The day before the country officially shut down...

The BEST cheese sandwiches EVER!!

Wow. Helluva day.

I woke up nice & early this morning & unlocked my front door,

so my caregiver could get in. I went back to my bedroom,

lay on the bed & closed my eyes... I thought I was only dozing,

but I must have fallen into a deep sleep.

When my caregiver arrived and knocked on the door,

I awoke with a jump, sat up in fright, and...

CRACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first-ever dislocated shoulder and arm!

I won't bore you with the details, but OMFG.

I was screaming & crying in pain for the next three hours.

Thank you, to the wonderful ambulance staff, who got me down

to the hospital Emergency ward promptly.

But, more importantly, somehow helped me get my underwear & my jeans on.

And that damn-fine "green whistle of pain relief"!!

If you've had a baby before,

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!!

The next four hours is a blur of X-rays, doctors,

second opinions, codeine, ibuprofen, excruciatingly painful examinations...

And (finally) somehow being turned over onto my front,

having a weight in a stocking tied to my drawing arm, stretching it to the floor...

No mean feat, when most of the morning it had been

locked into my chest, like a demented chicken wing!

Not a good look, when you're supposed to be recovering

from (very) recent hernia surgery.

Somehow, finally, after nearly an hour in this position

(and being even more thankful at this point for the aforementioned assistance

getting into my boxers), everything just "clunked" & fell back into place.

And, instantly (by some sort of miracle),

after nearly fours of intense pain & so, so many tears

(this, folks, is one of the numerous reasons why I'm NOT an All-Black!!),

my shoulder, arm & hand pain (and paralysis) all but abated.

Nearly completely.

Just like that.

I've had a near-miss with a kidney stone.

I've experienced the aftermath of a rejecting cornea graft - don't ask!!

And the pain today was definitely up there with both

of those medical misadventures.

A female friend on Facebook said that she had given birth "twice" and

had also had a dislocated shoulder. And she told me she would choose
childbirth before the dislocated shoulder!!

That made me feel a lot better.

I'm so, SO thankful...

To ALL the staff at Oamaru hospital - You were absolutely amazing!!!

And to my caregiver, who I probably scared half to death this morning.

I'm also SO very grateful, for the three friends I reached out to,

who I texted or called during a whirlwind of emotions, agony, terror & confusion...

And I was high on hospital drugs, not a good way to make a phone call...

 Thank you for being there!! You're AMAZING!!!! 

And thank you, too
to the District Health Nurse who helped to get me home again...

Right at the end of my brief hospital stay, THIS.

(see photo at the top of this post)

After the ordeal was all over (and I was waiting for my ride home)
 a nurse brought me in some food.

And these (my first feed of the day)
were the BEST cheese sandwiches

EVER!!!!!

Happy to report:

I'm home. Safe, eating my body-weight in Whittakers,

and, like the rest of Aotearoa, awaiting day one of our month-long lockdown...

I'm a little scared, but I've got this. We've got this!!

We'll be okay. The world is watching!

And we've got the BEST damn Prime Minister on the planet!!

We are SO lucky! And to have free public hospital care!!

The BEST damn Prime Minister on the planet!!

Just be kind.

To yourself. And to one another.

We'll get through this, I promise!!

I just listened to Crowded House for inspiration.

Neil's song, "Together Alone".

It speaks so, so much of the unity we' re about to face.

You can listen to it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ESoGnWk830

Side by side, or far apart, we are united. One.

And hey! If you need a friend at the end of the phone,

just reach out. Text or call...

Just not tonight, 'cause I'm high as a kite

on codeine & chocolate!!!

(This blog entry originally appeared as a Facebook post on 25/3/2020.)

(c) Brent M Harpur, 2020.