Blogwonky

There are few things more scary than a huge moving image of Kevin Rudd…

At lunchtime Yuko came over to meet me for lunch. We went to the Vintage Cafe - the place we went two weeks ago.

This time there were colourful birds in attendance and Yuko spent a lot of time photographing them…

The Noswonkies at the Vintage Cafe

Meanwhile, Mother’s time in hospital ended and she was sent back to the hostel.

She was transported there by ambulance in the afternoon and she was visited by a nurse from Community Aid. Mother said the nurse and the hostel staff treated her very well.

Meanwhile, Telstra has transferred Mother’s home phone number to her hostel room. I requested this more than a week ago by submitting a request on Telstra’s web site. I had heard nothing since, so I assumed nothing had happened, but I was wrong!

I went out walking in the morning. It was cold! As I was nearing home, I came upon a pile of garbage which had been put out on the nature strip for collection. I noticed a small cute dog on the ground - so I picked him up…

As I decamped with the discarded animal, a small boy in the front yard of the house called out to me and asked me where I had obtained the dog. I told him it was on the garbage and asked him if if was his. He said it was, so I gave it back to him.

But then, the boy’s father appeared, and as I was again walking away, he called me back and gave me the dog. It appeared that the father had disposed of the boy’s animal without permission, and was now overruling the boy’s wish to keep it.

I now feel a great sense of responsibility to give the dog a good home. I will call him “Pengilly” after the street where I found him. I washed Pengilly under the tap and put him outside to dry…

In the afternoon, Yuko came with me to the hospital to visit Mother.

Yuko Blogging at the Hospital

We decided to try a new restaurant - the Chinese Kitchen at Lane Cove. It is in the same location previously occupied by JFK (Japanese Food Kitchen). It was quite good, and we will probably go there again…

Chinese Kitchen

The promenade is now seriously boarded up…

Yuko came to the city to meet me for lunch. We decided to try Caminetto…

It turned out to be less than adequate - mainly because the staff engaged in a series of bizarre behaviours which freaked us out. The food was adequate. However, we will never go there again.

At 3.45pm I got a call from Dr. Rib’s (not his real name) clinic. The woman said that Mother was late (her appointment was for 2.45pm) and they were unable to contact her at home! I told her that Mother was in hostpital and was supposed to have been transported to the clinic by hospital/ambulance staff. I was surprised they didn’t know this by now.

When I visited Mother in the evening. She told me that she had been waiting all afternoon to be taken to the appointment but nobody came to pick her up! Another fine debacle in hospital transport! Therefore, she had no treatment today.

As I was leaving I ran into my cousin Russell who was on his way in to visit Mother. We had a conversation by the lifts and I told him about today’s debacle.

The barriers at the Quay are taking shape and looking pretty substantial. They must be planning some top secret activity behind them. Meanwhile, a bubble-like inflatable structure beside the MCA has a sign which reads “Happiness Arriving 22nd June” - a bold claim indeed!

Meanwhile, one of my co-workers has learned that he is going to become a father. Therefore, we gathered in a circle to perform a bizarre smoking ritual. I thought this ritual was traditionally performed upon the birth - but the guys were eager use any excuse to inhale poisonous substances. It was a very exciting moment indeed…

aa

In the morning, I Emailed Dr. Rib (not his real name) who is responsible for the treatment Mother was forced into by the other doctor yesterday. Dr. Rib is the nice one who actually considers his patients’ wishes. In the email I told him aboout the debacles of the previous two treatments and how Mother had been threatened and forced to have the second treatment.

He called me and apologised for the debacles. He said he would visit Mother to talk to her as he had not been present when she had the treatments.

He later replied to my email saying that Mother had agrees to have third and final treatment.

Mother was much better tonight after a day of rest.

Meanwhile, I had another dilemma to deal with. Tonight is the end of the period we’ve paid for at the hostel, so if we keep Mother’s room for one more day, I expect we’ll have to pay for another two weeks. On the other hand, Mother doesn’t want to go back there because she needs a higher level of care. But currently she has nowhere else to go, and she keeps telling me that her doctor plans to discharge her from hospital soon.

So, do I pay for another two weeks (which might be wasted money), or do I go to the hostel and pack up all of Mother’s things (including furniture) tonight???

After discussing this with Mother we decided to do nothing, on the assumption that we will pay for another two weeks. This will ensure Mother has somewhere to go if she is ejected from the hospital.

My usual morning walking route at the Quay was blocked this morning by barriers. It looked like workers were preparing to do something…

Meanwhile, the SHB was misty and the gulls were active…

In the afternoon, I spoke to Mother on the phone and I was shocked to learn that she had had treatment today - the treatment she had told me she would refuse.

She later told me that her doctor had threatened her by saying that if she didn’t have the treatment she would be sent back to the hostel immediately. This scared her because she is not able to cope there in her current condition. She therefore agreed to the treament.

And again, the whole process was a series of debacles which left Mother exhausted and still gasping for breath when I visited in the evening. She told me how the transport to the clinic involved a long wait for an ambulance during which she was left alone in a wheelchair for an extended period. She got into some difficulty and required assistance, but was unable to attract anyone’s attention for some time. The wait for the ambulance took so long that one of the staff eventually decided to take her by wheelchair (which only took a few minutes). This was against the rules, but Mother was grateful because it saved her from the long wait.

She had to endure all this because she was forced to have the treatment against her will! I am disgusted and appalled by the disgraceful behaviour of that doctor.

A social worker from the hospital, Rebecca rang me today and asked me a lot of questions about Mother’s history and our plans for the future. She will talk to Mother about it too and explore the options.

After the experience of Monday, when Mother’s trip to the clinic left her exhausted and requiring oxygen for hours afterwards, she told me tonight that she will refuse further treatments of that type. She was much improved tonight after a day of rest.

Lighting the Fire

Epitome

The artworks of Vivid Sydney are being dismantled. In the morning I saw some of the pieces strewn about the grass as William Bligh looked on…

At lunch time I went to buy guitar strings. Because I work in the scenic part of town rather than the practical part of town, I had to catch the train to the part of town where useful goods are sold. While waiting for the train, I was advised to stand behind a yellow line, so I did…

Meanwhile, Mother was having a bad day. She was due to have treatment in the afternoon in another part of the hospital - actually in another building. To get there, hospital rules mean that she had to be transported by ambulance, even though I could have taken her myself in about 5 minutes by wheelchair.

She had to wait 1 hour in a wheelchair at the pickup point, and then 30 mins in a bed before being taken by the Ambulance. Then the treatment itself was also moderately arduous. The whole process took nearly four hours and left her exhausted to the point where she was extremely weak and needed an oxygen mask when I visited her in the evening.

At 10am I got a call from the hostel to say that they had sent Mother to hospital. This was due to a minor technical difficulty they had with her regular treatment. She was therefore sent to hospital to have the procedure. They said she would probably return later today.

However, when I checked back with them at 1pm, they said Mother might stay in hospital overnight. The reason for this was that she has an appointment tomorrow in another part of the hospital and keeping her overnight would be simpler than transporting her back to the hostel and then back to the hospital tomorrow.

I went to the hospital and found Mother in the Emergency department. She told me that it was the incompetence of the hostel staff that resulted in her hospitalisation.

I went to the hostel to fetch Mother’s mobile phone and took it to her so that she can remain in contact.

While I was with her, some dudes came to take her for a chest X-ray. This seemed odd, as is was unrelated to her condition. But they were just the transport dudes, so they couldn’t offer any medical reason for this.

I took a picture of a machine which was monitoring Mother’s condition…

At Mother’s new residence, there is a washing service. However, to use it your clothes have to be labelled. As luck would have it, Mother happened to have a set of iron-on labels with her name on them. I don’t know where she got them, but now is the time when they have come in handy…

Yesteday Mother gave me some of her clothes which I washed. Then this afternoon when they were dry, I ironed labels on them. The labels appear to be made of some kind of plastic, and I’m not convinced that they will remain in place through a wash cycle. Perhaps I should have done the wash after applying the labels to test this - but I didn’t.