Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad

11th October 1958 to 11th October 2010 - Married 52 Years Today!

Today, Monday, 11th October 2010 is my Mum and Dad's 52nd Wedding Anniversary.

I just wanted to say 'Happy Anniversary' from us all and 'Well Done'!














More recent pictures of the happy couple :-)





This one below is just a typical photo of my Dad really ........One day the spider WILL bite him and none of us will take a blind bit of notice :-)


Nice Hat! Another 'typical' photo of my Dad


And this one was taken at James and Leanne's wedding last August (2009)


And now lastly these ones taken this evening - Hope you both had a very Happy 52nd Anniversary Mum and Dad xxxx


Still managing to laugh together after all these years :-)...







Dj and Dean below - 2 cousins on a mission, an X-Box mission :-)

Lastly, Dj 'fixing' Grandad's hair....lovely style (not!)

Well Done Sis & Well Done Rhodes, Greece ;-)

As some of you know by now, my lovely little sister Sarah lives on the beautiful Greek island of Rhodes (Rodos) and today they held their first ever event for 'Race for Life'.

All proceeds raised go towards the training of two nurses in Rhodes hospital for a post grad course in Nursing and Psychological Oncology.

Rhodes is a small Greek Island and I think it's great that they took the initiative to do this......... As you're probably aware they (along with the rest of Greece) are being absolutely battered by government cutbacks at the moment and could easily have just said 'Sorry, we can't afford these posts anymore' - but instead they've got together with the Greek Cancer Society and organised this fund raising event.

Many people turned out on the day to support the 'Rhodes for Life 2010, Race Against Cancer' and my sister was one of them....... She ran for me and I'm so so proud of her....she even had my name on the back of her shirt, along with others in her running group :-)

Pictures courtesy of Sarah below:

Well done Sarah and all your team. Maybe next year I'll be there to do the Rhodes for Life 2011 with you all :-)

I hope that enough has been raised on the day to make sure that Rhodes hospital get the funding they need to pay for these two essential posts.

Another of Dj's thoughts.....

Conversation with Dj at 'lights out' time this evening....

He's been feeling a little insecure this week, probably due to the operation schedule being altered last minute plus some silly stuff going on at school...

Him: I've finished reading now, can I get a hug?

Me: Yes big hug then good night, sleep tight

Him: Mummy, can I get a second hug tonight?

Me: Yep, double hugs is fine

Him: What day would you have had your operation this week?

Me: Tuesday - 3 days ago now

Him: Would you still have been on the secure ward by today?

LOL! ....I know I've been slightly stressed lately but didn't think I actually needed sectioning (yet)

Back to What I do Best.....

Had a little think about things this afternoon - mainly about the new date for the surgery and how to get this organised now.

I have to plan things around this operation and I need an indication of when it will happen now.

So decided to do what I do best, put my 'Official Nuisance' suit back on again (complete with tights, cape, mask and badge) and start to chip slowly away at everyone until I get a new date.

Success - late this afternoon after numerous phone calls, voice messages left for people and emails sent out I received an email from the colorectal nurse informing me that P (in admissions) should have a new date for me by Monday and if I've not heard from her by late afternoon to give her a ring to find out the information.

So then I did the next thing that I do best....I cooked (well started cooking) something.

I've always said every year that I WILL make my own Christmas pudding this year - then I always end up buying one instead.

This year I've made my own :-) and it's currently cooking away happily for the next 10.5hrs then it will be kept in a dark place for the flavours to fully develop in time for Christmas.

This year Rab will be in charge of Christmas lunch (Hey! what do you mean you've all got plans that you'd forgotten to tell me about...lol) - Rab's got really good at cooking actually, 'Practice makes Perfect' has been proven in his case

He will be cooking and I will be supervising (from the sofa). It'll be as good as it always is - I promise, with the addition of home made Christmas pudding.

Mum, you're in charge of mince pies as always.

Lou - am I getting a cake this year?

Thinking about Christmas made me realise that I need to organise some stuff in advance this year - NO last minute stuff which is my usual way of organising Christmas.

If I'm not lifting or stretching for a minimum of 6 weeks I need to get some stuff underway.

I have heard......

nothing as yet.....

No calls from the admissions department to advise me of ANY new date yet.

My pen marks on my tummy are wearing off now - the shiny protective sticky plaster is long gone and I've now resorted to colouring myself in each day :-))

I'll ring them tomorrow and see if they're aware of any update to my surgery plan.

I did receive a really lovely, totally unique gift this evening which deserves it's own post. Much more news on that tomorrow, maybe even a video if I can do one that shows this off to it's full effect

(No-one tell Loretta - make her wait...LOL) :-)))

UPDATE: Friday 8th Oct

I contacted the admissions department and asked if there was any date for my Op. I spoke to a different lady - the usual one, P, was apparently out of the office for lunch for another half an hour.

So after giving her my hospital ID number she looks me up and says:

Her: Oh yes, I've found you - it says here that you cancelled your operation because you felt a bit unwell

Me: No, the hospital cancelled my operation because there was no bed for me AND it worked out okay because I had developed a cold and the Sister said I wouldn't be admitted

Her: Yes, but we did tell you that your operation was back on again the following day

Me: Yes, and I still had the cold plus hadn't had time to prepare properly

Her: Oh dear. There's no new date here so we'll have to ring you when we know something

Me: Any idea when that might be?

Her: No sorry, no idea at all. We'll ring you when we know something.

So that's that then I guess. Sigh.....I have no idea how I'm supposed to remain positive about all of this whilst feeling totally in limbo now.

What happened next then....?

Okay, as you all now know, after successfully mentally getting myself into the 'right' place (at last) they then contacted me early Sunday afternoon and said 'Sorry, no bed so your op cannot take place this week'.

I also discussed the fact that I still had a cold with Sister J who telephoned and she said if I'd arrived there with a cold they would have sent me home without any hesitation for two reasons - my own safety during major surgery and afterwards (risk of chest infection/pneumonia) - also the safety of other patients on the ward who have seriously reduced immune function following their own surgery.

Monday morning Rab and I go off to do some things and we are out of the house from about 10am until approximately 2.30pm. By the time we get home there are 3 missed messages on the landline and a further 3 on my mobile (which I'd left at home on charge)

1st message - Hi Carole, could you give admissions a ring please. Many thanks'

2nd message - Carole, can you contact me about your admission please, this is quite urgent

3rd message - I need to speak to you now about your admission. You must now contact me immediately'

Similar messages left on the mobile....

So at 3pm I rang and said 'What's the problem and the urgency?'....

Answer 'Hello Carole, the surgeon wants you to come in now, as in, right now'....

I said that wasn't even a possibility as:

• they had cancelled the previous day,
• therefore my fortisip drinks (that were the previous week apparently so essential) to aid my recovery had not been taken,
• the pre-op drinks had also not been started (again 'essential to aid recovery'),
• the bowel prep should have been started by breakfast time and it was now late afternoon,
• my son had been informed the operation was not taking place now this week,
• and I have a lingering cold, blocked sinus' and headache and Sister had said I would be refused admission

Her answer?

'Well, Mr S wants you to come in right now for your operation tomorrow morning, he's not at all happy that we cancelled your bed and he wants you here. He will over-rule the Sister if necessary'...

(hmmm, not happy about that considering that Sister J was considering my safety and that of others - this now feels like a 'convenience exercise' e.g: you need to be here because his time is booked and your safety comes second to that)

My answer 'That's a shame, someone should have ensured that my bed wasn't cancelled then as right now I've moved into 'next time' mode and like I said I have a cold and nothing has been done that needed to have been done to ensure my welfare'

I felt so bloody stressed because firstly I'd got myself prepared then was told not possible this week and now being told 'back on again' as though it was for a minor op involving a 'local' not major 8 hr surgery involving a 'general'

They had me there at the hospital for my pre-op assessment two weeks before and as you know, it took from 10am to 3pm and left me completely overwhelmed with reading information and health information that was to be adhered to, so that my recovery could be as smooth and easy as was possible.

During this it was stressed to me over and over again that all the pre-op stuff was absolutely so essential to ensure complete recovery as quickly as possible - now suddenly it's all changed to 'None of that matters, just get yourself in here now' ....

Hell 'NO!'.....

So, I'm still here at home, and I'm now waiting for a new surgery date after I've shifted my cold and been given enough time to do the essential pre-op preparations.

The lady in admissions wasn't 'able' to give me a new date apparently - so I said 'That's fine, ring me when you sort it all out then'...

Grrrrr!

Trying to stay calm and in control of things only works when everyone works WITH you to ensure that happens.

Update on Operation

My operation has been cancelled for this Tuesday...NOT because I have a cold, but because there is no bed available for me.

I now have to ring the admissions department tomorrow morning and reschedule.

Will let you all know when the new admission date is.

At least it gives me a few more days to completely shift this annoying cold. I guess it was just meant to be this way.