Iraklion Day 13: The Waiting Room

 

 

Well this really is a waiting game. Al continues to occupy his ‘hotel room’ in the PaGNI hospital. “The Pa.G.N.I. provides secondary and tertiary health care in a wide range of clinical specialties, diagnostic and laboratory tests. It is located 8km away from the city of Heraklion in the area of Stavrakia, next to the School of Medicine of the University of Crete.”

Here we are this afternoon, enjoying the sunshine outside the 7 bed room that is Al's temporary home. His bed is next to a window and a radiator - perfect climate control! Like many Greek buildings, the walkways also provide shade as the season shifts and the sun gets higher. Of course, they are also used as a smoking area!

I wish we had more to report. Al feels well, the drugs are keeping his condition under control and he is being monitored. So he is safe where he is. Of course it’s an odd situation. We have passed from the shock and fear of the first few days, into a neutral territory of ‘so far so good’. I feel a bit as though we are camping on an ice floe. Safe for now, but we will need a rescue vessel soon. There will have to be a bypass - the question is when? I think the cardiologist would like the operation to be soon - no medical advantage in waiting now all test results are in. We suppose that there is a prioritised list for the cardiology operations, but no-one has really explained how this works.  Possibly a case meeting tomorrow that might give some more clarity.

I am shopping, not to say living, in a day-to-day way, since it is possible that Al will be sent home to wait. A little less safe but the alternative would seem to be many more weeks here. Al isn't keen on that prospect and neither is OC.  Both a bit fed up with the restricted space. I can’t let the cat out on my balcony because he might just take a flying leap for freedom and not be able to find his way back; I could do without that kind of anxiety just now.

I appreciate the WhatsApps and emails that come flying in, and the occasional chat.  It might not seem like much, but it really helps.  Our Marediana friends are in contact most days.

January 31 seems to bring a few deadlines; tax, MOT and maybe something else I have forgotten. Oh yes, rent. Glad I remembered that one. Our host here - apartment found via AirBnb - has been really helpful. Laundry sent and returned - clothes as well as bedlinen. Garage a few doors away not only did the pre-MOT check, they actually took the car to the test centre! Today I took them a small gift of raki and biscuits. The garage man, Nikos, gave me a huge smile and the Cretans really say ‘thank you’ like they mean it, and putting hand on heart. On the down side, Al is finding the inter-patient cordiality a bit trying whilst marvelling at how interested these strangers seem to be in each other’s lives. His current bed neighbour is a younger man who speaks pretty good English, so that’s good.

Tax, in case you don’t know: there is an easement on the deadline for online personal tax until end February, but interest on tax owing will be charged from tomorrow.

Oh - better pay now, then! Just a minute! One password change later and a few thousand lighter... hope that nice Mr Sunak spends it wisely. Oh - a private jet to where? For whom? That’ll pay for the on board meals, then. What was that? Oh, not the drinks...

Back at the hospital - we had a go yesterday at WORDLE. Had to resort to a solving app. More success today in 4 steps. Bravo to us! Al says he doesn’t like games, but the good thing about this one is a) that it is really simple and b) there is only one a day, so no danger of becoming obsessive.

I think Blog and tax payments probably enough for today. Maybe an episode of Star Trek would go well, before another few pages of Zola. After an exhausting day of exploring every food option available on table, floor or sink, and rebooting the computer at least once, Our Cat has agreed to spend another night on the sofa.

I leave you as the sun sets over the hospital.  Wishing you all a good night.

NNNN (telex code for end of message; I rather like it. Ens. Get it? Probably all telex ops were from East London.)

6

Iraklion Day 13: The Waiting Room

 

 

Well this really is a waiting game. Al continues to occupy his ‘hotel room’ in the PaGNI hospital. “The Pa.G.N.I. provides secondary and tertiary health care in a wide range of clinical specialties, diagnostic and laboratory tests. It is located 8km away from the city of Heraklion in the area of Stavrakia, next to the School of Medicine of the University of Crete.”

Here we are this afternoon, enjoying the sunshine outside the 7 bed room that is Al's temporary home. His bed is next to a window and a radiator - perfect climate control! Like many Greek buildings, the walkways also provide shade as the season shifts and the sun gets higher. Of course, they are also used as a smoking area!

I wish we had more to report. Al feels well, the drugs are keeping his condition under control and he is being monitored. So he is safe where he is. Of course it’s an odd situation. We have passed from the shock and fear of the first few days, into a neutral territory of ‘so far so good’. I feel a bit as though we are camping on an ice floe. Safe for now, but we will need a rescue vessel soon. There will have to be a bypass - the question is when? I think the cardiologist would like the operation to be soon - no medical advantage in waiting now all test results are in. We suppose that there is a prioritised list for the cardiology operations, but no-one has really explained how this works.  Possibly a case meeting tomorrow that might give some more clarity.

I am shopping, not to say living, in a day-to-day way, since it is possible that Al will be sent home to wait. A little less safe but the alternative would seem to be many more weeks here. Al isn't keen on that prospect and neither is OC.  Both a bit fed up with the restricted space. I can’t let the cat out on my balcony because he might just take a flying leap for freedom and not be able to find his way back; I could do without that kind of anxiety just now.

I appreciate the WhatsApps and emails that come flying in, and the occasional chat.  It might not seem like much, but it really helps.  Our Marediana friends are in contact most days.

January 31 seems to bring a few deadlines; tax, MOT and maybe something else I have forgotten. Oh yes, rent. Glad I remembered that one. Our host here - apartment found via AirBnb - has been really helpful. Laundry sent and returned - clothes as well as bedlinen. Garage a few doors away not only did the pre-MOT check, they actually took the car to the test centre! Today I took them a small gift of raki and biscuits. The garage man, Nikos, gave me a huge smile and the Cretans really say ‘thank you’ like they mean it, and putting hand on heart. On the down side, Al is finding the inter-patient cordiality a bit trying whilst marvelling at how interested these strangers seem to be in each other’s lives. His current bed neighbour is a younger man who speaks pretty good English, so that’s good.

Tax, in case you don’t know: there is an easement on the deadline for online personal tax until end February, but interest on tax owing will be charged from tomorrow.

Oh - better pay now, then! Just a minute! One password change later and a few thousand lighter... hope that nice Mr Sunak spends it wisely. Oh - a private jet to where? For whom? That’ll pay for the on board meals, then. What was that? Oh, not the drinks...

Back at the hospital - we had a go yesterday at WORDLE. Had to resort to a solving app. More success today in 4 steps. Bravo to us! Al says he doesn’t like games, but the good thing about this one is a) that it is really simple and b) there is only one a day, so no danger of becoming obsessive.

I think Blog and tax payments probably enough for today. Maybe an episode of Star Trek would go well, before another few pages of Zola. After an exhausting day of exploring every food option available on table, floor or sink, and rebooting the computer at least once, Our Cat has agreed to spend another night on the sofa.

I leave you as the sun sets over the hospital.  Wishing you all a good night.

NNNN (telex code for end of message; I rather like it. Ens. Get it? Probably all telex ops were from East London.)

6

Iraklion Day 10

27 January 2022  

Just a short blog to let you know how Al is getting on.  Not many pix unless you really want to see more of the cat!  

 

Apologies to those of you who already know some of the story - this is the easiest way for me to let you all know without spending too much of my day in front of the screen.
I can’t believe we have been here for almost 2 working weeks.  I don’t think that the hospital is particularly slow, just thorough.  Of course we don’t know what impact Covid is having on ICU beds and other facilities and staffing.

The weather has been pretty terrible and the Greek Gov shut down non-essential business in Athens, Evia and Crete.  Crete has mainly escaped snowfall, just a lot of rain and probably some damage and flooding in rural areas (most of Crete is rural, the rest coastal).  There was a river flowing outside apartment, and that has gone away now.  

 

Al's story so far: only one artery seriously blocked but it is the LAD - a main highway to the heart, as I understand it.  His carotids are in good condition, so that’s a tremendous relief.  Blood samples taken every day and a drug cocktail just about complete the picture.  He will be in hospital for a few days more for observation and a lung function test.  After this he should get a date for the operation.  
Al’s judgement on the hospital food has revised - he says it is simple and freshly cooked, but not vegetarian.  He is channelling his French side and manages to eat the meat, and probably enjoys it.  I supplement it with extra fruit and veg.  
 

A Trip into 19C France

I am staying at a flat found through AirBnb - it has everything I need and is pretty comfortable.  The living room / kitchen has double doors to a balcony so I get an open view and feel connected to the world.  It is 1st floor - green building with red scooter outside. Evenings get a bit dull. Just started to read AU BONHEUR DES DAMES ‘The Ladies Delight’ BY EMILE ZOLA.  I read most of the popular Zola books decades ago, and was inspired to read this one by a series of radio plays starring Glenda Jackson.

They don’t seem to be available on BBC iPlayer, but here they are on Amazon.
There is some additional material on the BBC site.

I listened to these dramas whilst painting 4 trellises for our Bristol backyard.  It doesn't sound like much, but believe me, it was! 

They were an incredible sound performances, held together by Ms Jackson as matriarch, Dide. Not a dramatisation of the individual books, but a blend of all 20, put together as themes.  It is the story of a family saga - the Rougon Maquart family.  Au Bonheur des Dames is a fictional department store, think AU PRINTEMPS or BON MARCHÉ. It figures quite prominently in one of the episodes - it has closed down, now home to the homeless - and this episode, like the others has a dream-like quality.  If you have ever been in a department store out-of-hours, there’s a weird effect.  All the merchandise that looked so attractive and stimulated so much desire - the must-have feeling; when the store was empty (it was Selfridges, I think) the magic just drained away.  It became meaningless ‘stuff’.  Shopping on the Internet has a different addictive quality: let’s go there another time!  

Anyway, ever since Sally Randle went to Paris last Autumn, I have been fascinated by my memories of it, various trips amalgamated, a bit like the radio series.  So I am stepping into the world of 19C France.  By coincidence, or not, Al is reading a sort of popular social history of the French in mid 20C.  That was the period when his family spent Christmas, Easter and Summer holidays in France, visiting French parents / grandparents in Havre and later Nice, so it’s a take on familiar territory.Now let me leave you with Al this morning.

More soon…..  hopefully, going home.

Comments: It's better if you want to get back to me or to Al, do it directly by any means at your disposal!

Iraklion Day 10

27 January 2022  

Just a short blog to let you know how Al is getting on.  Not many pix unless you really want to see more of the cat!  

 

Apologies to those of you who already know some of the story - this is the easiest way for me to let you all know without spending too much of my day in front of the screen.
I can’t believe we have been here for almost 2 working weeks.  I don’t think that the hospital is particularly slow, just thorough.  Of course we don’t know what impact Covid is having on ICU beds and other facilities and staffing.

The weather has been pretty terrible and the Greek Gov shut down non-essential business in Athens, Evia and Crete.  Crete has mainly escaped snowfall, just a lot of rain and probably some damage and flooding in rural areas (most of Crete is rural, the rest coastal).  There was a river flowing outside apartment, and that has gone away now.  

 

Al's story so far: only one artery seriously blocked but it is the LAD - a main highway to the heart, as I understand it.  His carotids are in good condition, so that’s a tremendous relief.  Blood samples taken every day and a drug cocktail just about complete the picture.  He will be in hospital for a few days more for observation and a lung function test.  After this he should get a date for the operation.  
Al’s judgement on the hospital food has revised - he says it is simple and freshly cooked, but not vegetarian.  He is channelling his French side and manages to eat the meat, and probably enjoys it.  I supplement it with extra fruit and veg.  
 

A Trip into 19C France

I am staying at a flat found through AirBnb - it has everything I need and is pretty comfortable.  The living room / kitchen has double doors to a balcony so I get an open view and feel connected to the world.  It is 1st floor - green building with red scooter outside. Evenings get a bit dull. Just started to read AU BONHEUR DES DAMES ‘The Ladies Delight’ BY EMILE ZOLA.  I read most of the popular Zola books decades ago, and was inspired to read this one by a series of radio plays starring Glenda Jackson.

They don’t seem to be available on BBC iPlayer, but here they are on Amazon.
There is some additional material on the BBC site.

I listened to these dramas whilst painting 4 trellises for our Bristol backyard.  It doesn't sound like much, but believe me, it was! 

They were an incredible sound performances, held together by Ms Jackson as matriarch, Dide. Not a dramatisation of the individual books, but a blend of all 20, put together as themes.  It is the story of a family saga - the Rougon Maquart family.  Au Bonheur des Dames is a fictional department store, think AU PRINTEMPS or BON MARCHÉ. It figures quite prominently in one of the episodes - it has closed down, now home to the homeless - and this episode, like the others has a dream-like quality.  If you have ever been in a department store out-of-hours, there’s a weird effect.  All the merchandise that looked so attractive and stimulated so much desire - the must-have feeling; when the store was empty (it was Selfridges, I think) the magic just drained away.  It became meaningless ‘stuff’.  Shopping on the Internet has a different addictive quality: let’s go there another time!  

Anyway, ever since Sally Randle went to Paris last Autumn, I have been fascinated by my memories of it, various trips amalgamated, a bit like the radio series.  So I am stepping into the world of 19C France.  By coincidence, or not, Al is reading a sort of popular social history of the French in mid 20C.  That was the period when his family spent Christmas, Easter and Summer holidays in France, visiting French parents / grandparents in Havre and later Nice, so it’s a take on familiar territory.Now let me leave you with Al this morning.

More soon…..  hopefully, going home.

Comments: It's better if you want to get back to me or to Al, do it directly by any means at your disposal!

PANTEBOY
I have been wanting to write this one for a while.  For reasons that may come clear below, I have chosen to do it now!  I have returned to my old blog format for a while, partly because maybe this one is more personal and I don’t want it so much ‘out there’.  It will go to my old ‘friends of Snork Maiden’ list.  So no music today!  (You are, of course, free to choose your own.). Actually I like Ravi Shankar’s CHANTS OF INDIA produced by George Harrison, but it’s not everyone’s cup of chai.  
So, PANTEBOY.  Not pronounced ‘Panty Boy’ as in a man with a hobby (now listen to Pink Floyd’s ARNOLD LANE).  It is actually pronounced ‘rantevoû’ and means ‘appointment - get it?  No?  Then try saying it aloud! In lower case the effect is lost completely! παντεβου
    I suppose I am using this as an illustration of just how awkward learning a completely different language can be.  This was underlined by a recent phone conversation with the local Government Vehicle Inspection Agency in Heraklion. I need to make an appointment for the car’s annual inspection, a topic not covered in my GREEk FOR YOU course, although it does have a section on going to the doctor, helpfully entitled ‘Will I Get Better?’ l can just about make myself understood, but can’t field what comes back to me.  My interlocutor is exasperated; I am frustrated.  I will go there in person tomorrow and that will be easier.
As English speakers in Greece we occupy an awkward space.  The Albanian stonemasons and Sri Lankan cooks learn Greek much faster than we do, for the simple reason that no-one speaks their languages.  We live in Kissamos, and enough of the business in that part of the island is touristy to make English the common language for Greeks dealing with tourists of all nationalities.  Sometimes the language skills are superficial but many people are fluent, including our 12 year old neighbour at the new apartment.  
Covid, or Corona as the Greeks prefer to cal it, has not helped;  the places where we might have gone to have a more immersive Greek language experience have been closed or we have chosen to steer clear.  I am thinking of markets, ordinary shops, music venues, even the local coffee bar, walks with neighbours…
Actually I love learning Greek, and this is not a complaint, just an observation.
Why now?  Because less English is spoken in Heraklion than in the more touristy parts of the island, it’s a working city occupied by Cretans.  

K-AL-imera
Now for the difficult part. Sorry about the dreadful pun.  I have been using it as an email header because I think it stands more chance of getting through Junk mail filters.  I am sure that most of you know by now that Al is in hospital in Heraklion, some 2,5 hours drive from Kissamos.  After experiencing heaviness in the chest - classic heart signal that all is not well - we went to the clinic in Platanias, where we have been before.  It’s quiet in the winter and well-staffed (by English speakers). 

They send him immediately to the cardiologist in Kissamos (where we live), the cardiologist runs tests and says we must go to the university Hospital in Heraklion and so here we are, a week after we first walked into the clinic.

I suppose all modern hospitals look much the same with corridors half a kilometre long.

 

 

Al has had an angiogram , EKG, many blood test and now we are waiting for the data to come together.  He has found himself the best view in the room, and we are told that this is one of the best hospitals in Europe for heart surgery. 

He is probably looking at a bypass of some sort.  Options, if any, and timescale really not clear at the moment.  The initial shock has passed, but we are aware there’s a pretty long journey ahead.  Life will not be the same, but maybe that can be a good thing.  This hiatus is giving us both some thinking time. Here's the view.

I am staying at an AirBnb about 7 minutes drive from the hospital.  I have Our Cat with me now, fetched him at the weekend.  He needed company.  he's not really letting me out of his reach.  On my lap now.

I have a pretty good view of a slip road and often see ambulances passing by.  The sound is quite effectively deadened by the glazing and I like the sense of life going on.

Tomorrow I will get up early-ish to go shopping.  There's a mega Sklavenitis supermnarket quite close by and if I get there at 8am it's very quiet.  Then to a Greek MOT centre, should be more linguistic fun!

I am finding it quite hard to concentrate and have weird memory outages.  I think is just the stress of the whole situation.  It is life changing.  I appreciate the positive comments we have had from people, and it is true that this medical condition and its treatment is so common as to be routine.  But it is still big and comes with plenty of emotional accompaniements.  And that's probably why I kicked off with learning Greek.  I have more to say about the emotional side of things, but might not say it here.  But just to let you know that the support of friends has been really important - both physical here in Crete, and virtual.  I am grateful for the internet, without which life would be very different.  Sailing in the 1980's I had to queue for a phone in a bar, find coins, get cut off when the money ran out.  Mail via Poste Restante.  What a different world we live in.

 

MORE SOON

PANTEBOY
I have been wanting to write this one for a while.  For reasons that may come clear below, I have chosen to do it now!  I have returned to my old blog format for a while, partly because maybe this one is more personal and I don’t want it so much ‘out there’.  It will go to my old ‘friends of Snork Maiden’ list.  So no music today!  (You are, of course, free to choose your own.). Actually I like Ravi Shankar’s CHANTS OF INDIA produced by George Harrison, but it’s not everyone’s cup of chai.  
So, PANTEBOY.  Not pronounced ‘Panty Boy’ as in a man with a hobby (now listen to Pink Floyd’s ARNOLD LANE).  It is actually pronounced ‘rantevoû’ and means ‘appointment - get it?  No?  Then try saying it aloud! In lower case the effect is lost completely! παντεβου
    I suppose I am using this as an illustration of just how awkward learning a completely different language can be.  This was underlined by a recent phone conversation with the local Government Vehicle Inspection Agency in Heraklion. I need to make an appointment for the car’s annual inspection, a topic not covered in my GREEk FOR YOU course, although it does have a section on going to the doctor, helpfully entitled ‘Will I Get Better?’ l can just about make myself understood, but can’t field what comes back to me.  My interlocutor is exasperated; I am frustrated.  I will go there in person tomorrow and that will be easier.
As English speakers in Greece we occupy an awkward space.  The Albanian stonemasons and Sri Lankan cooks learn Greek much faster than we do, for the simple reason that no-one speaks their languages.  We live in Kissamos, and enough of the business in that part of the island is touristy to make English the common language for Greeks dealing with tourists of all nationalities.  Sometimes the language skills are superficial but many people are fluent, including our 12 year old neighbour at the new apartment.  
Covid, or Corona as the Greeks prefer to cal it, has not helped;  the places where we might have gone to have a more immersive Greek language experience have been closed or we have chosen to steer clear.  I am thinking of markets, ordinary shops, music venues, even the local coffee bar, walks with neighbours…
Actually I love learning Greek, and this is not a complaint, just an observation.
Why now?  Because less English is spoken in Heraklion than in the more touristy parts of the island, it’s a working city occupied by Cretans.  

K-AL-imera
Now for the difficult part. Sorry about the dreadful pun.  I have been using it as an email header because I think it stands more chance of getting through Junk mail filters.  I am sure that most of you know by now that Al is in hospital in Heraklion, some 2,5 hours drive from Kissamos.  After experiencing heaviness in the chest - classic heart signal that all is not well - we went to the clinic in Platanias, where we have been before.  It’s quiet in the winter and well-staffed (by English speakers). 

They send him immediately to the cardiologist in Kissamos (where we live), the cardiologist runs tests and says we must go to the university Hospital in Heraklion and so here we are, a week after we first walked into the clinic.

I suppose all modern hospitals look much the same with corridors half a kilometre long.

 

 

Al has had an angiogram , EKG, many blood test and now we are waiting for the data to come together.  He has found himself the best view in the room, and we are told that this is one of the best hospitals in Europe for heart surgery. 

He is probably looking at a bypass of some sort.  Options, if any, and timescale really not clear at the moment.  The initial shock has passed, but we are aware there’s a pretty long journey ahead.  Life will not be the same, but maybe that can be a good thing.  This hiatus is giving us both some thinking time. Here's the view.

I am staying at an AirBnb about 7 minutes drive from the hospital.  I have Our Cat with me now, fetched him at the weekend.  He needed company.  he's not really letting me out of his reach.  On my lap now.

I have a pretty good view of a slip road and often see ambulances passing by.  The sound is quite effectively deadened by the glazing and I like the sense of life going on.

Tomorrow I will get up early-ish to go shopping.  There's a mega Sklavenitis supermnarket quite close by and if I get there at 8am it's very quiet.  Then to a Greek MOT centre, should be more linguistic fun!

I am finding it quite hard to concentrate and have weird memory outages.  I think is just the stress of the whole situation.  It is life changing.  I appreciate the positive comments we have had from people, and it is true that this medical condition and its treatment is so common as to be routine.  But it is still big and comes with plenty of emotional accompaniements.  And that's probably why I kicked off with learning Greek.  I have more to say about the emotional side of things, but might not say it here.  But just to let you know that the support of friends has been really important - both physical here in Crete, and virtual.  I am grateful for the internet, without which life would be very different.  Sailing in the 1980's I had to queue for a phone in a bar, find coins, get cut off when the money ran out.  Mail via Poste Restante.  What a different world we live in.

 

MORE SOON

Birthday Blog

Belated Birthday Blog with Zorba

Here's  bonus blog from June 2020 .  I am really not quite sure why I didn't publish this but since it is cheering me up just to look at this and remind myself just why we are here in Crete.  So not much to read but you might enjoy the pix on a dark February evening!

Also another dribble of news about Al.  It appears from today's conversation with the cardiologist that they regsrd his condition as serious - a 'ticking bomb' as Al puts it.  (I think he rather likes that image.)  So long as he is in the hospital here is a safe as possible, so going home doesn't seem to be an option, at least as long as they are prepared to keep him!  He's really not much trouble!  We have a meeting with the consultant tomorrow afternoon to try to get a grip on just when the surgery might happen, and what factors are in play.  Of course, there's the private route, but somehow I have more faith in the public hospital for the serious stuff - just like the NHS.  Private medecine fine for ingerowing toenails etc!

It's been a while.  It was my birthday last Sunday, and Al's last Thursday.  So first, a big warm thanks to everybody who remembered and got in touch in whatever way.  Of course we don't remember everyone's birthdays all the time.  I think that during this weird time we probably all think about our friends, people we used to know, people who we knew who have died or we have lost touch with. So I suppose I am trying to say that as humans even we introverts have a mental social life! 

Last week we made a trip out to Balos (Βαλος).  This involves an 8km drive on a dirt road then a 40 minute walk down paths and steps to the beach and lagoons below.  The lagoon is warm and has a few fish. It's little more than knee deep so we snorkelled over to the other side before the 40 minute treck back up.  Worth it though.  By the time we left, wehad the whole place to ourselves! We can see the dirt road that runs along the Gramvousa peninsular from our house and on Saturday nights particularly, we see many headlights as cars come back from viewing the sunset.