Life Quietened Down? Not quite! - Synopsis VI

The days kept rolling along.

Pa was continuing to recover and be a little less tired.

He had several check-up appointments with an Occupational Therapist.

Also a stroke nurse.

Callista has made good progress as well and the family are going to be moving back to Masterton soon.

Things seemed to be settling down.

And then came the news that our daughter, Frosty, and her fiancé, Jester,

along with two month old Globug had to move out of their rented home within a week!

This happened suddenly....a dodgy landlord, who claimed not to be the landlord.

Can't really say any more than that.

They had nowhere to go and Frosty asked if they could use the Compact-A-Van

This photo is from when we were camping in the summer.

It's better than no roof, or a tent.

Not ideal really, but better than the street.

They mainly use it for sleeping.

Jester has hooked up a TV in there too!

It has a double berth, a single and a hammock type 4th berth that fits above the lower one.

Globug sleeps in the hammock type berth and the two dogs! sleep in the lower berth.

Though I did take out the mattress/cushion as the dogs sleep on a blanket.

So the household has swelled again!

Frosty, Jester and Globug have the use of the house too.

We share the cooking, sometimes I do it, sometimes Frosty and Jester cook.

They have been looking for a new place to live.

Not easy.

Sometimes real estate people don't get back to them.

One real estate person didn't turn up to an appointment!

They have come to the point where they are prepared to give up their dogs.

Most places won't allow 1 dog, let alone 2.

They will be able to re-home both dogs,

but it's not an easy thing to do.

They managed to pack up Jester's 10 years of stuff in just a few days!

That is how long he had been in the previous home.

Most of it is stored in a friends garage.

It is a testing time for them but they are pulling together.

We are able to build a closer relationship with Globug which is lovely :)

Apart from that happening life has been busy.

Moneypenny's sister-in-law A is expecting her first baby.

A has asked me to be at the birth as a support person,

sort of a Doula

Besides birthing my own six I've attended the births of all three of my grandbabies.

It's quite special to be asked to be at the birth of A and her husband V's baby.

I've got to know them fairly well over the last few years.

A is a little shy of asking some questions.

Also there can be quite a lot of information to take in.

 I am able to answer most of their questions or go over the information with them after appointments.

Ok so that's the final synopsis. Yipee!!

From now on I'm going to try to blog every day or so.

I do not know why but I've been having an error message pop up on Blogger when I use the main computer.

One blessing is that Pa has a laptop :)

And I am allowed the use of it.

We upgraded to wireless internet as Pa had it at home.

Plus it means he can use his computer/internet if someone else is on the main one.

Pa settles down around 8pm each night.

So that is the time I am able to use his computer!

And since it is wireless I am able to sit in bed with the laptop and use it there.

Nice and warm :)

Right now I'm about to shut it off as I can feel my eyes are trying to close.

I might manage to read a bit of the Fifth Cadfael omnibus I'm currently reading.

Probably not much though :)



A Very Close Shave - Synopsis V

I'm back in July still.

To be precise Wednesday, July 10 2013.

We were in the middle of the meetings for Smurfette.

Around 9pm that evening I got a text from my sis Sheri.

It said that my niece-in-love Callista had collapsed earlier in the day.

Her aorta had split the text said.

 

This is often a killer. So far Callista was still alive.

The correct term is Aortic Dissection

Usually the Life Flight helicopter would transport her.

They live in Masterton.

But it was too windy to fly.

So they had to send a specialist team over to Masterton.

Then bring Callista to Wellington Hospital by ambulance.

They arrived about 2am Thursday morning.

Kato, Callista's husband, was told she could die at any time :(

It was a very looooong night.

 

I was praying for God's will in the whole situation constantly.

Think I slept for maybe 30 minutes all night.

I'd been in contact with Kato and offered any help.

Kato and Latisha, Callista's oldest daughter, had gone to Wellington Hospital.

We thought that Callista would be wheeled into surgery straight away.

However she was stable enough that the decision was made to wait till 8am on the Thursday.

 

Kato and Latisha arrived at our place around 3am.

They'd waited to see Callista settled into ICU

After a few hours we went in to see Callista before she went to surgery.

Hard, very hard for Kato and Latisha as they knew it may be the last time they saw Callista alive.

 

Sheri had been looking after Callista and Kato's four young children.

I offered to go and get the children as they needed to be with their dad, Kato.

 

So after the meeting on Thursday for Smurfette's issue I went over the Rimutaka Hill

The children were pretty happy to see me.

I think Sheri was as well.

The children are all active wee people.

They are: Hana, 6yrs; Caia, 5yrs; Akiva, 3yrs; Uriah, 2yrs.

3 beautiful girls and 1 strong young lad :)

 

I had a list from Kato of what to pick up and a few messages to pass on.

When asked by the children I said that their mummy was in hospital being looked after by the doctors and nurses.

Enough info for wee ones.

Sweet Hana got a pillow for her mummy when Callista was lying on the floor.

 

I'd got to Masterton about 3.30pm.

Was waiting for any news from Kato.

A case of no news is good news.

 

The surgery was Open Heart Surgery

and involved heart bypass

My understanding is that a patch/graft is in the aorta to seal the bit that leaked.

However I may be wrong.

I do know the Aortic valve was replaced with a mechanical one.

Surgery was expected to take 8 hrs, maybe more.

So no call meant things were going as expected.

 

The news came around 4.30pm.

Callista was out of surgery and doing as well as could be expected.

Back in ICU.

 

I got home around 6pm with the four young ones.

Akiva and Uriah had fallen asleep.

Hana and Caia managed to stay awake.

 

I'd even managed to prepare some food in the morning before I left.

When I walked in the door I was greeted with the news that Jamila, Kato's s-i-l and my other niece-in-love, had brought dinner around for us 

I really appreciated that. And it meant I had dinner ready for the next night too.

 

There were many people praying for Callista.

 

It was a very busy few weeks.

Kato and the four young ones stayed here for the first week.

Latisha stayed some of the time, and with her boyfriend other times.

 

Locket and Brains were fantastic with helping me look after the little ones,

who were really missing their mummy.

 

I won't go into all the details, suffice it to say that it was a challenging time for Kato and the four little children.

Latisha at 21 was able to understand what was going on.

All the little ones knew was that their mummy wasn't the one they remembered!

 

It is now 5 1/2 weeks since Callista had the surgery.

I'm very happy to say that she is doing really well.

There were a few setbacks, but that often happens.

The family are staying at Pa's old place.

Mainly because they were renovating their inside bathroom.

The toilet pan (bowl) is plumbed in.

But no cistern, no shower or basin.

The only bathroom is by the sleepout, in the garage!!

Which would entail going outside, crossing gravel to get to it.

 

Kato didn't want that for his beloved wife.

Also staying at Pa's means they are close to the hospital if there were problems.

Kato is working hard to get the home ready, there are some draughty bits.

So he is fixing it up.

From the sound of things they are planning to move back at the end of August.

The children will all be very pleased to get back to their own home.

 

As 3yr old Akiva said to me the other night, crying,
"I want to be in mine own home!"

 

Thanks be to God for the surgeons expertise and Callista's recovery.

It could have been a very different story.

 

 

 

 

 

 



A Curveball - Synopsis IV

There are times in life when you find out that a person is just not nice!

Smurfette had been enduring a situation for a while.

It came to a head.

Not in a good way for Smurfette.

She was accused of doing something she didn't do.

It could have had serious consequences for the rest of her life.

 

I have gone to bat for any of my children when needed and it was sure needed now.

Smurfette was devastated by the accusation.

It is just not in her character to behave in the way it was said she had.

I rang one of the ladies in church whose husband is a lawyer.

 

Over the weekend I spent many hours researching on the internet.

I wanted to have some knowledge at my fingertips.

Also I didn't know if I would have to represent Smurfette at a meeting or not.

 

Thanks be to God I didn't have to.

Not really my forte!

We were put in contact with a lawyer from the same practice as the lawyer at church.

We had a meeting with her on the Tuesday.

As I thought proper procedure had not been followed in the situation Smurfette was involved in.

The lawyer told us that it hadn't.

Wednesday we attended the meeting.

I was allowed to be in the room, however did not have a speaking role.

Probably just as well.

I behaved myself so I wouldn't be asked to leave!

The meeting was adjourned by our lawyer as Smurfette was given several pieces of paper to read.

This was info that could have been given to her before the meeting.

Our lawyer adjourned so that Smurfette would have time to read, process and respond.

The meeting would resume the next day.

 

We met with the lawyer again later on the Wednesday.

The next day.....there was some backpedalling by the other party!

I felt they didn't really even take much notice of Smurfette's version of events.

Almost as though their minds were made up beforehand.

And no thought on their part of admitting that they could be wrong.

 

Smurfette was adamant that she was resigning.

She had been putting up with some insidious bullying.

She had kept a log of situations.

 

I was very glad that Smurfette had the lawyer.

She did a great job and represented Smurfette very well.

Smurfette was happy with the result of the meetings.

 

I haven't gone into specifics as I don't think it necessary.

The people involved know.

And it offers a degree of protection to Smurfette.

 

Smurfette has handled the whole situation very well.

It helps that she has the backing of the whole family and her friends.

I'm very proud of her for how she has coped and for doing her best to stay positive.

It's not easy sometimes to do that.

 

Love you lots and lots Smurfette 

 

  



The rhythms of life - Synopsis III

I found over the next few weeks that the rhythm of life changed.

I guess that always happens when someone joins the household.

Pa had his routine at home when he lived on his own.

A fairly regular routine as I've discovered :)

He has his breakfast round 8am/8.30am.

Morning tea at 10am.

Lunch at 12noon.

Down to see Ma at roughly 2pm.

Home around 4pm.

Dinner when we have it organised!

Bed around 8pm.

 

In between times he rests, does the exercises he's been given to do to help with his recovery.

 

Soon enough it was July.

Butcher has a birthday on 4th July.

So here is a very belated Happy Birthday to Butcher!!

 

 

 

We love you heaps Butcher!

 

Which reminds me. Butcher's work is by contract month-to-month.

He was re-hired which he was really pleased about.

We all were.

He is being taught how to use some of the machinery at the sawmill.

Sounds as though he is progressing well.

I'm very proud of him for sticking to it and doing his best.

It's not easy when you have been out of work for several years to get back in the groove.

Learning anything new is always a challenge.



Major surgery - Synopsis II

I went to church as usual in the morning.

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

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

When I got home I found a missed call.

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

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

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

 

Let the folk know who needed to know.

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

Found her with tears running down her cheeks.

My sis had told her Pa had the second stroke.

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

Poor lady.

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

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

 

The operation was a Carotid Endarterectomy

Pretty complicated, but hopefully would help prevent further strokes.

The operation went well.

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

Pretty common after surgery.

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

 

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

 

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

He did have one little glitch.

He had a seizure or blood pressure drop.

It was never fully decided!

 

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

 

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

Black tea. Plus the tablets!

 

By now it was nearing the end of June.

Life just went CRAZY!! Synopsis I

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

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

By then Pa was living with us and doing ok.

I just found that my days were even busier.

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

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

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

Here is some info about the storm.

I mentioned that Pa had decided to have an operation.

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

waiting for the operation, scheduled for the following Wednesday.

Pa wasn't so sure.

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

He came to our place rather than to his home.

I was very glad he did.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She's a great little mother :)

So it was back to the emergency room.

Pa was readmitted as I expected.

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


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

The days go on

The Thursday - 20 June   

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

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

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

I had planned to have it finished and deliver it.

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

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

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

We arrived slightly before them.

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

Not really.

My sis had just received some sad news.

A friend of theirs had just that morning died.

He had been battling cancer.

Rest in Peace J.

We had to head off at 1pm.

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

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

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

It didn't take long to finish it.

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

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

Usually they do comtemporary.

Today they were going to do some Hip Hop.

Brains rose to the challenge and sorted out some music.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The two suburbs are relatively close together.

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

A Polar blast had been forecast for the entire country.

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

The client lives across the road from the beach.

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

The weather was wild! Really strong winds.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

power out in a lot of places.

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

This time though we were lucky.

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

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

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

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

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

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

We were fortunate that we had power.

Many would spend a cold night.

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