Sweet Home....

Well, my precious little family is all safely back in the nest. Jude didn't get an Ambulance home. She didn't really need it, she has recovered so much. We did have to hang around, however, till1.30 for an appointment with the sleep lab. Jude's BIPAP mask doesn't fit so well any more, so they wanted to fit her with a new one, which they did. Its a neat mask & has a lot of features that are better than the old one she had, but as far as Jude is concerned, it has one major problem. You see, it has these protruding arms that stick out for the head strap to hook on to. It's fine if you sleep on your back, but she doesn't. She sleeps on her side with her head snuggled quite fetchingly into her pillow. if she does this with the new mask, the arms tend to push the seal away from her face. I rang the sleep lab on Friday & asked for the old one back & in the meantime have repaired her old one with string & surgical tape to get her through till the new one arrives.

The little dog was overjoyed to see her mum. bouncing up & down, wriggling, hooting, squeaking & licking. All items in her repetoire of joyous action. And so diplomatic. She spent the whole trip over with her backside on Jude's lap, her tum on a cushion on the center console & her head & front paws on my lap. Utter bliss for a little black Dachshund.

One of Jude's nurses there had a trainee nurse under her wing for one of her shifts. She asked me if I could tell them both a bit about Motor neurone disease, management of patients with it & care & usage of BIPAP machines. I'm always happy to advance the cause in any way I can, but I must say that it felt a little strange to be lecturing health care professionals in a hospital, even though I do know what I am talking about these days. I learned a lot while I was there as well. I have changed my attitudes towards things medical & have decided to learn as much as I can in the field. I have learned that at Waikato, if you come to ED as a non urgent patient, you can wait up to 8 or 10 hours to be seen. I have learned that despite the shortage of staff, our hospitals still have some of the most dedicated compassionate & caring people that I have met in a while. I have learned how to reset an electronic drip & work the hospital suction system. I have even learned how to sleep in a hospital Lazyboy. No mean feat I tell you.

So we're home. Jude got a bit panicky trying to get used to the new BIPAP mask & because I couldn't find the panic button for her life link didn't want to be left home alone, so I had to phone her care giver to come round while I went out & got a few groceries. I've since found the button & she has settled to her usual calm self. She even came for a walk with me this morning. Now all we both have to do is get used to feeding her 6 times a day & work out new routines around it.