Sunday, June 5, 2016

From Bear Tails to Hare Tales

Well, I have so much to tell you.

I'm so sorry I haven't replied to your comments.  It's been a crappy few weeks thanks to a racist surgeon who didn't like me because I was English.  At least that is all I can put it down to, being the only UK citizen on the ward (with Irish Great Grandparents but he didn't know that!).

Let me tell you the story and explain why he will never be racist to an English person again

I had to go to hospital to have a port cath fitted.  A wonderful device which will mean there will be no more hunts for veins or collapsing veins and endless bruises on my arms.

On the same day I had to have surgery I had to rush to a different hospital for my chemo in the afternoon.  A chemo treatment which the oncology drs had had to have a meeting about to try and fit me in because my cycle was mucked up through my wimpy neutraphils.

 On the day, we had to get up at 5.30 am to leave at 6 for the hospital, stopping for a few minutes to watch Holmsey in one of the fields.  My husband knows me well: if there is hare, I want to watch him.

 We arrived at hospital at 8 for the surgery and was told I would be the first one in because I had a chemo appointment.

The oncology dept said I would be first.
The nurses all said I would be first.
The surgical timetable said I was first.

Come 12.30, I'm still not in but everyone else has been done so very obviously I was not first and the poor nurses were really upset and had repeatedly told the surgeon that I had to be done. The oncology department at the other hospital also kept phoning to ask if I had gone down yet.

 In the end I take things into my own hands.   I walk to the nurses station to tell them I was leaving to go and  get my chemo. I'd sort out a port at a later date. The nurses were mortified that I would do this.  They told me I needed the port and I pointed out that since they already had a line in me, that would also do for chemo.  TTFN, I'm off.  

Now things started moving.  The nurses ran to tell the surgeon that I was incredibly peed off (I didn't use that exact word if  I'm going to be honest) and another nurse ran to call oncology to find out what time was the latest I could get there.  It turns out I had to be there for 3 pm.

It is now 1 pm.

It takes 20-30 mins for the surgery, and 4 hours to recover from the sedation: I had two hours and 30 minutes of that would involve driving to the other hospital for my chemo.

The only option was to just have a local anaesthetic and NO sedation.

 A port is a little device which goes under the skin and it's attached to a line which is fed through to the pulmonary vein which goes to/from the heart.
The skin has an inch long incision which the port is pushed into and slid into place and connected to the line.

 And I had NO sedation, just a mild local anaesthetic.

When I was in the operating theatre I just asked them to turn the radio up and sang to the songs while they pushed and shoved and cut.

I was back in my room in 15 minutes (no sedation so quicker), dressed in 5. Hubby always brings me loads of water to drink really quickly to get the obligatory pee that has to be done before you leave so 1 litre of water drank, one piece of toast eaten, one cup of tea drunk, one pee completed...and I was out in 20 minutes. I was in no mood to be argued with rofl

 We finally got to UHG and the chair was still available: the lovely nurse at the first hospital did the oncology bloods for me first thing in the morning so that saved time.  Thank you nice nurse: you were wonderful.

 My neutraphils had dropped again, the buggers, from 1.2 on Tuesday to 1.0 but it was just high enough for chemo. Perfect right?

The first drip contains piriton (anti histamine) steroid and anti sickness meds. You have this and then wait for half an hour and then you have the chemo which is given in titration (increasng amounts). So for x minutes it drips very slowly, followed by x minutes  where it goes a bit faster and so on.

First titration: fine.

 Second titration: nurse when to get me my next appointment and as she stood there I suddenly couldn't breath: had gone really hot and managed to squeeze out the words 'hot'. She took one look at me and  rang the alarm.

Hubby was thrown out: four nurses are adding extention lines to the port (thank God I had the port: there is no way they would have found extra veins) and I grabbed my new inhalor out of my bag and took four puffs. I know it isn't what you would usually use but if it bought my airways a few extra seconds it could only help and it did.

I had started to go into Anaphylactic shock caused probably by the fasting as I'd only had one peice of toast since midnight. Thank you Mr. Surgeon.  I hope you remember your oath to 'do no harm' before you really do someone some harm.

 Bummer

 Now, to be fair, they acted so fast it was amazing. I have only praise for them all. But it meant my chemo could only be given at the lowest titration level once I'd had the extra meds to deal with it.

 What should have been a half hour chemo treatment took five hours. The ward should have closed at 7, but they stayed open until 8.00 pm. Thank you so much nurses of UHG oncology ward for going beyond the call of duty to make sure I had the chemo.

And do you want to know something else.  It was my birthday.  Yup: def. a birthday to remember and I guess if you aren't going to get too many birthdays, at least this one made itself known.

So an interesting day. Not all bad though.

I saw Holmsey in the flesh.

I got a romantic meal for two when it was realised I had been fasting since midnight with only a piece of toast eaten at 2.20 pm, hubby went over the road to get me chicken and chips...eaten in the oncology chair.  We just hadn't thought of food because my priority was to get my treatment.

 I had nurses sing happy birthday to me in English and Irish

 I had two chocolates from an oncology nurse who had a box of roses on her desk.

See, not all bad!

I did have an amazing number of birthday cards, as Kathryn, a lady from our online stitching groups, and a great friend, asked people to send them.  I am so sorry I didn't get a chance to thank you all personally as I was a bit preoccupied but I have kept them all and will treasure them. Thank you.

Chemo brain is starting to  kick in so please excuse typos and wrong words.

I did have an amazing birthday pressie from Paula, the lady who is illustrating my book (and publishing it!)

She sent me this picture.  Isn't it amazing?


Me, Holmsey and Fergus.  And yes, it is going on the back of the book!

Which brings me to two great pieces of news.

Firstly, one of the illustrations that Paula created for  Holmsey's book was converted into a cross stitch pattern by Sarah from Paine Free Crafts  and it has been used to raise money for breast cancer research.  In just one month, they raised .........


 
over £100 pounds!
 
And this is the image used.
 




So where are we with the book? Well, please remember, this was just meant to be a book for my grandaughter.  It was never meant to be a commercial venture.

So both Paula and I were amazed when people said they wanted to buy a copy.

And we were even more amazed when people said they wanted signed copies. Signed by me and by Holmsey.  Now there was an issue with the geography of the whole thing.  Bear Tails Illustration is in England and I of course am in Ireland.

 I had a little word with Holmsey and he came up with the idea of a limited edition authentication certificate signed by both myself and Holmsey.

I fill them in, send them to Paula and then she will add them to the first 100 books bought, in the first edition copies.

I reckoned we would have an awful lot left over.

Paula put a post up on her fb page asking people to pm her to pre-order their book and the first 100 would get a certificate complete with the actual number of the book they have bought.  That was yesterday.
Within moments, her site crashed.

She emailed me today to say we had sold 100 books...and more.  So I had to put a promise up that while only the first 100 people would receive a certificate in their book, everyone who had ordered up to this point would receive a first edition.  Which is just as well because Paula is now having to order more books from the printers: a second edition.

Good grief.

So, we just thought there would be a few and we were wrong. Very wrong and it is just sooo surreal.  So flattering.  No pressure at all for it to be good then haha. (she laughs nervously while wiping sweat from her brow).

.http://www.beartailsillustration.uk  is Bear Tails website so you can go and take a look.  Paula is just moving everything over to this website so please be patient and please note, the Holmsey book is pre-ordered.  The books themselves will be sent out in 10-14 days, possibly before depending on how long it takes Holmsey to sign the certs xx





And you never know....my next post may even have some crafting in it!


15 comments:

  1. What a horrid, unbelievable experience you had Gaynor. I hope that things are progressing well for you now. I am so happy for you with your book! I am still praying for you daily.♥

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    1. Thank you so much Vickie. Things are ok. Distraction is a wonderful thing teehee.

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  2. You are so brave. I'm glad you got through that mess and managed to find some good things about the day.

    Love the picture with you and the boys. So great to hear about the success of the book venture already.

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    1. I'm pretty shell shocked where the book is concerned, that's for sure. I just hope people like it x

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  3. What a terrible experience. So glad, nothing serious came out of your ordeal and you are such an amazing person to be feeling so positive after all that you've gone through. Wonderful news about the success of your book.

    Wishing you a Belated Happy Birthday.

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    1. Thank you xxxx Looking back we just laugh now. I'm sure it could have been worse..not entirely sure how but we hold on to that thought lol

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  4. Congratulations on the success of your book and new Holmesy chart. And happy birthday to you- even though a lot of it wasn't.

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    1. Thank you Justine. We are laughing about it now. You just couldn't make it up could you!

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  5. Thank you four sweet words. It was a bit different wasn't it lol

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  6. Well, you'll certainly remember that birthday--although not for the best of reasons! I so admire your humor and "can-do" attitude, Gaynor! Continued success with your book and charts. Hope your next appointment runs smoother :)

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    1. Thank you. It's certainlly never to be forgotten lol

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  7. Hey sweetie! I cannot understand why some medical personnel even work in the field, when they obviously are not qualified! I hear more and more stories like yours! It is a worldwide thing, sadly! Hope you are doing well! You are in my thoughts and prayers always! Hugs!

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  8. Wishing you a happy birthday! Stick to all the positive moments :)
    Huge congratulations on the book, this is amazing! It is doing so well. Be proud! Hugs xx

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