The nurse this morning was Nick. He came in around 8 am to give me my meds. Pain level 4 so we agreed I could reduce the oxycodone dosage. Went to get pills – came back – put pills in a cup and handed the cup to me. The only problem was that he gave me an empty cup. This is a classic slip. It turned out that after having measured the pills he threw the cup away. The nurse’s vigilance suffers from rushing and the patient must provide a line of defense against inadvertent mistakes. When I told Nick that he hadn’t given me the pills he swore that he had. I held my ground and eventually he looked in the trash he saw what he had done. He had to go get another nurse to sign on to him reissuing the medication.

Busy day. Moved from bed to recliner around 9:15, where I stayed most of the day.

Yesterday, a medical tech (Mark?) stopped by to fit a metal brace to the right leg so that they have an approximate fitting for the fight leg when they remove the wraps. They didn’t say when that would be.

Maureen and Miranda came in a bit earlier. I expected them around 12:30 but they got here at 11:30. Nick, the nurse, said they were going to get me down for an ultrasound in the morning, but noon came and went and they said couldn’t do it, but would push for the next day. In the event, they actually came at 4 pm just as Maureen and Miranda were leaving. I don’t expect they’ll see anything as it’s the right leg that is a concern for blood clots, and they can’t check for that because of the bandages. I expect they’ll do that another day.

I turned the TV on shortly before noon and figured out that the hospital remote would take a 2.5 mm audio cable to connect it to the Bose headphones. It was a good move and a great match for the US versus Australia which they won 2-nil. Later I watched Scotland vs. Morocco. Midfielder Ismael Saibari scored lightening goal 1 minute 40 seconds after the kick-off to leaving the score 1:nil at half-time. Morocco was the better side – they have a definite height advantage and some of the players are very fast on their feet. It was then that they took me down for the ultrasound so I didn’t see the second half, but even at that time, given the mediocre performance of the Scots in in their previous match, I was doubtful if they could turn it around or even squeak a draw. And so it was. It was the final minutes before I made it back into the ward (50+ minutes later. 3 minutes for the procedure two floors down in the same building, 47+ minutes waiting time!)

I’m still getting hallucinations when I close my eyes, both auditory, and presence. This latter type of hallucination is when you fell that one or more people are in the room with you. I will try cutting down the oxycodone to 15 mg and keep it there for tonight. If it goes ok I’ll try cutting it down a further 5 mg.

When they got home, Maureen and Miranda facetimed me so that I could walk them through setting up the trellis for the indeterminate tomatoes. It worked out pretty well I think. The tomatoes look well established and have grown a lot. Miranda gave me a video tour of the rest of the garden.

General thoughts: Today was a good day. I’ve been here since last Thursday and of course there’s fatigue with it all and wishing I was able to go home, but I must admit that there’s a certain enjoyment that I get from being cossetted in this way. Today though, I also got enjoyment from the walk through the garden, seeing it thriving despite my absence and the brutal drought. For all this, of course I must thank Maureen, and also Miranda for supporting her. I can never repay them.