Beyond the Itch.

We are back aboard our floating magic carpet, Zoonie and things are getting back to normal. Rob is on his hands and knees masking the varnished floor ready to prepare the wooden cabin surround, from the floor to the seat cushions, for sanding and varnishing. The flood water has taken its toll on the thin layer of varnish that is left on the surfaces, which is probably around 28 years old, so the time has come to re-varnish.

Still not allowed to hold more than one and a half kilos in each hand the final sanding with our newly acquired flat sander will be down to me and then we can both tackle a side each for the fun part.

Our team work has developed over the years, letting eachother do what we know we each do best and sharing the tasks we both enjoy. The pleasure we take in eachothers’ company is not to be taken for granted, instead we value it and celebrated the fact last Monday with an 8^th Anniversary meal I mentioned in my last blog. Marriage is a bit like an oyster and the gritty bits can be covered with tolerance and understanding to make pearls of wisdom and in our case, humour, mostly anyway. The itch has become a mutual tickle and through Rob’s illness we have learned even more about eachother.

I really admire the way Rob has sensibly pushed himself, following all medical advice, back to being his normal self. I didn’t need to do much beyond the odd suggestion about light activities. He was an easy, smiling patient for the medical staff which helped them to be very open with us on what was going on. Their policy of short hospital stays appealed to us both pragmatically and philosophically as Rob knew he would heal better out of hospital and he was better and more quickly able to return to his pre-op level of fitness the sooner he exercised in the fresh air and let his body rest when it asked.

This is from Rob, the printable bits, “You were positive like me, and your caring nature towards me reminded me of how you used to look after your mum. You were stoical, if that’s the right word, and the way you are reinforces how we are good as a pair.” As an afterthought “and you always remember to ask the questions I forget, with your enquiring mind.”

I have attached a couple of photos to show the repair work that was done on the mitral valve of Rob’s heart. The two bacterial vegetations were big, one measured 2cm x 6-8mm with long filaments floating in and out of the valve and the other was only slightly smaller. We have no idea how or when Rob contracted them, I asked a junior surgeon if there was any way they could tell the age of the vegetations but he was unsure. We have an appointment with the Infectious Diseases consultant tomorrow and I will ask him.

We will also ask why Rob still gets the occasional dizzy spell and sensation around his mouth, rather than worry in silence.

It is quite possible the heart bacteria caused the cellulitis, or maybe the opposite is true. However the cellulitis became evident recently whereas the bacterial growths may have grown over a longer period of time.

One photo shows a support band has been stitched permanently around the valve to help it function properly and we discovered it is made of dacron, the same fabric as Zoonie’s mainsail! A material link.

Naturally Rob has had many blood tests taken since the op and they are ongoing. Cutting bone (his sternum) releases all sorts of chemicals into the blood system including Potassium, so these have to be monitored. Also as he is on Warfarin he has a test every three days to decide how many tablets to take. One of these tests showed a disturbed liver function so on the 8^th Sept we both came off alcohol. Today Rob has been advised his liver function is normal again, amazingly how quickly it recovers eh.

We had to really think yesterday on making another batch of home brew as having alcohol on board is just a temptation, jury’s out on that one! Another policy would be to just drink when we are entertaining, so Sue at Whangarei Marine Services says “You’ll be doing a lot of entertaining then!”