There some knitting going on!

Firstly thank you for all your good thoughts and wishes – they certainly seem to be working.  I have done more knitting today than in the whole of the past week.  It’s a case of not knowing just how bad you’ve felt until you feel a lot better.  Yesterday wasn’t too bad but by the time Auntie Ann arrived I could barely keep my eyes only and she confirmed that I did indeed look really tired around my eyes.  I had a wash after she’d gone, changed my jim jams and was in bed watching a film by 20:30.  I did a few tiny rows of knitting and then dozed until I had my IV antibiotics at 23:00 and then I slept until 05:00 when I answered a call of nature and woke up again at 07:45 when I felt as rough as a bear’s behind (not too sure who coined that phrase and have to admit I would be tempted to find out if I ever got within bear’s bottom grabbing distance).

I struggled with my weetabix and ate two cream crackers instead but by 10:00 at the latest I felt GREAT.  There’s been a smattering of intermittent tickly coughing during the day but other than that GREAT.

My cannula was a bit temperamental with the flush after the antibiotics but when the nurse confirmed it was the last one she wasted absolutely no time in wiping that cannula out.  I gave it half an hour to settle and then went for a shower.  It was fantastic with no cannula to either hide in a latex glove or hold above my head in an attempt to keep it dry – neither of which work completely effectively.

With the cannula gone, knitting was bliss.  I managed to connect to the hospital web access – would you believe I couldn’t get it because I use Google Chrome as a browser.  I switched to Internet Explorer and it was fine, well not fine enough to watch video so I ended up on bbc iplayer radio and can heartily recommend ‘Count Arthur Strong’ – I laughed until I cried – although it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.  I could well imagine B wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow let alone a snigger.

I finally got my phone to talk to the lap top so here’s my knitting as at yesterday…

my additional knitting as at today…

 another arm, two body and a head part (phone and laptop had another tiff)

 my surrogate Buddy seagull (our neighbour says I shouldn’t bring him home)…

which is so subtle it pecks on the pane to get my attention.

 My previous surrogate Buddy…

With regard to medical matters – my blood counts from yesterday are substantially improved on last Thursday (normal ranges in brackets) –

Haemoglobin – 10.1 (11.8 – 14.8)

White blood count – 3.4 (3.5 – 11.00)

Platelets – 78 (150 – 400)

Neutrophils – 2.1 (2.0 – 7.5)

My kidley function is slightly better, my liver is the same in a – one result is better, one is worse kinda of balancing out way.  Apparently the ultra sound on Saturday didn’t show up any kidley stones either.

 Temps have all been 37.5 or generally lower.

 The swabs taken yesterday show I have plain old rhinovirus (a la the common cold) and not flu – although I think me and several of the nurses knew this – I mean I’m not even snotty enough for a full blown cold.  This means that staff entering don’t have to either wear or mask or throw things from the door, which is a bit of a sod if it’s a cup of tea.

 The Prof doing the ward round yesterday mentioned I could possibly go home tomorrow but the Registrar yesterday and today said he was going to speak to our consultant over the kidley/liver results.  So we’ll have to wait and see – as the nurse and I discussed earlier I’ve been in enough to know that you don’t take it for definite until you’re walking out the front door.

 And I may have mentioned but I do feel seriously, majorly, spectacularly better now than at any time since I woke up last Tuesday morning.  Plus in the interest of keeping you all informed I just physically forced myself, at the risk of getting a temperature, to watch the beginning of the bank heist movie, Takers, again. (What can I say – you’re worth it!) I am now able to confirm that the bare naked, definitely un-hairy, peach like bottom is at 14 minutes 22 seconds and must be on screen for all of five seconds – which on Monday with the cleaner watching felt like about five hours!