Monday 24 July 2017

Watford General Hospital and Berkhamstead

May 2017

James ended up staying in hospital for about 12 days, to be honest I completely lost all track of time. He had a tube inserted into his vein behind his knee which went up to where the clot had formed, drugs were slowly (over 72 hours) being released close to the clot to dissolve it, they didn't want to do it quickly as it could just break up and stay in his blood system. As it was the MRI scan had shown up a Pulmonary Embolism (a blockage in an artery in the lungs) and they were also treating that.

After 72 hours the tube was removed and he had to have a compression bandage on for at least 48 hours after. I won't put the gory picture of the tube going into his leg, but here's the compression bandage after.


Meanwhile back at the boat I wanted to move from Marsworth, I wasn't going to join the market at Berkhamstead for the May Day Bank Holiday but it would be more convenient for me to be there. Our daughter Jess and Lee were visiting on their way back from a weeks hols and had booked to stay in Berko to visit us when the market was on. They came to Marsworth and were my lockies going up the Marsworth flight, then along the Tring summit and back down the locks to Berko. We made good progress considering they were complete novices and I was steering LJ, normally I am up working the locks. We got moored up in Berkhamstead and still had time to drive to Watford to visit James.

Berkhamstead Castle
A few days after James came home we moved the boat to Boxmoor, near Hemel Hempstead where we stayed for a couple of weeks. We had to cancel our anniversary holiday round Europe and James was spending the majority of time sat with his leg elevated and having to use a stick to walk. We decided to head for London instead to celebrate. 

We slowly made our way south, not moving for long at a time, it was just unfortunate that there were so many locks to go through, and arrived in Paddington Basin where we were lucky to get a mooring on one of the pontoons.

Approaching the aqueduct over the North Circular




Little Venice

46.5 Miles and 52 locks
TOTAL 146 miles and 155 locks






6 comments:

  1. Wow looks as if you've had your fair share of troubles. Glad to see James is now on the road to recovery. Shame about your anniversary trip being cancelled but maybe when James is fully recovered you can try again. Hope to see you both again one day. Xxx

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    1. Hi Ian and Irene, James is well and truly on the mend now but his ankle gets very swollen at times. It's a shame we missed you - I've been catching up reading the blogs and notice you are at the other end of the Thames to us at the mo, we left Brentford at beginning of June and went up the K&A, we're near Oxford now, I'm sure our paths will cross again soon xx

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  2. Hi Both
    Sorry to read about all the problems James has had and so glad that he is on the mend. Shame you had to miss your anniversary holiday but you can always do that another time. Nice to see that Dudley is still enjoying life on the boat. Hope to catch up with in the not too distant future.
    All the best Bob and June (pupless at the moment)

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    1. Hi Bob and June, we will plan another trip at some point - it won't be the same but we did have a fab time in London so that made up for the disappointment a bit and also James' health was far more important. Dudley loves boat life although he stills seems to enjoy stairs when we visit Jess - constantly up and down and investigating a whole new level. Things must seem very quiet for you at the moment being pupless. Hope to catch up with you soon too - we'll be heading Midlands way after Blisworth. Hope you are both keeping well. xx

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  3. I guess that would have been somewhat of a fright for you Debbie. Good to read the drain cleaner worked and James is on the mend. I understand beer is a great organic blood thinner so please ensure James gets plenty (PS. James suggested I write that last sentence)

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    1. Hi Tom and Jan, It was a bit of a nightmare at the time, but I think I just went on auto pilot and got on with what needed doing. Not sure about the beer but I'm sure a little won't hurt :) xx

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