I am so tired...
...but considering what has happened in Japan, I am very grateful to be safe and alive here in Australia. I have had two emails from my friend in Tokyo, who wrote that she sheltered in a gymnasium for four hours during the worst of it, but now she is back home and her family are safe. And after all that, she asked after Ken!
As for Ken, he is recovering much faster than most of us expected, and the medics are all very happy with his progress. He hasn't been sleeping well, but apparently this is normal for cardiac patients, and they say that once he gets home, he will probably sleep a lot. What's new? I ask - he was always looking for opportunities to take a nap before all this! He has been out of bed, able to shower and shave himself, but feels very weak and tired when he's done that.
I haven't been sleeping much either, and on Saturday while I was visiting him at the hospital, the nurse on duty asked me if I felt okay, and I said no, not really. She took my blood pressure and it was way too high. She wanted to take me to the emergency ward there and then, but I said no, I would see my own doctor the next day. It has been a hectic time, some of it my own fault I guess, but I did not want to hang around the house brooding, so I've been out and about with my wonderful friends and Ken's cousins. On Wednesday I had lunch at Hurstbridge with Cheryl, and after visiting Ken, went on to Ivanhoe to have dinner with my old friend Jenny, who had cooked a delicious meal.
The next day, one of Ken's cousins picked me up in her car and we visited Ken for a short time, as he had just been transferred to the Cardiac ward from ICU, and was very groggy. That night I had another friend Sandra to my place for tea, and it was lovely to sit and chat with her for a few hours.
On Friday, I did some shopping, visited Ken just after lunch, and then took my disabled friend Helen out for coffee, as it was a nice sunny day. That night I had dinner with Ken's cousin Sue at her home with other members of the family, and we had a great night, reminiscing about our respective families.
On Saturday, I picked up Ken's Mum from the hostel, which is only a few blocks from the Austin hospital - and took her in to visit Ken. We spent over an hour with him, and his Mum held his hand for most of that time. The nursing staff were amazed to learn that she is 98, as she doesn't really look that old, and still speaks like a younger woman. She is quite proud of the fact that she doesn't have a squeaky tired old voice like many of the ladies who live at the same hostel! After taking her back home, I went home, had a rest, then tizzied myself up for a night out with Sandra and Louise. We went to a pub in Diamond Creek for dinner and greatly enjoyed our meals. I had chicken on skewers with rice for mains and shared a Toblerone Cheesecake with Louise for dessert, because there was no way either of us could have eaten it all on our own! We returned to Louise's home afterwards, and stayed until around midnight.
Today (Sunday) Ken's nephews came to our place to put a garden shed up. Our neighbour had it in her yard but wanted to get rid of it, so she said "If you can remove it, you can have it". Chris and Ag dismantled it, chucked the walls and roof over the fence into our yard, and rebuilt it. Then they laid bricks inside for a floor. All within a couple of hours! They wanted to do it for their Uncle Ken while he was in hospital, so he would have a nice surprise when he comes home. I took some photos and showed Ken when I visited him tonight.
I'd called him around 4 pm to say I was coming later, and he was feeling pretty miserable because he had no phone calls or visitors all day. I got on the phone to half a dozen friends and suggested that they might call him instead of me, and when I got to the hospital, he had cheered up quite a bit, after having four calls in a row! He was asleep when I arrived, but woke up when the flash on my camera went off! Poor darling.
While the medics at the hospital are happy with his progress, his blood sugars and blood pressure are still unstable, so they want to keep him there for a few more days until they get everything under control. Hopefully he will come home on Wednesday.
As for Ken, he is recovering much faster than most of us expected, and the medics are all very happy with his progress. He hasn't been sleeping well, but apparently this is normal for cardiac patients, and they say that once he gets home, he will probably sleep a lot. What's new? I ask - he was always looking for opportunities to take a nap before all this! He has been out of bed, able to shower and shave himself, but feels very weak and tired when he's done that.
I haven't been sleeping much either, and on Saturday while I was visiting him at the hospital, the nurse on duty asked me if I felt okay, and I said no, not really. She took my blood pressure and it was way too high. She wanted to take me to the emergency ward there and then, but I said no, I would see my own doctor the next day. It has been a hectic time, some of it my own fault I guess, but I did not want to hang around the house brooding, so I've been out and about with my wonderful friends and Ken's cousins. On Wednesday I had lunch at Hurstbridge with Cheryl, and after visiting Ken, went on to Ivanhoe to have dinner with my old friend Jenny, who had cooked a delicious meal.
The next day, one of Ken's cousins picked me up in her car and we visited Ken for a short time, as he had just been transferred to the Cardiac ward from ICU, and was very groggy. That night I had another friend Sandra to my place for tea, and it was lovely to sit and chat with her for a few hours.
On Friday, I did some shopping, visited Ken just after lunch, and then took my disabled friend Helen out for coffee, as it was a nice sunny day. That night I had dinner with Ken's cousin Sue at her home with other members of the family, and we had a great night, reminiscing about our respective families.
On Saturday, I picked up Ken's Mum from the hostel, which is only a few blocks from the Austin hospital - and took her in to visit Ken. We spent over an hour with him, and his Mum held his hand for most of that time. The nursing staff were amazed to learn that she is 98, as she doesn't really look that old, and still speaks like a younger woman. She is quite proud of the fact that she doesn't have a squeaky tired old voice like many of the ladies who live at the same hostel! After taking her back home, I went home, had a rest, then tizzied myself up for a night out with Sandra and Louise. We went to a pub in Diamond Creek for dinner and greatly enjoyed our meals. I had chicken on skewers with rice for mains and shared a Toblerone Cheesecake with Louise for dessert, because there was no way either of us could have eaten it all on our own! We returned to Louise's home afterwards, and stayed until around midnight.
Today (Sunday) Ken's nephews came to our place to put a garden shed up. Our neighbour had it in her yard but wanted to get rid of it, so she said "If you can remove it, you can have it". Chris and Ag dismantled it, chucked the walls and roof over the fence into our yard, and rebuilt it. Then they laid bricks inside for a floor. All within a couple of hours! They wanted to do it for their Uncle Ken while he was in hospital, so he would have a nice surprise when he comes home. I took some photos and showed Ken when I visited him tonight.
I'd called him around 4 pm to say I was coming later, and he was feeling pretty miserable because he had no phone calls or visitors all day. I got on the phone to half a dozen friends and suggested that they might call him instead of me, and when I got to the hospital, he had cheered up quite a bit, after having four calls in a row! He was asleep when I arrived, but woke up when the flash on my camera went off! Poor darling.
While the medics at the hospital are happy with his progress, his blood sugars and blood pressure are still unstable, so they want to keep him there for a few more days until they get everything under control. Hopefully he will come home on Wednesday.
posted by Gina E. | 10:28 pm
1 Comments:
That's great to hear G - P and I are so glad that Ken's progressing nicely... Did you get my message... E has the mother of all colds and I am feeling pre-coldish... I didn't want to have you here and then infect you as well... As I said to you the other night the carer has to take a bit more care of herself... Give Ken our love and we will be over to see him when he gets home and feeling like visitors...
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