Been back to the Flu clinic- and waited three hours for an x-ray of my head as they thought I had a sinus infection (sure sounds like I do!) but I am clear and can go back to work.
So I phoned Chef and I start back on Wednesday- have energy now so I will shortly get the washing up done, my work clothes washed and the flat tidied again!
I made an appointment to go and get a hair cut tomorrow- amazing how quickly it grows at times!
Jim rang me yesterday as he hadn't seen me for a few days- the penthouse I cleaned is already rented out and he needs me to finish the cleaning by the weekend when the new tenants are due to move in. I shall ring him shortly and let him know I can clean it tomorrow- get it done and out of the way!
And in other news, I managed to find a webcam in Carrefours reduced down to 12 Euro- woohooo! lets plug it in and see what it does :)
Lots of love from a snotty sounding woman in Cyprus
K xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I don't know what it is and if it can be any worse!
I have no damn energy! Took me half an hour to try and scrape myself out of bed today- needed to change the bed sheets as I have been hot and sweaty and they are covered in cat fur.
I know a normal flu leaves you feeling shitty for a couple of days- but I am now into day three (started feeling ill Thursday night) and, if at all possible, I feel worse not better! My head is all muzzy, the nose is stuffed, my throat is permanently on fire and I still feel as though I have been hit by a truck. I can't even lift a bottle of water without aching....
On the good side though- there isn't one. But there are some crappy jokes I have heard.
I phoned the Swine Flu hotline- and all I got was crackling.
With the Swine Flu you need oinkment and with the Bird Flu you need tweetment.
Boom boom.
I got flu. Hoepfully not THE swine flu but still a nasty stinking flu-type bug. I started feeling icky last night- took some paracetamol and one of my huge Vitamin C tablets last night and felt shitty this morning so I found the details of the swine flu clinic on the Consulate website and went up to the hospital. They told me to keep taking the paracetamol and check my temperature and prescribed some stuff that the pharmacist said was useless.
So, I am taking lots of fluids, resting and taking vit c and painkillers (not that they are doing much as I still have a headache and feel like a truck has hit me!).
Chef is not very happy but I really don't want to go spreading this around as its apparently not good for pregnant women- and both Chef's girlfriend and Michaelis' wife are pregnant.
I am watching Castaway- Tom Hanks is trying to light a fire- success. Strange the things you want to watch when you aren't well......
I can't concentrate on anything much so will go for now. I am glad you are not here to get this!
With love from Cyprus
Me xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi my love
There was an earthquake this morning just before 9.30 am. I texted you straight away- such a weird sensation- everything went wobbly and the bookcase behind me rattled!
http://www.emsc-csem.org/index.php?page=current&sub=detail&id=137610
The European-Mediterranean Seismology Centre reported it. There are links to witness statements- I submitted a report as I felt it but it isn't showing up yet. It was near Limassol and must have been a strong one to be felt as far away as here, the Troodos region and even in Nicosia! Willow went a bit strange as she stopped eating, looked at me then ran into the bathroom before going out on the balcony.
Just been to 302- I got a phonecall from Val yesterday in a bit of a panic as the owner rang her to say his daughter and friends are coming out on Friday. Luckily there is plenty of bedlinen and towels there so the beds are all made up and all I need to do is a quick wash and polish. Have to do Jasmine 8 and Venus Beach this week too! Busy busy!
Love you lots!
With love from Cyprus
K xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I am heading down to our local beach for a quick lie in the sun before work.
Our Executive Chef is in the middle of the photo (with beard)- directly to his left (or the right as you look at the photo) is Michaelis who is in charge of the kitchen I work in- and then myself, Chryso (pastry chef) Kumar, Simon (sushi chef) and then James (Chinese chef), and his assistant who left and I can't remember his name!. On the left of the photo (from left working towards Chef in the middle) is John (butcher), Thingie (can't think of his name lol but he left as he had to go and do his National Service) then Rado (Zimi/ Taverna cold kitchen chef), and then Antonis (taverna chef). Row behind is Aliki (taverna grill chef), Loris (Brasserie assistant chef and hidden in the shadows), Stass (pizza chef), Andrea (pasta chef) and Ludovich (Brasserie chef).
Missing from the photo now is Andrea (now working in place of Kumar with us in the pub- and yes, a third Italian Andrea!), Valentinos and Popi from the Golf and Antonia and another girl who do the staff food and commis-chefing to help us with all the mise en plus.
There will hopefully be a fourth person in the pub kitchen soon to help us out- if so then I get to train them up to be cold kitchen and I get to help in the hot when its busy! Fingers crossed!
If anyone is interested, our Executive Chef has his own website: Andrea Crippa and of course, the website for the Village Square at Aphrodite Hills is Here.
Thats all for tonight!
As always, with love from Cyprus
K xxx
Dear David
So good to speak to you on the phone earlier- will have to try and work out why Skype doesn't work so well. Maybe not enough RAM in the PC although I thought it was fine- at least the older version of Skype works! Don't you just hate it when companies put out a new version of something that doesn't work properly?!
I have been thinking about you lots- still looking at various pages of information about strokes. TIA my arse is my main thought at the moment. A TIA would have lasted around 72 hours and not showed any symptoms like you are still suffering from. Still, I hope the blood thinners work and are able to free the clot. I wish I could have got you back to the UK quicker now. Everything was in such a panic for the first couple of days you were in hospital, I had so much to cope with. Did I tell your mum, your daughter, did you need to go back now, how could I afford it... the list went on.
I know you can't remember much about being in hospital. It must be strange for me to tell you everything you did. I slept by your bed for the first two nights. The nurses were so sweet, giving me tea and breakfast in the morning and trying to get me a lunch when there was extra food. The stuff they wanted me to give you though! Eww! I remember a green mush and a brown one. They didn't taste of anything but it didn't matter so much as you were on a Ringers Lactate drip for food. You had problems swallowing water and nearly choked a few times then got angry with me when I tried to help you sit up a little. You wouldn't swallow tablets and wouldn't even swallow the pastes they made to get the drugs into you. You asked where your mum's sister was- I remember you saying, Where's Vera? When I asked Vera who? you replied Auntie Vera and then fell back asleep before I could tell you she has been dead for many years.
I had to help you pee- had a ready supply of bottles to hand- those special cardboard pee tubes. I had to wash you when you didn't tell me in time or we missed the bottle slightly. I spent most of the time when I wasn't in the hospital washing clothes over and over getting the smell out of them and trying to get them dry and back so you could wear them again. Thankfully, you didn't need a poo!
You tried to pull the drip out a few times as you were worried that horrible male nurse from Surgical would try to put morphine in your arm again. You ended up with the drip well and truly taped to your arm! I watched the nurses and read your med sheets to make sure you wouldn't have anything you were allergic to.
You had injections in your tummy- a sub-cutaneous drug they gave you to try and break the clot up. The doctor explained to me that your stroke was caused by a piece of plaque from one of your arteries breaking off and blocking a small blood vessel. I worried that it would happen again. I still worry about that. I know it must be hard to give up smoking, alcohol and caffeine in one go but you have to otherwise your mum, your daughter and me will be planning your funeral. Its hard to fathom that fact, hard to swallow, but its the truth. If you have another stroke, you will not be so lucky.
I remember you sitting in bed for the first time and asking to get up and sit in the chair for a while as your back was so painful, you only sat up for about half an hour before you were begging to lay down again. I moved you around so many times- eventually helping you sit up to eat dinner and lunch.
You had visitors too- Thomas was in seeing Lucy, Steves' wife (can't even think of her name at the moment!) and Sanchia who was in seeing her husband who had double pneumonia and they were worried originally that it was Swine Flu!
Most of the patients on your ward were only in for a day or two- you were admitted early Thursday morning but left the following Monday. Your recovery was amazing- you went from lying in bed to being desperate to leave the place! I had to ride the moped home and you went luxury style in a taxi. At least we have a lift just outside the front door!
I worried so much about leaving you home alone, I was so glad that my mum was arriving the next day. I had to leave for work about 2 o'clock and she got to the flat by about 5 that evening or so.
Now I worry still. I know you must be feeling down about what has happened, its so difficult just as you were recovering from that TURP operation and the bladder/ bowel infection..... you got your strength back up from that and POW!
If there is a local stroke support group, you must go even if you are tired. It will do you some good to talk to people who are going through the same thing as you- you can compare notes if you like! It will also give Jo and Tom a break- and if you need more time away from them, ring your mum up and go and stay with her for a week or so. And, please please please, ask her to buy you a new mattress- its not good to sleep on an inflatable for so long! Jo should know that your back is already bad from breaking it way back when... I can understand if she doesn't have the space, but you need some very specific stuff to help your recovery!
I love you so much. Its hard being here on my own. The cat has fallen asleep on the sofa and I didn't even get to watch the film I wanted to (The Missionary with Michael Palin- another Handmade Film). I have one more very short post to add after this one- a team photo that Chef took of us all. He wants to do another one with us all wearing toques (the tall hats that we never wear as they fall into the fryers!) but this has most of us on it- just a shame its only a small one he posted on his website. We all look quite professional!
Lots and lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles from Cyprus.
Kathryn xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi World
Here is the promised update on how David is doing.
Yesterday (Thursday 13th August) David finally got to see the stroke specialist at the hospital. It sounds like he spent most of the day there having various tests done- an MRI scan of his head and neck, blood tests, reflex and neurology tests.
From his blood results, they have increased the dosage of the blood thinners he is on- but that is also explained by the difference between English and Cypriot dosage guidelines- he is now on 200mg of whatever tablet it was rather than 100mg. They have also put him on a course of Folic Acid so I guess he is slightly anaemic- at least its not iron tablets which can make you constipated!
The reflex tests were predictably wonky on his left side- not just caused by the stroke, but also due to David breaking his spine and pelvis back in 1972. His left side has always been weaker since that- we had fun trying to learn to cha-cha-cha as it involves very quick foot movements and we had to break it down really slowly to get them right.
Speech is getting easier for David and he doesn't need to see a speech therapist- its not caused so much by muscle weakness as just getting very tired when he tries to talk for long periods of time.
David explained about the vision problems he has- he says that at times, it seems like there is a fine mesh over his eyes. No news on what may cause this, so I guess it is another side effect from the stroke. If necessary we will get him to an opthalmologist to have a good look through his eyes and make sure everything is okay there.
He will be going to see a physiotherapist to help him with balance and back to see the specialist in three months *sigh*. On Monday coming, he has a visitor from the Stroke Association coming to see him and hopefully they will be able to give practical and mental support not just to David but also to Jo and Tom.
I will keep you all updated if there is any more news
K x