Hospital.

After the excitement of Sunday due to the Colo-Prep, hospital was almost an anti-climax. Left home just after 5am Monday, and travelled down the N2 highway heading east to the small town of Howick just over 70km away.

A friend of mine had come to stay overnight, just on a whim,  and was on her way home to Durban so she gave me a lift. I can't say that I was scintillating company on Sunday, but fortunately the Italian leprechaun popped over from his cottage with a bottle of red wine and they had a great time together, while I watched with a jaundiced eye between dashes to the throne room.

Arrived at the Howick private hospital at about 6am, (you got the money honey, and they've got the time), fortunately I have a very good medical aid, (insurance) otherwise I could not afford their services). Was in the ward by 6:30am, all dressed up in that gown (short) that laces up at the back, even Houdini could not fasten them, just for modesty's sake they also gave me a pair of blue paper bloomers, (I kid you not). When you go to hospital leave your dignity at home.

My turn in theatre was scheduled for 11 so I lay there in this fancy dress for almost 5 hours. At about 10:30 a nurse walked into the ward and casually remark that she had come to give me an enema, (talk about insult to injury) told me to turn on my side and proceeded forthwith. She didn't even have to open the gown at the back, just pulled down my paper bloomers. I said to her that fortunately she did not have to do that too often, at which she said, "some days I do 10 - 15 enema's, by the end of the day I feel like an arsehole." Then took her instrument of torture and left, saying on her way out, "try and keep that in for at least 10 minutes". I had to pull up my own bloomers.

At 11 I was wheeled into the theatre waiting area. Theatres aren't what they used to be, no glaring white tiles but soft muted colours. A very pretty theatre nurse came up and said, "Hi, I'm Christy and I'll be assisting Dr during your operations." (2 operations and a colonoscopy) Then the surgeon arrived and together him and Christy pushed my bed over to the operating table and invited Invited me to get on. The Dr proceeded to set up the drip through which the anaesthetic would be administered. Then the anaesthetist, whom I'd met earlier in the day, came and stood at my head and started doing her thing.

Looking up at the theatre lights above me I noticed that they were starting to go blurry, the anaesthetist looked down at me and said, "nighty night", and I was out like a candle. Next thing I was awake, wide awake, and saw the doctor standing at the end of my bed looking at me and saying, "all done, went very well, will come and sign you out tomorrow". Hemorrhoidectomy, lesion removed from left calf, and hardly any pain, and no nausea, and 10 minutes later I was having a nice cup of tea in the ward.

The care I received in this hospital was 5 star, just out of this world.

Next morning the doctor came to sign me out, seems for the hemorrhoid operation a new technique was used, thus the very little pain, and I now have titanium staples in that delicate place, talk about "hard arsed", they will eventually dissolve. The colonoscopy showed nothing abnormal, and I got the pathologists report on the lesion this morning, and they say no sign of cancer or any other abnormalities.

Colo-Prep.

Last post I promised to tell you more about my medical saga over the last couple of weeks. Here is the bit about Colo-Prep the laxative from you know where.

First though I must tell you we had our first spring rains last night after a long and very dry winter.

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Pear tree blossoms. Took this photo this morning after last night rain.

Well, last Sunday at 2pm I took the first of two sachets of Colo-Prep. After breakfast I was not allowed to eat any solid food and no milk products, only clear liquids and jelly. By 2pm I was rather hungry. Forty minutes later nothing had happened and I was just starting to think that this stuff is not all it's cracked up to be when I felt a slight twinge and decided I better make my way to the throne room.

Got there just in time, to say it works is an understatement, the bottom literally falls out of your world. On the sachet it say's that your stool will be watery, truth be told Noah could have floated his ark. After about 10 minutes I thought," well I survived that", did the necessary paper work, buttoned- up, zipped-up, and belted-up, and made my way back to my favourite chair and the book I was reading.

I didn't sit long when the warnings started, well now I had to head for the throne room at a gallop and only just made it in time. So it went all afternoon, at 4pm just as things were starting to calm down I had to take the second sachet, and it started all over again till after 10pm.

I was told to drink lots of water while all this was going on, which I did, glass after glass, but next morning when I signed in at the hospital I had lost 4kg, that's about 9lbs!

More tomorrow on this exciting saga.

Fishing.

Fishing? What fishing? I haven't been fishing since April of this year and I'm like a drug addict who hasn't had hi "fix". School closed last Friday for a short 10 day holiday, end of our third term. I had it all planned, days on small streams in the Drakensberg, lots of photos of mountains, rushing streams and all the trout I caught. Only problem is while you are making plans life happens.

Since my bout of septicaemia and four days in hospital I have been as fit as fiddle and into a very strenuous training/fitness programme, shedding kilogrammes in the process. On the inside of my left thigh I have always had a small discoloured patch of skin hardly noticeable, somehow this patch became infected, (insect bite maybe?) all my efforts to clear up the infection proved ineffectual. Eventually I decided to see my doctor about it, he had a good look at it and decided the infection was caused by a tick bite. Medication was prescribed and he told me to come back in ten days, after the infection had cleared, and he would use nitrogen gas to burn off the lesion which had changed to a very dark colour.

Ten days later I was back in his surgery, infection gone, to have the lesion removed, the doctor had one look and said in a horrified tone, "I'm not touching that thing, you have to see a specialist surgeon" and phoned to make an appointment for me. Four days later I was in the specialists surgery who looked at it and said, "no problem, I'll cut it out right now under local anaesthetic, but first I want you to strip and get on my examination table so I can check the rest of you for similar lesions."

Well he was very thorough, he checked for other lesions, found none, checked me for hernias, found none and told me that the family jewels were still where they were suppose to be, which was a great relief, imagine if they were missing! It's the only part of the family fortune I have left.  Then he told me to lie on my left side and pull my knees up to my chest, then I heard the unmistakable snap of a rubber glove being pulled on, horror of horrors.

Without further ado he stuck his finger where no real man likes having fingers stuck! "I always check patients over 50 for colon cancer" he said. While he was working down there he muttered, "mm haemorrhoid's, been there a long time too,'' "Yes" I said "and a pain in the arse they are,".  "Then they must go, he said, do them next Monday morning along with the lesion under general anaesthetic".

A while later sitting at his desk he started asking all the usual medical question and family medical history. When he heard that my father had died while still recovering from the anaesthetic after a colon operation for cancer he looked at me and said, "so Monday it will be lesion removal, haemorrhoidectomy and colonoscopy, get it all over and done with."

So next post more on this exciting period of my life, first will be last Sunday, any one ever hear of Colo-Pred, the laxative from Hell. (works like a bomb though!)

Pets at ease.

These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago one evening after supper.

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From left to right, Lady, Sissy, and Tombi taking their ease, Bruno had already crawled under the duvet on my bed.

Cat the cat taking his ease as only a cat can.

The Italian leprechaun taking his ease, with a wee dram. Do leprechaun's qualify as pets? Italian or other wise.

Sunset on speed.

Yesterday's sunset was edited just as these were. We have amazing sun sets here in Africa but not quiet that amazing.
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The sun was setting, then it took speed.

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The original. After that's downhill all the way.

Stairway to heaven?

To heaven?

 Or infinity?

Who cares!

Freaked out sunset.

Freaked out sunset over the Drakensberg.

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We have lots of that magic weed growing here in the Drakensberg, prime stuff I'm told by those who know. Looks like the sun has taken a puff or two.

Dogs, a weed and last light.

I've been neglecting my blog lately, been reading a lot, plus my exercises take up a lot of time. Decided I need to get fit and into shape so that I can fight off illnesses better. Lots of walking is part of my exercise regime and the camera goes along.

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Enjoying the wide open veld. Bruno left front, Sissy on the right and Tombi at a more sedate pace.

Just a another weed, but what beautiful flowers. This photo needs to be enlarged, the low angle of the setting sun lit up all the detail perfectly.

Last light, just a golden sky to show that the sun was here today.