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vifferman

  1. Wrapping up the saga: Apparently, I'm now "Really very well".

    At least, that's what the farmer/part-time cardiac surgeon said. He has now "discharged me from his care". I have had all the followup tests (plus a few extra), and so that is basically it. My heart is now as normal as it's going to be (permanent arrhythmia and a plastic ring around the valve notwithstanding). Shame my shoulder/arm is still a bit fookt, and I now have dizzy spells my GP and cardiologist (and apparently the renowned dairy farmer/ hobby surgeon) are stumped by.
    I guess you can't ...
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  2. Yeah...

    Parenthood hasn't turned out like I expected/hoped/planned, and the worst thing is it seems to be getting harder - not easier - as the Three MutantTroglodyteSpawn get older. Perhaps because the problems get bigger? So even though I've now got 26+ years of parenting under my belt, I'm still learning and trying to cope. Quite honestly, as much as I love my sons, iffen I'd aknown how hard this journey was going to be, I would never have had children. Or maybe just the one...
    All I want ...
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  3. Phark, Recuperation is Boooorrrriiiing!

    The highlights of my day are:
    • Getting up and showering
    • Going for a walk (up to about 5km now)
    • Checking email and forums (usually not much there, so it's the work of minutes)
    • Finding some housework to keep me busy.

    I'm about ready to face the drudgery of work again, just to get out and have someone to talk to. Unfortunately, the vifferbabe phoned my boss on Monday and gave him an earful, and told him I required months of recuperation.... Might make turning up next week look ...
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  4. Recovering my Mojo

    ... is going to take quite some time.

    I've lost a lot of condition, and about 6kg of weight, much of which is muscle I put on in the weeks leading up to the operation. Perversely, I was told that fit people often fare worse during major surgery, as they require more anaesthetic and sedatives. That was certainly my experience. My recovery should have been better, but all my 'conditioning' seems to have been gobbled up by a couple of weeks of semi-inactivity and reduced diet. Diuretics ...
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  5. A Tale of Four Wards in One Day

    ...or five, if you count both hospitals, and count my room in Mercy as a ward.
    While the goodly St John's Ambulance people were in transit from wherever, my wife was kept busy checking my pulse, giving me aspirin to chew, and otherwise following instructions/answering questions from the person inside the phone. However, the ambos arrived with very little delay, and were all efficiency, friendliness, cheerfulness and concern. They bundled both of us into their brand-new vehicle, and while ...
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  6. It's Great to Be Home (while it lasted...)

    My wife came and picked up me and my assorted bleongings and paraphernalia (my 'baby' - a cushion to clutch to my chest when coughing, sneezing, farting, or getting in/out of bed; a peak-flow measuring device, and a big bag of droogz), and we headed off home. It was less than a week, but it felt very strange and scary to be out'n'about. It was also rather weathery, after being in a climate-controlled environment.
    We went for a long trek in the neighbourhood (about 40m left, then back past ...
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  7. I'm Aliiive!

    When it was time to leave ICU, they made me get up and walk for a bit, to make sure I didn't spring a leak, and to get everything working. This was surprisingly non-traumatic, partly because of morphine tablets, and because it was a snail's-pace walk. I now had a couple of largeish clear plastic tapes on my chest covering the wounds, which allowed me to be showered by the lovely Kai Ming so I didn't reek quite so much of chemicals. My single room had an ensuite, TV on an arm, couple of chairs and ...
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  8. Drug-addledness: The Flipside

    Apart from the nausea induced by mainlining morphine (I had a "central line" in my jugular, which also I think also carried wires to my heart to kickstart it if my battery went flat), the morphine, sedatives, and myriad of other chemical cocktails I was on had other tricks up their non-existent sleeves.
    Hallucinations.
    Farkingwithmysenses.
    These will be with me for up to three months.
    It started with seeing writing on the (not very interesting) hospital ...
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