Good Friday

Late last Thursday, the day before Good Friday, I was picking bay foliage in Gembrook, for the reason that if I got some of my picking done before Friday then I would have a few days relatively free to work at home before customers came on Monday to pick up their orders. These customers usually come Saturdays but had put it forward to Monday due to many of their customers being closed over Easter. I was so looking forward to catching up on house and garden duties at home.

It didn't work out. I had been to the farm on the Thursday, I can't remember what I did and it matters not, but I came home early, after catching up with young Sam, a uni student, who does some casual work on his days off uni. I had to get back early as Lib needed someone to go with her to the optometrist in Pakenham. She'd been having some trouble with her vision, dark shadows, and when making the 3pm appt with the opto he said to bring someone who could drive her home as he would put drops in her eyes so he could examine better, these drops would give her blurry vision for a couple of hours.

I got home with little time to spare but Gord said he'd go with Lib so I went picking after a cuppa and was away a couple of hours. They were back when I returned so before putting my bunches in water I went in to see how Lib got on.

"Not good," she said. "He thinks I might have a detached or torn retina. He says I should go to Emergency at the Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne tomorrow as it can be serious if not attended to and lead to blindness."

"Bugger," I replied. My heart sank immediately, but I thought oh well I have till Monday to fill the orders. "Well we'll leave pretty early if we can."

I went outside to get the foliage into buckets and Gord came out with the phone and handed it to me. It was my good friend Pat MacKenzie from Warrnambool who said he was in Melbourne and would like to come up and see us tomorrow. I explained Lib's eye situation and we exchanged mobile numbers and I said I'd ring him when we got to the hospital, maybe we can meet up in Melbourne. It was toward midday when we got there and after letting Lib out at Emergency and finding car parking I rang Pat's mobile. He and Carmel were across the road in a cafe so they came over and we all sat in Emergency waiting room catching up on news in between interviews with the desk clerk and nursing staff. After about an hour they took Lib in for examination and it was not long before they called me in. Lib's retina was detached and she was operated on that afternoon and admitted as a private patient. Therefore I would not have to wait around for hours till Lib could leave, and I would not have to have her back there at 8am when the surgeon would come to check her.

So I went with Pat and Carmel back to the cafe. They bought me lunch and I'm so grateful that they were there, not just for renewing aquaintance, but because their attendance lifted me (and Lib) out of our tension and anxiety. A difficult and depressing day had a silver lining and it was as if fate or my guardian angel had arranged them to be there for us. They are truly special people.

The cafe we were in must have been under a hospital. A big tall bloke came in pushing a new born in a small hospital pram thing with a perspex/plastic cover. I recognized him as Mark Jamar who played some years at Melbourne then at Essendon. I had a chat to him and wished him well. He said he now had two sons, hopefully one will be a father son selection at Melbourne, and now another for Essendon.

I picked Lib up on the Saturday. We had lunch on the way home and found a 24hr chemist to get the cortisone drops she must put in her eye 4 times a day for two weeks. She can't see out of the crook eye (which looks sunken back), just blur, which can last for 2-7 weeks. The poor girl is miserable and can't do much. We have to go back to the hospital on Friday for a follow up Drs appt. Touch wood all will be well. I'm doing my picking tomorrow for Saturday, early as Friday will be a wipe out workwise.

Poor Lib sure has had a pummeling this last twelve months.