Oh Dear! My health hit another bump in the road on Christmas Eve while we were in Sydney.
I was diagnosed by a sequence of doctors with a thrombosis (blood clot) in my left shoulder. This caused a rather visible swelling of my arm and hand. Fortunately, Doctor AbdullahOmari - a vascular specialist at the prestigious St Vincent's Private Hospital - thinks it's not threatening. Less fortunately, he put me on two more drugs, one a fairly powerful blood thinner. This supplements an existing blood thinner prescribed by specialist Dr James Leitch to help me adjust to the defibrillator. The two doctors are going to consult about this overlap when they can find each other - a downside to our extended Christmas / New Year holidays.
Worse still, he banned me from flying for at least two months! You've heard of deep-vein thrombosis suffered by some unfortunate airline passengers. He's worried that flying might shift my clot. Anyway, the treatment is working and my swelling is going down.
This means a few more train trips. We returned to Armidale last night after a 9 hour trip from Sydney. Two events made it rather longer than usual: track work along a 15k stretch of line near Sydney and what may have been a suicide attempt. The driver slammed on the brakes about 30 km south of Armidale because some woman was lying across the line. He stopped short, but had to summon the police to investigate and they took quite a while to travel the 15km to the remote site (no road nearby). Meanwhile family members removed her and presumably took her home - we saw them driving away.
Have a happy new year everyone.
AS
Saturday, 29 December 2007
Thursday, 20 December 2007
Feeling Groovy
Well, I'm still deluged by expressions of concern and sympathy coming in from all over the world. Only one of them had me dead!
I am steadily feeling stronger and should be able to travel to Sydney at the week-end the slow way. We're taking the train at Dot's insistence and are travelling first class, which is quite cheap with our 'seniors' discount. In fact, we get on free trip anywhere in NSW every year by being seniors, but we're holding that in reserve.
Meanwhile, my health continues to improve and I've gone back to playing bridge - successfully.
We wish readers a happy Christmas.
AS
I am steadily feeling stronger and should be able to travel to Sydney at the week-end the slow way. We're taking the train at Dot's insistence and are travelling first class, which is quite cheap with our 'seniors' discount. In fact, we get on free trip anywhere in NSW every year by being seniors, but we're holding that in reserve.
Meanwhile, my health continues to improve and I've gone back to playing bridge - successfully.
We wish readers a happy Christmas.
AS
Saturday, 15 December 2007
Thanks to Well-Wishers
I would like to thank profusely all the people who have sent me get-well cards or encouraging messages by email. They are much appreciated and involve a large number of countries on four continents. It's nice that so many people care about me.
I send my own best wishes to everyone.
AS
I send my own best wishes to everyone.
AS
Second Coming
Well, I'm back home after an addendum to my recently reported health problems.
After only one day back in Armidale, I experienced a large number of heart spasms. Each, only 5 minutes or less, was accompanied by strong chest pains which gradually disappeared. Alarmed, I went down to the out-patients department of the local hospital and I was promptly put in intensive care. After reading case notes, the presiding doctor sent me back to Newcastle by air ambulance and straight to the Lake Macquarie Private Hospital where my procedure occurred the previous week.
After scans, tests, and a review of the evidence, my doctor put me on several drugs. I did not have another chest pain after departing for Newcastle and the medicos concluded that I had plaque un an artery that was flaking and that drugs, rather than a stent or by-pass was the way to go. They gave me a stress test on Thursday, which went brilliantly, and I was allowed home immediately.
Dot, who has been at my side the whole time here and in Newcastle drove me home. The whole episode must have cost a fortune, but we are privately insured and the part of the bill we'll see is mininal.
After only one day back in Armidale, I experienced a large number of heart spasms. Each, only 5 minutes or less, was accompanied by strong chest pains which gradually disappeared. Alarmed, I went down to the out-patients department of the local hospital and I was promptly put in intensive care. After reading case notes, the presiding doctor sent me back to Newcastle by air ambulance and straight to the Lake Macquarie Private Hospital where my procedure occurred the previous week.
After scans, tests, and a review of the evidence, my doctor put me on several drugs. I did not have another chest pain after departing for Newcastle and the medicos concluded that I had plaque un an artery that was flaking and that drugs, rather than a stent or by-pass was the way to go. They gave me a stress test on Thursday, which went brilliantly, and I was allowed home immediately.
Dot, who has been at my side the whole time here and in Newcastle drove me home. The whole episode must have cost a fortune, but we are privately insured and the part of the bill we'll see is mininal.
Friday, 7 December 2007
Near Death Experience
For the record, I had a Cardiac Arrest a week before your message and I’d appreciate it if you let people know who might be interested. The events run as follows:
Monday 19th: arrive home c. 4.00pm by bike to go a do some campaign work for Tony Windsor (MHR, New England). By very good luck, my wife, Dot was close by as I collapsed in the garage, and she called an ambulance immediately. The second stroke of luck was that 3 ambulances arrived in 5 minutes. Had I been out of town on a property and the arrival time was 10 to 15 minutes, some of you would have already attended my funeral.
The third stroke of luck was that they were able to jump-start my heart. Cardiac arrest is potentially more serious than a stroke or heart attack. The latter impair the functioning of the brain, but usually don’t kill it. I was detained in the Armidale and New England Hospital for 1 wee while diagnostics guided the course of action. I cannot remember a single fact about this week or about the subsequent trip in an Air Ambulance to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. I can recall waking up in JHH and seeing Dot’s apparition, and I suppose this was on about Wednesday 28 November.
This was the fourth stroke of luck. Dot was able to help me though further batteries of tests and the utter boredom of hospital routine, but I must admit that the quality of care at JHH was very good – as I am told it was in ANE.
Then, on Monday this week, I moved to the Lake Macquarie Private Hospital for the ultimate operation. I’d heard of pace-makers, but not the machine I’m now tethered to for the rest of my life. This small all-singing, all-dancing contraption constantly monitors heart performance and can accelerate or depress beat speed AND/OR change the amplitude of the beat AND/OR the pattern of the beat.
I returned home yesterday by road and am now trying to regain normal life. I’ll start riding my bike in a week; bush-walking a little before that. My Newcastle based Psychologist and Speech Therapists found little wrong with my mental processes.
Sorry for rambling on a long time.
Monday 19th: arrive home c. 4.00pm by bike to go a do some campaign work for Tony Windsor (MHR, New England). By very good luck, my wife, Dot was close by as I collapsed in the garage, and she called an ambulance immediately. The second stroke of luck was that 3 ambulances arrived in 5 minutes. Had I been out of town on a property and the arrival time was 10 to 15 minutes, some of you would have already attended my funeral.
The third stroke of luck was that they were able to jump-start my heart. Cardiac arrest is potentially more serious than a stroke or heart attack. The latter impair the functioning of the brain, but usually don’t kill it. I was detained in the Armidale and New England Hospital for 1 wee while diagnostics guided the course of action. I cannot remember a single fact about this week or about the subsequent trip in an Air Ambulance to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. I can recall waking up in JHH and seeing Dot’s apparition, and I suppose this was on about Wednesday 28 November.
This was the fourth stroke of luck. Dot was able to help me though further batteries of tests and the utter boredom of hospital routine, but I must admit that the quality of care at JHH was very good – as I am told it was in ANE.
Then, on Monday this week, I moved to the Lake Macquarie Private Hospital for the ultimate operation. I’d heard of pace-makers, but not the machine I’m now tethered to for the rest of my life. This small all-singing, all-dancing contraption constantly monitors heart performance and can accelerate or depress beat speed AND/OR change the amplitude of the beat AND/OR the pattern of the beat.
I returned home yesterday by road and am now trying to regain normal life. I’ll start riding my bike in a week; bush-walking a little before that. My Newcastle based Psychologist and Speech Therapists found little wrong with my mental processes.
Sorry for rambling on a long time.
Sunday, 18 November 2007
Sweeney Todd
Three posts in one day!! Armidale is getting exciting!
We're off shortly to a live performance of the musical Sweeney Todd - the demon barber of Fleet Street. We're not short of culture in the form of theatre, musicals, chamber music, symphony concerts, and the last night of the Proms (creating down under an almost exact replica of the famous Albert Hall event) - not to mention fine art events.
Sweeney Todd is the second musical in town this year, with the other being Joseph and his Multicolour Dreamcoat. The latter was excellent for an amateur rendition and the reviews of tonight's performance have been very good.
We might be 500 km from a large city where such events are common, but it's great to see the locals taking up the challenge. We even have a sort of Glyndebourne nearby! Once a year there members of the Australian Opera turn up to a farm near Inverell (about 130km from here) for "Opera in the Paddock". We've never been, but might go next year to sit under the stars and listen to Mozart and Verdi among others. The event has its own web page: http://www.operainthepaddock.com.au/ , and it's cheap with tickets costing A$50 (a little over 20 GBP).
Postscript:
Sweeney Todd was very well done and enthusiastically received by the large audience. The plot is unbelievably gory, as you'd find out from a quick look at the internet. Stephen Sondheim's music and lyrics are atmospheric and a long way from the schmalz of Andrew LLoyd Webber. The Armidale Playhouse Inc, who do the productions, announced that the next musical will be Titanic. This opened on April 23, 1997 on Broadway and ran for 804 performances. I suppose an on-stage representation of the Titanic's sinking is little different to staging the final Act of Götterdämmerung at Bayreuth. There the Rhine floods and drowns the villain and the Rhinemaidens reclaim the 'ring'.
AS
We're off shortly to a live performance of the musical Sweeney Todd - the demon barber of Fleet Street. We're not short of culture in the form of theatre, musicals, chamber music, symphony concerts, and the last night of the Proms (creating down under an almost exact replica of the famous Albert Hall event) - not to mention fine art events.
Sweeney Todd is the second musical in town this year, with the other being Joseph and his Multicolour Dreamcoat. The latter was excellent for an amateur rendition and the reviews of tonight's performance have been very good.
We might be 500 km from a large city where such events are common, but it's great to see the locals taking up the challenge. We even have a sort of Glyndebourne nearby! Once a year there members of the Australian Opera turn up to a farm near Inverell (about 130km from here) for "Opera in the Paddock". We've never been, but might go next year to sit under the stars and listen to Mozart and Verdi among others. The event has its own web page: http://www.operainthepaddock.com.au/ , and it's cheap with tickets costing A$50 (a little over 20 GBP).
Postscript:
Sweeney Todd was very well done and enthusiastically received by the large audience. The plot is unbelievably gory, as you'd find out from a quick look at the internet. Stephen Sondheim's music and lyrics are atmospheric and a long way from the schmalz of Andrew LLoyd Webber. The Armidale Playhouse Inc, who do the productions, announced that the next musical will be Titanic. This opened on April 23, 1997 on Broadway and ran for 804 performances. I suppose an on-stage representation of the Titanic's sinking is little different to staging the final Act of Götterdämmerung at Bayreuth. There the Rhine floods and drowns the villain and the Rhinemaidens reclaim the 'ring'.
AS
Shopping Centre
In what must be a first for any town in the world of about 24,000 people, Armidale has just opened its third indoor shopping mall, which houses a very large (by UK standards) Woolworths supermarket, an even larger Big W variety store, and another 23 specialty shops.
The town now has 4 large supermarkets - which is absurd - and the area of the whole shopping centre appears to be about half the size of Plymouth's - which seems ridiculous. We now appear to have a branch of most Australian chain retailers and, to use another metaphor, Armidale is now a temple to consumption.
AS
The town now has 4 large supermarkets - which is absurd - and the area of the whole shopping centre appears to be about half the size of Plymouth's - which seems ridiculous. We now appear to have a branch of most Australian chain retailers and, to use another metaphor, Armidale is now a temple to consumption.
AS
Chocolate Shop
When one is busy important events slip past unnoticed. Dot and I were walking in town today and entered a part we rarely visit except whizzing by in a car. And there was a 'new' shop selling had-made chocolates and various pates. Well, we discovered it had been there since June.
The place was run by a former Parisian and imported among other Belgian chocolates. So, we splurged out on 12 different pieces at A$1.75 each (or about 77p for the POMS). I suppose Armidale might be attractive for Parisian as the central mall is a bit like the Elysian Fields (Champs Elysees) with all its pavement cafes with umbrellas. The only things missing at either end are something resembling the Arc de Triomphe, which is not likely to be fixed for a while, and the Louvre - although we have arguably the best art gallery in regional Australia.
AS
The place was run by a former Parisian and imported among other Belgian chocolates. So, we splurged out on 12 different pieces at A$1.75 each (or about 77p for the POMS). I suppose Armidale might be attractive for Parisian as the central mall is a bit like the Elysian Fields (Champs Elysees) with all its pavement cafes with umbrellas. The only things missing at either end are something resembling the Arc de Triomphe, which is not likely to be fixed for a while, and the Louvre - although we have arguably the best art gallery in regional Australia.
AS
Monday, 12 November 2007
Ben Lomond Station
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Australia has an open gardens scheme and most weekends in Spring see one or two gardens open in any region. New England is no exception, and yesterday we visited an excellent garden at Ben Lomond Station.
Ben Lomond is obviously named after its Scottish counterpart, and indeed there is a Ben Lomond Mountain. It's altogether higher than the original, coming in at 1520m (5000 feet). Although Ben Lomond village has a railway station (disused, but the highest in Australia), the word 'station' means a large grazing property. Originally, Ben Lomond Station was a massive 300,000 acres (136,000 ha.), but now it's smaller.
One other bit of information: the open gardens are not at all like those found at UK's stately homes. Usually they are simply well-maintained and designed gardens around ordinary houses in town or out in the country. Ben Lomond is 60 km north of Armidale in the middle of nowhere, and the house, while nice, was nowhere near a stately home!
The garden was one of the best we've seen. The owners had managed to maintain acres of flawless lawn (easier at Ben Lomond because it has a wet climate and low temperatures (unsurprising even in Australia at nearly 5000 feet). Then owners over the last 150 years had planted lots of grand trees, many from Europe including Oak, Ash, Elms, and Linden. There was also lots of pine trees, including the Monterey Pine.
Scattered among the tall trees were lots of flower beds, including masses of Rhododendrons and interesting ground covers.
AS
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Electioneering Australian Style
We're in the throes of a general election campaign that has been going on for nearly 9 months. The official campaign is 6 weeks long and we're half-way though that, which is suprising given that Commonwealth Parliaments last a maximum of three years.
This has been among the nastiest of campaigns, reaching new heights of dishonesty, slagging opponents, and bribery. It's enough to turn anyone off the concept of democracy and the thought of joining any political party. The problem is that an ageing and very tired government with a history of deceit and numerous incompetent ministers is desperate to hang on to office and affronted that the electorate might turn away from a government presiding over Australia's greatest economic success in about 120 years.
Unfortunately for them, the electorate isn't inclined to show gratitude. The polls this year have consistently shown a landslide to the Australian Labor (sic) Party rejuvenated by Kevin Rudd and campaigning under the slogan Kevin07. He's difficult to attack as he's a Blair substitute: articulate; professional wife; Christian credentials; centre of the road; promising to keep the good ship Australia on a steady course. His would-be ministers are accident-prone, but that matters less in a contest dominated by leaders, ground chosen by the incredibly narcissistic Howard. It's clear by now that his entire career is dominated by compulsion to win and gain office and letting nothing stand in his way. That served well in imposing discipline on a previously fractious Liberal party, but it is not working when the world is moving on, policy imperatives are changing and he's trapped in the past.
So we're regaled with daily exaggerations and absurdities, the most priceless of which is the story that the ALP front bench is inexperienced. Of course it would be after 11 years in opposition, but if one believed this crap the opposition should never win power and we'd be better off with a one-party state. The Liberals have made promises totalling perhaps $25 billion, matched for the mostpart by the ALP. The showering of dollars seems to have left the electorate underwhelmed once it was realised that the Liberals had been hoarding cash for the purpose and was bribing voters with their own money. In effect they had been grossly over-taxed!!
And so it goes on. No wonder that politicians are despised worse than used-car or insurance salesmen or real estate agents. Laws regarding honesty in advertising do not apply to them, which is just as well for their bank balances given the litany of untruths.
Thus, I'm going to vote independent yet again. Our region is the heartland of independents - there is no representative of the three major parties at either the Federal or State level. Armidale is served by two good acquaintances of mine, both with honour, integrity, and a record of acheivement. For this reason, Richard Torbay (State) reaps an 80% two-party preferred vote and the highest majority of any politican in Australia; Tony Windsor (Federal) gets about 70%. If you're not represented by an independent you should try the experience. They live on their ability to serve people well and can weigh up issues free of party hacks. Richard is a businessman and former mayor of Lebanese background. His daughter is the belly-dancer admired by Max. Tony is a farmer.
Stop press: the latest opinion poll has the ALP on about 54% and the Liberals on 46% and going backwards.
AS
This has been among the nastiest of campaigns, reaching new heights of dishonesty, slagging opponents, and bribery. It's enough to turn anyone off the concept of democracy and the thought of joining any political party. The problem is that an ageing and very tired government with a history of deceit and numerous incompetent ministers is desperate to hang on to office and affronted that the electorate might turn away from a government presiding over Australia's greatest economic success in about 120 years.
Unfortunately for them, the electorate isn't inclined to show gratitude. The polls this year have consistently shown a landslide to the Australian Labor (sic) Party rejuvenated by Kevin Rudd and campaigning under the slogan Kevin07. He's difficult to attack as he's a Blair substitute: articulate; professional wife; Christian credentials; centre of the road; promising to keep the good ship Australia on a steady course. His would-be ministers are accident-prone, but that matters less in a contest dominated by leaders, ground chosen by the incredibly narcissistic Howard. It's clear by now that his entire career is dominated by compulsion to win and gain office and letting nothing stand in his way. That served well in imposing discipline on a previously fractious Liberal party, but it is not working when the world is moving on, policy imperatives are changing and he's trapped in the past.
So we're regaled with daily exaggerations and absurdities, the most priceless of which is the story that the ALP front bench is inexperienced. Of course it would be after 11 years in opposition, but if one believed this crap the opposition should never win power and we'd be better off with a one-party state. The Liberals have made promises totalling perhaps $25 billion, matched for the mostpart by the ALP. The showering of dollars seems to have left the electorate underwhelmed once it was realised that the Liberals had been hoarding cash for the purpose and was bribing voters with their own money. In effect they had been grossly over-taxed!!
And so it goes on. No wonder that politicians are despised worse than used-car or insurance salesmen or real estate agents. Laws regarding honesty in advertising do not apply to them, which is just as well for their bank balances given the litany of untruths.
Thus, I'm going to vote independent yet again. Our region is the heartland of independents - there is no representative of the three major parties at either the Federal or State level. Armidale is served by two good acquaintances of mine, both with honour, integrity, and a record of acheivement. For this reason, Richard Torbay (State) reaps an 80% two-party preferred vote and the highest majority of any politican in Australia; Tony Windsor (Federal) gets about 70%. If you're not represented by an independent you should try the experience. They live on their ability to serve people well and can weigh up issues free of party hacks. Richard is a businessman and former mayor of Lebanese background. His daughter is the belly-dancer admired by Max. Tony is a farmer.
Stop press: the latest opinion poll has the ALP on about 54% and the Liberals on 46% and going backwards.
AS
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