Spooky

For the past few days I’ve been watching the first couple of episodes from series one of Torchwood on the DVD player.

Yesterday afternoon I settled down to watch episode six. It started off ok - the voice of Jack saying ‘Torchwood. Outside the Government, beyond the Police…’

The ‘scary’ music was playing and a woman’s mobile phone rang. She answered it but no words could be heard. The music continued and I could hear her car coming to a stop on the road. Again she opened her mouth but no words came out.

I skipped through various scenes and the same thing happened. I tried the next episode but it was still the same.

I even tried the episodes I had watch the day before. The same thing happened.

Thinking there might be a problem with the DVD player I loaded one of my ‘Family Guy’ DVD’s in to the player. That worked perfectly….

Last night after we had watched a film on the DVD player John tried to see if he could get Torchwood to work. The same thing to him.

This morning I decided to try Torchwood on my new TV/DVD player which is in my work room. I’ve played a DVD on the new TV before, but this time I couldn’t find the DVD slot.

It was ridiculous. Of course it was there. I spent ages pressing buttons on the remote trying to get the slot to open, then running my hands over the TV to try and find where it was. It was not there ….

Spooky !!!!!!!!!!!!

Snow

You think we've had it bad do you ?

Well here are a few pictures from Canada and Russia to show you what REAL snow looks like. But first, here is how they clear snow from their roof in Italy, the land where health and safety is unknown.




Now to Canada and a look at the Labrador Highway



And here's why the 'phones in Russia don't always work as well as they should.



And finally a few pictures showing why you should never leave your car out in the snow ...

It’s back

Remember the problem I had with my back when I was in hospital, well it’s returned…

Not the weekend just gone, but the one before that, we were in Scotland finalising things for Renfrew conference. We think it was either the long car journey or the hotel bed that set my back off again.

Last Monday I started to get pains in my lower back and both of my legs, and as the week progressed, they gradually got worse.

Now I can hardly move first thing on a morning as the pain is excruciating. It is not nice….

This afternoon I was back at the hospital to see my orthopaedic consultant. As usual his opening lines were “How are you doing”.
My reply was “I was fine until Monday…”.

He explained as I now had a weakness in my back, the disks would continue to displace and that the only cure would be surgery on my spine. Wonderful !!!!

Thankfully that’s not a route he nor I want to take right now. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about.

He’s prescribed me some stronger painkillers in the hope that will ease it a little and fingers crossed it will settle down like it did when I was in hospital.

He then asked how I got on when I saw the Plastic Man last week. I explained that I wasn’t impressed with him and that he didn’t think it was possible for him to do the plastic surgery what my consultant wanted.

“Did he now!”, replied my consultant.

I don’t think I’d like to be in the Plastic Man’s shoes when he next has a chat with my consultant...

Marie

NHS – otherwise known as useless

Yesterday I had an appointment at the hospital to see a plastic surgeon. The infection in my hip had eaten everything in it’s path – skin, bone, muscle, even metal !!!

Consequently once my metal hip (or what was left of it….) had been removed, all that was left was a huge cavity.

In order to try and put another hip in, my orthopaedic consultant arranged for me to see the plastic man as I was going to need a skin graft on my hip and a muscle transplant to replace what had been eaten.

To cut a long story short, I wasn’t impressed with the plastic man. According to my consultant they had had several long chats about what various procedures would be done. You could have fooled me…

If it wasn’t for my name being on the file that was in his hand, I would have said he had the wrong patient. I also know it was the right plastic man as he introduced himself when he first came into the room.

To be honest it was pretty much a waste of time. It’ll be interesting to see what he actually wrote in his notes.

I’ll find out when I next go to see my consultant. It’s supposed to be on Monday. However I’ve been trying for several weeks to get the appointment time moved back half an hour as I can’t make it at the time they’ve given me.

Whenever I’ve rang the reception to get the time changed they said that there were no later appointments, so I’d have to keep ringing back every few days to see if any later ones have become available. This has been going on for over eight weeks…

I rang them this morning and was told the latest appointment they could give me was 2.15pm. I explained that was still no good as the earliest I could get there was 2.30pm.

They couldn’t give me anything later as that would mean the consultant would be hanging around until I got there.

I was to ring them on Friday and if the latest time they could give me was still 2.15pm, they would change my appointment time of 1.50pm to 2.15pm then make a note on my file that I would be fifteen minutes late.

You couldn't make it up !!!!!!!

Challengers done so far

In January I set myself some challengers for 2010. They were to read two books a month, complete my two cross stitch projects and finish my crochet and knitting blankets.

I read the two books: ‘Home in time for breakfast – a WW1 diary’ and ‘MASH an army surgeon in Korea’.

I’ve done a little bit of one of the cross stitch projects. The other one is on black fabric, and as my eyes aren’t as good as they used to be, I need good sunlight when I’m working on it.

I’ve now got only 39 ½ knitted squares and seven more ‘rounds’ to do on the blankets.

Here’s to February’s challengers.

Marie

A whim away

16 years ago today John and myself got ‘officially’ engaged.

Although John has asked me to marry him a few days earlier, we chose 29th as that was the day we were going to the Metro centre to buy my engagement ring.

We had told the two sets of parents a couple of days earlier. John’s mam and dad were all congratulations and lots of hugs and kisses.

Mine were slightly restraint… My dad didn’t say anything, but that was just normal as he wasn’t a man of many words. My mam’s first words were not ‘congratulations’ or anything like that. Oh no. We’re talking about my mam here. Her words were ‘ Well, bang goes my new kitchen”.

I can’t remember exactly what I said in reply to that but it was something on the lines of ‘thanks for your congratulations. Much appreciated’.

She continued her show of congratulations the following day by saying that my wanting to get married was just a whim.

I’m pleased to say that after nearly 15 years of marriage my ‘whim’ hasn’t worn off. John however has asked that I give him 50 years notice when I wish to end my whim.

I think that’s fair enough….

Marie

Challenges

I decided that this year I’ll set myself a couple of challenges.

I’ve got loads of unread books so I’m going to try and read two books a month. Ok that may not seem like much of a challenge, however I’m a really slow reader so it takes me ages to get through a book. I’ve already finished one this month and have 100 pages to go on the second one.

The next set of challenges is to complete all my unfinished needlework:

I’ve got 10 ‘rounds’ to do on my crotchet blanket.

I’ve got another 44 eight inch squares to knit then stitch them together to form a blanket.

I’ve got two cross stitch projects to complete. Both have nine pages of charts and I’ve done four and half out of 18….

Looks like it’s going to be a busy year !!!!

Marie

Joint Journal

Just a quick message to say don't forget to have a look at my Joint Journals which officially began today (www.joint-journals.blogspot.com or click on the link at the side of the page).

Sorry about keep plugging it but I'm hoping you'll find it an interesting read.

Marie

All can be revealed

Beginning Tuesday 19th January 2010

The Joint Journals

Being the full and on-going story of a joint and it’s owner.

For more details visit http://www.joint-journals.blogspot.com

Reporting in

Just a quick blog to say we’re still here.

Things have been pretty quite in the BOGOF household, hence no blogs.

Off to cuddle under a blanket to keep warm.

Brrrrrr, don’t like this global warming !!!!

Marie

Seasons greetings

Just a quick blog to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Marie

Why, why, why Delilah

Last night Gillian my hairdresser came.

She hadn’t been since August so as you can imagine my hair was a bit on the long side.

I decided to get it cut really short. I would have liked it longer but at the moment it’s too much for me to manage.

All last night I was freezing. I had two blankets wrapped round me, two pairs of long socks on, a hot water bottle to cuddle in to and the large collar of my dressing gown pulled over my head, all to keep me warm.

I think it must have been my Samson moment…

Marie

Wot no blogs

Sorry folks for the lack of blogs but there hasn’t been anything to report.

Hopefully we’ll have something to blog about in the next couple of days.

Gosh we really do lead such exciting lives…

Marie

Things you notice

Yesterday morning we placed our Christmas turkey order with one of the local butcher on Sea Road.

Ever since we’ve had Christmas lunch at home we’ve just bought a frozen turkey from Morrisons.

However this year we’ve decided to go for a fresh one. There’s a wonderful old fashioned butchers on Sea Road which we often call in for his fabulous ‘old English’ sausages and peas pudding. So we thought he was the best place to go for our turkey.

There was only one problem with his shop and that it’s not very wheelchair friendly so sadly I had to wait outside while John placed the order. I did though get a wave from the window from Billy the butcher and he sent his regards.

There are several things you notice whilst being in a wheelchair:

Pedestrians/shoppers don’t see you so they walk into the wheelchair.

Because of cars who have parked part on the road and part on the pavement, it’s either extremely tight manoeuvring past or you have to take to the road because you can’t fit through the small gap. I’m thinking of getting a device fitted to the wheels, which when I press a button, metal spikes come out and scratch the side of the cars as I go past them…

Paths are in a terrible condition. The flagstone are so uneven so the ride is extremely bumpy.

Not all shops are accessible. There was one shop (it’s closed now – it was a chained local convenience store which went into administration recently) which had a huge step to get inside. Even I had a struggle to get up it when I was on two legs… However they did come up with a solution to this. Wheelchair uses simply had to press a bell – which was over six feet off the ground !!!!

Marie

Nothing really exciting to report

Sadly there hasn’t been much happening in the BOGOF household these past few days.

Monday I had an appointment at the hospital to see my consultant and he’s given me two options to consider regarding the future.

Thankfully he doesn’t want an answer soon. Both options are major, with one of them being life changing, so I need time to think about.

The rest of the week passed without any great excitement.

Marie

Another small step for Marie

When I was in hospital the physios decided just to let me start walking at my own pace. Normally you have to complete various stages before they let you home – walking with crutches, walking upstairs etc. However as I wasn’t your normal ‘joint’ patient, anything I did was a bonus.

I managed to walk unaided using a Zimmer frame and at various times walking supervised on crutches. However whenever I started to make good progress on the crutches, I’d be back at the ‘woodshed’* and end up back on the Zimmer.

When I left hospital I was allowed to take with me two Zimmers (one for downstairs, the other upstairs) but not the crutches. A referral would be made for me to be assessed to start using them again and I would be notified of this by post.

Last week I received the referral. Someone would be coming out to see me in six months time….

I decided to take matters into my own hands so bought a pair of brand new crutches (even better ones than they had in hospital) on Ebay for £15.

They came on Wednesday and I’m making steady progress with them, though I haven’t gone walking solo with them.

When I was in hospital, due to lack of strength in my non-hip leg and my other being extremely swollen, I wasn’t able to climb stairs.

Now that I’ve got a lot more strength in my left leg and the swelling has gone down in my other leg, I thought it was time to try the stairs again. So yesterday using my new crutches I managed, extremely slowly though, to walk up and down them.

The stair lift won’t become redundant but it’s nice to know that I’m slowly making progress. Who knows that I’ll be doing this time next month….

Marie

* the name I gave for the operating theatre

Why we need to remember

Twixt Nieuport sands and the eastward lands where the Four Red Rivers spring,
Five hundred thousand gentlemen of those that served their King.

All that they had they gave - they gave -
In sure and single faith.
There can no knowledge reach the grave
To make them grudge their death
Save only if they understood
That, after all was done,
We they redeemed denied their blood
And mocked the gains it won.

From "The Kings pilgrimage" by Rudyard Kipling



There is a lot being said at the moment about wounded soldiers, and I think it's important to remember that once our Government sees sense and gets out people home, those in need won't just go away. I found some facts about First World War veterans, twenty years after the end of the war, and they make sobering reading.

In 1938 which was twenty years after the cessation of hostilities, there were still 442,000 men still alive who were so maimed, gassed, nerve-racked, or otherwise ruined in health, that they could not work at all, or only with diminished efficiency, and were wholly or partly dependent on the State for money to live.

Over one hundred and twenty seven thousand widows still mourned their men that they had last seen in uniform, and two hundred and twenty four thousand parents and other dependants were still suffering through the loss of sons and relatives who were their breadwinners. There were 8,000 with one or both legs missing, 3,600 with one or both arms missing, together with 90,000 with limbs damaged to a marked degree.

Ten thousand men had eyesight injured by poison gas, and explosions, with 2,000 of these being completely blind.

Head injuries accounted for 15,000 with many wearing metal plates to protect them, and 15,000 had been deafened by explosions of various kinds. Most soldiers who had served near the front line, or in the artillery suffered from some impairment of their hearing.

There was no such thing as industrial deafness, being recognised as a pensionable disease in those days.

Severe exertion due to heavy labour in the trenches produced Hernias in 7,000 men making them unfit for manual work, whilst some 2,000 still suffered the effects of Frostbite with in some cases loss of toes and fingers.

Thirty two thousand more suffered from various unclassified wounds causing disability of various kinds. Many of these men (14,000) still had wounds unhealed that required treatment including amputation even at this late stage. Much of this was due to a condition called Latent Sepsis which was very common in the wounded of the Great War especially in France and Flanders. Almost without exception soldiers wounded on the Western Front had wounds which were grossly infected, due to the manured soil in which they occurred. Even after these wounds had healed, many still contained organisms deep within the tissues which were liable to flare up, many years after, to cause amputation and even death.

These are the figures for the wounded, but the legacy of diseases contracted during their service, such as Malaria, Dysentery, and other tropical diseases, still persisted in 1938, the year before the next great conflict began.

One hundred thousand men were afflicted with diseases too numerous to classify, with 41,000 suffering from bronchitis and tuberculosis often as a result of gassing.

Consumption, or pulmonary tuberculosis of the lungs to give it its medical term, was rife in the Royal Navy especially in the submariners. This filled many sanatoriums after the War, with something similar occurring after the Second World War but not on the same scale.

Heart disease in addition to hernia affected 38,000 due to excessive labour at the front, with the terrible conditions of the front line convincing the not too easily convinced Ministry of Pensions doctors that the 28,000 cases of severe Rheumatism deserved a disability pension. Many more who suffered got no pension at all, there being many cases of grave injustice done at this time. These included many of the 25,000 still suffering from shell shock and other neurasthenias, with 3,200 of these still in asylums, their minds broken beyond repair.

The cost to the country was enormous with one shilling in every pound (i.e. 5%) of the national budget still going to keep these war victims.



John

I've missed you

I’M FREE ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Words can’t describe how good it feels to be back home.

At 8am yesterday morning my consultant popped in to see me and asked how I was. Before I had a chance to say anything, Tracey, the nurse who was accompanying him on his rounds, said that I really would like to go home as I was getting a little fed up as I had been in hospital for nearly eight weeks.

He looked at my wound and the redness from my dressing allergy, then asked if I could cope with everything at home.
“Yes”, I practically yelled at him.
“Ok, you can go home”.
“What! Today”, I asked.
“Yes”, he smiled.

I rang John to tell him the good news then my mam who burst into tears…

I wouldn’t say that they wanted my side room but I was told I had 10 minutes to pack (I was still in my nightclothes at that time…), and if I wasn’t ready then the discharge nurse who was taking me to the discharge lounge would go without me.

While I’ve been in hospital I’ve kept a diary so you can read all about my exploits.

Finally I want to thank everyone for all their cards and good wishes. It really did mean a lot.

Marie

Plastic Man UPDATED

The plastic man hasn't been, but he sent one of his minions today. He wasn't able to say a lot as he's only the monkey and it's the organ grinder who makes the decisions.

He did however say that what Marie needs is to go home and give everything time to heal. We're not complaining about that.

And finally, after 28 hours, the cortisone cream still hasn't arrived.

John

The Plastic Man

The muscle graft man (actually he’s a plastic surgeon or “plastic man” as the nurses call him) was supposed to call on Friday. He didn’t turn up. It seems someone at the hospital in Durham failed to process the referral. Now we know from experience that not processing a referral from a GP in good time is commonplace in the NHS, but to fail to process a referral from one consultant to another could have far reaching consequences of the career-limiting kind for someone.

However, there have been other developments. The hospital put a drain dressing on to measure how much her wound was leaking. Very little came out, but Marie’s leg turned bright red. Some sort of reaction to the adhesive we think. It can’t be serious because the consultant simply asked for some cortisone cream to be applied. Of course when that will appear is another matter. On past form it will take at least 24 hours.

John