What made you happy today?

[Alfa2Evora]

Charis clearly found the whole experience pretty exhausting too, .

[Alfa2Evora]

Posting in here again - this is one habit that I'll never tire of, ,

TODAY'S REPORT:

As suspected, the dog-therapy session on Saturday did wear out Jennifer, but in a good way. When I went in on Sunday afternoon, the nurses informed me that the previous night was the first time since she had arrived on the ward that Jennifer had had an uninterrupted sleep and that she had in fact slept the clock round, not waking until almost lunchtime.

She was still a bit sleepy during my visit, nodding off several times, but when she was awake she certainly seemed in reasonable spirits. About 50% of what she said was fairly coherent and mainly centred around the dogs so their visit has certainly given her something to think about.

Yesterday, she was a bit more subdued and made it clear that she was bored and frustrated at being stuck there, and wanted to go home ASAP. It would seem that the dog visit coupled with some exposure to sunshine and fresh air has sent her stir crazy - she has sampled the good life and wants more of it.

Today, she had perked-up a bit again. She was clearly pleased to see me and her speech is slowly coming along with her able to string together slightly longer coherent phrases. She was also picking up on things that the nurses were saying to other patients on the ward as she was repeating back some of what had just been said.

She is also now able to hydrate herself. Several times, she reached out to the table in front of her, selected the beaker that she wanted from the choice of water, diluted orange juice, apple juice or tea (she likes it cold, ), held it to her mouth and controlled the tipping of it so that she could take a mouthful and swallow it without drowning in it.

Tiny, tiny steps but I am now starting to believe that, at least in part for now, 'my' Jennifer is coming back, .

[PaulCP]

It is all sounding good, very pleased for you on how Jennifer is improving.
The feeling of the need to get out of hospital and go home is natural, I’ve been there as a patient and once you’re hone the improvements really start to come through 

[ChrisJ]

1st of the new Time Team episodes released today

 

[bogle]

On 15/03/2022 at 14:15, Alfa2Evora said:

Tiny, tiny steps but I am now starting to believe that, at least in part for now, 'my' Jennifer is coming back, .

I'm so happy to hear she's on her way back!  Send in the dogs when it's important and it appears it worked.  Sorry I didn't see this post until today.

[andydclements]

On 21/01/2022 at 20:10, andydclements said:

Mixed emotions, so not entirely happy: The scales indicate my weight as 18st 13lb this morning, 6 days after the diet started and the scales indicated 19st 5lb. The weight loss is making me happy but how far I let it go before addressing the situation and how far I now need to continue, less so.

What was frightening was using an app to track calories & weight etc, when I entered my height it indicated my target should be 18st based on the "average" for my height.  NHS website indicates a healthy weight of 10st 9lb - 14st 5lb, FFS, I can remember being c15st and less than a 30 inch waist, what the heck would I look like at less than 11st? I'd hide behind telephone poles. So, aiming 17st for now, then maybe keep going to 16st.

Today I hit the goal that was originally set for 19weeks (I now know the app sets the default time based on 1lb/week), and I've done it in 9 weeks, so that's 33 lbs in 9 weeks. It seems opinion is split over what is a safe and healthy rate of weight loss. I've kept over 2,000 kCal a day and often close to 2,300, yet still lost at a high rate (around 3.5lb/week). New target set, so onwards and downwards as the dwarves would say in Discworld.

[Alfa2Evora]

We seem to have now moved on slightly from the immediate post-trauma critical stage to a more settled 'repair and recover' stage with several consecutive days of relative stability with only the odd blip here and there. Day to day, there's not been a huge amount to comment on so from now on I'll just be posting periodic updates (maybe every 5-7 days or so) or when any significant event occurs.

LATEST UPDATE:
Wednesday and Thursday were more of the same, with a bit of interaction between us and some coherent responses.

Friday, however, was one of those expected blip days - in fact it's probably the worst Jennifer has been since way back at the start. Afterwards, I did learn that in the morning she'd already had a 'poke and prod' session with the doctors, an assessment session with the speech therapist, a half-hour manipulation session with the physiotherapist and finally, just before I arrived, the phlebotomist had visited and extracted several blood samples so I think that Jennifer had decided enough was enough.

When I walked up to her and started to speak, she didn't open her eyes but instead started screaming the place down and shouting "Shut up. Shut up". I tried to calm her by stroking her forehead but as soon as I touched her she pushed me away quite forcibly with a very distinct "Go away and leave me alone". I asked her if she was sure she wanted me to leave and was told "Yes, just go away".

Whilst it was not the most enjoyable of encounters, I have taken a positive from it in that although she didn't appear to recognise that it was me beside her, the responses she was giving were pertinent to the situation she felt she was in. To avoid stressing her any more, I took my leave at that point.

Saturday, and Jennifer was more like herself. As soon as she saw me, her face lit-up and as I approached she put out her hand and stroked it down my cheek while telling me that she loved me. As it was a lovely day, we got her outside into the sheltered patio next to the ward and I fetched the dogs from the car. On seeing them, her excitement got dialled up to 11. She had a great time stroking them and chatting away, not always making full sense but then that doesn't really matter when the listener is a canine.

Sunday, as expected, she was a bit drowsy after all the previous day's activity but she seemed contented enough and we did manage some chat between her nodding-off periods.

Today, she was initially quite talkative and making a fair bit of sense but eventually she started to wear out so I left her in peace to have a nap before her lunch. She is eating quite well apparently, although everything still has to be pureed as she can't yet handle solids but I'm sure that'll come in time.

So in summary, Jennifer has made another small step forward over the course of the past few days and it's just a case of building on that a little bit at a time. 
 

[johnpwalsh]

Hi David, all positive. I know it may sound secondary to Jennifer's need's. But please ensure you are also getting enough rest.

Everyone at Club Lotus North East Scotland are rooting for you both.

J&W.

[pete]

[march]

Got my boarding pass for NASA's ARTIMIS 1 Lunar Flight 😎

[Sparky]

I believe I'm sitting next to you.

[cweeden]

On 09/03/2022 at 17:15, thebartman said:

I was made HAPPY today by default - driving home at 60MPH my front bumper shuddered - then let loose and the wind ripped it off the front of the car 

- thank F4ck it didn't hit anyone on either side of the road or behind me  - that has made me SOOOOO  HAPPY

I'm now going to the Pub 'cos I feel shock setting in. ....   

 

 

 

 

I love the positive attitude and the fact this is in the what made you happy thread. Well played.

[bogle]

I agree well done!

[Alfa2Evora]

LATEST UPDATE:
Well, it has generally been a not too bad week for my Jennifer. Apart from a minor blip with her digestive system on Thursday which left her feeling decidedly under the weather that day, she has been quite settled all week.

A couple of her nurses who had been off for a few days through the week commented yesterday that they could see a marked change in her since last weekend. She was clearly taking in everything that was happening and being said around her, and was able to reply with some fairly coherent phrases and/or recognizable facial expressions.

It also helped that Saturday was another canine-therapy day and that always seems to give her a noticeable boost. With the weather having been so good, I've been able to take Jennifer out to the ward patio for an hour or so every day this week. The combination of getting away from the hustle and bustle of the ward environment, fresh air, sunshine, a nice selection of flowering plants to look at and lots of birdsong to listen to has certainly done her nothing but good, then add in the dogs' visit and she's ended the week on a high.

Today, as I expected so I wasn't surprised, all the stimulation of the past few days finally caught up with Jennifer and she slept through my entire visit. The nurses said that she had been in good spirits earlier this morning and was looking forward to my arrival but in the end she just couldn't keep those eyes open. Oh well, fingers crossed for tomorrow.

[RobinB5]

Won the best paper award at the annual SEMI-THERM conference in San Jose, CA last week for studies into the "Application of JESD51-14 to BGA Package Styles". All to do with the measurement/simulation of Rjc (thermal resistance between junction and case) of a packaged semiconductor device. Well, I get off on that stuff anyway  

 

[MJON]

Don’t understand a word of this 😳but well done👍

[windymiller]

been waiting for an endoscopy for 14 months (overdue) chased several times, got my dr to chase, finally complained to the hospital PALS team (twice) today i get a call stating instead of seeing a consultant i will go straight in for the procedure but they dont know when, an hour later i get a call "can you come in monday !! i guess im happy its not a pleasant procedure and may be a worry waiting for the results but i need it done 

[Sparky]

Similarly, I recently received 2 days' notice for a gastroscopy that had been ordered 6 months ago.  Nice that they're filling the gaps.  They're even sending me private for consultancy, wheeeee.

[exeterjeep]

4 minutes ago, Sparky said:

Similarly, I recently received 2 days' notice for a gastroscopy that had been ordered 6 months ago.  Nice that they're filling the gaps.  They're even sending me private for consultancy, wheeeee.

Do you steer clear of Watford General hospital.

[Sparky]

They've been amazing to me for years!  Literally saved my life a few times.

[Chillidoggy]

Watford General uses Sparky for staff training purposes. Apparently, it's more realistic than a dummy.

[ramjet]

My son gets married on Saturday 2nd, so I'm happy now, but I'll be over the moon by the evening on Saturday.

[ChrisJ]

or under the table 

[pete]

Start installing new bed for a customer

[Bibs]

Very nice Pete, good work!