2geonomads

14th March 2013

Lyn, Gail’s sister, duly arrived in Perth on the evening of Monday 11th March,looking remarkably well after the epic return journey from South America and the Antarctic. Lyn’s return flights took her from Iguazu Falls, via Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Dohar and finally to Perth.

Yesterday was the first opportunity I had had to view the over 1300 photos that Lyn had taken and quite clearly the trip had certainly come up to expectations. This has merely made us even more determined to follow in her footsteps with a similar trip in the not too distant future.

At the same time it occurred to me while sitting on the sofa, with Lyn regaling us with so many fascinating tales from the adventure, that I was really experiencing the ultimate budget travel experience. This realisation could not only revolutionalize the travel industry but also do wonders for the Irelands’ finances in the future.

It’s quite simple really. All you need to do is plan a trip with friends and/or family members to the most exotic locations imaginable and then at the last minute come down with an illness/injury serious enough for you and your partner to have to abort the mission. You then claim all costs back on your travel insurance. NB. for this strategy to work at least one member of the travelling party has to be in a position where they do not have a legitimate reason to claim on insurance and have to go through with the trip. Moreover, this person should be resourceful, adventure-loving and good with a camera!

Consider the advantages, quite apart from the financial savings. Suffer from sea sickness? The Drake Passage and Cape Horn will hold no fears for you at all from the comfort of your lounge room. Vertigo? Only if you decide to view the photos from a high step ladder. Delhi Belly or Montezuma’s Revenge? Don’t give it a moment’s thought as your local takeaway will be just around the corner.

With the benefit of hindsight I would probably make a slight change to the strategy which we have recently applied. It is not compulsory to select a quadruple bypass operation as the preferred illness! Something rather less drastic would have served us just as well but being novices in such matters we thought that we would go for the doctor, so to speak.

Just in case you are wondering if The Obese Ferret has completely lost it I will have you know that writing the above drivel has been prescribed by my doctor and will apparently aid my recovery. You will, therefore have to expect more of the same until my rehab is complete  ( end of June! ).

Back to reality, things are going along much as planned and I will be able to go back home to Busselton this weekend.

For those of you with an eye for detail the following guideline for resumption of activities from the hospital may be of interest:

2 weeks: cooking light meals, sewing,washing dishes

3 weeks: exercise bike,short shopping excursions ( no more than 5 kgs )

4 weeks: ironing,making the bed,office work

6 weeks: light digging in garden,hanging washing on line,driving, lawn bowls

6-8 weeks: housework

10-12 weeks:lawn mowing,car washing

12 weeks: swimming,heavy lifting,wood chopping,golf full s

wing,fishing from a boat,jogging,

squash and tennis only under medical advice.

Sexual activity: 5 years or earlier if so desired!

All of the above are genuine except that the last mentioned is in fact grouped with cooking, sewing and dishwashing. Who said romance is dead!

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Sunday 10th March

After my last blog entry on 1st March I decided that I would take a few days off rather than regale blog followers with mundane tales on my gradual recovery from open heart surgery.

What I had not expected was that my temporary silence would set off alarm bells with some readers who had begun to wonder whether the Obese Ferret had disappeared down his last rabbit hole!

Well, I am pleased to report that my recovery is progressing as expected, made all the easier by the continued support and interest from so many family members and friends. 

I now have to follow a very strict Home Exercise Programme which includes such gems as Neck Side Bending, Neck Rotation, Shoulder Circles,Shoulder Rotation,Trunk Rotation and last but not least Neck Flexion and Extension. I am hoping that the last-mentioned will enable me to reach the height of 6 feet to which I have always aspired!

These exercises are coupled with increased use of the  3 Triglow balls which I have to suck up gravity feed channels and hold them aloft for 3 seconds. ( a bit like the Tatts Lotto draw on TV )This has to be repeated 5 times every hour and Craig has set up an alarm on my I phone as a reminder. Fortunately, I managed to persuade him that it only needed to apply from 9 am to 9 pm and that I was allowed to take a break during the night. All jokes aside this exercise is critical as I left hospital with some fluid still on my lungs and this gadget is designed to improve lung capacity.

I am now coming to the end of Week 1 of the Home Walking Programme and as from tomorrow I have to walk about 500 metres on level or gently sloping ground twice each day. This distance will gradually increase over the coming weeks.

After working your way through that load of useless info  you are probably starting to say to yourselves ” we should have let sleeping obese ferrets lie!”

One thing I have learned is that patience during this recovery is an absolute virtue and one can never afford to be complacent with cardiac issues. A good day is invariably followed by one which can make you feel a bit down, both physically and emotionally, but what is undeniably true is that, even with this roller coaster, I am making some real progress.

During the past week Gail has been able to take me out in the car to view different parts of Perth and to call on some good friends, Ben and Tric Neale. This has provided a welcome change of scenery and as Ben has undergone one hip and two knee replacements over the past 12 months it has been good to discuss the relevant merits of the two surgeons!

It has also been great having Craig close at hand and he now realises what a considerate old dad I am to have my arteries clog up while he is in WA rather than USA or UK.

I will try to keep everyone posted on any new developments eg. if I suddenly become incapable of keeping my balls aloft for 3 seconds!

Cheers

The Obese Ferret ( BTW I have put on 1 kg and am up to 65.5kgs. Apparently almost all patients put on weight while undergoing heart surgery but obviously not yours truly.)

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Friday 1st March

I have recently read an article by Greg Sheridan in last week’s Weekend Australian in which he describes in some detail his experiences both pre and post a quadruple bypass operation. Much of what he has written certainly resonates with me but on this day in particular his comment that the recovery process is often two steps forward, one step back certainly rings true.

Waking up after an adequate night’s sleep I decided to walk round the verandah of the house and followed that with a series of stretching exercises, all in line with the laid down exercise program.

Not long afterwards I started to feel somewhat the worse for wear which came as something of a surprise as I had followed a similar program in the hospital.

It was a salutary reminder that the recovery process is an emotional and physical roller coaster and that nothing can be taken for granted.

In the event I did the sensible thing and went back to bed for a couple of hours, waking up feeling in much better shape.

Today’s good news is that my cell-mate Sean has also been cleared to go home .

The remainder of the day is spent being ferried about in the car by Gail on another scorching day and popping the numerous pills that have become a regular part of every day.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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28th February

What could be better than to be woken up first thing in the morning by a charming little nurse called Cherry Yip, originally from HongKong. Cherry goes about her work with quiet efficiency and her ready smile makes both Sean and myself  feel better about what the day has in store for us.

Fortunately, we have both had a good night’s sleep and can possibly look forward to discharge from hospital if we receive the right results from tests due to be carried out during the day.

As Gail will testify I am something of a hoarder but she probably never thought that it would stretch to small plastic pill containers. When the nurse came to provide me with my pills she found 17 neatly stacked containers. I may be a hoarder but at least I’m tidy-minded! 

My surgeon Dr Sharma arrives to tell me that he can give me the green light to go home today.

Seemingly the Atrial Fibrillation apparent the previous day is settling down and in any event AF is often the post-op side effect of such operations. Dr Sharma  motioned with his hands to indicate it resulted from his having to manually touch my heart. When I interpreted his hand motions as ‘manhandling’ my heart he showed mock indignation that anyone would categorise his delicate surgical work as ‘manhandling’!

Sadly Sean did not receive the green light as his INR ( blood coagulation rating ) is stubbornly refusing to rise to the required level of 2.00 so he has to stay until tomorrow. We will keep our fingers crossed for him. Sean has been a great cell-mate and our sharing has i think been mutually beneficial. We certainly undertake to stay in touch further down the track.

Check out of hospital mid-afternoon and arrive back at Lyn and Bert’s house about 5 pm.

Finish off the day viewing the photos Craig had taken of me while I was still under and looking very much like someone on life support, which of course I was. Probably not conducive to a good night’s sleep but I am going to do my best.

Good night and cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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All my fears about the previous night were sadly justified and I toss and turn for hours until about 2.30 when I start to feel that I can’t breathe. I call the nurse who does a few tests and reassures me that all is well. I appear to have had another of those strange ‘LSD’ happenings not uncommon after such ops.

However I wake up feeling fine and as breakfast is not before 8.30, Sean and I are taken off by the physio, Deanne to confront the Flight Test. Any patient, to receive release from the hospital must be able to climb up two flights of stairs without undue distress.

We both pass but there has emerged a slight indication of AF ( atrial fibrillation) affecting my heart. This will need to be addressed before I can go home tomorrow. I am attached again to a heart monitor which is a pain but it has to be done.

Weight now 66.4! ( my situation not helped by the fact that the previous evening my cell-mate had eaten half of my desert before realising that he had been given my food)

Another surprise is the discovery that Sean’s father is a relative of the Yelvertons. The Yelvies truly are ubiquitous!

This has been an action-packed day as have also met Philippe who for many years was the Maitre d’ of the hotel on which the hospital is now located. He is now in charge of the supply of all meals at The Mount and regularly appears in the wards looking like an extra in an Agatha Christie film, complete with bow tie and wonderful French accent. He doesn’t  just look the part, he provides a catering service which would not be out of place in many restaurants.

As I MAY be going home tomorrow this is perhaps an opportune moment to laud the wonderful work of the medical staff in all of the various units. With their many nationalities and idiosyncrasies they provide us with so many positives and brighten up what could be a very difficult stay in hospital.

Faced with wards full of most likely grumpy and demanding old men and women they perform miracles.

It is a veritable United Nations in here but we did finally find a fair dinkum Aussie this morning in Kristy who told my ward-mate Sean that he would be fine if he just ‘shoved the last two pills into his gob’. Pure Aussie Vernacular Gold!

So it’s good night from her and good night from us.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Wake up after a night during which I have kept my cell-mate Sean awake for most of the time. Apparently I still have some fluid left in my lungs and this is making me cough, wheeze and splutter in an attempt to clear the rubbish – not exactly a recipe for sleep dreams for either yours truly or his fellow-sufferer.

Weight now down to 67.5 and counting.

In the morning we both celebrate a momentous event. It’s catheter removal time folks which Sean marks by a joyous cry of “Free Willy!”  from behind the blinds separating our beds.

Next it’s my turn and it is surprisingly painless, albeit a little more’ drawn – out’ so to speak!

The usual visit from Gail but Craig stays away as he feels a bit under the weather and has no wish to infect his currently fragile old dad.

Watch tv for a while but as bed-time approaches start to feel a bit the worse for wear. The stay in CCU is a roller coaster ride, both physically and emotionally , especially the latter, and I am prepared for a fairly unpleasant night .

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Great to awaken after a far better sleep , although I am still linked up to an ECG monitor and, worst of all, to the Dreaded Catheter.

Nevertheless, I am now able to take a shower rather than the totally impractical in-bed wash.

There is hardly time to get bored as there appears to be a constant stream of nurses to administer medication, in pill or injection form, to raise the level of some things and lower others.

Then I meet up for the first time with Rebecca, originally from Sussex, who introduces us to the joys of the physiotherapy required post-op.

The first port of call is the scales to check any weight change from the previous day. I have lost 2 kgs and gone down to 69.5.

After that we do short walks within the confines of CCU and gradually improve our performance on the Triflow balls previously mentioned by Craig in his blog.

My first real shower for some time feels more like a route march and offers a timely reminder of the post-operative uphill climb.

Great to receive so many messages from family and friends and after ICU, the ambience of CCU is far more conducive to a feeling of well-being.

Turn in for the night feeling that I am now making some definite progress

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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To start with Gail and Craig are working on a change to our homepage photo for the blog as we all feel that the current one with a white dove flying off over the water is just a little too spiritual for this blogger’s present situation!

Sat 23rd Feb.

Craig has already covered part of this day so I’m just filling in the gaps from my perspective.

My memories of ICU are somewhat blurred but I vaguely recall coming round, sort of, at about 3.30am and Gail and Craig coming in to see me at about 10.30. I gather that I didn’t say much (“that’s a first” I can you all saying) and was semi-comatose both then and even when G and C came back in the evening.

ICU is a surreal experience with lights on most of the time and is at all times a hive of activity. My 2 nights there were shaped by the nurses who looked after me during that time.

First came Srees from India who was delightfully jolly, totally committed to her job and gave a whole new meaning to INTENSIVE care unit.

In total contrast Melanie from South Africa was all business and super-efficient. However, she had no time for all the feeble males lying around and soon let you know if you were being a bit wimpish. She was on duty overnight when I started hallucinating. I was convinced that Gail was in the ward and I could hear her voice. I called out to her, obviously receiving no response and Mel came over to explain what I was going through. All patients had been forewarned of this risk following such major surgery but Mel’ s reassurance was welcomed.

The Dr on duty turned out to be a Daniel Lopez who had watched me get almost no sleep through the night. Even more interesting was the fact that he had attended Berwick High School in Vic at the same time as Lorraine and Brian Healey’s son Aaron had been School Captain!

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Tuesday 26th February

Hi, Mission Control we have contact!

Sorry about that but the situation seems more akin to the re-entry of the Space Shuttle than the return to a compus mentis state of a 68 yr old who now has a sternum held together by wire and 4 by-pass arteries taken mainly from a vein in my leg which stretches from my ankle to my groin( what a blessing to have such long legs.)

This return to my blog writing relatively early after my op can be put down almost totally to Craig’s performance coming off the substitutes bench while I was being sliced open. I gave him a chance and he repaid me by writing a blog of such brilliance that I need to return to blog authorship ASAP. I am already anticipating the deluge of pleas from blog readers for the ‘ fill-in’ young fellow to continue. I already have an ever-decreasing list a tasks I can perform so come on guys give this old fellow a break.

More shortly once I untangle myself from the various tubes in my obese body.

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Dad was moved from the ICU to the Cardiac Care ward this afternoon and the various tubes removed and their holes plugged. Everything is going as well as could be hoped for. He’s still too tired to resume blogging but we’ll try again to persuade him tomorrow.

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Friday 22nd Feb.

We have been notified by the surgeon that my dad’s surgery was a success. We have visited him where he is recovering in ICU but not yet awake. Hopefully he’ll be able to continue with his first hand accounts again tomorrow. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like a buyer for the dining room table will be found in time before he awakes.

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Friday 22nd Feb.

The old man is a wee bit pre-occupied today so thought I’d pop in to make a quick comment on behalf of myself and mum. It was apparently a poor night’s sleep for dad due mainly to over-enthusiastic air-conditioning (and quite possibly his imminent evisceration). As the rest of us were tossing and turning through a night that only briefly dipped below 26C this didn’t elicit quite as much as sympathy as he’d probably hoped. He wasn’t particularly impressed that frantic button presses through the night didn’t bring nurses running with blankets but given he was wired up to more telemetry than the space shuttle they probably took one look at his read-outs and decided they had more important things to worry about. True to form I overslept but mum was there by 9:45am and I managed to follow an hour later. Although the operation was (is?) scheduled for 1pm, I cut it very fine and by the time I got there he had already had 2x ‘happy pills’ (nurse’s nomenclature) and some morphine. I only had 20min with a progressively soporific and visibly stoned father before the orderlies came into wheel him off to the theatre (approx an hour ahead of schedule). There was one high point when we talked about the breathing exercises he’d had with the physiotherapist and he pulled out the triple rotameter and demonstrated with great pride being able to eventually lift all three balls (to mum’s escalating  verbal protestations (and my silent egging on)). This might be a sign of things to come. Given my dad has always treated his body as something to be hammered into submission by sheer force of will, I’m a bit worried following this op, it might decide to do some hammering back. Perhaps it might be prudent for us to invest in a straightjacket to ensure compliance with the surgeon’s post-op ‘rest’ instructions :).

Anyway he’s in there now. We have upmost confidence in the competence of the medical staff. And we’re now just ticking down the moments until we get the call that they’ve successfully put him back together (Better! Stronger! Faster!) and we can head over to visit him in the ICU ward.

Craig and Gail

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Thursday 21st Feb.

A busy day!

Firstly, my legs, arms, groin and chest are shaved ( the last area took no time at all)

After the shear, a shower in what Craig has termed ‘ the sheep dip’ to make me totally free of germs!

Then off for an echo ultrasound of my heart and for afternoon tea a Doppler ultrasound of my arteries in case of any blood transfusions. What did the surgeon say about the op being a ‘ walk in the park’ – really!

To end the day on a comical note I have noticed that my file here has our address as Grographic Bay Road instead of Geographe Bay Road.

Not sure whether this is reflection of my drinking habits, my appearance or an illiterate hospital secretary.

Now you know more about my recent life than I do so I’m off to bed and the blog will hopefully re-surface in a few days.

In the meantime you will have to find some other means of boring yourself to tears.

Thanks for all of your kind thoughts and best wishes. Much appreciated.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret( pre-bypass model)

PS apologies for the incorrect spelling of Mallee in the first blog. I’ve only been here for 33 years so haven’t quite got the local vernacular yet!

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Wednesday 20 th Feb

Move from St John of God to The Mount Hospital where my op will take place.

Have blood tests galore during the afternoon and have a lovely reassuring chat with Roger Morris, a friend from Victoria who had a quad bypass some years earlier. Roger has walked the Camino in Spain and the Kokoda Track since his op and is a real inspiration for someone facing this heart op. Roger’s surgeon’s explanation that he had “provided the new plumbing but it was up to the patient to keep the pipes clear” was spot on.

Another bedside chat with Gail and Craig and then off to sleep with the aid of a sleeping tablet. 

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Monday 18th Feb.

Really just a normal day at home with a 3 km walk, office work, goods to be packed, car tyres to be checked etc. The only missing ingredient for me was sitting with my feet watching TV as advised by the surgeon- big mistake !

10 pm start to feel more severe chest pains and clammy feeling so I make an inglorious departure from home under the watchful eye of the local paramedics.

Dr at Busselton Hospital decides that I need to stay there overnight and be taken by the Flying Doctor Service to St John of God’s Murdoch the next morning.

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Sunday 17th

Uneventful drive back to Busselton. [*editors note : Yours truly was a little concerned when David decided not to rely on the dead man’s switch and instead set the vehicle to cruise control for the entire two hour journey south!]

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Tuesday 12th Feb.

Appointment with Dr Sanjay Sharma, a genial giant who agrees to slice me open on Friday 22nd Feb.

Apparently, I have simply drawn the genetic short straw and most likely the cholesterol has been building up for 30 years. Only my fitness has prevented this problem arising 20 years earlier.

However, I have dodged a bullet by having a check-up before the trip and as my heart itself is in perfect nick the outcome of the op should be very good.

Stay at Lyn and Bert’s for the rest of the week to see Lyn fly off to South America on Sat 16th Feb.

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Monday 11th

After driving up to Perth the day before I duly arrive at Murdoch Medical Centre for the angiogram which will of course confirm that I will be OK to jet off to Sydney the next day.

Things didn’t get off to good start as while I am sitting chatting a male nurse before the procedure a huge fracas can be heard from an adjoining corridor. A patient, apparently affected by his medication, has taken a dislike for a member of the medical staff and is calling him every expletive known to man and some I don’t know. It takes 5 minutes to sedate him and as I said to the nurse” if that’s what an angiogram does to you I’m NOT having what he’s having!”

The angiogram takes barely. 30 minutes but it’s long enough for the cardiologist to tell me that the trip is off and I have 80 and 95 per cent blockages in 2 of my arteries.
Putting in stents is too complicated so it’s a triple bypass!
After the usual ” why me?” reactions we start to make plans to see the surgeon the next day.

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I should be writing this blog from Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina awaiting a ship to take Gail, her sister Lyn and me on a 12 day trip to Antarctica.
Instead, I find myself in the Cardiac Unit of The Mount Hospital in Perth,awaiting surgery tomorrow 22nd Feb. Now I know you will be saying that  some travel agents can be notoriously unreliable but apart from the fact that Belinda, Gail’s niece is always very reliable surely no agent could get the travel itinerary so horribly wrong.

Let’s backtrack a little-
Before Christmas we bought a kayak to make the most of being close to the beach and the glorious summer weather. As usual I, with some help from Gail pulled the kayaks ( one is Lyn and Bert’s) down to the beach and had a great time out on the water.
However, for the first time I felt some tightness across my chest and left shoulder. Nothing to worry about, just not used to kayaking or so I thought.
Off to our local chiropractor for the usual treatment but Stuart ( the chiro ) feels it might be worthwhile seeing the GP to make sure.
Duly make an appointment with GP who suspects that is ‘ muscular ‘ ( a bit strange as I don’t really possess any muscles to speak of ) but advises an ECG stress test to make sure before the trip
Friday 8th Feb Stress Test shows some worrying signs, given my level of fitness  and I am immediately booked in for an angiogram in Perth for Monday 11th.
Both Chip, Gail’s brother and our neighbour, Clive, on hearing this news said ” he’ll be fine, he’s as fit as a Malli Bull”
Now I have learned something during this whole saga, namely that the afore-mentioned Malli Bull is himself in urgent need of a stress test and as an indicator of physical well-being he is about as reliable as a politician’s promise!
Anyway, drive up to Perth on Sunday 10th Feb for the angiogram which will of course give me the all clear to fly to Sydney and on to Rio on 13th.
More on this ‘ journey’ shortly.

The Obese Ferret

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