From My Perspective- In the Beginning

Elizabeth's arrival in this world was interesting.  Either pregnancy, or the awareness it provided, alerted us to Margaret's high blood pressure.  She  moved into hospital six weeks before the birth and I spent my days racing between work, moving into Sandra's house, and the hospital.  Margaret was deprived of all the time she had thought she would have to get ready for our first child.  I came away from the hospital with lists of equipment to buy, which we subsequently found surplus to requirement, such as a 'Top and Tail bowel'. One day I came in to the hospital and waited for Margaret by her empty bed.  I asked a midwife where she might be.  The midwife looked blank, then brightened up and said "Oh yes, she is on the delivery suit." I was shocked.  Elizabeth was supposed to be 4 weeks away.  I raced up the stairs, passing a father I knew from parentcraft classes.  He was beaming and  saying isn't it exciting.  I grimaced and raced on past, hoping that I might not have missed the birth.  Margaret was on the delivery suit only as a precaution as her blood pressure was raised.  We were eventually able to choose Elizabeth's birth date and she was induced on the 6th September, safely placing her into the new school year making her the oldest, rather than the youngest in her year.

Elizabeth's birth was healthy, and Margaret was well cared for by Ann, her midwife.  I did the traditional thing and cut the cord.  For Margaret's sake, She and Elizabeth stayed in hospital, and for a few night, I too slept in a chair in her room.  Then, as Elizabeth slept, we saw shaking in her arms and legs.  These were strong twitches.  What was more disconcerting was that the medics didn't seem to have an idea what was going on.  Elizabeth was moved to the neonatal unit.  It was so distressing to be separated from her so soon.  I mused that on the neonatal unit,  parents hand over their tiny bundles to the staff hoping that they might be saved.  For us Elizabeth seemed perfect.  She was so much bigger than the other children in the ward.  We did not have this relationship with the staff.  The a whole battery of test were undertaken.  This was very distressing for me.  Elizabeth had her wrist stretched back for blood tests, an evasive ultrasound which pushed down through the fontanela, and a lumber puncture to test fluid in her spinal cord.  When all the tests, including EEG, came back negative, the doctors said they would do them all again.  Much distressed, I pleaded with them not to.  They agreed but I saw that they wrote 'father refuses second test'.  I thought 'well that's on my head then.'

After we got home with Elizabeth, all went well until the jerks returned.  This time we all moved into the children's hospital. I was impressed that although Elizabeth was less than a week old, she was given a Play Specialist. What's a new born baby going to play with? Elizabeth was given a musical box that projected light onto the ceiling.  It was perfected. I really felt that the children's hospital understood about our needs as a family.  We felt at the time together was precious, and strengthened our bonds.  The nurses helped us do all of Elizabeth's care, including taking urine samples.  The label we came up with was 'hepnic jerks'.  Pretty soon these were gone, and we thought nothing of it.

The only other challenges Elizabeth has faced have been vitiligo, an autoimmune problem where the body attacks its own pigment.  When Elizabeth was about 14 she did a cart wheel on the beach,  and jarred her knee badly.  Her knee swelled up and was very painful.  She ended up wearing a leg brace and using crutches.  At school she discovered that there was a small population of young people who have to use the lift to get around the building.  She got a sense of what it is like to be disabled.

Over the last four year, a scar has developed on Elizabeth's head. This has grown gradually as a line of longitude traversing round her scalp in a line.  Eventually Elizabeth was diagnosed with 'coup de sabre'.  Again, this is an autoimmune abnormality where the body is attacking itself for no apparent reason.

New Thoughts from listening to the New Testement

How about listening to the New Testament read by wonderful voices.
Each book is read by a different actor including- 

John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Juliet Stevenson, Sheila Hancock, Timothy West and Thora Hird

Matt 1:19 Because Joseph was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

How long was Joseph left to stew?  This must be the character building part of the relationship.  Sometimes we are left to stew.  Isn't this the training  required of us in this life. 

I note that the people Jesus heals seem all to have suffered for many year.  

In Mark Jesus feeds the 5000 in Chapter 6.  5 loaves and 2 fish.  And in chapter 8, the 4000 with 7 loaves.  Jesus discusses this later in chapter 8.  Was this different stories being mixed?  Why should it not happen more than once.  Perhaps it happened on other occasions?  Surely this is the first communion.

The Gospels and Acts are challenging, but present no real ethical dilemmas for modern society.  Romans goes straight into controversy.  Chapter 1 26-27.  These are strong negative judgemental sentiments that make me want to ask 'do you understand? or are you following the Torah's unambiguous teaching?  Anyone who knows loving gay couple can not recognise the sentiment in these verses.

1 Cor 11:3 starts by saying the head of 'Man' is Christ, and the head of woman is 'Man'.   Reason- Woman came out of man in the creation story.  This is hard to hear.  Modern science notes that the male gene is a corruption of the female gene, XY to XX.   The domination of the female gender is visible in many mammal species.  I think this ethological observation is amoral.  Human's live to a different law.  In verse 11 Paul introduces new thoughts offering a different perspective.  He notes that Man is born of Woman.  Is Paul taking a old 'Torah' teaching and nudging some balance into it.  No modern Christian believes Paul's teaching on head covering needs to followed.  Are we picking and choosing from our bible?  In chapter 10 Paul argues for liberalism.

A Memory Test

Visitors so far

Adam
Fran
Cameron
Rich
Ruth
Sarah
Emma
Margaret (iii)
Joanna
Andrew
Granny
Grandma
Frances
Paul
Bill G
Sara G
Marjorie
Mary W
David H
Susan H
Claire P
James P
Anny
Elise
Ruth S
Rachel
Emily
Tash
Mary
Evie
Dorothy
Jonney
Dave B
Dave M
Lis
James
Tom B
Mary G
Anna G
Mary 
Miriam E
James
Josh S
Naomi S
Rebekah S
Louise S
Rachel
James B
Fran B
James (jr)
Sophie B
Joseph B
Ollie B
Michel B
Cathy B
Charlie C
Sophie C
Hannah C
Jill C
Mary A
Tim D
Audrey D
Karen D
Kate Z
Chris Z
Greta Z
Ella Z
Mathew M
Anande M
Vendela
Tom
Phillipa
Jatinder
Fernando
Ivone
Ronney
Ellie (Adam)
Elisabah
Naomi (ii)
Yewande
Rashem
Nita
Jochanan
Brian
Marje
Asli
Hana
Taybah
Susanna
Tejal
Komal
Vadahe
Amiee
Minal
Shryea
Liz M
Mrs Tom
Roger B
Helen B
James W
Lala
Max
Mamta
Sandra
Ben C
Fliss
Richard
Beth B
Rachel B
Sara Z
John Z
Isabella
Ali
Neda
Diana
Kate C
Ian
Ellie
Fiona M
Theo
Patricia
Jesse
Susanna W
Chloe
Maya
Rebecca
Matthew
Jonathan
Paul W
Vicky W
Thomas
Gary 
Maria
Toby
Alex
Imogen
Ellie
Min
Abigail
Miriam S
Pooja
Zahara 
Zainab
Judyanto
Kris
Cecilia
Vontas
Juliette
Peter
Kate J
Elaine
Jess
Susie
Ness
Andy P
Sarah P
Alice
Isobel
Graham



159

I Relate to You

This is timeless,

Before you were, we chose you,
Not fair I know, you had no say.

With you, an overwhelming abundance of love,
Overwhelming us all.

Selfless love is not simple.
I care of the good sweet Sonia in 'War and Peace'.
She gave her vulnerable heart prematurely to someone not to be trusted.

What about Mary in Middlemarch?  I clear headed woman, and more astute.
She told Fred that if he became a Parson, she would not marry him, for he was not cut out to serve, and she couldn't live with a lie.

And then there is poor, suffering Joe Gargery, in Great Expectations. Pure, simple, enduring, abused love. 

I think of 'The Father' in the Gospels, sitting, longing in agony for his son to hit rock bottom and return.
Time and distance had no influence over how he felt.
A powerful man, powerless, holding his pain.

In the garden, the Creator realised this unequal love and knew his creation would never be satisfied. Selflessly He formed  a perfect partner, and then stood back, eyes averted.

King David desired to build a temple to the Lord .  But he was not the one, and accepted that his role was to be a supporting act.  Vital, but without the glory.

Listening is the channel,
Forgiveness is it's highest expression,
Love is powerful, it burns to the touch.

Ship Tax

I saw a sign advertising the RNIB whilst walking to the hospital.  I wondered where the charity struggles to get landlocked Leicester citizens to take their charity seriously.  Then I thought of King Charles' I attempt to get landlocked counties to pay the 'Ship Tax'.  That was a contributory factor in the move towards war.

Recovery in Numbers

One - 'Incident' on 22nd of September ("Fear of the name only increase fear of the thing itself" - Hermione in Harry Potter.)
Two -  Ambulance journeys between hospitals
Three - Hospitals visited (Two in Sheffield, one in Leicester.)
Four -  CT/MRI scans
Five - Wards stayed in
Six - Maximum visitors at any one time (against the rules!)
Severn - Profession Groups - Nurses, Anaesthetists, Neurologists, Dietitians, Physiotherapists, OT's and Speech Therapist.
Eight -  End of visiting time in the evenings.
Nine - Beds in Brain Injury Unit
Ten - Predictable routines (Wake/ checks and move, shower/ wash, hoist into chair, visitors, rest break, physio/therapy, visitors, checks, visitors leave, checks/sleep.)
Eleven - Floors up in Sheffield RHH
Twelve - pastors visiting
Thirteen - Team Elizabeth TShirts
Twenty seconds between each pumping up of the mattress.
Sixty four - Get Well cards (and counting)

Route to the Hospital - An Illustrated guide

Cross the brook at the bottom of Francis Street (1).  Take Byway Road on the right. (You have a choice of Broadway, New way, Trueway, Byway or Highway.)  Walk to the top of the ridge which is Romway Road.  Turn right along Romway, then left up Coplow Road.

(2) Coplow Road Bungalow

(2) View a 1900's bungalow, that I believe predates the other houses.  It looks to me like the house my great grandmother probably lived in that was demolished.  This one feels as if it could easily receive the same fate one day.

View from Evington Lane

(2) Cross over Evington Lane to the footpath on to Teighmouth Road.  I wonder how the locals pronounce this?  In Devon it's pronounced 'Tinmouth'.  There is a record of street names in Leicester being pronounced differently.  Katherine Street is pronounced 'Cat- er-ine (as in nine) Street.  I guess everyone else miss pronounces 'Leicester', to its tit-for-tat.  This is a 70's estate.  I noticed a row of houses each with a taxi parked on the drive.  Is this Taxiland?  There is an american film called 'Copland' about a world where the Cops have to live separately from the populous, because it's become 'war'.  I have no sinister thoughts about these taxi drivers.

(3) On the ring road, (Wakerley Road) there is a house called КОТАРСКА КОЛИϬА.* I wonder what it means? I'm guessing that it's Serbian because the house has Serbian colours.  Wakeley Road, like a lot of the ring road, was planned to hold a duel carriageway.  Some bits were of the original plan never turned into the ring road.  They are still quiet residential streets with long tree filled parks separating the two sides of the street.  This bit is still single lane.

At the junction at the bottom of the hill, turn right along Ethel Road.  Apparently  Arthur Wakerly, the Leicester architecture who designed a lot of Edwardian Leicester, named many of the streets in this area after his daughters and other family members.  The Hospital is on Gwendolen Road.

(4) Before the footpath on the left hand side disappears into the bushes, our route veers left up some steps between neglected housing belonging to the hospital.  The the route assents through trees and communal lawns to the main Hospital at the top.  We dive into the hospital though an outpatient department.

Route to Hospital

* See correspondence between Sandra and Kathleen.

Dear Sandra,

I have Morton Benson from 1971 in two volumes, and ESSE, compiled in Belgrade, published 2002.  The title means English-Serbian, Serbian-English.  I witnessed one session at the Institut za Strane Jezike as a friend of mine was involved, not sure if I contributed to anything though. 

I’ve tried both dictionaries and this is the result:

KOLIBA

Morton Benson:  (1)  Hut, cottage, cabin; drvena koliba, log cabin;  (2) dilapidated house.

ESSE

KOTAR [this one is ONLY in Morton Benson]

K  [N.B.  I can’t work out what this abbreviation means, it isn’t in the list at the beginning.  Any ideas?]  Anyway, after the letter K it says …

(administrative) district (in certain parts of Yugo.;  see also srez [this says the same thing in Morton Benson; in my other dictionary, the more recent ESSE, the word srez does appear, unlike the word kotar, and is translated as “county” or “borough”.

Morton Benson offers an adjective for both words, i.e. “kotarski” and “sreski”.

So, I guess it’s the County Cottage … hang on, what DOES that mean?!

Perhaps I should ask the friend in Belgrade, even if they didn’t include the word she must know what “kotarski” means.

People do give funny names to houses, I once had to find a Portuguese translation for “Fox’s Lair” which a man had seen on a house somewhere in the Portuguese countryside and wanted to use for his house in Cyprus.  He knew what it looked and sounded like; a colleague of mine in Bush House eventually worked it out, while shaking her head over the idea of using such an obscure expression …

I will get back to you with some news.  Just fitted this in before supper (fish pie.  Ready-made?  Of course!)

Love, Kathleen XXX