Nine Feet Underground

Blimey! The cleaner's keen, she's rung the bell before 7 a.m. - I didn't even notice the bell ring 'cos I was showering and didn't expect her before 10 past.  Glanced a at the camera and there she was. Guess it could be worse, could be the grim reaper that early. He'd get short shrift that's for sure - wouldn't even open the door.  For whom the bell tolls...  Never mind it's all kicking off now.  Not even dressed yet or finished my exercises, and the first carer of the day arrives! No peace for the wicked, goddamn it! By the time I'd made my breakfast, the cleaner had done my office and the extension, so I retreated there to eat my porridge and drink my coffee  in peace, whilst she cleaned the kitchen.  It's good to have the cleaner back - the house looks so much tidier. As it turns out this was the calm before the storm: when the cleaner went upstairs the boys and guest were moved downstairs, making the facilities upstairs off limits. Fr...

Up early again, this time so I can do the yoga pranayama session at 7 a.m. Yoga first, shower later. It was great to do the breathing exercises (followed by a few asanas), though I did skip the Kapalabhati, as you're not meant to do it if you've had an operation in the last 6 months.  Must check that out, 'cos surely it depends where the operation was? Although given where my second one was, caution may still be advised. Son #1 is off out to meet his girlfriend in Guildford, so, after yoga, when I came upstairs to shower, it was occupied. This was cool. I decided to do my exercises (press-ups and bicep curls) whilst I was waiting. Son #3 was patiently awaiting my exit from the shower for his turn, so I got ready as quickly as possible and went downstairs to make my breakfast.   The good news is my wife is looking much better and her temperature seems to have dropped (it was 39.1C when the matron came yesterday), so the antibiotics and paracetamol seem to be working...

Up early in case I'm returning to work. I had a feeling I'd booked this week off as leave, but as I should have gone back to work last week, I need to check whether my client needs the work I was doing completed this week. Shower. Exercise. Dressed and making breakfast just as the first carer of the day arrived. I ate breakfast whilst setting up my work laptop, to get in touch with the people who could let me know my plan for the week, a process hampered by my password having expired last week. As luck would have it, I had booked this week off as annual leave and my client is also on leave this week, so instead of returning to work, I have a bit longer to fully recover.  As it turns out this was doubly fortuitous. Once I knew I was free today, I had a few chores to do and also to arrange chats with a couple of friends this week, then began to read the current issue of Private Eye. The carers and I have been keeping a close eye on my wife since the weekend's inciden...

Reality bites! Back to getting up around 6 a.m., partly in preparation for work tomorrow (assuming I'm not on leave - long story) but also because I need to eat before 8 a.m. if I'm doing yoga at 10. Got showered, exercised, ate breakfast and drank coffee in plenty of time and then started getting a few things organised - a couple of posts, shared yesterday's blog and started my list of tasks for the day in my Bullet Journal. The carers arrived for the main morning call as I started setting out the living room for yoga and getting the laptop cranked up and ready to Zoom.  At about five to ten I logged into Zoom and chatted with the teacher, then in two shakes of a lamb's tail, it was underway. Wow! That was hard work after three weeks away! My calf and under-thigh muscles (I'm sure they have a name, but I don't know what it is) really struggled with some of the new poses they've been practising whilst I've been away, not helped by the fact that t...

A lie-in for a change. I've felt so tired this past week, I thought I'd let my body determine when I got up rather than the alarm. Still up and getting showered by 8:30 a.m. but I felt better for it. I've started doing press-ups and weight lifts (biceps curl) again and plan to re-start yoga tomorrow (the consultant said I could), though I plan to try sitting cross-legged for 5 to 10 minutes just to make sure it feels OK in the stitched area. I'll decide for certain tomorrow. The weather has been somewhat unpredictable so far and I now have to do the washing I didn't do yesterday, though it's not looking like I'll be able to hang it out. The BBC website keeps saying the next hour has a high chance of rain but the one after not, then as the rainy hour passes it then revises its forecast and says the next hour is likely to rain.  I don't reckon it's ever going to say it'll be dry. I read The Observer in between doing chores.  The rain keeps co...

I was up, showered and dressed when the first carer arrived.  She brought my attention to there being a lot of blood in my wife's leg bag and night bag.  This has happened once before and it just disappeared as soon as it came.  We agreed I'd call out the out of hours service, if it hadn't cleared on my return from shopping, though after putting the night bag aside, things started running clear almost immediately. Normal life is returning, post-operation (though not in a pandemic sense), and so it was that son #2 and I headed out food shopping for the first time since the 20th June. We got there early, masked up, went straight in without queuing and got the shopping done.  After we'd taken that back to the car we then paid a visit to the wonderful Bertie's Breadstall in the market, which not only has great bread but also cakes and almond croissants that, whilst probably aren't to die for (there is nothing that would be worth that exchange, so far), they are bl...

What to say, about today?  Things are gradually returning to some sort of normality, though despite sleeping for quite a few hours, I awake again feeling really tired. There's a background feeling that my head is just fuzzy and the brain cells and neurons are not firing normally. Maybe I'll be able to sleep some more later? One thing I am glad of: I made the right decision in not going back to work today as I'd have been less than useless, thinking is a struggle. Probably not going to write that much. On days like these I wonder where the time goes, but go it does.  Early morning (well, certainly early for him) son #1 went off to Guildford to meet his young lady and spend the day together.  It is really good to see him starting to turn his life around. The last few years have been pretty tough for all of us: damage you can't see is the worst, because it has to be communicated, willingly. I've done the usual things today: did a 20 minute lying down meditation, bu...

Another post, another visit to hospital - this time to A&E, early in the morning. Woke up feeling that things weren't right and decided I ought to take the doctor's advice and head in to the hospital. After being processed by A&E and having made it clear that I'd been told I must see a urology doctor, I was swiftly transferred to my favourite part of the hospital, the Surgical Admissions Unit (SAU) up in the lofty eyrie that is the third floor of South Block. [SAU is an incredibly busy place during the day - I thought it was bad enough during the night, but that's nothing compared to the day!]  The next paragraph is boring medical detail that I'm recording for my own benefit, if for no one else - so feel free to skip it. Got seen by my consultant/surgeon and another urology doctor. Had a long chat with my consultant, discussed what I was experiencing and after I'd explained in detail, he agreed to defer inserting a catheter for now, do one more tes...

This is a combined Tuesday and Wednesday post, because my outpatient appointment on Tuesday ended up being an unplanned overnight stay, once a bed was found for me. I shan't bore with the details, but the outcome was a simple one: on Tuesday, even though my x-ray was good (surgeon/consultant was pleased with the results and also with the stitches underneath (I think the scars spell out "Wrong Way Up", but I may be imagining that)), the subsequent tests were not so good and so they decided to keep me in hospital overnight for monitoring, finally discharging me late morning today, after feedback from my consultant and being seen by one of the Urology doctors. Again I was phenomenally well looked after by the nurses and staff, both in Urology procedures, and on the hastily created overnight ward that was stood up in the Surgical Admissions Unit (SAU), far away on the third floor of South Block. Luckily I was taken there by one of the Urology nurses who was still there af...

Today is the penultimate day of my post-operative recovery, all being well. At 8:30 tomorrow morning I have to return the the Urology Department at the hospital to discover if the operation was a success.  All being well, a few more tests and then I'm out of there, though they do advise you may have to stay until 3 p.m. I want to make the most of the day, since - if all goes well - I'll be back to work on Wednesday, however the limitations placed on what I can do, make that difficult. One thing I do want to do is finish reading the 'Hades' chapter of 'Ulysses', so that'll be my first activity, post-breakfast. Another limiting factor on what I can do is that I am required to drink at least 2 litres of fluid ahead of tomorrow's hospital appointments, as I have to be 'well hydrated' Breakfast of porridge and coffee over, I've just finished reading to the end of 'Hades', ready to start on 'Aeolus' tomorrow.  One goal achieve...

After yesterday's sunshine, this morning I awoke to a post-rain scene: it's no longer raining, but has obviously been raining.  Some sun would be nice, but it doesn't look like that's on the cards for today. Sunday breakfast: coffee and almond croissant. Good start to the day, though Waitrose's almond croissants are not a patch on the ones from the bread stall in the market. Still, beggars can't be choosers. Hopefully next weekend I'll be able to go shopping again. And when I say hopefully, I don't entirely mean it: I really can't say that I've missed going shopping. At all. Not one bit. Breakfast polished off, and I feel the urge for a second cup of coffee - 'why on earth not?' (or words to that effect) and go for it. I savour my second coffee whilst creating the basic Wednesday shopping delivery - more to be done on that on Monday and Tuesday, but at least it's partially there. I can now forget about it. Finished the coffee as ...

Managed to get up before half-seven this morning, before the first carer of the day had left, though she did have to let herself in - I think she's got used to that over the past week and a bit, as I've been absolutely knackered. Got showered after she left and had got dressed and made breakfast before the main carer call of the morning, just before 9 a.m. I posted yesterday's blog entry then took a look at what today's shopping delivery included, whilst eating porridge and drinking coffee.  Bit of a shock when I checked it: out of four meals planned, precisely one was present, the rest unavailable with, incredibly, no substitutes, which never normally happens. A fair bit of time was taken up working with the boys to get washing on then out on the line. Took some time out to watch Mark Vernon of the Idler's video on Blake's fourfold vision - 'From Ulro to Eternity', which was interrupted by the arrival of a van on the drive.  Really good, but will...

Friday comes around again, my second since the operation last week. I'm still in recovery mode, so I haven't jumped out of a plane, abseiled down a cliff, kicked a Lion in the nuts or taken 4 tabs of acid. Got to be on better than my best behaviour and certainly not at my daredevil worst. Given I haven't been able to do the normal things I do day-to-day (hang on to those nuts Leo), what in the name of all that exists on Earth and in Heaven have I been doing? Reading, obviously: 'The Code of the Woosters'; 'Ulysses'; 'Hawkwind: Days of the Underground'; and Uncut magazine (about John Martyn making the album 'Inside Out'). Music, naturally: latest albums from Johanna Warren, Nadine Shah and Magick Brother & Mystic Sister (a band, not the Gong / Daevid Allen song with a similar name).  Chuck in a bit more of 'A Psychedelic Sensibility' on Bandcamp for good measure. Late morning m y elder sister rang and we had a catch up, mai...

Despite all my best efforts, in the world of digestion at least, things have still not returned to normal.  Things are way better than Monday, Tuesday, and even than yesterday, but not quite 'safe', if I can put it that way. Which I can, 'cos I'm the foolish fellow writing it! Today, subject to unexpected urgent exits, stage left, has been spent trying to chill. Some things have had to be done: I had some additional washing to do; I've had to order some replacement pyjama shorts online - no further words needed; and also to play silly buggers on WhatsApp with my wife's Occupational Therapist, or OT for short. After all that she'll have to come out in person next week anyway, instead of today. For the sake of... Been chatting online with an astronomer friend about the Neowise comet and also the observatory he's having built in his back garden.  If this skies are clear tonight I'll try and see if the comet is visible here - it would be great to see ...

My first post since Sunday, when things began to go awry.  I don't think I'll document all the details, but suffice it to say that the pain killers I've been taking have caused severe constipation. I didn't sleep at all Sunday night and was in agony for most of Monday, culminating in a call out to the out of hours GP who gave me an injection as pain killer / anti-inflammatory. Finally after taking various remedies including one whose effects the GP described as 'like dynamite', things began to move, painfully, mid-Tuesday afternoon. Today I feel much better, though I do now have the reverse problem, but, believe me, that's much better! Compared to the pain from the two operations, the pain I experienced on Monday night was off the scale.  I stopped taking the opiate-based pain killers on Sunday and prefer the any undimmed pain to the side effects. During these three days in hell, my sons did a phenomenal job of looking after me, making up meds, bringing ...