Paramedic mice

 

Paramedic mice

    I read an article recently about a mouse performing a form of CPR on a fellow mouse struck down by illness or accident. Naturally, an experiment (or series of experiments) was conducted to observe such behaviour more closely.

Researchers drugged mice to incapacitate them and watched as the paramedic mice reacted. They pawed the victims, licked them, and pulled their tongues out of their mouths to clear their airways.

It is a phenomenon that has been observed in other mammal species. Something that human beings have to learn and be trained to use seems to come naturally to other animals.

Silk stockings?

 

Silk stockings?

Compression stockings do look rather like the silk stockings that were worn on special occasions by Regency ladies in Jane Austen’s time. That lady reportedly prized silk stockings above those made from the more usual cotton or wool, preferring to have fewer stockings, so that those she did own could be of superior quality. It is said that she even washed them herself, not trusting them to the possibly rougher handling of a professional washerwoman.

Today, silk stockings are available at a cost of between £5.99 and £34.00. Most women probably opt for nylons these days, but what do I know? I’m not ‘most women’ and have no right to speak for others.

 I try to kid myself that compression stockings are attractive as well as functional, but fail miserably. It really doesn’t matter, as no-one sees them but me. Well, my husband sees them when he hauls them off me before I have a shower.

Barry would be the first to admit that nursing is not his natural forte. He is very encouraging, but not the sort to mop a fevered brow, though I must admit that approach would drive me insane. He is sympathetic, but robust and practical, a ‘fresh air would do you a power of good’ sort of person. To be honest, that’s my attitude, too, as well as, ‘Have you drunk enough water today?’

If removing the stockings is taxing, putting them back on is a trial of an entirely different kind. We tried the plastic bag system, whereby the foot is encased in a carrier bag and the stocking is eased over the top. The idea is that then the bag can be pulled away from the toe end, which is open, and the rest of the garment can be pulled up to the knee. Carrier bags are awfully thin these days and tear very easily. We abandoned that method.

Talcum powder was tried. Everything smelt beautiful, but the stocking remained fairly immovable.

Finally, brute force was used. The stocking was rolled down to the extremity of the garment, stretched as widely as possible, then fed over the toes and eventually over the heel. Barry wondered why I was yelping, until I told him his knuckles were very hard. He understood when he saw the bruise on my little toe, bless him.

Meanwhile, I am making haste slowly. To anyone facing surgery I would advise making sure you have an excellent physiotherapist. My surgeon was superb, and enjoyed the challenge my back presented – it was much tougher than he expected, and he was almost rubbing his hands with glee as he told me that - but, in common with most surgeons, once his part was done, recovery was my problem.  The physiotherapists understand the reality and bemoan the fact that surgeons don’t see the long post-operative process.

My physio, Liz, is a sports physiotherapist, married to an ex-professional rugby player, and she’s wonderful – encouraging, with a pleasing sense of humour, masses of commonsense, and a wealth of experience. She and my surgeon know each other well, and she recommended him to me.

Liz was Barry’s physio, too. When he had his knees replaced eight years ago, it was our dentist who recommended the surgeon, and that was an excellent fit, too. The medical world is a small one, indeed.

Thank you!

 

Thank you!

                    Thank you all for your lovely messages of support.

The fog is lifting now, and I am able to think beyond the next round of tablets. I have learnt the hard way that it is not sensible to reduce painkillers too soon! My appetite is returning, too, but one small meal a day is quite sufficient.

Following the cortisone injections in December, which had only a marginal effect on my back pain, I had a lumbar decompression in February. It was either that or remain more or less housebound. Clearly, that was not something I wished for. I enjoy walking with Barry and the dogs and intend to resume it as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, Barry is doing a splendid job of keeping the house running. The laundry is accomplished at lightning speed, much more efficiently than I do it, but there is an ongoing problem. What he regards as dry feels damp to me and I know that if it is put away in that condition, it will begin to smell musty. I cannot tell if I am super sensitive to the dryness or otherwise of the washing. Hence, the fireguard is festooned with garments ‘airing.’ It’s a good thing we don’t have any visitors! Any we are likely to have will be family and entirely familiar with our slovenly ways.

I can clean sinks and loos and work surfaces, and Barry insists that he enjoys vacuuming and sweeping, cleaning the cat litter, organising the rubbish, preparing meals, walking the dogs. He has learnt to inject Jellicoe with insulin – that was the main thing worrying me when I went into hospital, although I was only in for one night. Hospitals like to discharge patients as quickly as possible, to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infection, and in the belief that people recover more quickly in their own homes.

My son is due to have an operation on his hip in April, an injury caused by karate when he was a teenager. He is going in as a day patient – in at 7:00 a.m. and out in the late afternoon.

It seems to have been my family’s call to engage surgeons in different disciplines in the past few months. I may have forgotten one or two but they include appendicitis, (youngest daughter) torn ligaments, (youngest daughter and plumber son-in-law) testicular torsion, (oldest great grandson, 10 years old) shoulder (writer son-in- law) prostatectomy, colonoscopy, basal cell carcinoma (all Barry)

We normally manage to steer clear of sawbones, so I suppose it was our turn. We are grateful that we are usually fit, and by no means do we take our good health for granted, but thank the good genes our parents gave us.