Thread: Some not so good New Year's news.

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Jan 4, 2018 at 3:56pm


Quote from the MAVERICK'S NZ website:


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Post by johnboy on Jan 4, 2018 at 3:56pm

The reasons for us shifting were brought home to us both last night. I'd been swinging on a shovel shovelling fines; came in absolutely knackered. Had a couple of beers, a couple of rums, tea, my head hit the pillow and I was asleep a bit after 8:30. About 1:30 Rosie awoke to severe chest pain. I couldn't awake sufficiently to be of much assistance; but fortunately our #2 son was here and was able to race her the half-hour trip to hospital. An ambulance would've been closer to an hour-and-a-half. (TJ knows that road well.) Our new home will be only ten minutes maximum to assistance.


She's okay now; but they're keeping her in for 48 hrs for observation.



yesterday at 11:34am Alf and ahotrod like this
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Post by johnboy on yesterday at 11:34am

Thanks for the well-wishes and kind thoughts people.
I went through to see her yesterday arvo; she was sitting up in bed and looking pretty chipper.
I'll be through again this arvo; hopefully She'll be able to come home.

It's at times like this you realise how much you love them.



9 hours ago

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Post by johnboy on 9 hours ago

The prognosis is not as good as we had hoped it would be. She’s going to be air-lifted to Hamilton Base Hospital for an angiogram, and the potential of a by-pass operation.
I'll be driving up to stay in a motel somewhere close by.
My laptop pooter is not 'up to speed' at the moment; so I will be offline.
We'll know more sometime early next week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I went up to see her this arvo; She's in good spirits and is, to all appearances in perfect health.
But appearances can be deceptive.
We'll know more next week when the specialists have done their jobs.

Until I'm home again I'll be incommunicado.

Joanie and I will have her in our prayers. Hoping for the best.
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Pam and I are also praying Godspeed

Thoughts and prayers your way

Thoughts and prayers from out here also!

From Chris and I as well. Please tell SWHBO that we are thinking of, and praying for you both.

You tell Miss Rosie that "The Dirty Ol Man" is pullin' and prayin' for her. Anything less than a full recovery is unacceptable. And you keep a positive attitude my friend.

So sorry to read your latest jb. Know that Rosie is in my thoughts and prayers, as are you and her doctors and care team in Hamilton. You've got a wide ranging extended family, even reaching to these north lands. Give that girl a hug.

Best wishes to you and Rosie. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery and that both of you are in my prayers.

JB, my thoughts and prayers go out to you both! I hope all goes well and tell Rosie we're pulling for her!

Same here, prayer for healing. You never know what the new year will bring.

Many thanks for the kind words and well-wishes people.
It's really much appreciated.
We've met some of you; but many of you would be total strangers that we would walk past in the street not recognising each other.
Your kindness is all the more sincere because of that.
I can only reiterate: it's much appreciated; and we thank you all most sincerely.

Here are my diary notes for the last few days:

Friday 5th January.

Out of bed about 6:00, shower, got dressed, cuppa, and then sat around until about 8:00 when TJ and the kids surfaced. He had to have a cuppa too, so it wasn’t ‘til around 9:00 when we got to look at what the stray wire was in the bus. Turned out it was from the stereo; so no problems.
In the interim I’d got Fred to open my main shed, and drive his car inside; as it was still raining. (About an inch overnight. All good.) Then TJ and I went up to talk him through changing his fan belt with his new tool set.
I’m not denigrating the kid, he’s not stupid; but he’s never had anyone to show him how to use any tools, and you don’t realise how much you know until you meet someone who knows absolutely nothing.
So we talked him through it from where to put the jack under the car to get better access, to which way to turn the spanners (lefty loosey, righty tighty, or ‘turn to the right screw me tight’,) and the difference between a ratchet and a tee bar. And which to use when.
That must be a record for the length of time it took three fellas to change a fan belt. But if you’d have seen his face when he finished, and realised he’d done it all himself …the grin was such that he should’ve had planning permission for a hole in his face that size.
Okay, time to think about lunch. I haven’t had time to prepare a meal for all these hungry mouths; so in to Opunake where I shouted them all a Chinese meal.
Back home, TJ’s eldest daughter arrived, they can’t all fit in my car so we headed for the hospital in two cars.
I arrived first; and managed to spend some quality time. Alone. With my wife. The prognosis is not as good as we had hoped it would be. She’s going to be air-lifted to Hamilton Base Hospital for an angiogram, and the potential of a by-pass operation. But the hordes quickly turned up.
They’re actually starting to annoy me.
She needs rest! Fuck off!
I know they’re here out of concern for her; but that’s the whole point. If they were to think about it they would give her peace and quiet which is what She needs but is not getting with five or six people standing/sitting around jabbering at her.
So I dropped a few caustic hints (totally ignored,) and left myself. At least that’s one less. Then headed to the supermarket for some frozen microwaveable meals.
And it has rained quite solidly pretty well all day.

Saturday 6th January.

Up again around 6:00, did all the househusband-type chores I could think of, TJ and the girls surfaced about 8:00. Headed for Kaponga around 9:00 to meet with a mate of TJ’s from his schoolboy days: Craig Douds. TJ had told him that he’d bring me out to peruse his (Craig’s,) sheds one day over the weekend. First thing to look at was his ‘new’ Corvette, a ‘trade’ deal for a couple of his cars..
Was it with D****? I asked. “Yes. It was actually,” he replied. Oh dear and golly-gosh. I hope you counted your fingers after you shook hands on the deal.
“Oh D****’s alright,” said Craig. Well I’d like a dollar from every punter I’ve heard say that and then change their minds six months later when they’ve delved in to the car a bit more.
Next was his train. A John Deere ride-on mower bereft of the mower, fitted with a tow bar, and towing five identical ‘carriages’ built from plastic bath-tub-type bodies on a two axle four wheeled (swivelling front axle) frame made primarily from scrap/
rubbish scavenged from work Bloody brilliant! He gets calls from local schools/ organisations asking him to bring his train along to their fetes/ shows to use as a fundraiser by giving kids rides. Crikey I’d love to have a ride in that thing myself! Very clever. I can see why the kids would enjoy it.
Then to his yard.
A very well equipped workshop (I’m envious!) and cars of various marques and models; but mainly Mopar. A petrolhead’s heaven. And each one has a story behind it.
We spent a couple of hours there and still didn’t get to see it all. I asked him if he’d be amenable to NSRA coming for the guided tour.
Yep. He’s got no problem with that.
Thanks Craig.
He’s the pick of that family; the only one to have done any good for himself.
Next stop Taranaki Base Hospital. TJ had seen some tools he wanted the other day and his girls wanted to wander a mall they’d found; so after a brief chat with his mum they wandered off leaving me to have some quality time alone with her.
So that was all good.
They spent some more time with her when they returned; but they want to get back to Stokes Valley today; so made a move to leave around 3:30, dropping me off at home en route.
All in all a good day.

Sunday 7th January.

Spent an hour or so packing up stuff in the carshed to take to the recycling centre in Opunake today. We haven’t been there since before Christmas; so there’s a fair amount of rubbish to get rid of. A lot of it I would usually burn; but because of the drought there’s a district-wide fire ban.
Then Rick appeared down from the flat. “Mum and Rachelle have both been trying to ring you; why haven’t you answered the phone?” ‘Cos I’ve been busy outside emptying the garbage from under the bench and stacking the car full of the recycling.
Even the back seat has a wheelie bin in it. “Well ring Chelle. Mum’s being transferred to Waikato Hospital and she wants to go up with you.”
So I rang Chelle and organised to pick her up after I’d seen to the recycling; as I didn’t want to unpack then later repack the car again.
Grabbed toilet bag and a couple of changes of clothes and I was gone. Picked ‘Chelle up and headed for Hamilton.
‘Chelle booked us a motel room with her cell phone whilst we were en route, arrived, dumped the car there and headed to the Hospital (straight across the road as it turned out,) to find what ward/room She was in.
It’s Sunday; so no information desk was open. We walked up bloody hills and down bloody hills then up and down more bloody hills, trying everything we could think of to glean the slightest bit of information.
Finally She managed to text Chelle a building name: the Menzies Building.
Sweet!
Now we’ve got something to aim for. We found it; and faced a great flight of stairs. I revolted: I’m not going to climb them. The sweat is dripping off me and my right knee is giving me gyp. I’m going to take the lift.
But I had to wait five minutes for it…this place is busy! People everywhere. ‘Chelle, waiting at the landing, thought I’d got lost and texted same to her Mum. “You’d better find him ‘cos he won’t be able to find himself,” was the reply. She’s obviously in good spirits..
Found her, ‘Chelle, found She, and yes; She’s in good spirits alright. Angiogram is scheduled for Monday or Tuesday depending upon her results and available spaces in the queue.
Sat with her talking until about 5:00 then left to find A) a beer, and B) a feed.
Both needs satisfied; back to the motel to blob.
I didn’t sleep well; was out walking the streets and thinking from about 4:00 am onwards.

Monday 8th January.

The motel we’re in is booked solid for tonight; so had to find an alternative. Did that, (the Astra, still within walking distance, and She and I have stayed there before,) got the car gassed up, found the car park after a couple of wrong turns, found the ward again from the other side of the hospital, and found Rosie.
Angiogram is scheduled for sometime this afternoon.
So we waited.
Rick’s friend Ronnie showed up with a goody-bag full of apples and bananas, a book of crosswords and puzzles, a pen to fill them in with too, and various other pass-timing trinkets. Very thoughtful of her.
She left, and we waited.
And waited some more. They eventually took her away for the angiogram around 2:45 and prepped her for theatre.
I went outside for a smoke to be by myself and be able to think my own private thoughts.
Came back up an hour or so later; an emergency had arisen in the interim and her procedure had been rescheduled for to-morrow.
Them’s the breaks. Got talking with the porter (an interesting chap; a Welsh immigrant, name of Adrian,) who said to leave her here and they might be able to ‘take the pictures’ which would save time to-morrow. And that’s exactly what happened.
If the stent (which they decided was needed,) was placed to-morrow She may be able to be discharged to-morrow arvo. The surgeon also told me that they would get all her test results from 6 months ago from Taranaki Base for comparisons.
So we left her to it and headed for the Astra Motel and a stuff-up. I was beside ‘Chelle when she did the booking and she made a point of the fact we’d require a unit with two beds for father and daughter. We arrived to a unit with one double bed.
We’d both had a stressful couple of days and I’m afraid the sh*t hit the fan about here.
So they chucked another couple out of their unit in to the one they’d given us and put us in theirs.
One double and one single bed. How bloody hard was that. Sheesh.
(Although I did feel a pang of guilt when I saw the people they ‘evicted. They were about my age; but they were ‘oldies’!)
Bed around 8:30. And slept.

Tuesday 9th January.

Out around 6:00. A beautiful sunrise with a hotair balloon silhouetted against pink and orange clouds. Magnificent.
Visiting doesn’t start until 11:00 so I at last got a chance to read my Saturday paper.
Got to the hospital bang on 11:00, to find that She’d been back in surgery and the stent had been inserted this morning about 8:00; so that was all good. The Doctor turned up on his rounds and said She could possibly go home today around 4:00 depending upon what happened in the interim. It also turned out that Bathy had rung her ‘cos he and Tina had not seen anything new on the Mavericks’ site and were getting a little bit concerned. But She was able to reassure them that all was good. Appreciate your concern people; thanks for that!
She was taken for an EKO (?) scan around 1:15, returned to the ward still in the bed about 1:45.
And we waited.
Eventually the nurse came and removed all the inlets and outlets in her arm and plastered the holes over, gave me a foolscap paper of prescriptions to take to the Chemist to be filled so that when She leaves She’ll have the appropriate drugs already to hand.
When she returned with all the pills I took one look and said “Buddy L! She’s going to be cheap to feed from now on; with all these inside her She won’t be hungry!”
She laughed, and I returned to the ward with a paper bag full of drugs.
The nurse came and left; then came back with pass-out papers and a Donk (see Crocodile Dundee,) with a wheelchair.
Loaded the patient into the wheelchair, loaded the bags on top of her, and headed for the car.
Back at the motel at 4:45.


And left for home the next morning.
All is good in the world.
The feeling of relief is absolute.

Very good news JB and give Rosie my best wishes.

That's very good JB! Now just relax a little, breath some and enjoy being back at home. I wish you both the best!