A busy week

We have certainly had a busy week.  After our Caravan Club weekend rally we drove down to stay at Petone for several days.  With a couple of appointments during the week at Wellington Hospital it seemed sensible to stay here, then we wouldn't have the long commute from Levin to Wellington and back.

It was nice to meet up with friends during our five days at Petone.  Rae and Bruce from Foxton were also staying here, they had a family 21st birthday to attend, so they decided to stay on site for a couple of nights. They  travel around with a Birman cat too, a large blue 10 year old boy who is very laid back indeed.  Robin and Bruce worked in the same company some years ago, and the four of us enjoyed a meal in the club bistro on Sunday evening.  Then we had lunch with caravan club members Pamela and Don one day, and dinner with Helen and Owen the following evening.  All very delightful.

The alarm clock was set bright and early on Monday morning and we drove through peak hour traffic for my early morning hospital appointment.  Now that we are retired, I must admit that I found the busy traffic a bit of a trial.  But we arrived in good time, and were seen promptly.  There were lots of forms to fill out, I was weighed, height measured, blood tests done, had things explained, and I was good to go.

Our second trip to the hospital was on Wednesday afternoon where I was to stay overnight before my procedure the following morning – or so I thought.  After hanging about for several hours we were told there was no bed available, come back in the morning at 6.00am.  The alarm clock was set even earlier, we departed Petone at 5.00am and we arrived back in the hospital with plenty of time to spare.  Sadly, the same old story, no bed available, but they got me into a hospital gown, sat me down in a room to wait.  This sign on the wall made me laugh.  The Lazy Boy Chair (recliner) was nowhere to be seen, this was just the sort of situation it was needed for.

Ready and waiting

  A bed was finally found and I was wheeled down to the theatre.  But……. an emergency case arrived by helicopter so I was bumped down the list till mid day.  Never mind, this poor sick person was in greater need than me, so back I went to the waiting room.  My bed disappeared and when my turn came, the nurse walked me down clad in my fetching hospital gown onto the lift and down to the theater again. I went to sleep and a couple of hours later it was all over.  Luckily a bed was finally found to take me back to the ward.  I was having a diagnostic procedure  to check out my back problem.  Very treatable, I was told, and hopefully I will be called back soon for the problem to be rectified. 

No one really likes being in hospital, but one thing which impressed me was that every person who came to deal with me, specialists, doctors, nurses and even the porters, introduced themselves to me and informed me what would be happening.  Of course, I didn’t remember their names, but I thought it was a nice touch.   So it was quite a busy week, traveling in and out to the big city for four days, returning to the caravan on Friday, then finally returning back home in the late afternoon.

On Saturday I felt well enough to attend the local knitting group for a couple of hours.  Such lovely ladies, with most of them knitting for charity.  There was a bit of a celebration too and one of the ladies had brought along some cream sponges to share for morning tea.

Gemma posing with my knitting