Hospital Ducks

New arrivals at the local hospital

Tuesday was mostly spent at the hospital where, not only new babies are born, but a clutch of 8 ducklings as well!


It was sad to see that their regular pond had been drained. I overheard many other visitors expressing their displeasure at the dry pond and removal of the water features that had existed for decades as a welcome break from the hospital's sterile indoor environment.

The water feature is not being cleaned, renovated or repaired, no! Some 'bean counter' has decided that it is too dangerous to have a water feature (or perhaps too expensive to insure) because of the risk that a small child might drown.*

In all the years of visiting this hospital, I am yet to learn of anyone, child or adult, who has ever fallen in or come to grief in the water features.  I think this recent decision to drain the pond is another example of a world gone mad.

Who leaves a toddler running around on their own in a hospital anyway?  This area is not a play area, just an internal courtyard, a place to sit and contemplate. There are large rocks around each water area. One would need to try hard to fall in.

These ducks have made their home in and around the hospital for generations and I feel for this poor mother duck whose nest is nearby but now has nowhere for her ducklings to swim or forage.

Also, as a former patient, I know first hand how therapeutic it is to get out of a hospital room for a short time; hear running water, observe the goldfish, turtles, ducks and other birds while enjoying lush greenery.  It seems to me that the health benefits of the water features outweigh the risks of drowning.

The ducks are coming up with their own solutions. Earlier this year the ducks caused quite a commotion in a corridor adjacent to the courtyard.  Mother duck had led her family through the front automatic doors at the main entrance, and waddled through the building to reach the courtyard!  A flurry of hospital volunteers kept onlookers at a safe distance to ensure the passage of the duck family.

Events such as these bring a smile to people's faces, hope and a diversion from the drudgery of being stuck in hospital.

I like ducks as you can see from my post "Quack!".  I will look for some crocheted duck patterns and collate them at the end of this blog entry.

If you are a regular Lupey Loops reader or if you visit my Ravelry pages, you will know that I have been making "Secret Baby Items".  A new baby was not the reason for my hospital visit. Sorry to disappoint.

This time it was for physiotherapy and hydrotherapy treatments.

They couldn't come soon enough because the days were becoming increasingly difficult and painful; especially on Tuesday morning when it was hard to move because all my joints were stiff.  My shoulders and elbows were causing particular trouble. Like old dry hinges that had seized, how it hurt to prise my creaky joints into motion.

It is not surprising.  I had been without physiotherapy for two months!  That's 5 weeks too long in my book. As mentioned in my post about taking care of oneself, it is important to be in the best shape possible in order to cope with chronic illness, and part of this, for me, is physiotherapy at regular intervals.

Unfortunately, last month's treatment was cancelled and rescheduled due to an urgent medical appointment. The only appointment available at such short notice clashed with both physiotherapy and hydrotherapy treatments.

I was very frustrated because 4 weeks had already passed since the previous treatment and I had missed some hydro sessions due to ill health too.

Leave too long in between treatments and it takes a lot more work to regain mobility and I was already feeling it at this point.

Even more frustratingly, the physiotherapy clinic was so heavily booked that the next available appointment was 4 weeks later.  Normally, I need physiotherapy every 4–5 weeks to avoid the joints and muscles locking up due to inflammation. By Tuesday, it had been 8 weeks.

My back was in spasm and my neck was causing trouble and migraines.   Apparently, it is typical for Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD) to affect the spine around the hip and shoulder areas like it does for me.

It is very frustrating to be doing everything I can to maintain mobility with exercise etc. and yet the body still flares up despite my best efforts.  I am told that's just part of MCTD and what it does which is why regular physiotherapy is necessary.

The morning physiotherapy treatment was brutal but effective (and not as excruciating as 1 October last year ("Nerves of Steel").  Then hydrotherapy in the early afternoon allowed me to continue on from where the physio left off. It was so good to be able to move again. What a change from the morning. Who would guess I could go from one extreme to the other in one day?

Physiotherapy and hydrotherapy are definitely worthwhile!

These three ducks demonstrate the benefits of hydrotherapy!
("Teeny Ducks on a Pond")

I used the time between treatments to eat and rest. The hospital gave me a good block of time to crochet some of those "Secret Baby Items" without the call of housework, and I enjoyed observing the delightful duck family.

After hydrotherapy, I went to the hospital café with a friend to celebrate feeling good.

A bad beginning to the day can turn into a happy ending.

Ducks

Theiss, Nola, "Duck and Ducklings" (crochet pattern),  Crocheted Gifts in a Weekend: 70 quick & lively projects to make, Sterling Publishing Co. Ltd., New York, 1995

Hirst, Catherine, "Teeny Ducks on a Pond" (crochet pattern), Teeny Tiny Crochet: 35 adorably small projects, Cico Books, an imprint of Ryland Peters & Small, London, UK, 2012, <www.cicobooks.com>

Lupey Loops, "Quack!" (blog entry), 6 March 2014: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/quack.html

Ravelry: I have searched for duck patterns on your behalf!

• 14 pages of duck and duck-related patterns in both crochet and knit: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#query=duck&view=captioned_thumbs&sort=best
• 7 pages of crochet patterns: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#view=captioned_thumbs&page=1&craft=crochet&sort=best&query=duck
• Of the crochet patterns, there were 3 pages of free patterns: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#page=2&query=duck&availability=free&craft=crochet&view=captioned_thumbs&sort=best

Related Posts

"Live Well: Be At Your Best", 4 May 2014: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/live-well-be-at-your-best.html

"Live Well: Manage Illness", 12 May 2014: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/live-well-manage-illness.html

"Nerves of Steel", 1 October 2013: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/nerves-of-steel.html

"Quack!", 6 March 2014: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/quack.html

I don't mind "ducking in" to the hospital
as long as I can "duck out" again!

*Reference

An article in the local newspaper "Pond Drained Over Safety" (10 September 2014) states that the pond "has been drained and might not be refilled due to safety concerns."

The newspaper interviewed the Deputy Chief Operating Officer who refused to say what prompted concern. 

The article continues with a quote: "It was identified as a potential risk, similar to that of an unfenced swimming pool. Options to improve the safety of the courtyard are currently being explored," he said, but refused to say what the options were. The pond has been a home to turtles and ducks.

Post Scriptum 11 October 2014

I have received a response from the local Health Network Executive about the hospital courtyard and the ducks; blogged here: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/news-about-hospital-ducks.html