Little Claire Candy

I would like to say a great big thank you to the lovely folk at Little Claire.

Following the Workshop at Crawley, the Blog invited people to leave a comment on the post, which I did.

Much to my surprise, I was one of the lucky participants to win some Candy.

Crafting with love

Cally x

Relax. What's that?

What a busy day I had yesterday! Flu jab followed by a colour match for a tooth cap then to the bank to sort out my account. What a waste of time the latter was. When I have more time I must get that sorted properly.

A Registrar from the transplant team wanted to speak with me yesterday. Martin has a CMV virus, a member of the herpes family that 50% of the population carry. We live with it and it does not trouble us, not until your immune system goes down as in a transplant patient.

It is also suspected that a fungus called aspergillus has taken up residence in Martin's lungs, and that is very bad news. The secretions that are being removed from his lungs are a dreadful colour.

He has been given a course of immunoglobulin that was flown in from Germany, we don't have this particular one here.

The ICU Consultant, tonight, said "take one day at a time"

What can I say?

Marion made me a lovely lunch, and, gave me a big bag of her handmade cards to help raise funds for the Charity, PINNT, that Martin and I belong to.
I was very shocked when I saw Martin this afternoon. Where he had had the tension sutures between the bottom of the sternum and his bellybutton the skin was very inflamed. I wonder why they had not been removed before, knowing how prone he is to infection.
I stayed in the room, for the first time, whilst his nurse and physio rolled him. This is to help dislodge the secretions that have built up in his lungs. Then they are suctioned off with a catheter that is passed down his intubation piece. That was when I saw the awful raw patches on his back, bottom, undercarriage and heels.
Martin did not have a cystoscopy after all but another broncoscopy. His windpipe is swollen so a biopsy was taken.
When I pulled up onto the drive tonight I drove straight through the closed garage door. I think my brain just went to sleep. What a wally!!
Hugs
Cally x

A lovely morning

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours at Hyde Hall. The garden is growing in leaps and bounds. I spoilt myself with a cream tea {and it was only 10.30 in the morning}

Martin's sedation level had been lowered and he was awake for some of the time. Although still intubated.

I have spoken with Martin's nurse this morning, for an update. He remains intubated but is off dialysis. This morning his tension sutures were removed {they are huge things that can remain in for 3 months}as the site was looking a bit inflamed. A Cystoscopy has been planned for this morning.

I have a treat for today. I am going for lunch with Marion.

Hugs

Cally x

Martin's progress

This afternoon I went to visit Martin with two of our sons and my Sister. He has now been sedated and intubated as he was finding breathing very difficult, his lungs being full of secretions.

The dialysis seems to be going well. His platelet level (clotting) is very low and this stops the machine from clogging up. 

Whilst we were there he had a chest x-ray and a procedure (bronchoscopy) to wash the secretions from his lungs. This involved going into his lungs with a camera to check out what is happening. His heart rate is very low now, it had been very high. All the staff are very kind and answer any question I pose.

Unless things change dramatically over night I hope to go to Hyde Hall (RHS Garden) in the morning to blow away a few cobwebs. And, eat a slice of Chocolate Cake all to myself. Martin and I always shared a slice on a Sunday morning.

Thank you for dropping by.

Hugs

Cally x

MaeRose

A couple of photographs of our Granddaughter MaeRose. It looks like she has worry wrinkles on her forehead already. I think that can't be correct.

Humphrey Workshop

Today has been a bit of a roller coaster. Yesterday, Martin's sister, Lynn, and I visited Martin.

To us he seemed a bit better, the pseudomonas infection in his eyes was almost clear and his conscious level had improved.

This morning I spoke to the HDU Sister and she explained how worried they all were about him. She called back after an hour and explained that Martin had been transferred back to Intensive Care and to make sure I kept my phone with me.

I called ICU when I returned from the Workshop this afternoon and the Sister looking after Martin told me that they had managed to get the line in for dialysis and he was on CPAP to help with his pneumonia.I shall phone again in a while and see how he is doing.

 We made these three Humphrey cards during a Workshop at Sharon's and coloured them with normal ProMarkers and FlexMarkers. Available at her shop  
http://www.ewe2cancraft.co.uk

This flower was made with a Woodware Daisy Punch. We cut two flowers and creased the centre of each petal round the tweezers blade. The charm is also from Sharon's shop. She has a huge variety.

Crafting with love

Cally x
p.s. I was looking at the Little Claire blog and saw that I had won a prize in the draw. What a lovely surprise. I will show it to you when it arrives. Such a lucky girl.

Little Claire Workshop

What a lovely time Marion and I had at the Little Claire Workshop on Saturday.
We made a total of 11 cards.
If you get the chance to do a workshop with Little Claire it is worth the effort.

Here are a couple of the cards that we made.

I did not visit Martin today. I have had such bad migraine's that I decided to spent the day gardening and getting some fresh air. It was a very productive day.

I spoke to the HDU Sister and she said there had been no change since I saw Martin yesterday.

He is still very confused and poorly.

Crafting with love

Cally x

As promised

Martin was still away having his scan when I arrived at Addenbrooks this afternoon. It was a Positive Emission Tomography Scan {PET Scan} and takes 3 hours to complete.
His nurse, David, was able to tell me about a few things that had been spotted. Firstly a swelling in the esophagus. Since a short time after the transplant Martin has been complaining that he could not swallow properly. Several endoscopy's have not indicated any problem!!!
They also saw what looked like several pockets of infection.
So far we know he has pseudomonus in his eye and a resistant form of enterococcus. Now they have swabbed the poor chap north, south, east and west.
David explained Martin had had a very bad night and the ICU Consultant had been called in to help. His lungs had filled with fluid and that was dealt with by the chest physio and a diuretic.
Let's hope he has a better night tonight.
If Martin is stable tomorrow I have booked to go to a Little Claire Workshop at K2 Crawley with my good chum Marion. 

Crafting with love 
Cally x

Things with Martin have improved a bit. He still has a problem with his heart, following the heart attack, and is on beta blockers until the Cardiologists can give him more help.
He still has an infection and today he will be given a "special scan" to try and pinpoint the source. I'll let you know what is so "special" about it when I find out.
Yesterday his sister, Lynn, came with me and she noticed a real improvement since last Thursday.
He is speaking a few words and has had a few spoonfuls of water and yogurt to see how his swallow is. Not brilliant I have to say. Most of it dribbles out, his mouth seems to have forgotten how to work.

    LINDSAY MASON DEMO DAYS
http://lindsaymason.blogspot.com/
Last Saturday I went to the Demo at http://in2crafting.blogspot.com and spent a lovely couple of hours watching Lindsay demonstrate lots of techniques using distress inks and PPI products.
On Sunday she was at Pinnacle Crafts http://livelovelaughcraft.blogspot.com using alcohol inks and more Personal Impressions
Lindsay has a fab range of stamps she has designed for Personal Impressions.
These two cards are hers. The top one uses one of her stamp sets {which I had to buy}
If you check out these three blogs you will see more of her work.

Crafting with love

Cally x

Demo Day

I am treating myself to an hour or two at In2crafting this morning in the company of Lindsay Mason . 

She is doing a Demo Day there and I am looking forward to seeing her again, a very talented lady.

Martin is still very poorly. They transferred him from Intensive Care to  High Dependency on the Transplant Ward.

He sleeps most of the time. Has to be hoisted out of bed for the Physios to help him. His speech is minimal.

Where will it all end? He did agree to be shaved on Wednesday (hasn't had a shave since he went in for his transplant on 14th July) If I hadn't known it was Martin in that bed I would have walked past him in the street.

This is a card I made at a Workshop with my lovely friend, Lynne Salmon at http://stamparoundtheblock.blogspot.com

I sent it to Ray and Eunice when they moved into their new house.

Crafting with love

Cally x

From Bad to Worse

This is how she looks today. Scruffy, but happy. She hates being groomed.

I really hoped, when Martin was transferred to the HDU on the Transplant Ward, that things were getting better. For the last two nights he has been put on a machine that forces oxygen into the lungs. And now, it is thought, he had a silent M I last night because of the troponin in his blood stream.
I have been warned that when I visit this afternoon he may well be back in Intensive Care.

This is a lovely card that I made at a workshop and sent to my best friend, Wendy.
We share soooo many secrets that not being "best friends" is not an option ;0)

Good News at last

After almost a fortnight, in Intensive Care, Martin was transferred last night to the High Dependency Unit on the Transplant Ward..

His first, almost legible words to me were "I could murder a Pint" I gave him an ice cube.

He is very weak and unable to move himself, but hopefully, with physio his mobility will slowly return.

I just wanted to show you a picture of our lovely Taff. She is a blond Briard.

Up until a few months ago she was groomed every 4 weeks by Natasha. Then Natasha went on Maternity leave. I must take a photo of how she looks now. She has not had much{read any} grooming from me as I have been spending so much time at the Hospital.

Crafting with love

Cally x

Another week

Martin remains in Intensive Care. His nurses are so kind. I have noticed a large number of them are American.
He is supposed to be on constant dialysis to help remove the ammonia in his blood stream, but the machine keeps clogging. The Doctors are talking about a liver biopsy this week and maybe putting in a trachaeostomy, but with his clotting levels so low that presents a problem of bleeding.
Let's hope this week is kinder to us.

I have no idea how I managed to put the photo here;0) When I have time I will go back and investigate.

I made this card, a very quick one I confess, and not my usual style for my niece's husband.

Sorry about the duck in the background..

Crafting with love.

Cally x

Update and card

I really don't know where to start.
I had hoped, when I went to Addenbrooks yesterday morning, that there might be a slight improvement. Martin had been put on dialysis to help clear the ammonia from his bloodstream. The machine had clogged after 12 hours and it was not put back on until 4.30pm yesterday.
The ammonia levels had been reduced slightly.
The liver would normally pick up the ammonia in the bloodstream and change it into Urea {check you beauty products girls, lots of them contain Urea!!!} It is then returned to the bloodstream, where the kidneys pick it up, and, out it pops when we have a wee.
Martin was pre-comma when he was sedated and put onto a ventilator on Monday. They have tried to take him off the ventilator, but when they reduce sedation he becomes very agitated  and will not respond to simple instructions.

This is a card that I made at a Workshop with, I believe, my lovely friend Sharon. She will slap me if I an incorrect.

I gave it to my Brother-in Law, Tim, yesterday along with a pair of "Gold  Leaf" gardening gloves. For any gardeners out there - the gloves are fab. They are made of the softest leather, but, really protect your hands.

Crafting with love

Cally x

Update

Martin was transferred to ICU early Monday morning. His condition had deteriorated over night. He was not responsive to painful stimuli's. 
It has been a very tiring couple of days.
The Doctors are constantly monitoring him.
Yesterday afternoon sedation was withdrawn to see if Martin could breath without assistance. He can, but he became so agitated and, seemingly, unable to understand simple requests. So a light sedation was administered to calm him. The breathing tube remains in place.
The team want to "sit down and talk to me" today. Good or bad?
Cally x

Hospital visits

I would like to apologise for my lack of blogging.
I had hoped that, on my return from Crete, I would find Martin slightly improved.
The opposite has happened.
Sunday night he was taken back into HDU on the Transplant Ward.
He is very poorly.
The Doctors cannot find the source of the problem and it now affecting his brain as well. Today they are going to try a lumber puncture to see if there is any infection there. His clotting factors were too low to do it yesterday.
Cally x 

A weeks R&R

I am not having much time to blog, what with my exciting life.
Tomorrow morning I shall be packing, then visiting Martin before I head North. Tuesday morning I am off to Chania in Crete with my Mother and sister for a much needed break.
Martin's little nuclear isotopes have found the source of his infection. It is behind his new stomach, where they suspected it was all the time.
Tomorrow Mr Butler decides whether to operate and remove the infection. It is hiding behind a lung as well, making Martin short of breath. The worry being that this could then start up other problems with the grafted stomach. Why is life never simple?

I wanted to share with you a card I made for my friends Janet and Ken {they love their garden}

It was both their Birthdays in January, but it was a rotten month for them. Ken suggested they celebrate an Half Birthday in July. So I made this card for them.

Crafting with love

Cally x

Another Shrubbery Tale

Yesterday afternoon was spent, back in the shrubbery, arguing with the Pyracanthus. I have managed to fill 2 green bins, which the bin men kindly emptied today. So I shall be back out there tomorrow. 
Hopefully Martin is starting to feel a bit better. He had the naso-gastric tube removed a few days ago and he was able to eat a little.
He has had a trip to Nuclear Medicine this morning. I shall hear all the details this afternoon.

Here is a card I made, again, some while ago. Not much time for crafting at the mo.

But saying that, my good friend Marion and I have booked to go to a Little Claire Workshop in mid October. I am really looking forward to it.

You may have guessed, I am fond of LOTV

Crafting with love

Cally x

It's Sunday, where did the week go?
Yesterday I spent most of my time in the Shrubbery. What a state it has gotten into in the last 6 weeks. I am now covered in scratches inflicted by the Pyracanthus. I had to rub Anthisan on them last night.
Also, I started to tidy up some of the Craft Table as I cannot find a thing.

I made this card for my friend, Lynne, when she started her On-line shop
Have a peek, if you get a chance. She has 20% discount on her sentiment Digi's and stamps plus some Clearance items this weekend.


Crafting with love
Cally x