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Monday, May 31, 2021

Pink Ribbon Topknot, and Moaning MInnies

Tales from Ward 7

During my stay in Ward 7 I had a visit from a young male physio who was just completing his training.  It was Pink Shirt Day, not that I really knew that.  Anti-Bullying Day is a day when people wear a pink shirt to symbolise a stand against bullying.  But the physio staff have their own uniforms and instead of a pink shirt this young man was sporting a topknot tied up with a pink ribbon.  He was at pains to tell me all about it, and said his female colleagues had made him do it!  Good on him, I thought, taking a stand on such an important issue.

Who can remember those skin tight white surgical stockings used to prevent blood clots in the legs after an operation?  Seems they are now a things of the past.  While I was bedridden my lower  legs were wrapped in a pair of these, made from a material similar to batting used in quilting, threaded with tubes, and plugged into the power.  These gently massaged the legs, with each pulse accompanied by a low moaning sound – hence I called them Moaning Minnies.  To be fair, I thought the movement up and down each leg quite comforting and the accompanying noise was not too obtrusive at all.  My pair of Moaning Minnies kept me company for many days.

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Moaning Minny

It is wonderful to be back home now to continue with my recovering.  Friends have been so kind, with cards, phone calls and visits.  And we really appreciated Val and Bill who dropped off a Cottage Pie when they came for a quick visit, making for an easy  meal  that night.

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Thank you Val

12 comments:

Karen S said...

I have not come across these leg wraps before. They look like a great idea. I use to hate getting those stockings on or off!

ButterZ said...

So happy to hear you are home and recovering. How good are friends that care. Cottage pie sounds lovely.
Rest up and recover well.

Janice said...

It is always intriguing at how medical treatments are updated. I imagine the gentle massaging would be quite beneficial. It’s lovely that friends have been so kind and I’d say the cottage pie was very tasty.

Julierose said...

Happy to hear you are home (no place like, right?) and recovering...
Nice to see your friends stepping up to help--feel better soon;)))
Hugs Julierose

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

nice to have a meal dropped off for you! My sister had that for here legs several years ago when she had had a surgery and was in for a few days - she said it was annoying for when she had to go to the bathroom but that they felt ok. Hope your recovery is going easy - do you have a PT person come to your home as part of recovery?

Maria said...

Good on the young man wearing his pink ribbon in his topknot....
Haha! Good name for your moaning minnies , I’ve never seen them but seem better than those tights....
Lovely friends and so nice of Val to bring along dinnner.

Tired Teacher 2 said...

Moaning Minnies is the perfect name for the devices. I sported a pair after my knee surgery, too. Unfortunately, I had to wear the compression stockings once I got home. I hope you are feeling better each day.

Nancy J said...

We are so thankful for all the new techniques and innovative methods, I am guessing the physio sessions were painful at first, god on him for agreeing to wear pink.I found the staff at Wgn Hospital totally amazing, from top level to bottom. So glad we are in the North Island, I see from some comments on my blog the flooding news is reaching across the seas .

Jackie said...

Anti-bullying Day is big here in Canada. Working in the schools we always wore pink shirts that were specially made for the day and the school. I have quite a collection of them.

Glad that you are home and recuperating.

God bless.

Connie said...

Good to hear that you are home and recovering . . . slow and easy does it :)

loulee said...

Oh my goodness, I have been out of touch. I had no idea.
So glad you are home again and recovering.

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

Caught up on your posts, Jenny and thrilled to read you are now back home safe and sound with a much improved back. You must give yourself all the rest and time now to heal properly. You are lucky to have each other to take turns seeing your through these events that we all must face sometime or other.