Full Steam Ahead

We've had a busy couple of weeks. Well, that's my excuse anyway & I'm sticking to it. For the first time probably ever , Jude & I spent Easter apart. I had some work to do for a dear friend that she couldn't help me with, so she went up to Auckland & spent some wonderful quality time with her children & grand children while I did what I had to do & went up Tuesday to overnight & collect her. Which brings me to my first animal observation. Her daughter has a small back Shi Tzu puppy. he is a bit of a disappointment to them as he isn't the lap dog they wanted. If Kobe lies down with his head on your foot then you are indeed privileged. So the little chap has developed an affection for Jude. Just loves her in fact. Loves her so much that nobody got any sleep til about 4.00 Am on the Tuesday night. In the end, we brought him into our bedroom & put him up on our bed. He promptly snuggled up to Jude & happily went to sleep. Strange indeed are the workings of a small canine brain.



This weekend gone we spent in Waikato Hospital. Jude got kitted up for a VPAP machine. It looks a little like one of those budget bagless vacuum cleaners that a certain red chainstore sell. I would guess that it's probably worth substantialy more though. She now wears a mask to bed that provides a slightly pressurised supply of humidified air to her that is available on demand. Once she gets used to it, her sleep will be a lot more refreshing than it has been. For some time now, her breathing has been very laboured & she has had to sleep more than usual to get her rest. The difference in her respiration so far is remarkable.

Which leads me to my second animal story. This is Fattums, one of the Ginger Ninja's performing her latest self imposed duties.

She has taken it upon herself every night now to supervise Jude when she goes to sleep. While Jude is reading or watching TV she will curl up at the foot of the bed very patiently. As soon as Jude makes her go to sleep preparations, she comes up & sits on the pillow. There she will stay until she is satisfied that her precious Mummy is asleep. Then she quietly goes off back down to the foot of the bed & goes to sleep. This worked fine right up till the first night Jude used the VPAP. Then it was, " OMIGOD MUMMY YOU'VE GOT AN OCTOPUS ON YOUR FACE..... GETITOFF GETITOFF GETITOFF I DON'T LIKE IT, MAKE IT GO AWAY...." Up until last night that is. You see the mask has a vent on one side as a combination exhalation valve & excess air vent. There is a reasonable strong current of nice cool hydrated air comes out of it. So what did I see? One little ginger cat sitting up on the pillow with her head in the airflow obviously enjoying the fresh air. A bit like having your head out the car window without all the stress & trauma of having to actually go in the beastly thing I guess.

This is a picture of Jude's flash new toy.
Pretty flash Huh? Pat Simpson, our guardian angel come Neurology Nurse also arranged consultations with all sorts of ologists & icians while we were there so we have come away with fresh optimism & abilities to cope with things like diet & such. So onwards & upwards I guess..