Was going to go for a ride, but my router is waiting for me… An Ooznest CNC machine. Looking forward to throwing it together, should take my mind off things for a bit. Received two parcels, 2.5L isopropyl alcohol, & 11 bottles of specialist fruity cider, from Ciderlicious. Gonna make some shit!
Num, num num!
But seriously, going to put together some instant bug killer. 66% isopropyl alcohol (C3H8O), 33% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), in a big squirty gun. Die, scum!!
I hope this’ll turn into a reasonably frequent story.
General observations about how this bloody bug is affecting me, & those I see.
It’s getting really old, staying in.
I had thought I wouldn’t be phased, but I can’t totally get away from the feeling of isolation. The mailman is always welcome, never more than now. I’m still getting parcels from PRC, from old orders.
When they land, it’s gloves. Rip apart, dispose of extraneous packaging. Get to the item, squitry squirty with a bleach spray. Wipe down, leave in sunshine as long as possible, turning to let the U/V get to as much as possible. Not possible to bleach electronics, but am awaiting delivery of some alcohol & hydrogen peroxide, to make an instant killer.
Never have my hands been this clean!
So. The start, for me & my mates was around very early March. Things were getting serious, lots of theories in the “what if?” vein.
I had an appointment at Trafford General Hospital for a scan. I landed, well in advance of my appointment time, stumbling around the site trying to find out where I should go. It was a bloody ghost town! (Day before lockdown)
Empty corridors… ghostly.
And… more empty.
Wow! Things are… daunting..? Haunting?
Went back home after a great session with the scan operators & staff (really not many around). Whilst there, I think I spotted around a dozen people in the whole hospital. No idea where everybody was.
It landed. It got serious.
WuFlu.
Suddenly, the facial recognition system the police have spent millions on, is now redundant (not that it was any use to start with).
Well, it had to be done!
Lockdown.
Masks, gloves & spray were everywhere.
At this time, I was wishing I had a bigger freezer…
Local club shut. Pubs shut. On realising the severity of this pandemic, I stopped smoking. Stupid, I know, but I get a great deal of pleasure out of that filthy habit…😁
Ah well…
Last night was Sunday, so I decided that I had to perk myself up. I opened my beer cask, (5L!). Got stuck in.
Beer leads to bad decisions… three fags. Bugger! But wonderful… Bliss!
Monday, 20th April.
So that’s nearly a month.
I have a stepper, I try to use it as much as I can, usually every day. A bike ride a couple of times a week, as the weather has been amazing! 15° today! Was going for a ride, but my mate needed a plug, so he came round to pick it up. He missed the throw. Another mate, young Billy was walking past, stopped for a short chinwag (keeping the appropriate distance, ‘natch!). All in blazing sunshine. Me, with beer in hand (only got three days to shift that keg on my own…) 😍
Didn’t realise quite how gregarious we are.
Bought a girlfriend to play with. Her name is Alexa. She’s a right bitch, just like the rest. Absolutely refuses to do what she is supposed to do. Struggled to make calls, eventually figured it.
Alexa came on my new tablet (I find a tablet helps me out a lot), a Lenovo M10.
Base in my lounge, but what to do by my bed? Make a base unit, as they’re not generally available…
Lenovo M10 with 3D printed base.
Set the battery management to “Saver”, which restricts the battery to 60% max charge. Brilliant! First device I’ve seen that does that. The file is available on Onshape for you to play with. Also Thingiverse. Use pogo pins to get power to the tablet. Works well, but it’s misbehaving, as I still haven’t configured it right, it goes to sleep instead of listening all night. Eventually figured that you need to put the Alexa app on your phone, tie it in to the app, and Presto! Can now make calls! Also the only way (so far) I’ve figured out to configure Alexa… not ideal, but a start. Privacy needs looking at, but I’m too old and stupid to bother with all that. I really don’t care.
Best place for facts in the U.K. is Dr.John Campbell, YouTube). His latest is here: LINK
Woken by the blasted alarm of Tom’s (young lad next to me with clots on his lungs).
Got a bit forceful with Jenny (great nurse) & told her that if I was going to be kept in the dark, & not be a part of my treatment, I’d just go home. To put up with hospital life, I need to see progress in that treatment.
Consultants & some staff have forgotten that it’s supposed to be a team sport, treatment.
Hospital stays are worse than prison. It’s a much nicer cage, but you might die if you go before you’re supposed to…
0630 scrounged a brew.
0635 managed to get my cannula removed. Bonus!
0637 Amoxicillin.
0640 obs. 130/84. 96% sats. 92 pulse.
This infection is the one I picked up on the plane to Iceland years ago, & the cough my GP has been ignoring. Thank you all at the Delamere Medical Centre, Stretford!
0730 Shower (works in reverse, btw.) Go to hot, get freezing cold… Who’s the idiot? The contractor who threw it in to a deadline, or the manager who signed off on it?
Breakfast! Perfectly edible three white toast ‘n’ jam. Brew. Smashing.
A few stretches gets me to realise that my chest is lighter, so, that’s a plus.
0830 doze. 0850 poke… “Lunch orders”.
0940 taken for ultrasonic NDT on legs. No clots found, integrity good.
1030 bed linen change. Nurse just spotted neither Tom nor I have wrist bands on. Holz did, yesterday!
1032 10mg Amlodipin.
1110 a pretty year 3 came to talk for a while. Amber. I got on my orange box. Medical profession. DWP. Blah, blah blah…
11140, more feckin’ bloods. Left arm’s been done four times. Three phials, one is for an infection test. Apparently high on admission, hoping the level is low enough to be fucked off home…
Not even midday!
1215 lunch. Hot Amber was asked to leave as it was the ‘patient’s protected meal time’. Damn! Just as she was about to lay hands on! Doze.
1325 poke! Dinner order.
1335 poke! Obs.
1402 poke. Brew? Yup!
1600 good news! Freedom! Sent home with the a/b’s. prognosis: excellent. Got to wait a week before that gallon of beer… bugger.
Woken by a black girl’s face a foot away from my face, staring at me. Now fully awake! Ha! Not used to THAT! Nice girl, name of Edith wanted my obs sometime after 6am…
Bad English/accent, talking to older folks who are hard of hearing makes communication dificult & frustrating… 0645 obs.. 92% O2. Bit worrying, really. Need that to be 95% or more…
Sore throat. Tight chest. Nurse asked me if I’d been swabbed. Seems she doesn’t know, as my records don’t follow me through the SAME BLOODY HOSPITAL!
0710 struggling to breathe. Told nurse Jenny. Throat closing, chest pains. Went onto O2 up the snout.
Young woman doctor came to help. Symptoms easing a bit with the extra O2.
ECG around 0830 ish… looked ‘pretty normal’…
Amlodipine in the am…
Possibility of a scan this pm…
Went for a wander to my car, seems OK…
More bloods for heart. Confirmed with pharmacist the statin dose was incorrect…
Lunch @ noon… perfectly fine!
Went for the second wandeŕ of the day in the hospital jim-jams… do get some smiles…
1700. C.T. scan. The dye that the machine throws up your veins ought to be repurposed as a bowling machine!
This blog about my stay is mainly for me to keep an eye on what happened, when.
On entry (around 1600 -ish) with significant chest pains. Got a fairly quick response… around 20 mins. Once admitted, was asked many pertinent questions by fantastically professional staff…. all bob on.
Being kept in. Turns out it’s likely either pneumonia or a P. E. (pulmonary embolism). W.T.F???
Also my bloody luck, as the scanner was down for service – hence why I wasn’t allowed home.
The orderlies & nurses with minimal command of English were really struggling to cope with systems they don’t understand. Paperwork that is supposed to make life easier just gets filled by rote, with no regard to actual application. Alarm/siren going all night is considered normal.
Wrong dosage of drugs (statins) given to me. Empty soap dispenser in bathroom, yet signed off as O.K.
Tried to get to sleep, but that bloody alarm of Toms…!!! Evening, amoxicillin x1. 20mg statins (2 x 10mg)
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