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On Sunday I managed to get out with the bush walkers for the first time in many weeks. It was our regular walk starting at Point Walter, going towards Fremantle and back (11 kms in total). It’s ages since I did that much and I’m pleased to say my gammy knee survived. My surgeon was suggesting last year that a knee replacement might be on the horizon, but I seem to have successfully put that off!

A couple of pics from our morning tea stop at Bicton Baths:

There was a diving lesson in progress where the students had to rescue another diver, divest themselves and him of their tanks and get the three of them back to shore whilst the instructor timed them. What a way to spend Sunday morning!

In other news, JL is progressing slowly.  I read a few words in another blog, which hit the nail on the head when describing her own experience:

"So glad he's home. The most tiring thing next to being a patient is being the partner of one. Visiting, worrying, getting all kinds of medical information, it's exhausting. And the patient is naturally the focus, but the family tends to be expected to be superhuman! "

Support services come and go every day. There is always somebody here and it's difficult to get everything done in between times. The Occupational Therapist is trying to get him to do a few more things and asked him to make a cup of tea. He said: "Oh if you want some tea, Margaret will make us some!"  She wanted to know what else he did in the kitchen before the accident - not a lot!  The Nutritionist was here advising on diet to help put on weight and rebuild muscle mass. Actually, I already knew most of what she advised, but JL needed to hear it come from an expert before he believed it. She did say to buy some skimmed milk powder and to sprinkle this on other foods and we are already drinking Sustagen. I was shocked to discover he only weighed 65.5 kilos (a lot less than I do!) He ate very little in hospital; one day I saw him toy with a hot dinner and only eat the peas! I am now determined to see his weight increase.

We are still virtually free from the virus here in W.A., but any day now there could be another outbreak popping up. The hard border is being challenged in court by the too-rich businessman Clive Palmer, who was annoyed at being denied entry to the State. A letter to the paper expressed the feelings of many West Australians about this issue:  

This case demonstrates the sickness of our society. The current Federal government and the oligarchs they serve value profits over people. As a result, they are willing to support actions such as this, which, if successful, could put the lives of people at risk. The current crisis in Victoria has demonstrated how quickly this virus can spiral out of control, unleashing devastation to people’s health and livelihoods. If the border is opened we will undoubtedly see more cases and potentially a return of community transmission. This in turn will likely bring about the necessary return of the recently rescinded COVID restrictions that will likely bludgeon our recovering economy. Currently our state is a veritable Eden, one of the few places in the world where life is relatively normal. People move about freely and do not live in fear of the unseen menace. Children safely attend school, workers, if they still have employment, can continue to earn their crust, and the local economy can continue to heal. This is what is at risk if the border is opened later this year.
We were lucky with how this State handled the pandemic. By acting quickly and decisively on the border and implementing rigorous restrictions on the interactions in society we have avoided a future where we see full intensive care units, the isolation and deaths of our elders, being unable to attend our loved ones final hours, whilst also facing economic ruin. With this case, which we will likely lose, despite the State government’s best efforts, this darker future is once again looming before us. If and when this happens we must remember who was responsible for it: Billionaires who control the nation’s natural wealth and the politicians whom they help put into power to serve their interests.

At least, I've been able to get my hair done today.

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In today’s paper I came across an interestingly article. In June there were twice as many elderly people with hip fractures admitted to one Perth hospital as in the same period last year: 68 of them, average age 80. So JL is not alone. They attribute this to people isolating during the pandemic and taking less exercise than usual. Even reducing activity by a small amount can lead to some weakness developing. Now we know, and I’m constantly reminding my patient to get up on his two pins and walk about. 

The physio has lent him a new walker with wheels and a seat for going outside. It folds up to go in the car boot. We went to Como last night for dinner with C and E. We had been given a beautiful big fillet of Ruby Snapper, caught by the boys up in Exmouth and snap frozen. There are so many huge fish up there just begging to be caught, it seems. I made a favourite dish cooked in coconut milk and Thai spices:

For dessert we had an apple and cinnamon crostata, based on an idea from JN. I just used some frozen puff pastry from the bottom of the freezer: easy peasy. Rocky had a broccoli stalk, which he wolfed down without even tasting it. He doesn’t waste time savouring his food.

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Rehabilitation In The Home.

Being at home is obviously better than being in hospital, but it only works if there is an able bodied person to take care of everything. Looking after an invalid is very demanding on time and energy. There is a lot of support available, but like waiting for a bus they all come at once!

JL came home a week ago, with all the paraphernalia supplied free of charge, on loan from the hospital: walking frame, raised toilet seat, shower chair - and an incredible amount of paperwork. An Occupational Therapist came next day (Sunday) to assess the home for any changes to be made. She didn’t like the low settee or the low bed, as these are difficult to get up from after hip surgery. She went away to think about this; but she did send a man to put a grab rail in the shower (also cost free). I had already organised a plumber to come and install a hand held shower.

A Carer comes on Mon, Wed and Fri to help JL have a shower - always a different one unfortunately. By far the best visitor has been Ben the Physiotherapist. He really knows his stuff and just pushes JL to do a little bit more than he feels like doing. I am familiar with all the exercises from my own hip replacement a few years ago, and can look after things on days when Ben doesn’t come. JL can now walk around our small apartment and onto the balcony with his frame. We just need a few more nice days as it’s been cold recently.

He didn’t eat much in hospital and nobody seemed to monitor this, though they were absolutely obsessed with what came out at the other end (which was not  a lot!).  He came home with very little appetite, so I’ve been trying all his favourite foods. Last night, for the first time, he ate the same dinner as I did: Chicken Parcels with spinach and ricotta from Aldi, served with sweet potato and roasted capsicum. He will always eat a small bought rice pudding into which I deposit a few blueberries, and S has brought him some Sustagen. This tastes quite nice, but it will be too fattening for me, I imagine. Soup always goes down well at lunchtime, served with cheese and biscuits and then a mandarin orange. He definitely looks better than he did a week ago:

Madness at the Stadium

Last night there was an AFL match between Collingwood and Geelong. The two Melbourne teams have relocated here to escape Covid and are in quarantine in two hotels, one next door to us in Crown and the other in Joondalup. Collingwood players have been seen exercising in the fenced off area in front of us, some playing golf, others frisbee. They are guarded by two Crown security guards outside and another guy in a high viz jacket inside. The entrance to the hotel is all boarded up and blocked off to the public. I could see some of them playing table tennis or on walking machines. 

Last night’s game seems crazy to me. Ticket sales were capped at 30,000. This is half the capacity, but it’s still a big crowd to keep a social distance, especially when coming and going by public transport or when buying food and drink. There were supposed to be 1400 people employed to ensure that rules were complied with, but who knows? Both the Nurses Union and the AMA spokesman believed it was all a bad idea. It will take two weeks to find out. In the meantime another match is scheduled for Sunday, this time between our two local teams, Fremantle and West Coast. At present there is no community transmission of the virus in WA and there are 24 confirmed cases in hotel quarantine. All are returned travellers who have come in by air. But outbreaks are popping up everywhere in the world and I can’t believe it will not happen here.

I’m really pleased we managed to get away to Broome for a while and to enjoy a holiday without any thoughts of the virus. But seeing how busy JL’s hospital staff were on a normal day made me realise that it would be impossible to do their job AND cope with putting on protective gear against the virus and sanitising between patients. No wonder hospitals and care homes were cutting corners and allowing Covid to spread.

JL’s rehab

After a slow start, JL has made a lot of progress in the last couple of days. One problem has been the number of different medical staff looking after him. Every day it was a different nurse: not one of them white Australian. This is not meant to be a racist comment. It’s just that it was often difficult for him to understand their accents and there were so many of them coming and going. Some were good and others were useless! There was a definite hierarchy to be learned, so that a request for painkillers could be made to the right one. Then the key had to be found and authorised, which all took time to eventuate. Every day there was someone coming to check his cognitive function by asking him the date or the name of the Prime Minister.

The standout person has been Keely, the chief physiotherapist, who came to see him at Royal Perth and has attended to him every day at Bentley. She is now preparing to get him fit for coming home on Saturday or Monday. There is a well equipped gym where he has exercised every day, just enough to work his muscles till he is tired out. There are also several physio  students from Curtin observing and helping. He has lost 2 kilos in weight through the ordeal and looks very thin in the face. I will have to fatten him up with rice pudding when he gets home. He was sharing a room with a very nice man who has now gone home, but now has a single room with a view:

Virus news:

We are lucky in WA to be so remote, as a 2nd wave is breaking out in Melbourne, which has just been locked down for six weeks. This was apparently started with lax security guards at a quarantine hotel not following the rules. Here in Perth the few recent cases have come from inbound travellers returning to Australia from overseas. The government is now trying to limit these arrivals to 245 per week, spaced out to every three days. They always go into hotels for two weeks at our expense.

The powers that be have been exercised by worries about the AFL football league and how matches can still go on. Teams from Melbourne will come here for three weeks and remain in hotel lockdown except for training and playing at the Stadium. I don’t know how these young men can be trusted to obey the rules. This morning I noticed fencing being erected on the grass in front of us (the former golf course) and went out to investigate. A worker told me it was for Collingwood to train. Let’s hope they stay inside the fence!

 

Latest on man and dog

First, the dog.

His name is Rocky and he is 4 years old. He stopped racing in May and was given for adoption almost immediately. He had such a placid nature that he required very little training for a domestic environment. Yesterday he had surgery to de-sex him by removing his “crown jewels” and is resting today after the ordeal:

This is his dog bed in the living room. He is a big dog!

I took him out into the garden for a few photos. He is wearing the muzzle to stop him licking his wound. He also has to wear it on walks for the first month of being adopted and wears a purple collar to signify this. After that he gets a green one.

He is all skin and bone like JL, with no fat on him, so he wears a coat to keep him warm.

The Tacoma (or Orange Tree Creeper) in the garden is at its best just now. I have never seen it so prolific:

Now, the man.

JL was moved from Royal Perth Hospital yesterday to Bentley Hospital. This is a suburban hospital (with free parking!) and has a specialist wing for rehabilitation. His leg is still painful if they don’t keep up the medication, and the nurses need reminding. I helped him walk up the corridor with a walking frame this afternoon, but he was nervous about falling again. I’ll have another go tomorrow as it’s important for him to keep moving.

Geraldton to Perth

Rain was falling early this morning and Geraldton looked decidedly miserable compared to the usual view from the Ocean Centre Hotel. I ordered two poached eggs for breakfast, done to a turn. A truck was just outside the window; apparently it was pumping out the drains. After a period without rain, there is a danger of drains being blocked and water flows out everywhere, even into the hotel basement.

The good thing about all the rain is that it washed all the red Pilbara dust off my car. The rain finally petered out as I was driving through one of WA’s wildflower hotspots and I took a lot of photos, some at a lay-by and some at the Coomallo Rest Area, where there is a 15 minute circular viewing trail. 

Entry to walk trail at Coomallo.

Lots of drossera (sundew) with raindrops, sparkling in the sun.

Eucalyptus Wandoo trees with beautiful bronze bark.

I’ve a feeling it’s going to be a great wildflower season: watch this space!