Health and sympathy for horses

Hooh, boy. Miss Eagle sure does feel sorry for the horses. You see, dear and gentle Reader, your correspondent has been, for about the last ten days, battling the 'flu. Way back in April, I had my annual 'flu injection. This is always a good protection and I rarely get a sniffle. This year was different.

Herself, though, tells me to stop grumbling. People have died of the 'flu this year, she reminds me. And this is true. There have been a number of infant deaths in and around Melbourne due to the 'flu. There have been frail and elderly people stricken with it and hospitalised and died. As for me, I have felt just one step away from the hospital door.

I am writing to-day, so I must be feeling better. But you see, there's no telling. How many days have I arisen with optimism in my heart and mind only to be feeling deathly ill by nightfall. I say to Herself that I have done my best to keep going. She replies that she thinks I should have hidden quietly in a darkened room and things might have been better much more quickly.

I look out the window and there is my neighbour across the street on a ladder cleaning her windows on the outside. As I'm looking at this there is the slow heavy whirring of the street-sweeping machine directing its mechanical energy to cleanliness too. Oh, such energy! Where is mine! I feel like inviting my neighbour over for a well-earned coffee break - but she has a baby and young ones. It would not be a fair thing to invite her into my germ-laden presence, now would it?

Over the last six years, my life experience has been one of off-and-on poor health. I have come to loathe the time it consumes from my otherwise active life - time that one never gets back. Upon recovery, one plays catch-up doing the things one would have done if one could have done. Then one tries to pick up what one was doing when so rudely and crudely interrupted. That piece of craft, knitting, cooking, the book which has been too heavy to hold. And all the while rebuilding life's little routines.

At least at the moment we are getting plenty of sunshine. Everything is so much gloomier and depressing when it is day after day of rain and cloud. I hope I feel like eating properly soon. At the moment my comfort foods of Arnott's Scotch Fingers and big glasses of milk are dominating the eating cycle. This cannot continue!

Miss Eagle takes a turn for the worst

Well, dear Reader, this week has hardly measured high on the enjoyment richter scale. You see, Miss Eagle's health has not been good over the last twelve months because of a recurrent and persistent ailment. Last Tuesday, matters took a new twist, a turn for the worst, and the result was admission to the Angliss Hospital. These photos are the result.

Here is the patient in bed:
This was the getting well gear: a saline drip with lots of antibiotics injected into it.
Breakfast was simple. The food is very limited. Standard Australian Diet (SAD by abbreviation and SAD by nature) cooked without salt and neither salt nor pepper provided. Why not a salt substitute? Why no other herbs or spices? And how do they get mashed potato to the consistency they do? Scorecard? Someone, somewhere can certainly do better.
There was no nice print on the wall nor an interesting poster. The wall decor consisted of a clock - to watch time fly, no doubt:

and this. Should it be named Modern Hospital Installation? Exciting, do you think?
Thanks to Mother Nature and some large window space, one wall afforded the opportunity for some beauty. Wednesday was grey, but Thursday was beautifully sunny and the Dandenong Ranges National Park enchanted me once again.
The focus became the Bedside Table
Some good reading and a journal to express Miss E's thoughts and feelings took care of quite a bit of time,
as well a lovely magazine
writing about home decor.

Thank you to the wonderful medical, nursing, and radiological staff. Miss E particularly appreciated the hardwork of the Emergency Department staff under the leadership - at least as far as Miss E was concerned - of Danny Ben Eli. A girl can still fall in love with a doctor, can't she? And she had two roommates during her stay - older single women like Miss E, namely Jenny and Henrietta. Miss E hopes they are, quite literally, on their feet soon. And Miss E was pleased to see Lois - part of her community of faith at St Thom's, Upper Gully - who is on the chaplaincy team at the Angliss.

An adventure on the journey of life.

Miss Eagle's good friend, Jim Phillips of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, was diagnosed yesterday with bowel cancer. Miss Eagle asks for prayers for Jim - particularly as his work, business, and family life have to be sorted out to enable him to seek treatment interstate.

In the Territory there is a saying: Get a pain, catch a plane. So next Thursday Jim is on a plane to Brisbane.

Tennant Creek (pop. 4,000) and Alice Springs (pop. 25,000 and five hours away) is not the place to deal with something as serious as this. Jim's dearly beloved, Sylvia, keeps the admin part of the business going. An excellent supervisor keeps the real work going. We need prayer so that Sylvia can be relieved of her admin duties - which are vital to the sustainability of the business - to be with Jim in Brisbane.

Jim and Sylvia walk and work closely with God day by day in every way.

Please be with them as they journey with Him on this adventure too.

A little green tea - for the body and the soul.

Dr Robyn has recommended green tea for faulty immune systems. Now Miss Eagle is not the biggest tea drinker in the world. In fact, her tea drinking would not even register a blip on anyone's scale. However, she does like green tea. So, thinking Dr Robyn's suggestion a reasonable idea, Miss Eagle is trying to introduce this to her morning regimen.

With you, Denis

A good blogging friend, Denis Wilson, is facing a personal challenge at the moment. Mention of it is woven into his beautiful blog, The Nature of Robertson. Denis loves this planet, especially that part of it around his home at Robertson in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. At the moment, he is not at home. His challenge is happening in our national capital in a Canberra hospital. Please direct kind thoughts, positive energy, prayers and an angel or two to Denis. And, Denis, some flowers for you.

The Journey after Lapbanding - 6

Readers of The Trad Pad will know that back in December last year Miss Eagle had the gastric lapbanding operation. She is the third person in her extended family to have this operation done. Below is a comment by a member of her family, a young man in his twenties, who has had the operation too. Miss Eagle thought readers might find his remarks of interest and, perhaps, helpful.

The difference the band has made in my life is remarkable. The only downside is I now get gas, which is just a side effect of my digestion process being slowed down. If you ever get this problem, which I’m told is reasonably common, I suggest a product called Mintec. It's just peppermint oil in a capsule, but it's a bit of a miracle cure for me. The freedom to indulge my love of clothes and shop where I like has been wonderful, and the difference in my fitness is amazing. I'm training for a marathon at the moment, not something I would have ever even conceived of pre-band. I rarely get sick anymore, I had a minor cold early last year, but that's all, I used to get flux and chest infections at the drop of a hat.

It's not just that I eat less, I find myself mentally better equipped to make different food choices, I don't have the same appetite for heavy food that I used to, and enjoy fresh veges more than I ever thought I would.

The difference the band has made in my life is remarkable. The only downside is I now get gas, which is just a side effect of my digestion process being slowed down. If you ever get this problem, which I’m told is reasonably common, I suggest a product called Mintec. It's just peppermint oil in a capsule, but it's a bit of a miracle cure for me. The freedom to indulge my love of clothes and shop where I like has been wonderful, and the difference in my fitness is amazing. I'm training for a marathon at the moment, not something I would have ever even conceived of pre-band. I rarely get sick anymore. I had a minor cold early last year, but that's all. I used to get flux and chest infections at the drop of a hat.

It's not just that I eat less, I find myself mentally better equipped to make different food choices, I don't have the same appetite for heavy food that I used to, and enjoy fresh veges more than I ever thought I would.

Food has become something that on one hand I don't care about anymore and on the other care deeply about. I no longer care much about the fat content or how 'fattening' food is anymore, because I know it's not going to put on weight. On the other hand I have become quite passionate about the quality of my food, I have no issue if something is dripping in cream, just as long as it's high quality cream sourced from an ethical dairy. The guilt of eating something like that in the past meant that I couldn't care less what the quality of it was, just the quantity, now that the guilt and loss of control are gone, I can focus on really enjoying it. I no longer see food as good or bad, just high quality and low quality.

Skinny and white

Maybe I'm the last person to know about this, but I was gobsmacked when Herself brought home to-day White Glo toothpaste. The front part of the package, the one you see on the supermarket shelf, makes no claim about what this toothpaste does to and for your teeth - but it has two names because it is also referred to as Crave Away appetite control toothpaste. It claims to help "suppress appetite and reduce food cravings" through a homeopathic formula. Apparently, the formula works because it

is absorbed into the bloodstream through the lining of the mouth as you brush your teeth. The unique ingredients send a signal to your brain indicating "fullness" and assisting in suppressing appetite and good craving! After brushing, you don't feel the urge to eat as much!

If this really, truly works we will have to change our habits.

Don't brush after meals, brush before.

The Journey after Lapbanding - 5

Yesterday was the day of my first adjustment to my lapband. Adjustments happen periodically. This means an injection in the upper part of one's abdoment of water into a "port" that is connected to the lapband. The addition of water tightens the lapband. Conversely, the lapband can be adjusted by the removal of water. Following the operation to insert the lapband, no water was inserted. So this first adjustment was the first insertion of water. I had 4mm of water inserted. The process is a matter of trial and error to ascertain what suits the individual. To ensure that it was not too tight, I was first given a glass of water which went down OK. Then I was given a tiny tub of yoghurt. That went down all right. The whole purpose of the exercise is to ensure that the individual does not get hungry under about four hours. I return two weeks from to-day for a second adjustment. This will be followed by a further assessment six weeks from then to decide if I need a further adjustment. My understanding at this stage is that after that I will probably have to discern for my self when I may need further adjustment.

A couple of aspects of the visit were dismaying. My scales are big dial type scales. They tell me that I have lost approximately 20kg. The scales at the clinic are digital platform scales. They tell me that I have lost approximate 12kg. Now a kilo or two's difference would be understandable - but that much?! I am reminded of what Oprah says: The scales aren't my friend. My measurements were taken and while they had declined slightly it was well, er slight. However, my clothes - which everyone says is the best guide - are getting much looser and I am getting back into clothes that were tight. Even got into a new pair of shoes yesterday. Well - they were new three or four years ago - and have never been worn. In recent times my feet have been swollen. They are no more and, of course, the feet are getting skinnier as the rest of me loses weight. So off I went to the clinic yesterday in a blouse that I had not worn for a while because it was too tight and uncomfortable and in the new shoes - which turned out to be probably the most comfortable pair of new shoes that I had ever been in. Felt really good!

So the story continues. Will let you know what happens after the 9 Feb visit.

Technorati Tags Lapbanding Weight Loss

The Journey after Lapbanding - 4

There's a smile on my dial this morning. I have got out of bed this morning feeling really great - how long since I felt like this? The bed's made, the washing is on. Will pop over to the National Park soon for a morning walk. How 'bout that? Thank you for the good wishes. I needed them.

The Journey after Lapbanding - 3

Have been pretty darn ill. Was freezing cold for three and a half days and eventually warmed up on Sunday afternoon! Have been into the surgeon to-day. The cephalin seems to be working and the infected site is shrinking but to be on the safe side he has - to this time - written prescriptions for three courses of cephalin. He also prescribed Dia-Gesic this afternoon and this has made a bit of difference. As I write at 9pm, I am feeling much better and much clearer.

Sean the surgeon seems to think that it is a combination of factors: the inadequate caloric intake (this is what this is all about); the impact of the infection in such a situation; and he says that sometimes people do bounce out of hospital like me only to be struck low some days later. He says they don't understand why this happens. I have another ten days on the liquid phase and then I move on to the pureed phase which I am then on for a month. Then the day before Australia Day on 25/1, I have my first "adjustment" which is adding/withdrawal of liquid to/from the port that is connected to the lapband. This governs how much and what can be eaten. Of course, in all this I am losing weight. 15kg in about the last six weeks.

The Journey after Lapbanding - 2

A hiccup in proceedings. Woke up this morning feeling lousy and a lot of redness about one of my five keyhole wounds. A phone call to the clinic's Nurse Practitioner, Pam. This was followed by a call from Desley at the surgeon's office at the Epworth at Box Hill to come in straightaway. Infection - but thought to be only superficial. Big hitting 500mg antibiotics and back to the surgeon's Fitzroy office on Monday. So that's why the sad face.

The Journey after Lapbanding - 1

This will be brief. I came home from hospital last night - a little early because my progress was so good. I had no pain - just some discomfort in my tummy. Everyone was amazed that I had requested no pain killers since some women have morphine drips! My little Chinese nurse Mae checked my patient notes when she came on yesterday afternoon and quizzed me through a list of pain killers which I had been allowed - none of which I requested. There is still some discomfort. I believe this is mainly due to my innards being swollen because of the interference with them during the laproscopic surgery. The operation was straight forward. The recovery has been straight forward. I am on fluids now for the next two weeks. Then for the four weeks after that I will eat only pureed food. The purpose of such an extended time is to give things time to heal before putting solid food in which might stretch the tiny new stomach. The major surprise is with my diabetes. The surgeon said it would resolve itself within 12 months. But I have not had a Diabex tablet since Tuesday night and my reading a few moments ago was 4.6 (I'm usually somewhere between the high sixes and mid sevens). I had checked last week with my GP about what would happen with the diabetes medication. It was decided to play it by ear - so by ear and the seat of my pants I'm playing it.

The journey to Lapbanding - 6

Zero hour is nigh. The suitcase is packed and I am all but out the door en route to John Fawkner Hospital at Coburg. What will happen to my tummy is pictured at right. I have lost 8kg. Only 1kg in the last week. The 7kg were shed in quite dramatic fashion in the first week. This makes approximately 12kg since I first went to the clinic. Since Saturday I kept strictly to the fast. So hopefully there will be that little extra room in the tummy for the surgeon to do his stuff. People, hopefully, will see a little less of me in the future.

The Journey to Lapbanding - 5

To-day I really broke harness. Lunchtime was a binge. I was ravenous. Lunch comprised a grilled chicken breast with lemon juice(the single breast, not the double), two tomatoes, sliced and grilled, and onion rings grilled. Previously I have spread that equivalent of chicken over two days. But as if this was not enough, I had entree. A 220g tin of SPC Baked Beans!

Never have baked beans tasted so sweet. Putting them on to heat, I spilled one and picked it up and put it in my mouth. Heaven!

Altogether, lunch was quite delicious and quite satisfying. I have made a resolution. While I will be eating far less in the future, I want to make every mouthful delivious and beautiful.

The Journey to Lapbanding - 4

The weight continues to drop. A further 4kg. Have now lost 11 kg.

The Journey to Lapbanding - 3

Lapbanding lunch
with the off-limits chicken,
vegetables, and my home-grown herbs.
That's Schweppe's Diet Ginger Ale in the glass.
Would be better with some Jim Beam in it.

The Journey to Lapbanding - 2

I may never eat a Crabapplie Cupcake again. It will depend. You see, you can't eat bread - at least white bread. It turns into unpassable sludge. So we will have to see. Since Tuesday night last week I have been on Optifast. Optifast is for low calorie weight loss. It comes in different flavoured milk shakes, tomato soup (don't like it), and a chocolate dessert. The idea is to take it three times a day for two weeks prior to surgery. This is because many people having the operation have a "fatty liver". The low calorie intake for two weeks is to deal with this and lose the fat. The purpose of losing the fat prior to surgery is to give the surgeon more space to work - remembering that this is microsurgery.

My experience has been mixed. After a couple of days on Optifast I was quite ill. Wouldn't have dared to drive the car. On and off the loo. I think it must have been a detoxification effect. That's all I can think. Sunday afternoon my sister, J, rang. She had the operation two years ago. It was a welcome call because I was able to discuss the Optifast situation. She said she didn't do it. (Herself's friend, Nicole, hadn't either and gave me her unused Optifast). She said if she could have done that for two weeks she wouldn't have needed the surgery. She finished up giving her Optifast to "Smokin'" Joe Kilroy, formerly of the Brisbane Broncos. So together we planned some intervention - on the basis that the surgeon would not be too fussy how I lost the weight as long as I did. The intervention has been boiled eggs in the evening (they seem to have clogged me up - and the anti-cholesterol tablets will have to work harder!) and the addition of a small amount (125 g) of chicken to the veges that I am able to have as part of the program. So I do a very nice dish for myself using water in the bottom of the frying pan instead of oil which involves chicken, onion, tomato, mushrooms and cabbage flavoured with fresh herbs from the garden and a little salt and pepper. This I do for lunch. I have the Optifast in the morning. I may not bother with the egg to-night - and have Optifast. All this means much less time at the loo, more energy, and more normality. My GP said yesterday that she thought I was dehydrated. I said that I was keeping up the fluids but she said, more than likely, the body wasn't absorbing the fluid and it was passing right through me.

The result of all this is that I have lost 7kg in a week (too fast my GP says) and my blood sugar has declined to previously unseen levels. The start of things to come, I hope.

The Journey to Lapbanding - 1

John Fawkner Weight Loss Surgery

The journey began with a referral from my female GP who is supportive of the idea of lapbanding for me and my health situation. So began my first meeting with Sean. There are quite a few hurdles en route to acceptance for the operation. So it's on to Pam the Practice Nurse via Lou the wonderful receptionist. Pam gives detail to Sean's broad outline. She weighs me - adding a few kilos to my bathroom scales! Then over the next week or two comes the Physician, the Psychologist, the Dietician. As well there has been a Barium Throw and a Chest X-ray. For almost the first time, I went through all these medical and allied health therapists without any of the patronising manner or bossiness which makes for more guilt and lots of naughty schoolgirl feelings. A fortnight before the operation I saw Sean for the last time before the Big Day. This was mainly an "informed consent" session spelling out the risks which, to me, appear to be bearable. This was also the day I receive my Optifast...........(to be continued)

Fessing up and facing reality

I have added a ticker to The Trad Pad. Counting down to my Lapbanding Operation. No, I really don't look like that sylph like creature drinking champagne in the sidebar. Age and Diabetes II (for which obesity is a causative factor) make it very difficult to lose weight. In addition, I am in a place where psychologically I feel calorie counting is beyond me. I feel that the diabetes will move further up the scale unless there is some intervention. So, after thinking about this for a very long time, I am having the operation. If you want to know more about Lapbanding go here.