Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 8 December 2024

Thank you Diane:  

Niece was up to see BiL for a few hours  today.  He's still in hospital. She said the drive was awful even though she was driving from Bucks to Lincolnshire so out of the worst path of the storm.  I was expecting him to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility, but niece says they don't exist as such in the UK.  Is that the case?  They are talking about a care team, but we went through all that with my sister and it was less then ideal.....

Thank you Diane. I am sorry you have been so cold. 
Annette - here in my locality we have smaller community hospitals where patients are usually sent for further recovery and rehab. The one my friend from the assisted living went to was just the thing. 
I am pleased to report that I appear to have no damage to my property after the storm. Parts of the local town and the golf course are flooded. Llandudno pier has sustained substantial damage from what I see on Facebook. I was also lucky in that I didn’t get a power cut. The lights were flickering at one point and I got the candles ready! I have been for a short walk this morning to post my Christmas cards and round here seems to be OK. Hope everyone else in GB is OK. It was wild wasn’t it? 
Photo is from Facebook of Llandudno pier!!!! 

RUSTY  So glad you haven't had any problems with the storm  We have been fine thanks, nothing wild up here.

It was pretty wild here, but I can't see any damage from my windows.  I haven't ventured out for a couple of days - so will see and hear about any damage tomorrow.

Big news out of Syria this morning.  How quickly things can change!

Hi!  Hope everyone is recovering from any storm damage, power outages etc, and that we get a better week to come.

ROSY – Sorry about the wet floor – I hope you can get some compensation from the builders, that is very poor workmanship.  Good thing the handyman found the problem.  Probably best that your OH was safely in hospital with that going on at home, but sorry he had another TIA.

DIANE – thanks for starting the week so efficiently once again.  I hope you can take time out of hibernation for a while, otherwise it will make the winter seem so long!

ANNETTE – continuing care after acute hospitalisation is very poor in the UK – I hope your niece can get support from social work team and find care for her father.  Surprise news from Syria – wish more progress could be made elsewhere.

RUSTY – glad you are safe – we heard a lot about Wales on the news.  There were just minor road closures around here – mostly caused by fallen trees.

We are having a quiet day, but J seems fine and fully out of the sedation.  While his problem has been going on, news of elder Granddaughter has been worsening.  She was finally diagnosed with Crohn’s after about six years of symptoms.  She is badly affected with it and as well as all the steroids is having biological therapy.  This weekend she is in hospital for surgery – and will probably need a bowel resection in the next year – don’t know about the long term after that as I am not sure which are the worst affected parts of her colon.  She is in her very early thirties and is head of chemistry at her old school - luckily this is the one who still lives near her parents.

OG - I am sorry to hear about your granddaughter. However, if it is of any comfort, my niece had and has really bad chrones. She was so ill she couldn’t sit her finals at uni. She did sit them the following autumn. She had a very major operation and has a permanent stoma. She has since got married and has had a beautiful daughter. She holds down a full time job as a vet and lives a full and active life. The only symptom I see of the chrones is that she feels the cold and is always well wrapped up. I tell this story to give your granddaughter hope. 

Annette - I'm so upset about the news from Syria.  I spent time looking at Crusader castles there some years ago, and covered a great deal of the country.  I remember walking the streets in Aleppo and thinking what a beautiful city it was, full of white painted buildings and so clean.  I also visited my first - and so far only - proper Turkish (Syrian!) Bath which was ... interesting.  On the tour we also visited Homs and Damascus before going out into the desert and right across to the far south-east border overlooking the Euphrates.  A fascinating country, the people were so friendly and the history incredible.  And now we look at our television screens and see nothing but rubble ... how can the people come back from that?  So very sad ...