A few nights before surgery (stay tuned for an update on the surgery at the bottom of this post), I spotted this little snail making his way up the glass door to my balcony.

So I grabbed my camera and spent five minutes with him for this week’s RegularRandom.

After his five minutes was up, he decided to change direction, so he did a U-turn and headed back down the glass. Meanwhile, my Mum is horrified that the snail crawled all over the glass and I didn’t clean it.

Here’s the next five minutes:

Finally, he gave up and turned right to get off-road, by making his way off the door and over the metal strip to the fixed window instead. I think he was mainly trying to get away from my noisy, prying camera.

We’d love you to join us in Regular Random:

  • choose a subject or a scene
  • spend five minutes photographing it – no more!
  • try to not interfere with the subject, instead see it from many angles, look through something at it, change the light that’s hitting it
  • have fun!
  • tag your post #regularrandom and ping back to this post

…

Now for a post-surgery update. Thank you for all your comments and good wishes, I have seen most of them and I do appreciate it, such a wonderful community. I will get back to you all soon.

Surgery was on Tuesday at about 8am. They stitched up my supraspinatus tendon and then re-attached it to the bone with screws and wire. They found a couple of spurs to remove and they tidied up the joint itself.

The surgery lasted about 90 minutes and then I went to recovery, where I struggled quite a bit with the pain apparently and they couldn’t let me back up to the ward until almost 1pm, once they had it mostly under control.

I stayed in overnight, at St Vincent’s Private Hospital, and they monitored me through the night, keeping my pain medication on schedule, as well as treating me with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. They were a truly wonderful group of nurses and health care professionals, I really felt safe with them.

My mum stayed with me the whole time, only going home to sleep and then back to pick me up the next day. She has been an absolute godsend, there is no way I could have done this without her. She’s been through a number of orthopaedic surgeries herself, so she knows what it’s like and what to expect. Luckily for me, she has booked a one-way ticket so there’s no specific time limit for her to leave.

At home, I struggle most with the overnight sleeping. For a few nights, I’ve woken up in intense pain at 3am and can’t face going back to bed. I cry and pace and do my exercises and Mum helps me through it all. Then she makes a cup of tea and we chat (actually I think I ramble on and she listens) while we wait for the pain meds to kick in and then we go back to bed. Honestly, this lady deserves so much more than I can give her in return.

Anyway, I’m doing pretty well, I’m on track with my exercises, I’m resting a lot, and I’m ok. The surgeon told us that the pain after shoulder surgery is worse than before the surgery and that it will be bad for a few weeks while it heals and knits and mends. There are a lot of nerves in the area, which contributes to the pain. It’s hard to concentrate on any one thing for too long. We’ve had people popping in for short visits, which I love. Mostly, we’ve just been catching up with each other.

Until next time, take care,

x desleyjane

Posted by:desleyjane

photographer, blogger, planner, scientist, dog lover, frequent flyer, daughter, sister, BFF, human

27 replies on “Five Minutes with a Snail – Regular Random (and a surgery update)”

  1. Much as I love your snail photographs I cannot bring myself to love snails! Especially since they tend to eat everything in my garden. Sorry to hear about the painful nights, but glad to hear you are on the mend and three cheers for your mum. Having gone through the recuperation from major surgery by my son recently and knowing how frightened and anxious I was (though obviously not telling him) my heart goes out to her. And you. But that goes without saying. Wishing you a speedy recovery DJ. xx

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    1. Oops I can totally understand that. They are eating my camellias I think! Thank you for your warm wishes and for understanding what Mum is going through too. I read your comments to her and she is so shocked and happy that people speak this way about her. You get it 😊😊 xxx

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  5. Gorgeous pictures, I love spontaneous shoots like this :)! I am glad you had a pleasant experience at St. V’s Private because I work there (I organise their casual staffing of nurses and other hospital staff). I am sorry to hear that you are in so much pain. Hopefully, your recovery speeds up soon! Mikki 🙂

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    1. Oh how cool that you work at StV’s. I was in the old Mercy hospital and yes it really was full of wonderful staff. We have been talking about them even now, a week later. Thanks so much for your kind words Mikki. 😊

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  6. You have done the impossible, Desley Jane. You have made a snail look appealing to a gardener whose plants and produce are too often ravaged by the little beasties. All the very best for your full recovery 🙂

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  8. I hope I would be as present as your wonderful mother, if ever I was needed. An angel, indeed.

    I run out of superlatives. Every time I think “She can’t better this” she (you!) does. That last snail in the first series is particularly wonderful, and I love you Narrative of the Snail too.

    Recover speedily. I hope pain and night time crying end soon, if not already.

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    1. Aw Meg, thank you, that’s lovely and I’m sure you would be wonderful as well. Mum is very touched by your comments and all the comments about her. She says she’s just doing her job 😊
      Thank you, yes the nights are getting better. No tears! Just some agitation, but I get up and walk it off.

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  10. First of all, I’m really glad the surgery went well and that you have your mum with you. Hopefully the healing will continue and you’ll feel better soon. And I’ve got to say, your mum sounds soooo much like mine. I’d have done exactly what you did, and my mum would have rushed off to find the Windolene!!! Take care x

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    1. Hahaha we both had a chuckle at that. Mum has been cleaning when I’ve been napping – she did the oven yesterday, a job I despise. I’m feeling much better these last few days. Much less agitation. We’ve figured out the best pillow configuration and how to deal with the sudden onset of pain. 😊😊

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      1. Haha… You do know that cleaning is a distraction don’t you? I cleaned my son’s entire house whilst he was in hospital, including the insides of all the kitchen cupboards, the fridge/freezer, the oven (and I loathe cleaning ovens) and even all the windows (and I’m not so keen on those either!) – anything to stop me thinking about what he was going through. Okay he was in hospital for a month so I had plenty of time 🙂

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  11. Hope your are feeling much better by now and that the pain is getting bearable. Your Mum deserves a big hug and I’m sure you will be giving her it when your shoulder is up to it. Fascinating and slow progress by the snail.

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