For the time being it will short excursions to the back garden and back. What is nice is the "resident" Robin is always there to greet me. It looks like we are getting along just fine.
30 Nov 24
Wakeham
For the time being it will short excursions to the back garden and back. What is nice is the "resident" Robin is always there to greet me. It looks like we are getting along just fine.
For the time being it will short excursions to the back garden and back. What is nice is the "resident" Robin is always there to greet me. It looks like we are getting along just fine.
29 Nov 24
Wakeham
Well after 40 days and 40 nights, I have finally escaped the clutches of the Cardio Care Ward at Southampton General Hospital.
What should have been a "routine" heart valve replacement which would have seen me back home on 29 Oct, turned into a nightmare, when I ended up with 3 infections during my operation. Two were dealt with fairly quickly, but the third one proved to be very difficult to eradicate as the doctors just couldn't locate it.
Eventually after 5 weeks it was found in my left lung and so the process of dealing with it began.
Well it worked and here I am back at home!
And what looks like a patch of weeds, is in fact the wildflower patch, we I'm hoping will look pretty special next Spring.
Well after 40 days and 40 nights, I have finally escaped the clutches of the Cardio Care Ward at Southampton General Hospital.
What should have been a "routine" heart valve replacement which would have seen me back home on 29 Oct, turned into a nightmare, when I ended up with 3 infections during my operation. Two were dealt with fairly quickly, but the third one proved to be very difficult to eradicate as the doctors just couldn't locate it.
Eventually after 5 weeks it was found in my left lung and so the process of dealing with it began.
Well it worked and here I am back at home!
So for the time being it will be short walks, and today it was a walk to the bottom of the garden to see what was about.
And who should be there to greet me, but the overwintering Robin. Lovely to see and time for me to buy more mealworms for "him".
Somebody was pleased to see me. Treats tomorrow I promise!!
And its the 29 Nov and there re still one or two Large White caterpillars on the Nasturtiums.
28 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
Well the signs are really good that I might be going home today. I'm just awaiting confirmation from my Surgeon, and if he is happy with my progress, then Portland here I come.
So whilst I wait it will be a case of packing my bags and doing a bit of birdwatching on what is a pretty decent day.
Bird of the day so far was this Peregrine Falcon below as it flew east over the hospital.
Aircraft today:
......way from Gatwick to Espargos. More on this flight here
.....it's way from Birmingham to Malaga. More on this flight here.
Update
Well the signs are really good that I might be going home today. I'm just awaiting confirmation from my Surgeon, and if he is happy with my progress, then Portland here I come.
So whilst I wait it will be a case of packing my bags and doing a bit of birdwatching on what is a pretty decent day.
Bird of the day so far was this Peregrine Falcon below as it flew east over the hospital.
This is the Boeing 737......
....BY782 on its.....
This is the Boeing 737......
......Registration G-JZHX on.....
Update
I'm going home. To say I'm chuffed to bits would be an understatement.
27 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
Having seen off Storm Bert a couple of days ago, we know have the Dutch named Storm Conall heading our way with more gale force winds and heavy rain. More on this storm here and here.
The French Container Ship "CMA CGA Sorbonne" is still moored up in Southampton's Western Docks. More on this vessel here.
Having seen off Storm Bert a couple of days ago, we know have the Dutch named Storm Conall heading our way with more gale force winds and heavy rain. More on this storm here and here.
And this morning, as per norm around 6:30am, I was weighed and it appears I have lost exactly 2 stone since 20 Oct. Who needs Slimmers World 🤣🤣.
Fortunately nothing came about with Storm Conall and the rest of the day passed by, pretty quietly.
Ships today
I'm not 100% certain this is the case.....
......but it looks like the Passenger Ship "Arcadia" could be heading to the Western Docks.
And here she is manoeuvring into.........
26 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
What a lovely start to the day, with yet again wall to wall blue skies, though I suspect it was pretty cold outside, despite it being very sunny.
There were quite a few birds flying about, mainly Carrion Crows and Jackdaws, leaving their overnight roosts and heading off to their feeding grounds.
Also noted were a few Herring Gulls and two finch sps.
My futile attempt at photographing a passing Herring Gull. Two problems here, one it's silhouetted against the sun, plus I forgot to change the shutter speed from 1/250 to 1/500, which would have meant I wouldn't have picked up so much movement in the birds flight.
However there is another method of capturing a bird in flight which perhaps I should have adopted, and that is a technique called panning.
Not a method used that often, but one where you can use a relatively slow shutter speed, whilst moving the camera at the same speed as the bird. As long as you maintain continual focus and continually follow the bird, you can fire the shutter release button and hopefully have a perfectly in focus bird in flight. I will try and give it a go next time.
This is a Mexican Orange Blossom (Choisya ternata).....
.......a shrub I actually have in my garden back home
And these are......
....Greater Celandines (Chelidonium majus)
Not a plant, but a Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)
Another view of the gardens
Ships today
This is the French Container Ship "CMA CGA Sorbonne"........
.....moored up in Southamptons Western Docks.
25 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
Weather-wise you couldn't have had two such contrasting days. Yesterday's gale force winds and rain (remnants of Storm Bert) and today's wall to wall sunshine.
To try and get some oxygen into my lungs (doctors orders), I went on a venture this morning, after my 3 hour blood transfusion, and ended up in the Macmillan Garden. The garden sits in a void surrounded by 4 walls stretching several floors up.
To try and get some oxygen into my lungs (doctors orders), I went on a venture this morning, after my 3 hour blood transfusion, and ended up in the Macmillan Garden. The garden sits in a void surrounded by 4 walls stretching several floors up.
The entrance to the Macmillan Cancer Support Gardens.
Step inside and you are immediately surrounded by the walls of the 5 floors of the hospital.
Four work tables......
....a couple with seedlings coming through, another with pots of herbs and the fourth with a work to.
Here are a couple of photos.....
........of the garden.
A Smooth Japanese Sycamore (Acer palmatum).........
......A close-up of one of the remaining leaves
My initial thought was this was Fig......
..........but in fact it is the paperplant Fatsia (Fatsia japonica)......
...It also goes by the names of Paperplant, False Castor Oil Plant and Japanese aralia.
I think this is a Japanese Snowball (Viburnum plicatum japan). If so it is certainly a stunning looking shrub. More on this shrub here.
And me! Well today I had my blood transfusion from 7 -10am this morning and i have just started my second one, 17:30 -20:30.
And at long last it appears that the microbiology team have found the rogue infection which is in my left lung. That would certainly explain why I am continually short of breath.
24 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
Today was a big day for me, in that I visited The Feast Cafe within the hospital for a Full English Breakfast.
Yesterday's effort didn't happen as I was still asleep when I should have been on my way.
I've not had a proper breakfast since before 21 Oct, so I was pretty much looking forward to this.
Well I didn't spare the horses and ordered everything I enjoy for breakfast:
Sausage
Today was a big day for me, in that I visited The Feast Cafe within the hospital for a Full English Breakfast.
Yesterday's effort didn't happen as I was still asleep when I should have been on my way.
I've not had a proper breakfast since before 21 Oct, so I was pretty much looking forward to this.
Well I didn't spare the horses and ordered everything I enjoy for breakfast:
Sausage
Bacon
Scrambled Egg
Black Pudding
Tomatoes
Button Mushrooms
Baked Beans
My breakfast this morning plus a PG Tips cup of tea.
Unfortunately and I feel really bad about it, but future breakfasts will be Scrambled Eggs, Black Pudding and Toast/Fried Bread.
My taste buds it seems haven't fully recovered from taking the "nasty" antibiotic Rifampicin.
After breakfast it was a walk to WHSmiths to buy a Sunday Paper, to read about Tottenham Hotspurs fantastic win (Saturday afternoon) over last year's Premiership Champions Manchester City at City's ground.
There was not much going on outdoors with both the Passenger Ship "Ventura" and the Container Ship "Hanoi Express" still tied up in the docks. No doubt because of Storm Bert, still creating strong winds and high season in the English Channel.
This evening I have just learnt that my blood levels are low, and that I will be having a blood transfusion tomorrow morning. There's always something trying to keep me here!!!
23 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
Well it's on mornings like this that I'm very happy to be indoors regardless of where I am
Well the time was 6:30am and the sound of revalee revalee was ringing in my ears as Shawn, one of the nurses woke me up with "Martin, Martin it's time for your meds", distracted me from one of best sleeps in have had in hospital.
I digress, why was I pleased to be indoors, because all I could hear on the otherside of the ward window was a howling wind. And I mean howling!!!
A quick look on Google and it appears we have Storm Bert heading away, and tagged with a rare red weather warning. More on this storm here
It was so miserable I decided not go for Full English Breakfast this and stayed in bed. Tomorrow hopefully.
This is the weather in Portland Harbour at the moment here. And the latest from the Dorset Echo here.
Today I started my first round of my new antibiotic and which slowly dripfed into my body between 00:10 and 2:50.
Linezoid my new Antibiotic. Let's hope this one helps 🤞
I've never taken insulin before, but the powers to be deemed it necessary as after a traumatic surgery my sugar levels were all over the place.
So recently I've been taking 26 units of insulin in the evenings and subsequent sugar levels the next morning have registered sugar levels of between 4 to 6.
Ideally for me they should be around the 9 mark. And then the other morning I had a reading of 16.5 which was way to high.
Looking back I realised that the previous evening I hadn't taken my insulin, hence the high reading.
So not one to miss out on a bit of maths, I worked out that if zero insulin gave a reading of 16.5 and 26 units gave low readings of between 4 to 6, then 20 units in my calculations would hopefully result in this mornings reading of around 9, my goal for a good reading.
Well you can imagine how chuffed I was when my first reading of this morning was 9. Maths was the only "O-level" I ever achieved at school, but obviously a very useful one back in the day.
So everything was looking very good, until I had another sugar review a few hours later and the readings came back at 16.5.
A bit baffled by this I realised my antibiotics contains glucose monohydrate 🤣🤣. It looks like I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board again. 🤔
Note
If it clears up at all, there might be a bit more on today's blog later.
Not Southampton but a few photos from Dawn as she travelled to work this morning on Portland:
Chesil Beach from the top of New Road.
Chesil Cove
If it clears up at all, there might be a bit more on today's blog later.
22 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
Well I have resigned myself to the fact that nobody has any idea when my transher will take place.
The biggest issue is that though I am no longer on the very strong antibiotics "Rifampicin", but my temperature keeps spiking around 38°C, which is keeping me here in Southampton until at least Monday.
At least there was wall to wall blue skies this morning and two new vessels in the docks, visible" from my ward window.
Not the best of photos as I was looking straight into the sun.
Well I have resigned myself to the fact that nobody has any idea when my transher will take place.
The biggest issue is that though I am no longer on the very strong antibiotics "Rifampicin", but my temperature keeps spiking around 38°C, which is keeping me here in Southampton until at least Monday.
At least there was wall to wall blue skies this morning and two new vessels in the docks, visible" from my ward window.
Not the best of photos as I was looking straight into the sun.
As for wildlife it was just to bright for my eyes to spot anything apart two large Wasp sps. at the window.
Ships today
Aircraft today
This is the Jet2holidays Boeing 737-8AL registration G-DRTL.......
Ships today
This is the German Container Ship "Hanoi Express".More on this vessel here
And this is the Passenger Ship "Aurora", flying the flag of Bermuda. More on this vessel here
........on its way from......
........Nottingham to Tenerife. More on this aircraft here
Incidentally this travel company Jet2holidays will be the one Dawn and I will be using early next year when we head off to Alcudia, Majorca.
A carefully planned holiday right next to one of the top bird destinations in the Mediterranean here
Update
Well you don't get that much closer than that, as the Ambulance crew arrived to take me to Dorchester, after a change of heart by the hospital medical team when they decided I would be okay to be transferred.
Well with bags packed and me strapped onto a very comfortable stretcher, I was wheeled round to the nurses station to pick up my notes.
However as I was looking down the corridor I could see the young doctor, who had told me earlier that I was being transferred, walking very quickly towards me.
As soon as I saw his face, I knew what was coming!!!!!
Back into the ward and he explained that one of the top micro biologists in the country, having anylised my bloods from yesterday, realised I was on the wrong antibiotics again.
Moving to Dorchester without knowing what antibiotics I should be on would have been really risky.
So here I remain until sometime next week, with new antibiotics to be issued soon, which will be monitored over the next few days.
In fact I have just had my temperature taken at 16:30 and it was 38.4°C. And now we know why I'm not going anywhere fast.
Ps the Ambulance crew said this was the closest they had ever got to getting a patient into their Ambulance before being stopped.
21 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
After a change of antibiotics I was really feeling good. And in fact I was told that I could be transferred to Dorchester Hospital as early as tomorrow.
Unfortunately that all went out the window, when my temperature spiked at 38.5°C this afternoon quashing any hopes of getting closer to home.
After a change of antibiotics I was really feeling good. And in fact I was told that I could be transferred to Dorchester Hospital as early as tomorrow.
Unfortunately that all went out the window, when my temperature spiked at 38.5°C this afternoon quashing any hopes of getting closer to home.
20 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
I'm still feeling the affects of the antibiotics, so not really up to writing about anything I'm afraid.
I'm still feeling the affects of the antibiotics, so not really up to writing about anything I'm afraid.
19 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
It was not a good day as my temperature wavered between 38°C and 39°C. I was pretty much out of it for most of the day.
The reason I've been told is down to very strong antibiotics.
It was not a good day as my temperature wavered between 38°C and 39°C. I was pretty much out of it for most of the day.
The reason I've been told is down to very strong antibiotics.
18 Nov 24
Southampton General Hospital
Ships today:
This is the French Container Ship "CMA CGM Trocadero" which up until yesterday afternoon was in Southampton Docks. Here it is approaching La Havre. More on this vessel here
Latest
Latest news is that I will be returning to Dorchester Hospital and not Weymouth as it's too small.
And the transfer will be in the next 2 to 3 days.
Well after a lovely sunrise, the weather deteriated rapidly, with heavy grey skies overhead.
Other than the norm, a Magpie was the only addition to today's birds seen.
Ships today:
Today there were two new ships in the docks just south of the hospital. This is is the........
In fact there weren't two new ships, but three. This is the Liberian Container Ship "One Intelligence"........
.....and quite how I missed it this morning is quite bizarre considering how pink it is. More on this vessel here
Latest
Latest news is that I will be returning to Dorchester Hospital and not Weymouth as it's too small.
And the transfer will be in the next 2 to 3 days.
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