All done

Hi everyone  the cardiac  surgery  is done.one LONG stent in my left anterior descending  artery. Bit hard to type on my phone. It went well
 Compression  on my right wrist.have to be careful not to do anything with that arm for a few days. Will update  more tomorrow  meantime greetings  to all ,
.. Jean

Here until I get my wings!!!

Hello everyone, I am so heartened by all your loving and caring words,thoughts and prayers.
The treadmill test went well, I didn't have to climb Mt Everest, just a small hill. Nothing remarkable showed, at least that is what I thought, but an ECG later in the ward was positive for whatever they are looking for. So I will be flown to Wellington for an angiogram when the cardiac team and theatre can fit me in.
Meantime I am not allowed to go home,and am so thankful for all the wonderful care.
How things change, on Saturday thought I would go home later that day.
I tried to save a pic of the bigger regional hospital but that failed.
Thank goodness for an iPad in here.
I am slowly catching up with all your news both here in NZ and way up north.

So we, the 4 ladies in this room,have decided we have tunnel vision after 2 days. Apart from medications ,dr visits,nurses rounds,I can look out the window and see through the clouds the mountain,same one in my header photo.
Quotation of the day
" like a block of good cheese taking time to mature, all things happen in their own order"
Greetings from Jean.

Same place,nothing new.

hello everyone,thank you all for words of care,love and encouragement. The angina has gone for today,maybe the words"treadmill stress test" have scared it off, or the fact that I have out on a warm singlet under the very spacious open air gown and baggy panama pants.meds have been altered and added to, again, the tummy jabs are finished for now. The lovely consultant said if the ECG under stress shows nothing,they will send me home,If there are changes, I will go to Wellington,maybe an angiogram. I miss my fabric to look at,my machine to sew a few stitches, and am so humbled by you all by who care so much.Hugh is coping OK, I think,cats are missing me, close by friends are offering help galore.
Again, no pics to share, if I get familiar with an iPad might master the next process.
Meantime, I rest as told,m will run as fast as I can and see what's next.
Quotation of the day... from our GP a while ago...

Be thankful for every morning you put two feet on the floor

Greetings from Jean..

Guess where I am??

Today started early  with an ambulance  trip to ED, and then things went very fast. I am now in a medical ward and will go to Wellington Hospital  for an angiogram,maybe fly down.will keep you updated or get Hugh  to do a post!! That is one thing I haven't  suggested yet,but have been throwing out the odd suggestion... dishwasher  washing  machine etc. So far my heart is behaving itself in here but all hooked  up to wireless monitors. Thank you all so much for  the comments the other day.typing this on my phone  so if there are any errors, please  excuse them. Greetings from Jean.

And so the days continue

I look at the world news, and cannot understand how the violence can carry on.We all hate what is happening, and the way to cope is to combine with love and friendship.
A while ago I saw a lovely wall hanging over at    Kathleen McMusing 's blog, and she very kindly sent me the pattern. I made one, and  now I have seen another one in different colours, will do it all over again.Later on, when life is somewhat back to normal. 

This was fun to do and even more so when it was all stitched. Thanks so much Kathleen for sharing your " Mountains" with us.

Meantime on the home front,  Sunday was a re-run of Friday, again very high blood pressure, and our trusty local ambulance arrived in THREE minutes. Two delightful men in green, and off  I went  in the green and yellow ambulance . This time the doctors decided to keep me in overnight, I shared a room first with a tiny  lady, a dear soul of 99, very deaf, and in so much pain after a fall, ribs not good, they transferred her to a ward that could give more care about 8 p.m. then the next lady arrived, 99 also, blind and deaf, and so thankful for all the staff did. A night filled with regular blood pressure checks, and  Monday morning a visit from the specialist on the  next rung up the ladder. It seems that he thinks there may be changes  ( More calcification maybe) in two arteries, so has scheduled a nuclear scan. This is a lengthy process, dye into a vein, wait, then have a resting scan,  then wait, then a stress exercise, and then the radioactive isotope goes in, while you pedal, go on the treadmill, or they give you a shot of  Dobutamine, that makes your heart race!!! All the time the ECG shows what is happening. BUT,  no coffee for the day before or on that day, no tea either.

So I was told to take the next two weeks slowly, not a problem as the changes in my meds have dropped the blood pressure to my boots!! A check up with my GP, and see how I go.

I am thankful for what our daughter calls " The Army" who arrive regularly, housework now all done as I sit and watch, kitchen cleaned,  another top-up  of firewood arrived this morning and two more friends with willing hands and strong bodies will stack that away. One  more photo, my addled brain cannot edit and straighten a totally crooked pic of the wood!!! 

Thank you all so much for your so caring words and loving thoughts.They mean so much. As our breakfast girl said on  the  morning Television Broadcast, returning to work after her unborn baby died , all the comments on Facebook and Instagram meant so much to know so many cared and shared their own story, 
" Love conquers all"
Quotation of the day, from my autograph album, written by a friend in December 1953

 " Life is mostly froth and bubble,

Two things stand like stone,

Kindness in another's trouble,

Courage in your own" 

Greetings from Jean

What have I been doing lately????

 The days seem to whizz by, and now we have some restrictions lifted, can venture out further. We had a day trip to Taupo, some 3 plus hours north, and while Hugh was at the hobby shop, I strolled across the street to the Bernina shop that had some new to me batiks.After all, a gal can always do with more.

Sandra over at  mmm quilts has given us another fantastic quilt along. this year it is called " Centred" and that is what we all need to focus on, wherever we live.
My flimsy is done, and when I started this, had a totally different colour selection. However the dark fabric ran out, so I decided on the current teals and blues.

This is not as Sandra had hers, the darker teal  strips dividing off the outer blocks was to be white, but I didn't have anything pale enough, so chose to go the other way.

This is the first lot I did, and maybe one day will add to them and have a second "Centred".

I do like blues and greens, but the pink is a good change.

Then, as you need to have another project on the go, I have this dinky pattern, called  " Online Company"

My little friends have to have their antennae added, and some eyes, but it is fun.

Then a while ago, I read about a legacy blog hop as a tribute to a wonderful lady, Paula Budinger. There were quilts made, donated, stories told, and a place for a comment. Then, my name was chosen to receive a quilt pattern of my choice from Joanne up at  Canuck Quilter Designs.After some hesitation, I picked " Eclipse Sky" and have some batiks laid out already. Thank you to all those who donated quilts, who donated to the giveaways, and who told their memory of Paula. 

Friday, a hiccup in my day, it started off as usual, coffee, emails, blog, then put a load  of laundry in the machine. Then it all went south in a hurry, chest pain, not able to breathe, blood pressure so high, , you know when the systolic is over 200, and the diastolic over 100, things are NOT good at all, so off in the ambulance to ED. The usual ECG, blood tests, nothing to eat or drink, second blood test, and a small dose of morphine as the pain persisted, then a jab in my tummy of ( new to me )   Clexane, to prevent a clot maybe. I think by then they were looking at a heart attack and maybe a transfer to Wellington, not saying much!!!However the BP came down, I felt slightly better, and was allowed to come home, still in PJ's and dressing gown ( Hugh had come over, brought his lunch but no clothes for me!!!) I had to go into the pharmacy in that attractive get-up, to explain the new meds, as the DR altered the dose after it was faxed.

All is good today, the sun is shining, I am going very slowly, BP is behaving, and coffee never tasted so good.

Quotation of the day, author unknown

" You don't miss the water until the well runs dry"

Greetings from Jean

Centred , near the end of a lockdown

We are nearing the end, maybe ,of a total lockdown,  a move to a lower alert level,  and some shops are gearing up to be open to the public again.  Real coffee, fabrics??? Clothes maybe, and able to drive further than our own very local area.
Meantime, I have been busy with the next set of blocks for the Centred Quiltalong with Sandra over at mmmquilts
The blocks and quilt  Sandra has done is in blues, and is stunning.

This yearly event is always wonderful, and no exception even with the virus hovering, lockdowns in so many places, and there will be more joining in  once they can go and get the fabrics they need. I used what I had here, and my batiks have again been so lovely to sew up.The gaps will be filled with the  final 4 blocks, I placed the deep teal strips to see if that suited, as white was not in my stash, and too pale against my palest strips.

This does look blurry, maybe my eyes are blurry too right now.

All is well, I might be brave and do an actual real life grocery shop this week, the online one is fine, but sometimes items are just not there, but in fact are on the shelves. Our local supermarket is very particular about sanitising trolley handles,  our hands when we go in and leave, no bags allowed, put everything into your trolley and then into the bags at your car. We are so thankful for every precaution we have to follow. 

Nothing exciting is happening, the cats stay healthy, and snuggle up close to the fire at night.

Quotation of the week, author unknown

" Long  distance is a  test of our true inner spirit,

resilience, loyalty and love"

Greetings from Jean.