bite marks from head to toe, you can see he is trying to put on a brave face as he lifted his head and put it into my hand which was stroking the only part not covered in bandages.

Please pray for Patch, as some hard decisions may need to be made as after the shock starts wearing off, reality of the situation starts hitting us hard.

Life Fourways Fail

I am not sure if this is a fail of Life Healthcare’s Life Fourways Hospital or a fail of Ampath Pathology Laboratory but I feel that this is a big fail on both their sides so much so that I never want to use Life Fourways or Ampath ever again.

About 1am this morning I was woken by Lynda who was in pain that women tend to get, half an hour later after pain killers weren’t working we decided to go to the emergency room (ER) of the closest hospital which was Life Fourways.

After getting through the admin side at reception Lynda got to see the doctor in the emergency room which was a few minutes past 2am. After doing the few usual tests, prods and pokes, they drew three vials of blood and sent it off to be tested, then they put her on a drip. And now comes the fail.

One hour just waiting we asked the nurse why can’t they give us a script and send us on our way, they responded that they waiting for the blood results to return so that they would know what was wrong. The waiting turned to two hours with other patients starting to complain. After some investigation of why it was taking so long, it turns out that Life Healthcare management had instructed the ER to send all blood for testing at Ampath which was about two kilometres away instead to sending it to Lancet Laboratories which has laboratories in the hospital building itself. This begs the question why? Is Lancet too expensive? Surely it can’t be slower that Ampath? Is their some kick-back deal between Life Healthcare and Ampath? According to the ER staff, they have been having time issues with Ampath for some time now.

Finally the results came back three hours later. I asked the doctor on duty about our extremely long wait for Lynda’s tests results and he answered that her tests would normally would take 30mins but now on average it has been one and a half hours. Why three hours, maybe it is time to start blaming IT and the network or maybe the traffic in the early hours of the morning.

We finally walked out of the ER at Life Fourways Hospital at 5:30 in the morning, their pharmacy was as expected closed and the closest one open was at their competitors hospital Netcare Olivedale Hospital, so off we went to buy the prescribed medication before arriving back at home just after 6am.

A quick wash, coffee, and it is off to work I go.

With all the warning signs around me this morning in a very quiet hospital, let this be a warning to you, don’t go to Life Fourways emergency room unless you have no other choice. Life Healthcare management have some ulterior motive to make sure their ER doesn’t work efficiently. In the end you have to go to Netcare Olivedale Hospital just to get to an open pharmacy.

Netcare's Worst

What is supposed to be the flagship hospital of the Netcare Healthcare are group, last night was one of the worse nights I ever experienced. Well I suppose I don’t have much to compare it with in terms of hospital overnighters as I have never stayed overnight in a hospital before but surely my many private and government hospitals visits count for something.

I started this morning a grumpy old man that was not suffering fools lightly due to a lack of sleep. Oh but wasn’t I supposed undergo sleep observation in the Sleep Lab last night? Yes I was but sleep was so very hard to find. Let me start at the beginning...

Wednesday last week I was booked to undergo Obstructive Sleep Apnoea screening at the Sleep and Neurophysiology Centre’s Sleep Lab at Sunninghill Hospital. The receptionist at the centre gave me a two page form with procedure codes and practice numbers to help me with the pre-authorisation number that they required from my medical aid. Having got the authorization number that afternoon, I notified the centre and they instructed me to arrive between 3 and 4pm Tuesday which was yesterday at the admissions desk of Sunninghill Hospital.

Going through the two page document that the Sleep and Neurophysiology Centre gave me on Tuesday morning I noticed that it mentions a pre-admission form which can be filled out online 24 hours beforehand. A bit late but I filled it out anyway. I also noticed that it mentioned a menu and that I have to tick and email it back to them. I assumed it was the dinner menu but there was no such menu attached so I decided to phone the centre. Their answer was that they haven’t received menus for some time now. I was a bit concerned as they just expected me to arrive and all will be in place, so I told them that I need a Kosher dinner please. Oh no was their reply that I should have told them the day before. The morning before was a bit late for them. What? No I don’t need special dietary requirements but what if I needed vegetarian, kosher, or halaal? This is starting on a bad footing.

So I presented myself at the admissions desk about 3:30 pm yesterday with some trepidations. My pre-admission that I filled online was not on the system, it would only reflect the next day. Oh well the form did say 24 hours before and not 12 hours. Surely 12 hours was ample time for a digital system. No worries, the admissions clerk soon booked me in and directed me to the Sleep Lab.

At the Sleep Lab I found Patrick who directed me to Lab 2 which consisted of a bed, a side table and 2 chairs. After standing for a while in the room alone, I left to find Patrick and asked him about the procedures for the evening. Patrick was the first person who then explained to me what was going on and what they were going to do. Surprisingly he apologised about not having Kosher and he said that there was a new catering company and the menu keeps changing hence I was not given a menu form. Oops, there seems to be a little confusion as to if I am going to get supper or not.

Not long afterwards, Patrick said that his shift ends at 6pm and that he needed to have me wired up before then as the next person taking over from him doesn’t know how to connect all the wires to my head. And that once I am connected I cannot move from the bed. BUT what about a shower? Okay I see, a shower needs to be done down the passage on the other side of level 2 passed all the other wards at a communal men’s bathrooms but before 6 please. I was very concerned that if no supper arrives that I would have to track down to the foyer and buy some food then prepare for bed. But Patrick soon brought me my supper.

Now for that shower. It felt like a walk of shame walking down to the male bathrooms on the other side of the building past all the other wards. Sigh, this must be a very old hospital, surely this can’t be Netcare’s flagship hospital.

By 6pm, Patrick had wired my head up and then introduced me to nurse Elzeth who would be supervising me overnight. Now I thought the singer Nataniël had a unique voice, well it sounds like Elzeth can be his twin sister because they talk very similar. Anyways Elzeth settled me down and around about 8pm she put a strap with a sensor around my chest, nose clip, and pulse oximetry on my finger tip.

Now for some sleep. Well with the one monitor super glued in the middle of my chest that started to painfully dig into me as turned to get comfortable and the pulse oximetry started to hurt on my finger, sleep was hard to come by. The worst was the ambient light and this constant hum in the building that there was very little that I could do to try fall asleep in the Sleep Lab. I tossed and turned throughout the night and at about 2am in the morning I was more comfortable sitting up in bed with my eyes closed praying for just a little sleep. And sleep didn’t come.

I was awoken a little after 5am by Elzeth as she opened the door. I told her that I didn’t get much sleep last night and asked her if she got any useful readings. She said that she did noticed that I was constantly waking up from a light sleep and when in the sleep mode my oxygen levels dropped dramatically. All I felt was that I hardly slept more than an hour and had a sleep deprivation headache from hell. Elzeth proceeded to remove all the wires by using acetone to wash my scalp. Then it was the same walk of shame down the passage to have a shower, but thankfully most of the patients were still sleeping. I was grumpy, and needed sleep as Elzeth brought me some coffee while I sat, eyes closed at the edge of my bed. Ahhh coffee. Bring more Elzeth more...

Sadly Elzeth’s shift was ending at 6am and she said that she could discharge me at 6 or get a nurse down the passage to discharge me later. After enquiring about some food, she answered that breakfast was only going to be served from 8am. Uhmmm that is if someone knew I was still sleeping in the Sleep Lad. I wasn’t too sure that the kitchen staff would bring me breakfast, so I decided I rather go down to the café downstairs, order more coffee and have a hearty breakfast. Ahhh just what the doctor ordered to get rid of this headache and wash away my grumpiness.

I arrived in the foyer just after 6am only to find that the café only opened at 7am, well all I could do was wait and wait I did, reflecting on all the things that led up to me being grouchy at this time in the morning. A little before 7am I saw my doctor shuffle past my table in an empty café passage just off the hospital foyer as if he had a very late night. His head was down and had this dejected posture as he walked past on the way to his rooms. Oh well I am not the only one who is grumpy this morning after the worst night ever.

Sleep Apnoea

So tonight is the night. It is the first time I am in a hospital overnight as a patient since I was walked out as a baby many many years ago. This time I have been booked into the Sleep Lab at Sunninghill Hospital for overnight sleep apnoea screening.

By late afternoon I started getting butterflies as I was not exactly sure what to expect when I arrived at the Sleep and Neurophysiology Centre’s laboratory. There is a 3 quarter size bed on one side and this machine with wires pouring out on the other.

Somehow things felt a little disorientated as I didn’t know the processes going forward and had to ask the orderly Patrick what now. Patrick shift ends at six and he has to super glue all the electrodes onto me before he leaves. Yes super glue, you heard correctly. Once the wires where all set up I cannot move more than a metre from the bed. Toilet has to be done in this silver jug that was brought to the bedside. Oh dear I get rather thirsty at night and drink water which means a number of toilet walks normally except tonight a jug has to suffice.

So before all the wiring up happened, I had to shower and dejectedly the shower was a long walk down the passage past all the other wards. Talk about a walk of shame. What happened to a private ward? First toilet in a bottle and this, oh this is so undignified.

Lets pray that they get to the bottom of what is wrong with me so that they can plan for the fixing of me. Anyways this is a good night from me at hospital to get some sleep.

Lammermoor Vets

Once again I found myself at the Lammermoor Veterinary Clinic but this time it was for a good reason. Jade’s bandages were coming off although she was glad the cumbersome bandages where to be removed, this didn’t stop Jade running even after strict instructions by the vet, no jumping, no running. Ooooh noooo do you think Jade listens with those small ears of hers?

Jade like all Italian Greyhounds doesn’t know what slow is, she lives with only two speeds, flat out running and flat out asleep in her bed. You won’t say that she had broken her leg cleanly just over a week ago. Thanks to the expert hands of the vets at Lammermoor Veterinary Clinic, a special thanks to Alex who drove to Brits and did the operation to put the plate in, and not to forget the other vets Gareth, Pam, and Clare who also did their part.

I have been at the clinic so many times in the past weeks with both Jade and Maxy that hopefully the next time I am there is only to get their stitches removed.

When is this going to end?

When is this going to end? February from this day forth is to be known as the Month of the Vet Bills as once again, upon coming home from work, I find one of my dogs has been in the wars. I have exhausted my savings, flattened my Dish Washer Fund, and raided my holiday stash with this insurmountable vet costs.

With vet costs now in their double digits for the last few weeks alone, I didn’t need to find Maxy, my Italian Greyhound with a huge nasty gash on his chest. I had no choice but to rush to the vet. Don’t get me wrong the vets at Lammermoor Veterinary Clinic have been going out of their way to keep my costs down but my dogs have not been playing their part. Once again I am in the dark as to what happened to Maxy but I am starting to suspect the pack of nasty Jack Russel dogs from next door. How on earth am I going to keep my battled wary dogs in one piece and the battle costs down?

Rock Bottom

After a busy Saturday came the biggest fall to what could be the worst day of my year so far. Rock Bottom but let me start at the beginning.

Please note that I don’t drink alcohol when I go out partying and yesterday evening, all I had to drink was fizzy drinks. So in the early hours of this morning I woke with what I can describe as a rather full bladder but after going to the toilet several times, nothing came out. Now doing what most men would do, I decided to wait it out. The body can fix itself and if it gets worse I will go to the doctor on Monday or so I thought. But by mid morning it had gotten very painful and uncomfortable that I had to go to the emergency room so I jumped into a warm bath to freshen up.

While enjoying a soothing soak, cries came from outside from the dogs. Lynda hurried out to see what was going on, to find Jade my Italian Greyhound with her one paw in the air being chased by the neighbours pack of Jack Russells. Moments later the pack set upon Lynda biting and gnashing at her calves. Hearing her screams I jump out of my bath and rush out just as Lynda rushed in with her leg covered in blood screaming at me that the neighbours pack is attacking Jade. The pack dispersed as I approached. Expecting the worst, I sat down in the garden with Jade on my lap and started to examine her looking for any bite marks but found none although she was in a lot of pain. It was then that I noticed that her right front paw was protruding at 90 degrees to the rest of her leg. I was now in shock.

I was still in a lot of discomfort but held onto Jade carefully without moving her leg while bitten Lynda still covered in blood drove us to Lammermoor Veterinary Clinic. After dropping off Jade into the vet’s capable hands we rushed ourselves to the Olivedale Hospital. So there I am lying in one consulting room with a drip in my arm and diagnosed having very bad bladder infection with blood in urine, Lynda in another getting stitches, tetanus and rabies injections, while poor Jade got xrays. Both bones in her right leg had a clean lateral break. Thankfully no puncture wounds from dog bites which leaves us in the dark as to what actually happened.

The vet had to put poor Jade under general anaesthesia so that they could reset her leg. So as we recover from our war wounds, prayer is needed for Jade.

Electrocardiogram

For the last month or two, my left arm has been behaving improper such as having pins and needles for no apparent reason. Last night my arm started to produce a dull ache as if I have been over enthusiastically throwing a ball with my left arm. The pins and needles had also increased so much so I started to worry. With no other symptoms such as chest pain, the signs were that I must have had a heart attack some time back. So in I went to get myself checked out.

The ECG or Electrocardiogram and my blood pressure results came back normal so they siphoned off some blood to check for signs of cardio markers. Now I wait.

In the meanwhile I have been told by the doctor that I have to book an appointment with a neurologist. I didn’t know that my brain was causing this pain in my left arm. I would have thought a cardiovascular specialist would be more what the doctor ordered, but no a neurologist?

ER CT Scan

How in the world did I end up here from yesterday? A lot of today is starting to blur already so from what I can still remember, just after midnight I awoke with what felt like a bad stitch on my side, my bladder feeling very full and my mouth dry. So I stumbled downstairs and tried to relieve myself but nothing even after drinking a glass of water. My bladder still felt full, my mouth dry and the pain was increasing.

After an hour of struggling to simply pee, I was starting to get drowsy and panicked especially after bringing up all my supper. I needed to get to an Emergency Room (ER) quickly but was in no state to drive. Then I thought that Lynda is normally awake about this time and she could drive me. I tried messaging her but she did not answer until I phoned. Lynda lives just down the road from me; surely I could drive that distance. Lynda was happy to drive but before she could ask how I was going to get to her, I was already zig zagging down the road.

Don't ask how I got there in one piece, but somehow we did. I just urged Lynda to drive my car through the red traffic lights and break the speed limits, which she did so hopefully I won't get any citations in the post. Arriving at the hospital just before 3am in such pain in my kidney area and bladder it wasn't funny but the ER doctors were top class although I don't remember much of what happened next other than going for X-Rays, being told that the CT Scan staff will only be in much later in the morning, that they expect renal calculi or kidney stones, finding a bed to crash on, woken up later to say that they need the bed for someone else, getting sick again and then arriving back home in the dawn light.

I woke up just after 9am, and lay in bed trying to gather my thoughts. Lynda must have dropped me back home and taken my car back to her house. My pain had subsided but I needed to get back to that hospital for the CT Scan and go to the pharmacy to pick up my meds because I found the papers next to my bed.

And the rest of the story is a long day's wait at the hospital. Waiting for the ER doctors to see me again, to tell me what next. Then wait for the CR Scan. Then wait for the urologist to see me and finally wait for the prescription drugs at the pharmacy. The day was one of my longest days this year. The results, I have three small renal calculi, two in my left kidney and a slightly larger one in my right lower down.

One thing during my visit is that I may have stumbled upon some fraud. Lynda paid R195 for the admission to the ER which covers all procedures, medicines and X/Rays. There is no other way I could have afforded the CT Scan otherwise especially not on medical aid. Anyway while waiting for my CT Scan the orderly said I needed to pay R120 at another room, so I dutifully tumbled off to pay.

The three orderlies here reaffirmed the amount I had to pay and took my money but just left it on the table so I waited for my receipt but none was forth coming so I just stood there waiting patiently. They even told me to sit in the waiting room but I said I need to stand because of the pain. I took my camera out to take a photo of a sign in the hallway and when I put the camera away the three orderlies gave my money back. Now I was getting suspicious and asked them what now and the lady answered that the first orderly phoned them from the CT Scanner's room that he will sort it out. So back to the first orderly who informed me that I can pay next time. I smelled a rat but was in no condition to take it further.

By that time I just wanted to go home and sleep because it had already been a long day and the CT Scanner made me nauseous. I have to be back here in a week's time for more scans. I need medical aid. Good night.

Crowthorne Veterinary Clinic

Maxy sustained a tear on his back over the weekend most probably from some bard wire in the veld. He kept picking at his tear so much that tear was becoming an open wound. This morning I took him to see Rose at the Crowthorne Veterinary Clinic and today's photograph is of Maxy anxiously waiting for Rose to come in with a big needle. But Rose had no needle, only some medicine wrapped in some yummy treat. She diagnosed that his wound had a high bacterial count so she prescribed some antibiotics and gave me an idea how to stop Maxy and my other dogs from getting at the wound.

A dog shirt, now why didn't I think of that? It was not easy finding a thin dog top in the middle of winter but after digging in the back of a local pet shop, I found a racing red top with a greyhound on a shield and the words "The Runners". Perfect.

Goodbye Gran

Into frail care

Mulberry Lodge