Urrrgh, it’s been a rough few weeks. I’ve had two more trips to the hospital ED, plus a call to the ambos for a fall. My stupid mattress! I got my feet tangled in the top sheet on Thursday last week, and in trying to get out of the bed, the edge of the mattress made me slide off onto the floor. It’s not exactly a fall and I didn’t hurt myself, but I was flat on my stomach on the carpeted floor. And busting for a piss. That’s why I was getting up in the first place. Naturally, I couldn’t hold it and had to let go. Too bad.

I keep my phone within reach these days and after half an hour of trying, I gave up and called 000. They are very understanding and reassured me that they were not far away. Luckily, I’ve put the key lockbox on the side of the house, so I could tell them how to get in.

They arrived about 7.30am (?) and called for the “whoopee cushion”, the inflatable chair. It arrived soon after and by 8am I was up and on my feet again.

I’ve been racking my brains to find a way I can do it myself and maybe I’ve found a way. Aldi sells an air mattress with a built-in AC mains air pump, which I hope means it’s beefy and fast to inflate. $99. Funny that it’s meant for camping, when it requires a mains supply, but I’ll have to take the risk, I guess.

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Anyway, next day, last Friday 29th Nov., I was feeling tremors in my hands and arms. I wondered if it could be drug interactions (new drug, Frusemide, since 25 Nov). The pharmacy lady sounded alarmed and said, “Call an ambulance! Go to the ED.” I didn’t share her alarm and let it go.

But on Saturday the tremors were worse and I was so weak I could hardly get up off my chair. I finally called the ambulance. This time I had no priority and spent three hours on a trolley. Ugh. Water, but no food. Finally a ward bed became available and I was taken upstairs to a private room. Aaah, sandwiches and coffee at last, about 9pm I guess.

Not much else happened this time. Talks about how I’m coping at home (not well) and plans for the future. I’ve since had a visit from a lady from Amana Living who have the contract for me from the guv’mint. and wanted to talk about “respite care”. There’s a fair whack of money from the guv’mint allocated and Amana seem to have the contract for me.

So it seems I can expect help with gardening, window cleaning, a higher level of house cleaning and so on. And transport to appointments, possibly.

So it’s all worked out lately. I’ve been told not to drink so much water (huh?) due to the CCF. And while I was on the hospital trolley, they poked and prodded my big belly and muttered what I thought was CITES, the treaty for the protection of whales! But no, it’s “Ascites”, which is leakage of fluid from the liver into the abdominal space. I don’t think they intend to do anything about it.

So ambulances and ED are getting a bit routine these days. Not to mention having to call the ambos when I end up on the floor. I managed to get my feet tangled in the sheet while trying to get out of bed last week, and accidentally (of course), slid off the mattress onto the floor. This was 7am. I tried for half an hour (and wet the carpet) to get up but it was hopeless so I had to phone for help, i.e. the “whoopee cushion”, the inflatable chair.

So life’s been a bit hard lately – pacemaker, congestive heart failure, ascites, falls (2) … sigh.

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I think I’ll have to sell one (another one) of my cars and as much as it pains me, I think it’ll have to be the Honda MDX. I don’t want to part with the Peugeot 407 Coupe. Too nice a car. Yet the Honda is easier to get into and drive. Hmmmm …

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Lately I’ve ditched the NBN hybrid/fibre internet connection through iiNet and gone with their new 5G wireless system. No NBN involved now. I get double the speed at $50 per month for the first six months, then $60 pm after that. And I’ve lost the “land line”, the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). Seriously, that’s what it’s called.

But I’ve noticed they’re still charging me for the NBN connection! Bastards. I’ll have to complain about that. It’s working well sso far and was easy to set up, witha very memorable password.

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That’ll do for now. I dropped a wine glass last night. They don’t bounce.