A cold and bleak late afternoon in the Big Smoke. We are comfortably resting inside a shared room at the Mount Hospital. Earlier, the air-conditioning was a tad on the cool side, but some engineering boffin has raised the temperature and now the space is nicely warmed.
We left Heavenly Beverley in the pitch dark over twelve hours ago. After a consultation with the Boy Wonder last Wednesday, we decided to bite the bullet and subject Michael to a third operation on his troublesome right wrist. This was today's mission, hence the early start as we had to be present for cattle call at six thirty this morning. The trip took all my concentration, however we saw no kangaroos or other stray animals, much to our relief.
The good news was that Michael was first on Ben Kimberley's list, so I kissed him goodbye at eight thirty and immediately segued to breakfast at the hospital café. The wait until he returned was tedious and boring, but I was able to keep track of his progress in theatre and thence into recovery. He was eventually delivered back with both arms bandaged about eleven fifteen.
The left ring finger has been untriggered and the screws removed for his right wrist, along with some more chiselling of his troublesome ulna. We are hopeful that once the initial post-operative pain lessens, he will finally be able to use his right arm with more purpose and less discomfort. That is the plan anyway...
I hadn't realised quite how stressed we'd become during the last four days. At least we didn't have to prolong the agony. A cancellation made Michael's sojourn into theatre possible and I also thank the universe for our private health insurance that means we never have to wait on the public list.
Even so, hospitals are not our favourite places and we are always nervous ever since a so-called specialist nearly killed Michael back in April 2014. But, due to my "Pollyanna" tendencies to focus on the positive, Michael's horrendous lung abscess was subsequently treated by Scott Claxton, who remains Michael's respiratory specialist and has just taken on Alex as a patient. I wonder if we qualify as "repeat offenders" for Scott's care.
We have left the dogs and kittens in the tender ministrations of Gem and Adam, also known as Mister and Missus Meataxe and who have a fetish for their festy Festiva off road racecar. These two thirty somethings are in the process of moving permanently into a little cottage in Beverley named Windward Retreat, along with their cats Boofhead and Ranga. They kindly volunteered to leave their cats to their own devices at their cottage to look after our menagerie for the night. Ranga is, naturally, a pretty ginger cat whereas Boof closely resembles Adam with a shock of black fur and a physique similar to a Sherman tank. We are very grateful to Gem and Adam and also wish to thank their cats for lending us their parents for tonight.
If Michael's recovery is routine, we will then look forward to hosting our winter Sundowner at the East End Gallery on Saturday 5 June. For no particular reason, we have decided on a pirate theme and expect plenty of wooden legs, parrots, blackened teeth, corsets and piratey costumes with more than a few "AARGHs" as the evening progresses. If you are coming, the theme is voluntary and please bring a plate and bottle to share. East End Musos - best Jack Sparrow impersonations...This Sundowner promises to be a ripper.
Following our Sundowner, we will then have a month to get Digger the caravan shipshape before we head off for the wilds of the Deep North. We hope to get as far as the De Grey River, after spending my sixtieth birthday in Onslow. Then we intend to fossick our way southwards in due course, including a reasonable length of stay at Marble Bar. We look forward to meeting kindred spirits along the way. Those of us who are thrilled by the outback Pilbara, Gascoyne, Murchison and Mid West are an unusual breed. We tend to develop maniacal gleams in our eyes discussing our fossicking and are often overcome with joy by the sight of yet another old tip...
A quarter past six and now black outside once more. Each passing minute brings us closer to going home tomorrow. Dinner has come and gone in that unique hospital timetable. All going well, the Beverley Hillbillies are looking ahead for our next adventure.
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