I feel I should apologise for being out of touch for a while. Well, actually, I am not sorry, but you know how we Brits apologise for everything, even things we haven't done.
I spent the last four days in hospital, returning home yesterday afternoon. I had developed severe leg pain and swelling, and was last Wednesday sent by my GP to the hospital in Aberystwyth, some 30 miles away. They gave me an ultrasound and found a whopper of a blood clot extending from my right pelvis down to my calf. I was administered strong anticoagulants and sent home.
"Don't fall over," was my parting instruction.
That evening, an electrical lead decided it would be fun to see what would happen if I did fall. I tripped, landed on my right leg with a wallop and within a minute was struggling to breathe. No ambulances being available for hours, Jacqui raced me back to the hospital, where I was admitted to A&E.
It transpired that part of the clot had broken away and travelled to my lungs. The specialist described it as being a sub-massive mass. Thankfully no brain or heart involvement. So, I was put on a ward for two and given a strong anticoagulant via injection to my abdomen.
One good thing about my stay was the view from the ward. It looked directly over an Iron Age fort, Pen Dinas, which I used to walk to frequently when I was a student. It brought back pleasant memories. Digging into Iron Age history at Aberystwyth’s Pen Dinas hillfort | cambrian-news.co.uk It also reminded me of a career I would have loved to have as an archaeologist.
Now I am home and resting, and thankful for all the little things in life. Teary episodes are frequent.
On returning home I found I had actually finished the attached painting, which was propped on the piano just waiting to be scanned. I hope you like it. I see I forgot to sign it before scanning. Did I seriously say "No brain involvement"?
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BrentW
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Sorry to hear about the medical issues. That was a whopper of a clot! This painting seems different somehow. I think it's the red colors. It seems more unsettled also. Just a laymen's impression. I really don't know anything about painting but always enjoy seeing yours. -Deb
Unsettled indeed, Deb. My leg was becoming more and more swollen each day and had me reaching for the Abstral (opioid painkiller) within a minute of getting out of bed. Trying to coordinate my GP and the Palliative Care Team was also a challenge. I was trying to keep myself distracted with this painting, but in the end just splashed the colours for the leaves wherever they wished to land.
When I was struggling for breath on the Wednesday evening, I honestly thought that was going to be it. How much of this could my heart take?
Thankfully, once I w as admitted to a ward on the Wednesday night, I felt that I was finally in the best hands available locally (and I have no complaints about that). Now I am hope and my leg no longer aching, I am hoping to produce a calmer painting or two that reflect my less panicked disposition.
Very scary indeed! I was wondering if the physical found its way into your painting...as you confirmed. Wishing you calm waters and many more paintings. -Deb
reminds me of the little brook I visited near the A10. I went to babble with it shortly after a lorry almost took out hubby’s little van, the bumper just missed the window I was sitting by, on our way to London for holiday. Very calming and relaxing. Can feel the leaves changing and the water gurgling. Well done!
Thank you for the compliment, Maley. I think talent is a matter of sticking with whatever it is we choose -- like a kind of Darwinism in action. I am sure, then, that you have a talent of your own. It's just that I have the nerve (self-confidence? guts?) to show you mine. As we used to say to the girls in our pre-pubescent days, "I've shown you mine. Now will you show me yours?"
Called playing Dr. when I was a kid ! Well, I'm pretty good at doing math without a calculator, or for some stuff, even a pencil and paper. Artistic wise, no hope...of course never gave anything a serious try. Interesting a bunch of our former Presidents painted after leaving WH...GW Bush, who would have guessed !!!!????
Love the painting, Brent. Eric and I just visited the Brandywine Museum in Pennsylvania yesterday (on a 4 day QoL trip), seeing so many Andrew Wyeth pieces (and NC Wyeth, Howard Pyle, and more) ...wonderful. I keep vowing to myself that I will try my hand some day, and you are an inspiration to me. So sorry to hear of your scary medical event. Glad you're still here inspiring us and that it is/will be fully resolved. Thank you for sharing!
Love the painting! I was having swelling of right leg. After long flight it swelled like a sausage. Admitted to hospital. Clot similar to yours, femoral vein blocked from abdomen to calf. Dr.explained they had recent procedure to remove clot, something called Inari. You could ask doctors about this. They removed clot, put in a stent(did both right and left legs)where vein was being compressed by some enlarged lymph nodes in pelvis. Did a bunch of tests, sent me home with Elequis. Was walking without pain soon after. Feel better!
Rest up artista!!! Looks like your brain got involved with your paintings. Violent reds in stark contrast to rest of the composition. May your recovery be as calm and cleansing as the flowing water in your painting. Thanks for sharing!!!!
Thats quite a few days you had and I'm glad you are home and got to finish that beautiful painting. Thank you for sharing and you have long road of "clot dissolving" ahead. Take care of yourself.
See, Paintings getting betterer....... hopefully you're getting betterer......
Neighbor said she heard your wife singing "🎵Don't trip over the electric cord, with anyone else but me, anyone else but me 🎵" (apple tree)................
Hi j-o-h-,n. My fall was spectacular. My wife went to try raise help from neighbours, who it turned out were out.
She tells me she was screaming silently, 'Not like this, not like this.'
Thankfully I didn't depart this world 'like that'. Instead when she returned I had stripped myself almost bare to try to reduce any weight on my chest. I am sure that is just what the neighbours would have wanted to see!
So, I have lived to paint another painting. What's more, I am to give a virtual lecture on my latest and, by choice, my last research topic on November 23rd.
Short Talk: The unexpected palaeoenvironmental significance of some Holocene benthic foramininfera in Guayaguayare Bay, Trinidad
This marks the 10th anniversary of my promotion to the rank of Professor, which is something of which I am very proud (though hopefully not too snobbishly so), all the research towards that having been done since I was diagnosed and treated for my PCa. News of my research challenge is just starting to get around. A colleague and journal editor wrote:
"I am so sorry about your challenges. You are always so upbeat on Facebook that I had no idea until Marci mentioned it."
Now, I wonder if I can wangle that into a painting sale?
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