This is a story from Tallis Steelyard about Port Nain and the indomitable Maljie. Her Maljie sets about trying to do something about the terrible state or the orphanages.
WHAT IT IS REALLY LIKE TO BE INTUBATED AND PLACED ON A VENTILATOR Written by a nurse who works with ventilators: “Here you go folks… for those people who don’t understand what it means to be on a ventilator but want to take the chance of going out without a mask. For starters, it’s NOT an oxygen mask put over the mouth while the patient is comfortably lying down and reading magazines. Ventilation for Covid-19 is a painful intubation that goes down your throat and stays there until you live or you die. It is done under anesthesia for 2 to 3 weeks without moving, often upside down, with a tube inserted from the mouth up to the trachea and allows you to breathe to the rhythm of the lung machine. The patient can’t talk or eat, or do anything naturally – the machine keeps you alive. Medications must be given to paralyze the person so they do not struggle or try to breathe on their own, which would work against the machine. So first they are rendered unconscious, sedated, and then have their muscles paralyzed. The discomfort and pain they feel from this means medical experts have to administer sedatives and painkillers to ensure tube tolerance for as long as the machine is needed. It’s like being in an artificial coma. After 20 days from this treatment, a young patient loses 40% muscle mass, and gets mouth or vocal cords trauma, as well as possible pulmonary or heart complications. Older people lose more muscle mass quicker. It is for this reason that old or already weak people can’t withstand the treatment and die. Their bodies can not handle the trauma of all these procedures and stresses it places on their already sick body. Many of us are in this boat … so stay safe unless you want to take the chance of ending up here. This is NOT the flu. Add a tube into your stomach, either through your nose or skin for liquid food, a sticky bag around your butt to collect the diarrhea, a foley catheter to collect urine, an IV for fluids and meds, an A-line foley to monitor your BP that is completely dependent upon finely calculated med doses, teams of nurses, CRNA’s and MA’s to reposition your limbs every two hours and lying on a mat that circulates ice cold fluid to help bring down your 104 degree temp. Anyone want to try all that out? Stay home and wear a mask when you go out! Stay safe and well!” What this article doesn’t say is that the patient can hear everything that is said so if the staff carelessly talks about death, the patient panics. If the sedatives are lessened, the patient panics because he can’t breath or talk or, in his case, move. When they begin to lower the pain medications, the patient screams in his head but can’t make a sound. When they take out the tubes it’s extremely uncomfortable. A trachea may replace the respirator, the patient still can’t talk or eat without a tube. Your child, your spouse, your parent, suffers from covid 19 alone in the hospital. The victims are not limited to strangers. When you choose to crowd, unmasked, into newly opened stores for some irrelevant purchase, ask yourself if it’s worth a lifetime of knowing your child suffered, maybe died, alone.
some thoughts on covid-19 and hospitals
I don’t usually venture into the political scene on my blog, but I am becoming increasingly worried and angry.
I know that this pandemic has to be contained as much as possible, but it seems that everything in the NHS has gone into this.
Hospitals are full of Covod-19 patients and other treatments have not been happening, some of which are for patients with serious and life-threatening illnesses.
As I understand it, many patients’ treatment has been put on hold. Mine for one, but mine is relatively minor compared to others.
It is impossible to get an appointment in my area at the moment, either with the hospital or the GP. I had a brief phone consultation, which, in my opinion, resolved nothing. The consultant wants further tests, but nothing is going to happen for the forseeable future.
One NHS Trust that I know of, because a friend lives in that area, has kept one hospital ‘Covid-free.’ All Covid cases are sent to the other hospitals. As a result, her treatment and operations are going ahead as normal.
In my local area, the Trust has 3 hospitals. Why have they not designated one as Covid-Free?
And what about the Nightingale Hospital that was built with great fanfares and then not used? Could Covid patients not have been sent there, leaving other hospitals free for other treatments? I appreciate that it was only a ‘field hospital’, but it was built for Covid patients, so must have been able to deal with them.
I predict a rise in deaths from other sources because of this. It might already be happening, Probably is, but we’re not told of this. Only Covid deaths are important, it seems.
I tried to find how many cancer deaths had occurred so far this year and compare it with last, but could not find the statistics. I did find out that it is expected that over 18,000 more cancer deaths alone will occur in the UK due to Covid-19. Some of this is because people fear going to A&E due to the virus. But if there were a Covid-free hospital, that would be eliminated.
I have not researched the expected deaths from other serious illnesses, but I am sure that there will be an increase in them as well.
I am concerned that with the easing of lockdown, and the ignoring of the rules that are already there, we will see a spike in infections and deaths from Covid-19. People are gathering in large groups with no social distancing, and not only for demonstrations. This will mean that for those waiting for hospital appointments and treatment will be put on hold for even longer.
Thank you for reading. What do you think? Do you have any illnesses that are not being treated because all the hospitals in your area are full of Covid patients?
Cover preview
They say that you wait ages for a bus, then 2 come at once. Well. I’m not talking buses here, but news of my books.
A few days ago I told you of the release of my new audiobook, Vengeance of a Slave. Yesterday I got the suggested cover for my latest book.
Its a novella, a prequel to my Wolves of Vimar series, and tells about the parents of Carthinal and how they met and fell in love.
Of course, things aren’t as straightforward as that. He’s and elf and she’s a human, so there are family problems. How do they overcome them, and do they live happily ever after with their little son, Carthinal? You need to wait until it’s out to find out!
Anyway, here’s the cover. I like it and have emailed my publisher to say so. What do you think? Would you pick it up if you saw that cover? Let me know in the comments box.
Here it is.
Audio book release
Hi. I just received an email saying that Vengeance of a Slave, my historical novel set in Britain at the time of the Romans, has been released as an audiobook. You can get a free 30 day trial of this book if you follow this link for the UK
and this for the US
If you do listen to it, I would be very grateful if you would post a brief review. Reviews are very important to authors and readers alike as there are so many books published it is difficult to know if a book is for you or not.
Guest post from kevin morris, poet.
Today I welcome one of my favourite poets to my blog.
Kevin Morris is a poet who writes both humorous and serious poetry. I will hand over to Kevin now, and he can explain about his poetry much better than I can.
Welcome, Kevin. Please tell us about your poetry.
I have, for as long as I can remember, been a lover of poetry. The first poem I recollect having read is Alfred Noyes’s “The Highwayman”, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43187/the-highwayman. I was (and remain)entranced by the rhythm of the poem and how it matches the beat of the horse’s feet, as the Highwayman approaches the inn:
“The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door”.
I find good rhyming poetry profoundly beautiful, and much of my own work is written in rhyme. Take, for example my poem “Autumn Fly”, which appears in my forthcoming collection, “Light and Shade: Serious (and Not so Serious) poems”.
“An autumn fly
Buzzes around my head.
Summer is dead
Yet will not die.
Seasons pass.
We are brittle as glass,
This fly
And I”.
Whilst sitting in my study, in late autumn, a fly began buzzing around my head. This brought to mind the mortality of this tiny insect and also that of man. Hence the above poem was born.
I have many happy memories of strolling through the woods with my grandfather and it was from him that I gained my love of nature. This affection for nature was, I believe encouraged further by my reading of poems such as Keats “Autumn”. Much of my own poetry touches on the theme of nature. Take, for example my poem “Rain”.
“The rain
Patters amongst these leaves.
I listen again
And ascertain
That it’s the breeze
Midst these trees.
Yet it sounds the same
As rain”.
As with “Autumn Fly”, “Rain” came to me naturally as a rhyming poem. I could not have expressed what I wished to convey had I utilised free verse, as rhyme comes naturally to me, whilst other forms of poetic expression do not.
Whilst there exists some wonderful poetry composed in free verse, to me much free verse is poetic prose rather than true poetry. Many poems written in free verse are beautiful. However, for me their beauty resides in their poetic prose, they are not, in my opinion poetry as I understand it (I.E. with real rhyme and metre).
One can not always be serious, and section 2 of “Light and Shade” is devoted to my humorous verses. Take, for example my poem “Jane’s Sad Refrain”:
“A young lady named Jane
Sang a most mournful refrain.
I could repeat her song,
As it wouldn’t take long,
But it’s copyright of Jane!”
To conclude. Poetry is, for me about rhyme and its rhyme with which I feel most comfortable. There is, as I said, some wonderful free verse poetry out there. However, for me at least much of this (but by no means all) is poetic prose rather than poetry proper.
(“Light and Shade: Serious (and Not so Serious) Poems”, by Kevin Morris will be available in the Amazon Kindle store, and as a paperback in July 2020).
Links:
Blog: https://kmorrispoet.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drewdog2060_
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6879063.K_Morris
Thank you, Kevin, for telling us more about your poetry. I agree with you about free verse. It’s something I’ve thought for a long time. I have written poetry that doesn’t rhyme, but it always has rhythm. And I love the poem about Jane!
I would encourage everyone to search out your poetry books and to visit your blog.
Good luck with this latest one. I look forward to its publication.
If you have any comments to either myself, or Kevin, please enter them in the comments box. Feel free to reblog this.
the Stones of fire and water is free.
After finding the gems associated with the worlds of Earth and Air, Pettic needs to enter the final two Elemental Worlds to find the gems of Fire and Water.
In these two worlds, as before, he has to preform a task to help the inhabitants before the jewel will reveal its whereabouts.
But when he has found these gems, how can he rescue his friend, the Crown Prince of Ponderia? First, though, he needs to find the two missing gems.
In Ignis, the land of fire, he finds the magical creatures are having fewer and fewer offspring. Can he help them and find out the cause? And what can he do about it?
In Aqua, the land of water, he meets merfolk who have a problem. Their leader is dying because his magic staff has been stolen. Can Pettic find this staff and the culprit before it is too late?
I am pleased to say that the same narrator who narrated the audio version of The Stones of Earth and Air has agreed to narrate this book, too. He has finished the narration, and it is now with the publisher. I hope it won’t be too long before it’s available.
In the meantime, for those of you who can’t wait, the ebook version of The Stones of Fire and Water is FREE on Amazon from tomorrow (14th June) until Thursday 18th June.
Click on the link now, before you forget or you’ll miss this opportunity.
You can get your book by clicking on the title, or the cover in the sidebar or the text.. This will take you to Amazon where you are.
I am always pleased to hear your comments. Add them in the comments box.
Free Author Resources
Who doesn’t like Free?
Some alternative words to use for the senses
We are often told, as writers, that we should try to use all the senses in order to bring our stories to life. We have 5 senses (although some people say there is a 6th, and some stories deal with it, including some of my own) and it’s a good idea to change the word to describe the way the character experiences the sense.
We could say ‘He saw the dragon descending to its lair.’ But we could make it stronger by using a different word (or phrase). ‘He became aware of the dragon descending to its lair.’
In the above picture, we would be able to smell the vegetation, hear the birds singing and the rippling water. We see the green of the plants and the brownish colour of the water. We could dabble our feet in the water and feel the coolness, or the grass under our feet when we get out.
I’m not sure about taste, here, but if we know what we are doing, we could taste some of the plants. I know I’ve done so when I was young. the sweet taste of blades of grass when chewed or the nectar in the base of clover florets.
Here are some ideas you could use instead.
Sight:
become aware of, detect, discern, distinguish, give the impression of, identify, look, look like, note, notice, observe, perceive, realize, recognize, reveal, seem, sense, sight, spot, watch
Smell:
scent, sniff, inhale, detect,
Hearing:
catch, eavesdrop, overhear, listen to,
Touch:
feel, handle, stroke, caress, fondle, paw, grope, rub, run fingers over, run hands over.
Taste:
savour, sip, nibble, sample, try, lick
Do you use all the senses when you describe a scene? It certainly brings it to life.
Please leave a comment in the comments box.
When It’s All Up
This is a checklist everyone should think about.
Dragons Rule OK. V.M.Sang (author) 