![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
...I'm inclined to think that the Indians were on to something.
Going from Skopje to Vienna and back within a mere twelve hours feels sort of disturbing. Just not right, somehow. Besides, I'm really not overly fond of flying -- not afraid or anything, but being squeezed into a small space with not-so-nice-smelling people and at a temperature that's always more or less subtly wrong, plus the dry air... It's really not my cup of tea, and less so if it has to be endured twice on the same day.
That notwithstanding, it was definitely worth it. You ought to have seen the look on my mum's face, when I called her (while standing right outside the door to her hospital room) and asked, "Is this a good time for talking?" and, when she replied in the affirmative, said, "OK, then it's also a good time for visiting -- brace yourself, I'm going to come through that door now!". She was very surprised and very, very happy.
The situation isn't really conducive to enthusiasm, but neither is it horribly bad. Or rather, it wouldn't be so bad if, after she gets out of hospital, a few changes were implemented in my parents' everyday life, such as: installing a stair lift, making use of the excellent social services their municipality offers, and -- most importantly -- my mother taking good care of herself.
Her main problem, or I rather ought to say symptom, is anaemia. Right now, they're trying to figure out what's causing it -- the most probable reason is constant, low-grade internal bleeding. If that's really the root of the problem, the only viable option is constant therapy, because either one can't do surgery anyway or, if it is possible, she wouldn't survive it.
Then there's the morbus Raynaud, for which there are treatment possibilities; unfortunately most of them can't be applied if there's internal bleeding... That's a bummer, but she could alleviate the symptoms and arrive at a bearable level, if she limited standing on her feet to a minimum. (Because, due to Raynaud -- and possibly also age and anaemia -- the blood supply in her feet is insufficient, which means that even minimal pressure leads to necrosis of the tissue there and, as a consequence, the tissue being rejected by the body, i.e. open and horribly painful sores. Therefore, special footwear and insoles plus standing for two hours maximum would really help).
Fortunately my brother is going to try and arrange a meeting with social services and my father, in order to drive home the necessity of changing things. Not that I have much hope for positive consequences, but maybe a miracle will happen, who knows.
Since the flight back to Skopje was a late one (arrival shortly after midnight), I took today officially off work, which enabled me to sleep as long as necessary, arrive at work around 10.30 to deal with the visa stuff, and then I'm going to bugger off again around 1 p.m. The 2,5 hours I sacrificed will be used for leaving work early this week, so nothing's lost, and the visa applicants can't complain.
I went to bed around 1.30 a.m. and woke at 7.30, so I'm feeling pretty chipper and will be going to the gym later on.
Oh, and to finish this post on a slightly whiny note: those of you who aren't yet approaching menopause, pray for science to make some spectacular discovery re. controlling hot flushes before you do. They say that regular exercise keeps them somewhat at bay, and I really don't want to imagine what it would be like if I didn't exercise. I don't get many during the day, but more in the evening, and I usually wake up once or twice during the night because I'm suddenly feeling as if I was a white-hot piece of metal. Not life-threatening but highly unpleasant. Even so, there's light at the end of the tunnel: Janine told me that cupping (is that the correct word? It's bleeding, using heatened glass vessels) has made her hot flushes disappear completely, so I'm certainly going to try it the next time I'm in Austria.
Going from Skopje to Vienna and back within a mere twelve hours feels sort of disturbing. Just not right, somehow. Besides, I'm really not overly fond of flying -- not afraid or anything, but being squeezed into a small space with not-so-nice-smelling people and at a temperature that's always more or less subtly wrong, plus the dry air... It's really not my cup of tea, and less so if it has to be endured twice on the same day.
That notwithstanding, it was definitely worth it. You ought to have seen the look on my mum's face, when I called her (while standing right outside the door to her hospital room) and asked, "Is this a good time for talking?" and, when she replied in the affirmative, said, "OK, then it's also a good time for visiting -- brace yourself, I'm going to come through that door now!". She was very surprised and very, very happy.
The situation isn't really conducive to enthusiasm, but neither is it horribly bad. Or rather, it wouldn't be so bad if, after she gets out of hospital, a few changes were implemented in my parents' everyday life, such as: installing a stair lift, making use of the excellent social services their municipality offers, and -- most importantly -- my mother taking good care of herself.
Her main problem, or I rather ought to say symptom, is anaemia. Right now, they're trying to figure out what's causing it -- the most probable reason is constant, low-grade internal bleeding. If that's really the root of the problem, the only viable option is constant therapy, because either one can't do surgery anyway or, if it is possible, she wouldn't survive it.
Then there's the morbus Raynaud, for which there are treatment possibilities; unfortunately most of them can't be applied if there's internal bleeding... That's a bummer, but she could alleviate the symptoms and arrive at a bearable level, if she limited standing on her feet to a minimum. (Because, due to Raynaud -- and possibly also age and anaemia -- the blood supply in her feet is insufficient, which means that even minimal pressure leads to necrosis of the tissue there and, as a consequence, the tissue being rejected by the body, i.e. open and horribly painful sores. Therefore, special footwear and insoles plus standing for two hours maximum would really help).
Fortunately my brother is going to try and arrange a meeting with social services and my father, in order to drive home the necessity of changing things. Not that I have much hope for positive consequences, but maybe a miracle will happen, who knows.
Since the flight back to Skopje was a late one (arrival shortly after midnight), I took today officially off work, which enabled me to sleep as long as necessary, arrive at work around 10.30 to deal with the visa stuff, and then I'm going to bugger off again around 1 p.m. The 2,5 hours I sacrificed will be used for leaving work early this week, so nothing's lost, and the visa applicants can't complain.
I went to bed around 1.30 a.m. and woke at 7.30, so I'm feeling pretty chipper and will be going to the gym later on.
Oh, and to finish this post on a slightly whiny note: those of you who aren't yet approaching menopause, pray for science to make some spectacular discovery re. controlling hot flushes before you do. They say that regular exercise keeps them somewhat at bay, and I really don't want to imagine what it would be like if I didn't exercise. I don't get many during the day, but more in the evening, and I usually wake up once or twice during the night because I'm suddenly feeling as if I was a white-hot piece of metal. Not life-threatening but highly unpleasant. Even so, there's light at the end of the tunnel: Janine told me that cupping (is that the correct word? It's bleeding, using heatened glass vessels) has made her hot flushes disappear completely, so I'm certainly going to try it the next time I'm in Austria.
