Project 365+1 Days 71 - 77

This week hasn't been a very interesting week photograph-wise. Mainly because once I'd had my op I didn't really feel in the mood for doing anything creative and I didn't have the energy to go anywhere which might yield a nice photo. Most of the week I didn't even carry a camera with me (normally I at least have my little Canon Ixus in my bag). As yesterday's post was rather epic, I'll keep this one a little shorter.

Day 71: Ready To Go

On Sunday night, full of nerves, I packed up my dressing gown, fluffy socks, a spare change of clothes and the letter from the hospital and dumped it all in a backpack in the living room ready for the following day. I was worried about running out of time the following morning, which was ridiculous because we ended up with oodles of time to spare.

My plan had been to take out whatever I needed from the bag to leave in my locker at the hospital, then leave the backpack with Mr. Click during the operation (or even get him to pop it back in the car until I was ready to go). But I ended up carting it in with me each time they called me through. Then it got stuck in my locker for the op anyway. Carrying it around afterwards while I was waiting to be discharged was not much fun, so if I ever have to have that done again, I'll make sure I have a smaller bag.

Day 72: ID

I kept my ID bracelet on for the rest of the day after my operation, mainly because I'd forgotten I had it on. I swapped it over to my other wrist for this photo. Swapping it over worked quite well for hiding my full name and other details which were on it. You can kind of see the hole on the back of my hand where they finally got the canula in, the first attempt was further down on my wrist.

I didn't realise it at the time but I was also still wearing one of the cardiac monitor pads on my left hand side. I managed to get changed at the hospital, then at bedtime and managed not to notice it until I woke up in pain in the middle of the night. I've saved both popper pad and ID bracelet for posterity. If I'd known I still had it I would've tried to incorporate it into this picture.

Day 73: Drugs and Dressings

Noticing a theme with this week's photos yet? ;-) These are my other little freebies from the hospital. Painkillers, anti-inflamatories and dressings. The fact that I was only given two dressings left me in a bit of confusion regarding my wound care because I didn't really take in all that I was told during the discharge (if I ever have to have an op under a general again, I'm really going to push to have someone else in the room with me when they go through all the discharge stuff)! Luckily my father-in-law has loads of funky waterproof dressings which he donated to me and the internet helped me to work out my wound care.

Day 74: A Life Backwards

My reading material following the op (on the day itself I was reading The Wee Free Men) but I'll post reviews and my thoughts later on. This picture was another of the ones I took during the last week where I just got into position where I thought whatever I was taking the picture of would look good, focused and took the picture. It was a bit hit and miss. There were several where the book was way at the bottom and some where nothing was in focus, but on the whole it worked well. It's a method I've also employed for photographing the girls; you end up with loads of crappy photos but occasionally (like my favourite photo of Bell) you get something that looks really good.

Day 75: Watching

When I started working at my current job, I decided I needed a watch. Mainly because otherwise I would be late back from my breaks because I didn't have any way of checking the time, or the clock in the canteen would be different to the clock at my desk and I'd be back ridiculously early. So Mr. Click got me a lovely little watch with a purple strap, which has been falling apart for the past few months.

The hole I used it on got larger and larger until it stretched and joined up with the next hole (meaning it was loose and spun around and often fell of my wrist). I lost it several times. The purple pattern started peeling off and then the coating on the fabric started coming off too (and now litters my desk at work). The watch is still fine, but the strap has just about had it.

To celebrate my first day back at work after my op, Mr. Click decided to treat me to a new one. This time it's digital (which does make it slightly easier to judge my breaks) plus it has a stopwatch (making it even easier because I can set the timer going and know exactly how long I've had). It has a light (I suppose I can use that if we have any more of those powercuts we had earlier in the year). And it beeps every hour... I think it might have an alarm too. I love it.

Day 76: Follow Up

And you thought I was done with all the medical/hospital-related photos, didn't you? At work on Friday I scanned through my schedule to work out when my follow up was likely to be. On the day I'd been told it would be about 6 weeks. Later that day this letter arrived and lo and behold, it was exactly the same day as I had predicted. We're planning a repeat of our last trip (the one before the op) with some shopping and a nice meal before we go through for the appointment to find out what the next step will be in treatment.

Day 77: And Another Delivery

Earlier in the week I got an email from Play.com saying that they had a buy-one-get-one-free offer on Disney blu-rays. Now we're huge fans of Disney; this Christmas our main presents to each other were Disney blu-rays (I got Mr. Click Disney Pixar ones, he was responsible for getting me animated films). We're still a little light on some of the Pixar blu-rays, so I took advantage of the offer and ordered two that I'd almost got Mr. Click for Christmas. Up is one of his favourites (and mine too) and A Bug's Life is one he's never seen but which  I love and have been wanting to rewatch for ages.

And that's my week in photos. Hoping that I might get a few opportunities for some slightly more interesting photos in the coming week. What with the longer days, a three-day weekend and my tummy button feeling more healed, I'm feeling slightly optimistic.