Human and veterinary medical procedures

 

Human and veterinary medical procedures

Barry had his nose medically photographed again. It’s a fine nose, but he’ll be getting above his station if people keep taking photographs of it. It’s for the dermatology department to consider what next to do, if anything.

In the afternoon of that day, a doctor called to say that Barry should present himself at hospital on the following Friday for a colonography – another sort of photograph, really! Thursday was spent ‘preparing’ so he didn’t stray far from the house.

We’re not superstitious, so Friday 13^th didn’t bother us and all I had to do was worry, anyway. I’m very good at that – I’ve had lots of practice.

On Monday 16^th, Barry intended to go to the walk-in centre at one of the local hospitals for a chest x-ray, but something cropped up to prevent that, so he decided to go in on Tuesday. However, there was a call on Tuesday morning, to tell him that he needed a colonoscopy to remove some polyps. This would be organised very soon.

The colonography had also revealed a potential problem with the prostate and ‘someone from Urology would call.’ In the afternoon, ‘someone from Urology did call’ to tell him to report immediately to the Emergency Surgical Unit. They thought it highly unlikely he would be kept in overnight, but Barry obeyed Flanagan’s Law and prepared as if to stay. It was fortunate he did, as he stayed in for two nights. 

Once again, it was not a restful stay, with the man in the bed next to him needing the attention of two nurses all night, to calm him down and make sure he stayed in bed. Barry was pleased to get home on Thursday, and was greeted rapturously by Roxy and Gilbert, and also by Arthur and Lottie, who had spent the day with me.

Jellicoe, our diabetic cat, ate very little on Thursday evening, which is most unusual. On Friday morning, he ate most of his breakfast, but then started behaving quite strangely. He was sniffing his way cautiously round the house and we deduced that he had suddenly gone blind and perhaps had had a stroke. He spent the day with the vets and came home in the afternoon, quite his usual self. There had been a diabetic imbalance in his system. Feline diabetes can be difficult to control, and Jellicoe is particularly challenging.

Roxy also went to the vet, for a pedicure. We have not been able to take the dogs out very much recently and her claws were exceptionally long. Before Barry could prevent her, she ate all her toe clippings!

So, the chest x-ray will now be next week, I suppose, unless something else urgently needs attention. There are two family birthdays next week. My daughter-in-law has her birthday on 25^th September, and my great-grandson, Fergus, is ten years old the following day.

                                                                            

A week ago

 

A week ago – how time flies!

A week ago today, Sunday, it was Easter Sunday and we had been invited to lunch with Susannah and James, along with some friends of theirs.

I made a trifle to add to the festive table.  My trifles are quite substantial and threaten to overwhelm my ‘trifle dish’ (a Pyrex bowl!) which is not very large. That doesn’t usually matter as it’s just a short distance from the kitchen to the dining room. However, as it was travelling further afield, I had to balance it on my lap in the dog car. The roads, like most in the UK, are full of pot holes and temporary patches and we have the added pleasure in this area of ‘sleeping policemen’.

The journey was made more interesting by the myriad of traffic lights, which seem to proliferate day by day. Holes are dug, heavy plant and other work vehicles of the ‘Motorway maintenance’ variety are parked near them, and occasionally one or two workmen may be observed, sometimes even doing something down a hole or at the controls of a digger. Usually, nothing is happening, apart from drivers becoming ever more frustrated as access is blocked or diverted and temporary traffic lights impede their progress. I feel very sorry for those who commute to work daily or who drive delivery vans for a living, and I dread to think how emergency vehicles cope.

The custard and cream slid from one side to the other as Barry drove carefully from our house to theirs, applying the brakes many times as he negotiated obstacles. As it was Easter Sunday, there were many cars parked outside friends’ and relatives’ houses, people taking the opportunity to visit and be sociable. This had the effect of narrowing the roads, turning them into a slalom course. It was a stop-start, staccato journey and I feared I would present with a bowl and lapful of trifle by the time we arrived, but managed to avoid that. I have now bought a ‘proper’ footed trifle dish!

We had a lovely day and everybody was suitably exhausted by the end of it.

Barely able to move!

Roxy and Gilbert were flat out for the whole of Monday, and unusually quiet, and so were Susannah and James’s dogs, Arthur and Lottie. 

Half in, half out of bed 

Like young children, dogs love seeing their pals, and having happy new experiences and meeting different people. Roxy basked in the joys of being stroked and talked to and receiving lots of attention without young Gilbert barging in, demanding, ‘Me too, me too’. 

He was busy fetching and playing and his tail wagged non-stop, miraculously without knocking things flying.

 Since he was a very small puppy, Gilbert has liked to lie under my chair and under my legs. He sometimes goes there for reassurance if he thinks he's in trouble. At other times he just wants contact. He doesn't realise he's so much bigger now, and squeezes in so I end up in some very odd contortions. He doesn't usually stay for long, though, and it's very pleasant to feel his warm body next to my feet and legs.

We bought Roxy and Gilbert some toothbrushes recently. 

‘Whimzees’ come in various shapes and sizes from extra small to large. I rather like the alligators and will enjoy seeing the dogs trying them out soon.

Wait!

                                                Look at me!

                                        Good dogs, look at me.

                                                        Gently!

Good girl, Roxy.

Good boy, Gilbert.

Morning has broken

Morning has broken . . .

Arthur and Lottie have been enjoying doggy hols with Roxy and Gilbert while their owners have gone off to distant - and warmer - climes. They have settled very well and Lottie has decided we are worth protecting, assuming the responsibility for barking at goodness knows what. She doesn't bark very often or for very long.

Lottie, with the wayward topknot that just begs for a ribbon, (but won't get one!) is a working Cocker Spaniel, like her companion, Arthur.

She sleeps downstairs in the big crate which serves all the dogs, apart from Roxy, as a place to go and calm down during the day, although obviously not all at once! 

She always greets everyone with enthusiasm and has to find something to carry in her mouth while doing so. Arthur does the same. Today's excited greeting was accompanied by her blue blanket for a little early morning dusting before the other dogs came downstairs.

It was followed by a vigorous play session with Gilbert, who is very much bigger and stronger than her. He understands that he is subordinate to her and respects her position in the pack, just as she has learnt that all canines are inferior to cats.

After that it was time for breakfast and a post-prandial snooze. 

A family birthday

 

A family birthday

Frankie’s cake

It was Frankie’s 10^th birthday yesterday. His class had a trip to *Sky television studios, which made it a very special day for him. The children made a ‘television news special’, which was most impressive. Some were scriptwriters, others operated the cameras and the rest were presenters and reporters. Frankie was a reporter.

He had a lovely day and felt he had a better understanding of what his mother, Susannah, does. She’s a television producer and he was pleased and proud to tell the people he met about her, some of whom she may have met through work, anyway.

After school, we had a birthday tea at our house. Susannah made a delicious chocolate cake, which was of enormous interest to the dogs. 

I know chocolate's bad for me, but couldn't I have just a little piece? 

Please?

In addition to Roxy, we had Susannah’s dog, Arthur, and Lottie, James’s dog. James is Susannah’s fiancé, but he was away doing what barristers do best, so couldn’t join us.

Rare photo of Arthur asleep. 

Usually, he's moving so fast that it looks as though there are two of him!

*Sky Academy

Giving schools a unique, interactive learning experience with the Sky Academy Skills Studio.

The Sky Academy offers children the chance to work with its cutting-edge technology, including broadcast-quality cameras, green screens and touch screen tables. Visitors write, shoot and edit their Fact, Fiction or Future video.

https://engageworks.com/en/case_studies/sky-academy/#brief