General Chat

Oh. I don't mind having bloods taken, it's just that I have had to have so many done over recent days, I'm hoping this next one will be the last for a little while at least !.

I never told you about the nurses that were assigned to me when in the Aberdeen hospital, 2 in particular were not pleasant I can tell you & obviously took (for want of a better word) a "dislike" to me !.

I have said before how I find having my blood presure done "electronically" I find it very painful, my own GP is really good about it & understands my problem wiith it & has included this problem in my notes.
When I spoke to those particular nurses about it they literally poo-pooed me & said it still had to be done & that was that !

They would wrap the cuff around my arm really tight & so that when the cuff blew up it was excruciating !!
When I was having the transfusion the BP had to be done every 15minutes & the same nurses reduced me to tears every time it was done, one of the nurses ( prior to the transfusion happening) actually "threatened" me by saying I wouldn't get the transfusion if I refused the BP being done.

I never refused to have it done, I just wanted them to know my problem with it & how things could be done in a more gentle way by not wrapping the cuff so tight OR doing it in a lower position on my arm as some other nurses had already suggested & done !

Joan.

I don’t ming having blood tests, but they are difficult as I have no visible veins on the inside of my elbows. Some people are absolutely hopeless at finding a vein and are digging about. :-(. There was one phlebotomist at my last surgery though who was really good, I was always pleased to see her.

It is cloudy here, but quite warm . This morning I went to help at a coffee morning to raise funds for the Memory Cafe which I volunteer at. It was open for two hours, but I was there for half an hour on each side of that. We had a tombola and a raffle as well as lots of home made cakes. We made £420, so that was a good mornings work.

I went to the supermarket this afternoon, then supervised OH planting some shrubs in the garden. It is starting to look good, but we need to put lots of perennials in to cover the ground. That is going to take time.

Hi everyone,thankyou for you replies & kind words, I still have 2 more appointments to go to, one of which is for yet anotherablood test.
My arm is still tender & the bruising is horrible, it's going to be sometime before it clears up altogether.

I am feeeling more able to do things around the house now & no longer breathless, I managed to make a small pan of Broth yesterday which turned out really well considering I just guessed the amounts, I have always been used to making a large stockpot of broth / soups in the past so I was well chuffed at yesterdays effort of a much smaller portion.

It's rather dull hhere today & a little windy, so no garden work,it's not going to be esy getting back to the gardening jobs as it's been soo long since anything serious was done, it will be like starting all over agian with it especially the weeding !!

Joan.

Aw Joan, you poor soul. What a lot of trauma you have suffered.

Hopefully the iron tablets will kick in and then you wont feel so breathless. If you like beetroot, have a sandwich of beetroot everyday, some fresh orange juice and some dark chocolate as all are good sources of iron! ( not all together though lol)

Then before long, hopefully you will be back outside doing what you enjoy best.

i was thinking it was over a month since you last posted so you were missed on here.

Horrid day here today with rain all day and its very windy tonight!

Supposed to be a heatwave but we shall see!

Florence in the hebrides

What a saga, Joan - you poor soul!
I hope you continue to feel better, and that the iron tablets do their work quickly.

I hope they can find the underlying cause for your low blood count Joan and treat it. Sorry that you have had such a bad time

You really have been through the mill Joan. I hope the iron tablets kick in quickly and you start to feel much better very soon.

Not bored at all Joan, Just sorry that you havw had such a catalogue of appointments and all up the dreaded long road to aberdeen. I hope the iron tablets will finish the job and you will soon be 'running' around the garden again. <3

Goodness. What a trial you have had.

Hopefully you will continue to get better.

hello to all.
Well here I am, it's been a while bit things have been difficult re my health recently.
This is my 2nd attempt at writing about why I have not been around & after writing a huge thread on Tuesday afternoon just as I sent it the power went off & the whole thing was gone !!
...........................................................................................
Following the incident when my daughter had to contact 111 & an ambulance came out a wee while ago I recovered nicely except for experiencing bouts of breathlessness, a visit to see my GP ended up with several appts, chest xray, bloods, ecg.
The xray showed "something & so a ct scan was requested, i was not happy to have the scan as it meant a trip to Aberdeen & & really hate that journey on a "fast" road.

I eventually did go but freaked out when I was called, I am claustrophobic & entering a small room with a huge machine in it, no windows in the room & the lighting dimmed I lost it, also I was not happy to have the injection of dye !!!
Eventually it went ahead without the jab but I was really upset.

Following that Iwas sent an appt to go to the respiritory (sp) unit, again in Aberdeen !
Then came the appt for bloods & the ecg, following the blood test I had a visit from the practice nurse who checked me over & then having a chat about needing a blood ransfusion !!!
I didn't want to go to Aberdeen again & so it was arranged to have it done at the local hospital but it couldn't happen there for a few days !

Later that night I & my daughter had a phone call from the duty DR at my local Health Centre who was catching up on various patients notes & noted my blood test results & he was extremly worried about it, turns out it was VERY low at 52 & felt I needed the transfusion straight away, & so I had to travel to Aberdeen once again at around 11-00pm in the dark.

WE got there at near midnight & waited in the waiting area of the said ward for around 2 hours !! before anyone saw me, questions dealt with & another blood test I was taken to another section, after about another hour I was taken to the ward.
Nothing really happened on this ward until breakfast at around 8-00AM

At about 9-00am I was about to be hooked up to the 1st of the 4 units of blood I was to have, my blood count was now 47.
The junior DR fited the Canula but just minutes of starting the transfusion I was in real pain, with swelling in my arm where the Canula was, apparently it was "tissuing" & had to be removed, a 2nd fitting of the Canula ended up doing the same thing.

A 3rd attempt re the Canula was also stopped by which time the bag of blood had to be discarded due to the time lapse !!
A more senior Dr was called in & he managed at the 4th attempt to fit a Canula further up my arm,
You shoudl see my poor arm, all around the inner elbow area is a biggest "bruise" & the colour is BLACK, it has been really swollen & painfull but at last easing.

I came home on Sunday afternoon & feel so much more at ease at home, not breathless atm & legs feel less heavy, my blood coumt on leaving the hospital had gone up to 86, not perfect but better then it was, now on a course of Iron tablets & some more blood tests arranged.
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I hope everyone is well I am reading through all the htreads I've missed recently so should be up to date with that soon.
We have had some really lovely weather recently though it wasn't always very warm, I have not ventured outside for some time, hopefully very soon.

Must go & check on my soup, I have made a small portion on Broth today, had to guess the amounts so hoping I have managed to get it something like, not used to making such a small amount, lol.

Hope I haven't bored you all with my long thread !!

Joan.

I'm not surprised you're tired, Linda!
I feel tired just reading all the things you're doing.

It's been a really beautiful and WARM day here. I had my annual check-up at the GP surgery this morning, then visited my daughter, who lives in the same village as the surgery - 12 miles from here - and cut the grass this afternoon.

Tomorrow I'm off in the other direction, to town, for a haircut (much needed) and groceries.

I was just looking at the forecast and it looks like summer is coming next week :-D

I haven’t felt very well this week, I have had a headache and sore throat and feel very tired. I have kept soldiering on though and am feeling a bit better now. I moved some of my plug plants into hanging baskets this morning, but they are still in the greenhouse.I also started off a large tray of cut and come again lettuce. I will do another one in a couple of weeks I eat a large mixed salad most lunchtimes, so it is good to be able to pick fresh leaves every day.

Esme only managed one day back at school after the holidays before she got her stomach migraine. It wasn’t too bad this time, but she also has a cold, so isn’t going back until tomorrow. She was a lot better today, so I was invited to play :-( I spent all afternoon there keeping her occupied as her mum had online meetings all afternoon.
Tomorrow being Friday it is the school bakery, so I am going to take Eve with me, she doesn’t go back to school until Monday. Esme is very excited to have her to the bakery :-) After that, Eve and I will go for a walk by the river, then I will take her to her favourite cafe for lunch. On Saturday morning, I have volunteered at a coffee morning to raise funds for the Memory Cafe which I volunteer for , then I am taking Esme to Lightwater Valley in Sunday. It is all go :-(

Afternoon
Lovely sunny day here and a gentle breeze. I was outside doing a bit of overdue pruning!! Old stalks on the roses needed got rid of so been busy doing that.

Plants elsewhere in the garden are gradually growing but have been painfully slow this year so may this nice weather last a bit longer and be sunny!


Linda hope you get someone to do your steps for you sooner than later so you can enjoy the garden this summer.

Joan, hope if you are looking in, you are keeping ok and hoping you have managed out in your beautiful garden to get some work done?

Everyone else looking in, may the sun shine for you :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Good morning all, grey and drizzly here and 8 degrees. Not gardening weather at the moment unless, like florence, you have a polytunnel.
Linda it must be exciting to see your garden taking shape. Hopefully the steps will soon be completed.
I have just seen a photo in 'my memories' on facebook of our garden 8 years ago. I had forgotten how different it looked with the apple tree still there and lawns etc, No way could I cope with that all to keep under control now. So I am pleased I decided to make drastic changes.

Good afternoon, it must be spring if you are having your hair cut Florence :-D

We had a rainy day yesterday, but the sun is back today. It is still cold overnight though, so I am not putting the summer duvet on yet.

The front garden is looking good now. We have planted shrubs into the new border, but OH still has to put the membrane and gravel down.

I asked on the local Facebook group for recommendations for someone to build some shallow steps into our back lawn. Lots of people replied, so I contacted some to get quotes. Some people don’t read the post correctly, so although I said we wanted it doing quickly, they couldn’t do it until October :-S
Anyway, I got a couple of decent quotes, so have a builder coming this week to do it.

Morning all.
bright and breezy here but cool out of the sun.

Just off to the hairdressers to spruce up for summer lol

managed to repot all my plants yesterday and the rhubarb is growing by the minute. Its leaves are ginormous!

Hope everyone had a good weekend :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Happy Easter everyone. Don’t eat too much chocolate.
Esme FaceTimed about 8 am so we could watch her do her egg hunt in the garden. They had been away for a couple of days seeing various relatives, so came back last night with a large pile of eggs. The Easter bunny has added to that haul and we have some to take down later on. They will be eating chocolate for weeks.

We have sun Florence, but it is very chilly in the wind.
We have been to a couple of nurseries today to buy some shrubs for the front garden. I just need one more small one and it will be all planted up. OH needs to pug the wedding membrane down and we need to order some gravel to cover it. I was thinking of having blue slate chips, but they are very expensive. Also I realised that there is a strip of gravel along the front of the house underneath the window, so it would look odd to have some different.
I was hoping to find a tree for the back garden to block out the neighbours rotary clothes dryer. We large on a higher level and in the winter, we look down over a row of gardens and the woods. so that is a nice view. As soon as the spring comes our neighbour puts up her rotary clothes dryer and leaves it open even if she isn’t using it. It really annoys me, so I want to block it out.

Afternoon all
Gosh what a horrid day here. Just been over to town and back for a few things and oh my the rain didnt stop and is soooo very cold.

Back home with the heating on now.

Bought a few plants and more compost as need to thin out and pot on a few plants tomorrow. The rhubarb is so big, it has outgrown the pot

Potatoes, peas and blueberries all coming along very well.

I hope whatever all of you are doing this easter weekend, you have a lovely time and hope you have some sun. If you do, could you spare some up here please lol

Florence in the hebrides

Yes, we were in our early fifties when we bought this house, it is not too bad just has the four shallow steps up to the main pary of the garden. That was fine without a hand rail until we reached 80. we both definitely lost a lot of agility when we reaceched our 80s (80 for OH I think although he remained active, playing golf until he died at 82. I was quite fit until a couple of years ago but I do feel I get more tired now and can't lift as much in the garden (I will be 85 in August).