That Was the Week That Was

“Hi Mark, how are you?” I asked as we hugged on my arrival to stay with our friends for the duration of Rob’s hospital confinement.

“Agitated at the moment,” came his troubled reply. ”Luca has brought in a bird and I hate it when he does that.”

“What sort of bird?” I asked as deep chocolate shiny coated Luca lay stretching and satisfied in a beam of sunlight on the living room carpet.

“A dead bird,” we both enjoyed the humour of that remark.

We had last seen Andrea and Mark for a long weekend a few months ago having met them on a shared afternoon swimming with spinner dolphins in Niue. Since then our life has been taken over by Zoonie’s flood and Rob’s health issues. As you know Rob’s month on antibiotics came to an end on Friday 18^th August. At the same time work on Zoonie was finished and as she was restored to full working order so the full extent of Rob’s problem was coming to light.

During his month back on board he had occasionally had dizzy, sensory episodes sometimes lasting just a few seconds. On our weekly visits to the District Nurses we mentioned these incidents but they didn’t seem to be worried and never suggested we report them to the doctors. They seemed minor to us and maybe to be expected and neither of us like to make an unnecessary fuss.

Walking back down from the Lookout towards the marina on Sunday 20^th Rob had veered to the right a couple of times in an otherwise energetic walk that he managed well. By this time he was still physically fit but with a sterile bacterial vegetation on his faulty mitral heart valve.

Concerned, he phoned Dr Harriet Pengelly while she was at work at the hospital on Monday and after describing his symptoms she quietly said, “You need to come straight back to the hospital.”

Further tests revealed the antibiotics had done their job but the vegetation flap, which measured 2cm x 6-8mm, was mobile and only attached at one end, all ready to break away and cause havoc in Rob’s system, a ticking time bomb.

On the Wednesday I followed Rob’s ambulance down to Auckland City Hospital although I never did catch up with it and followed the driver’s direction, given to me as Rob was prepared for the trip, “Take the Port turn off and then Wellesley and you come up by the hospital.” Perfect.

Rob was installed in Ward 41 in the biggest Cardiac Unit is Australasia and ‘Boris’ became his medical consultant. It seemed we had to start all over again on the thinking about whether or not to operate. Boris felt the best outcome would be removal of the vegetation and repair or replace the valve but his team were toying with the idea of further antibiotic treatment using penicillin.

On Thursday we were disheartened by the indecision and shared our exasperation with Mr Wong opposite, (two Wongs don’t make a White, sorry) who came from Hong Kong three years ago to run a Take Away just north of Whangarei. Time came to order lunch and the orderly suggested Chinese chicken to Mr Wong, “Oh no it does not taste like real Chinese chicken, I have roast chicken prease”.

He had the visual effects of cellulitis on his leg, deep maroon discolouration and peeling skin and was awaiting a similar operation to Rob on his heart.

The next morning, Friday, Rob had just had his visit from Boris with no real progress on their decision making, when we enjoyed a coffee and shared a piece of cake. Suddenly Rob complained of dizziness and blurred vision and I pressed the alarm button. The nurse took on board the problem and disappeared and soon Boris returned, “My team has decided an operation is the best option as there is no point in continuing passive treatment when there is the risk the vegetation will give off more harmful particles at any time. We have a space this afternoon, have you eaten since breakfast?”

That piece of cake delayed the operation by a few hours but within minutes of the decision Rob’s chest and ‘other’ hair was being shaved and we were being rushed through the pre op briefings. Rob’s occasional odd sensations were for the first time referred to as mini strokes.

The time flew by and soon I was sitting in the waiting area outside the four operating theatres while Rob was having that life-saving op. Dr Parma Nand had introduced himself to us as Rob’s surgeon and set to with his team for what turned out to be a three and a half hour op. I awaited his call passing the time playing games on my phone, solitaire, Sudoku, wordsearch and Mahjong.

Andrea and Mark arrived to sit out the remainder of the wait with me and soon the call came. The operation was straightforward, the vegetation removed and the valve repaired, perfect, the best outcome, Rob’s own valve had been stitched and secured within a permanent Dacron band that would maintain its size so it could open and close properly. Out of the top 10 Cardiac surgeons in the world Dr Parma ranks number two, and he was also nominated the best dressed man in NZ in 2016!

During the night I slept in my room in Andrea and Mark’s home while a few members of the 130 highly skilled nursing team in the unit attended Rob and Rebecca was pleased that Rob was the first post op patient she had nursed after his arrival only to send him on to the regular ward within the same shift. Rob was being progressed through recovery at the same rate his body was repairing itself and as he was so fit that was rapid progress.

The next morning, Saturday,  I did my usual 40 minute walk to the hospital, up Rose Road in one of the oldest Auckland suburbs full with pretty Kauri homes, along Ponsonby Rd, I asked Andrea if she shopped there but the prices are too high, left by the Mobil garage onto a long road with an equally long name which is shortened to ‘K’ Road. It used to be a down trodden area but now that so many people walk that route to work and with business investment it has become a very popular place to eat and socialise.

Grafton Bridge is a screened elevated road that spans a valley over a major road, a cemetery full with folk who knew the old Auckland and a view down to a small section of the extensive waterfront. Only pedestrians, buses and bikes can use the bridge in the week and I spent much time wondering how to get the car to the hospital, bypassing the bridge, for when I would be collecting Rob in a few days.

Plugged in to the radio on my phone I merged into the crowd, lost in whatever programme was on and my own thoughts.

Rob was sitting in his bedside chair the morning after the op looking bulldozed but happy “I woke up and that was a bonus.” He was rigid with tubes after an op where machines enabled him to breath and his blood to circulate via external means, his heart stilled for the procedure. Well it would have to be wouldn’t it, when you think about it. Budump, snip, budump snip just would not work.

The visiting hours were a little stricter in post op recovery so for the quiet time from 1.00pm to 3.00pm I wandered round the corner into a lovely park and up the hill to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Standing with ones back to the entrance the views over Auckland and the bay are spectacular and as I always think, the best views are free.

The museum itself is a lively place with regular performances from Maori and Pacific Islanders in the grand foyer. A super children’s area where not only youngsters can learn all about the science, history and natural history of the world and southern hemisphere in particular. Just the top floor is dedicated to New Zealand’s role in the World Wars.

Opposite Rob was toothless Peter who giggled a lot, wore green toed socks and was the best company. He recovered from a serious illness just a year ago and was amazed when his white hair grew back curly. Boris whizzed into his area drawing the curtain as he did so for a conspiratorial chat in private. “Peter, only one of your arteries is still functioning, I do not understand why you are still alive!” We listened, concerned that he would pull through for his Geordie wife, children and grandchildren.

Twenty one year old Robby, from the Cook Islands was born with a heart defect and was finally going to have his op that would hopefully give him a chance at a normal life. “So what do you do on your island?” My Rob asked.

“I work on unloading and loading our supply ship, it comes once a month(!)” His mum and aunty came in with him, both wearing spectacular headbands. One had a base of white flowers and the other red, and both were spiked with white and green grasses, so stunning were they that Rob and I complimented them separately on how lovely they looked.

Both had their operations cancelled for just 24 hours due to two patients in ICU taking longer to recover than planned. This is a unit that can do 8 heart operations every day, it is a well organised mover and shaker, restoring health to seriously ill folk and giving them years more useful life. We hoped it worked out that way for Peter and Robby but we never saw them again because on day 5, Wednesday, for Rob he was discharged, both of us having been given extensive notes on his recovery and having seen videos on how to deal with the gradual healing process and the effects of Warfarin to prevent any blood clots forming on his internal stitches.

Most people leave hospital about a week after the op and make life changes concerning diet and exercise. The day after his release Rob walked a circuit from Andrea and Mark’s, which included a gentle hill. In the afternoon I pressed the Uber app I had just installed on my phone and two minutes later Rasheed collected us in his electric car and took us to the Maritime Museum for less than half the cost of a taxi.

A classic case of ‘if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em’ they are giving the over-priced taxis a run for their money and many taxi drivers are joining Uber, the rest just complain about it. Like so many NZ museums we could have spent a whole day there but the photos will tell the story.

After we were done we sat on the terrace of an Italian Restaurant supping wine and tucking into a shared crème caramel with antirrhinum blossom and relishing our new found freedom.

Another enterprising Uber man drove us ‘home’ for our final evening with Mark and Andrea where it was my turn to cook. The tempeh and black bean chilli done with Andrea presented Rob with a chocolate cake and one candle to celebrate so much, the saving of Rob’s life and our stay with dear friends on the other side of the world from home were appreciated one hundred percent.

So on the Friday, a week after Rob’s op I drove us back to Whangarei where we now languish in The Distinction Hotel and Conference Centre which I suggested to the insurers was on the flat and easy walking into all the town facilities for Rob. From our ground floor window overlooking the marina we can see Zoonie moving minimally with the wind and tide, itching to travel, like us.

I go aboard to run the engine, turn the props, sort things out and collect items for our use, but the Registrar at Auckland Hospital, Dr Elizabeth Robinson told Rob he was not to go on board because of her perceived ‘falls’ risk. “FOR SIX WEEKS, YOU MUST BE KIDDING!” Rob nearly hit the ward ceiling, so I asked for a three week compromise and we got it, along with cover for the costs from our travel insurers.

The authorities are now looking into whether we are actually entitled to medical cover under The Acute Reciprocal Agreement between the UK and NZ under the status of Ordinary Residence in the UK while we are circumnavigating. Watch this space………..