09-03-2019, 07:45 AM
14098
Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)
Now I'm going to afflict you with my U3A contribution for next week! The topic was health and wellness.
Health
I have been very lucky in terms of illness as almost all of my medical issues have been as a result of something violent, so I never had any claim against my mother’s 50 year manufacturing guarantee.
At the age of 9 I travelled to New York with my mother and naval officer father after 2 years in Bermuda. Two years of idyllic playing in the warm water , chasing fish and crabs with great success but now Dad must move on to 3 months in New York as Royal Naval attache. I was schooled by my mother during this time but I had visits to schools as a guest/visitor and picked up the Bronx accent very easily, in fact when we got home to England nobody could understand me! When we were only a couple of weeks from returning to England via the Queen Mary, a strange event occurred. One day I woke up , got out of bed and fell over when my legs did not work. My mother helped me onto the bed but nothing below the waist worked. A doctor was called and after an examination and some tests, he sadly told my mother that I had all the symptoms of Polio. My mother and father were shattered! Medical services were doubtful without huge costs but we were a long way from the British system. For three days I had to be carried to the toilet and bathroom, and the stress on my parents was enormous. On the third day I woke up and stepped out of bed! I ran to my parents room and as they had heard the footsteps they were sitting up in bed. It was gone! The doctor was amazed. My parents were so happy and I must confess so was I. Never again did I experience this strange event.
While in my 5th form year at Takapuna Grammar School, I developed appendicitis and was sent to Auckland hospital for this rather minor operation. The resident doctor came to examine me before the operation and as he poked my stomach and asked if it was painful I said no, not now, it was yesterday. As a result of this I was sent home. Only to repeat the procedure 3 months later but during the pre-op examination I put on a show of extreme pain, even though it had gone quiet again. So they went ahead .
When I returned from my 3 years working in England, I had a short term job at Morrison’s. At first my job consisted of putting the crank handle in bicycles but later I rose to operating a huge press that cut and moulded and shaped lawnmower bodies. We were equipped with thick leather gloves as the bodies came out with very sharp edges. My jovial work mate tossed me a stack of 4 or 5 bodies for me to shelve on a fork lift pallet. As I walked back to the press I noticed a trail of what I thought was oil on the floor until someone pointed out that it was coming out of my glove. A quick look showed a large hole in my wrist. Fortunately it had missed the artery but it got me 4 weeks off on workers compensation!
While winemaker at Te Mata Estate I had been working at the winery late at night and was driving home at about 10:30pm. As I rounded a corner a car came around on my side of the road and there was nowhere else to go but to cut across in front of him and hit the bank. Before the days of seat belts caused me to hit the dash with my nose and the next thing I knew I was in an ambulance travelling to hospital in Hastings. When I was awake enough to make sense, I asked that they take a blood sample for an alcohol check as I had been covered in red wine that I had in the back seat of the ute. However it was not needed as no one queried my state. I still have a vision of a white or light coloured Ford Zephyr and resolved that if that ever happened again , I must clip the other car for evidence!
In later years I have broken my thumb, to the point of having an operation to put screws put in it, by hitting something with the front wheel of a tractor which spun the steering wheel in a rather alarming manner. I have broken my right wrist twice and also twice broken ribs but never any of my walking gear. Bob Stephens, my doctor in Waipukurau had a lovely sense of humour. During a visit for the most recent broken rib his comments after the examination were “Any blood coming from any orifices?” I answer “No” so he said “Well just take it easy and you have to tell your brain that it is in charge of outdated machinery badly in need of maintenance”.