Was Cafe Doom sleeping in?

[JoyceCarter]

I was woken up early by my cat wanting breakfast.  I couldn't seem to get back to sleep, so I got online, among other things to enter on the Doom Flash Challenge.  I had the distinct impression that the site didn't want to know at first - it was pulling the covers over its ears and moaning!  Seriously, I had to have four goes before my first post actually 'landed', going in and out of the site, pressing refresh, everything I could think of.  Once I'd managed the first posting, everything was as slick as it usually is. 

[JoyceCarter]

(Now it's normal waking up time, and I'm yawning my head off, of course.)

[Geoff_N]

I'm having the same problem. Look - this post is not reaching the door mat...

Geoff

[Ed]

Sorry, Joyce   I didn't see this post before.

Yes, we have been having a few connection problems lately.  I've informed the hosting company and they're watching things for a while.  Last time this happened, there was a site on our server using too much bandwidth through MySql searches.

The site also goes slow, occasionally, because it's set to repair itself every few days.  The slowness only lasts something like thirty seconds, but that can feel like a long time.  I also do regular backups of the forum, which can cause the site to slow, briefly.

Hopefully things are sorted now.  It seems a lot better since I made the complaint.

[GrinReaper]

speaking of mysteries, blunt -- did you get my email (to cafedoom account) re: audio stories?

[Ed]

speaking of mysteries, blunt -- did you get my email (to cafedoom account) re: audio stories?

Yes - just read it last night, funnily enough.  I'll reply tonight, when I've (hopefully) got more time.  There are two issues with it - finding/choosing enough good stories that are worth recording and, secondly, the bandwidth issue.  I might have found a way around the bandwidth thing.  I'll get back to you again tonight.  Sounds great though.  Thanks for the idea

[Ed]

I've been having problems connecting here, over the last day or so - last night I was unable to get in at all for about ten minutes.

Has anybody else had problems too?

I've written to our hosts (AGAIN), asking them to do something about it.  If it's not radically better (and soon), I'm probably going to switch hosts - we're up for renewal in a couple of week's time, and I don't fancy blowing another year's worth of hosting fees on an unreliable server 

[JoyceCarter]

For once, as one who has several times had reason to complain, I've been all right this last 24 hours.  In one way, I'm glad it's not just me, though I'm sorry you're having trouble, Ed - it's very frustrating, I know.

[Ed]

Thanks for letting me know, Joyce.  At least it isn't affecting everybody  

Seems like there may be too many sites hosted on the server, each using PHP, and there seems to be at least one that's sending a lot of e-mails.  The server performance figures are pretty bad at times.  But it's patchy, so I suppose it's hard to pin down the problem.

How are you feeling now, Joyce?  Hope you're not too sore, and that your Mum's on the road to recovery

[JoyceCarter]

I'm getting on all right, thanks - I'd rather the cat didn't step on the place, but aside of that, it's not too bad under the influence of regular paracetamol and ibuprofen (which they've told me to take as a matter of course for a week).  Today I've still been having the odd bouts of doziness, which I think are the last of the anaesthetic, but not as much as yesterday.  Summing up, all going in the right direction, I think.

Mum has been told that they're going to send her home on Monday.  They've had her demonstrating that she can boil a kettle and safely pour out a cup of tea, and how she gets things out of the oven, and they're going to deliver various gadgets that will help her manage things more easily at home.  The CT scan shows no sign of any scarring in the brain at all, so it looks as if she's had a lucky escape, and the doctor said he's put her on a new medication to control blood pressure which is 'very protective' - so, fingers crossed.  The trouble is, I think I'm right in saying that if it's happened once, it's more likely to happen again, but I can't easily ask her doctor about this - with her in her right mind (which she has been all along), I wouldn't raise the matter in front of her for fear of undermining her morale, and I haven't any excuse for speaking about her in her absence.

[Ed]

Heh - cats and dogs seem to have a knack for stepping right in the wrong place.  Years ago, I was napping on the settee and was stirred by my dog landing (with all four paws) on my testicles.   Needless to say, he wasn't there very long

Glad to hear you're on the mend   If you're worried about your mother, you should pop down and talk to her doctor/consultant.  They're usually very supportive, and don't mind carers asking questions.

The little I know about strokes is this - there's two main types.  One is a bleed, the other is a clot.  And the treatment for one is the opposite of the other.  If it was a clot that caused the stroke, they prescribe something to thin the blood.  If it was a bleed, they control the blood pressure and bring it down.  My gran's condition was caused by a bleed (haemorrage).  She had numerous small strokes, over a period of months, not even knowing what they were.  It started with tingling and then numbness in her fingers.  Then, months later, she fell in her bathroom and couldn't get up again.  She lay undiscovered, on a cold tile floor, for about six hours - the doctors reckoned that was what saved her.  If she had been moved immediately, she most probably would have died.

She was paralysed down one side of her body.  Then, while in hospital, she had another severe stroke, which left her completely paralysed and unable to speak.  This was before they could establish what type of stroke she had.  Obviously, if they prescribed the wrong treatment, without knowing her condition, the could make the bleed worse by thinning her blood.  They did nothing for three days - and I gave them hell until they got on and did something.  I'm not sure if I helped or hindered, TBH, but it made me feel better - knowing they knew somebody was watching.

Anyhoo - this is turning into a monologue - the point is, once they got some meds into her, she was on the road to recovery.  Now she's fine; still a little weaker than before, but with full movement and normal speech.  Hasn't looked back.  Hasn't had any more strokes.  It's likely your mum will be the same   Sounds like you caught it in time

[JoyceCarter]

pop down and talk to her doctor/consultant

Problem with that is that they appear to do their rounds in the morning, and visiting times begin at noon, when they're all safely out of the way!  But I intend to find out names and phone numbers when I'm there today.

I understand exactly the same as you do about strokes, and this is backed up by a very clever poster in the passage of the Acute Stroke Unit.  We were told that the CT scan would tell them exactly what had happened and what they should best do about it, but then the answer appears to be that the CT scan has shown them nothing, according to what the doctor told Mum (in our absence), and she wrote down.  But then there's that remark about the protective medication to control blood pressure making me wonder.  And the clever poster does say the bit about it being more likely to happen if it's once happened before.

[Ed]

Maybe they meant the CT scan showed them nothing bad   I'm sure you'll get more sense out of the doctor than your mother did - some of these docs tend to simplify their language, and you really need to grill them and show you understand the issues before you get a full answer.

I'm sure she will be fine, Joyce, but it is natural to worry, I know

[JoyceCarter]

I managed to have a long talk with a senior staff nurse this afternoon, and she went through Mum's notes with me.  She also told me that if I phone in early on Monday morning, I should be able to make an appointment for one of the doctors to come down to the ward and go into her condition in more detail before I fetch her home.  So that's good.

[Ed]

They sound very helpful.  Was it Dorch?  I reckon they're the best hospital in the area, for sure.