I thought I'd cover the last 3 days in this update. Monday my usual No. 2 assistant for the session, Carolyn, was back at the Centre after a holiday - it was good to see her again. Our session went well, and included the new starter from last week, who had her first 24 ft dive. She did fine. The rest of the usual Members were present and accounted for and the session went off without any problems.
Tuesday my regular partner Josie was away and so I was joined by Blanca, a Spanish lady who has volunteered on reception for a couple of years at the Centre, but has now decided to also train as an Oxygen Operator. I think she will make a good No. 2 operator, she must just relax though and stop worrying about every little thing. :) We had a few problems with the New Starter on this session, who experienced pain in her ears, and so the pressurization ended up slowing to a crawl and we took nearly 20 minutes to reach 24 ft. It does happen sometimes though, and there was no next session following, so it didn't matter that we were running late.
Then to today - I had a session with Jean, good to see her again, and another session with Blanca, who is doing fine. The 2 dives went very well. It was quite busy at the centre, with lots of people coming and going, and the phones ringing frequently. I think there is now a 4 month backlog of people waiting for O2 Treatment now. I must remember to have a word with Nicki because I am sure there must be a way to speed things along... I do have an idea, but we'll see what she thinks... I missed Margaret today, who normally sits with me on the second dive, and we have a nice chat - I will catch up with her in a fortnight.
Time goes so quickly - I could hardly believe it when I got an e-mail on Monday evening about this year's Staff & Volunteers X-Mas Meal... Time to get it book, it turns out, already..! So Mandy and I will be going and look forward to it. It falls on my birthday this year, so it will be my birthday dinner as well as the Centre's Xmas dinner! :))
Best wishes to all, I'll come back and write some more soon -
Rod
Wednesday 21 September 2011
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Another New Starter
So another Tuesday comes around, and this week we had the next New Starter begin her O2 Treatment with us. We had a few minor problems but nothing to worry about. Firstly the session began about 10 minutes later than the time it should have started - we are now thinking of asking new starters to arrive even earlier, so that this won't happen in future. There are a lot of things to go over and explain, which Paul M very expertly does, before a newcomer's first session. Then the new lady had a few ear problems caused by the pressurization of the chamber on our descent - this is very common of course, but it did mean that we took almost 20 minutes to arrive at 16.5 feet. Finally, on trying to breathe through her brand new mask she found it was impossible. The oxygen was turned on, and I had checked the pipes beforehand. Paul examined the mask and found that one of the holes (which the O2 inlet pipe connects to) had not been made properly, the hole had not been pressed out when the mask was made (we assume) We do have a spare mask in the chamber at all times, but luckily Paul was able to fix the new mask. This will be investigated with the fairly new supplier we have.
All in all though, despite the little hiccups, our new starter had a good experience of her first 'dive' and is looking forward to continuing the treatment. I will see her again on Saturday morning for the 10:30 session. The other session today, though running quite late as a knock-on effect from the 11am dive, went well. I'm not back in till Saturday (think I just said that) when I will look forward to a doughnut and a cup of altogether nicer coffee :)
Off to feed the cats. Take care all -
Rod
All in all though, despite the little hiccups, our new starter had a good experience of her first 'dive' and is looking forward to continuing the treatment. I will see her again on Saturday morning for the 10:30 session. The other session today, though running quite late as a knock-on effect from the 11am dive, went well. I'm not back in till Saturday (think I just said that) when I will look forward to a doughnut and a cup of altogether nicer coffee :)
Off to feed the cats. Take care all -
Rod
Monday 12 September 2011
Monday 12 September
What a windy day today! Most inconvenient for wearers of hats as I found out on the way in to the Centre today! I did something I haven't done for quite some time today - I covered an extra session as a No. 2 Operator. I sat in covering for Carolyn who is off on her holidays in warmer climes on the session immediately before my usual Monday dive. I sat with Arthur which was nice because I originally started as a volunteer at the Centre as his No. 2... so it was a bit like a flashback to 3 years ago!! We had a good chat whilst running the session.
Both sessions went very well. I was assisted by Ian as my No. 2 on the second dive, who is also great to chat with. Tomorrow I will go in also for two sessions, as there is a new starter beginning her initial 15 sessions. It is always nice to meet someone new and see how they get on with the Oxygen Treatment. Always we hope it will be of benefit to them. Nicki also took a long-ish phone call from someone asking about having O2 treatment with us at the Centre, and I couldn't help overhear that we have a 3 month waiting list... This is good news (well, not if you're on the waiting list I suppose!) as it shows people are finding out / hearing about us and our services!
The building work upstairs is now almost all finished, and so it should be a lot quieter at the Centre again from now on... The mental health charity 'Headway' will shortly be moving in upstairs and renting an office from HMSTC so that is good news. They will have to find somewhere to put their sign up outside the building - a simple enough thing in theory, however we have the Heritage Foundation in Letchworth who can potentially be very picky and stubborn about such things if they do not conform precisely to their criteria! :)
On that exciting note I shall bid you... bye for now! Back soon -
Rod
Both sessions went very well. I was assisted by Ian as my No. 2 on the second dive, who is also great to chat with. Tomorrow I will go in also for two sessions, as there is a new starter beginning her initial 15 sessions. It is always nice to meet someone new and see how they get on with the Oxygen Treatment. Always we hope it will be of benefit to them. Nicki also took a long-ish phone call from someone asking about having O2 treatment with us at the Centre, and I couldn't help overhear that we have a 3 month waiting list... This is good news (well, not if you're on the waiting list I suppose!) as it shows people are finding out / hearing about us and our services!
The building work upstairs is now almost all finished, and so it should be a lot quieter at the Centre again from now on... The mental health charity 'Headway' will shortly be moving in upstairs and renting an office from HMSTC so that is good news. They will have to find somewhere to put their sign up outside the building - a simple enough thing in theory, however we have the Heritage Foundation in Letchworth who can potentially be very picky and stubborn about such things if they do not conform precisely to their criteria! :)
On that exciting note I shall bid you... bye for now! Back soon -
Rod
Friday 2 September 2011
Into September...
Well, here we all are, now in September. Don't mean to be stating the obvious... just thinking how really quickly the year is passing by. Good news though at the Centre because the work on the upper level has been progressing well. I was upstairs today helping to move a few things about and I must say they have done a very good job. I am sure Nicki will like her new office once it's all finally carpeted and set up for her, and the new storage room up there is great. Nicki has been away all this week, but will return next week.
This was my last Friday at the Centre, possibly for some time, as Mike finally returns next week to take back his Friday dives from me. He has been away a long time off in a tropical paradise!! Hawaii for 4 months, no less... So unless I cover sessions, I won't be doing Fridays any more. I first took over Fridays from Eric, who had been at the centre for many years before I arrived there. Then after a while I handed the Friday over to Robert, but he only stayed around 10 months or so, so I ended up taking them back again. Then Mike took over for a few months before his extended break...
Well any way, the sessions today went well. I was with a relatively new no. 2 who had trained up over the past 4 or 5 weeks. The last day for many children of their Summer holidays today, there were 2 or 3 of them at the Centre who'd accompanied parents in and who seemed decidedly downbeat about the prospect of returning to school after I asked them. I know, I know... I shouldn't have even mentioned the dreaded 'S' word, the poor little ones... :)) (ha ha!)
Well, that's it for this installment. I am hoping to find out soon about taking over updating the website. I have some ideas I need to discuss with Charlene about it, so watch this space.
Take care all, my best wishes -
Rod
This was my last Friday at the Centre, possibly for some time, as Mike finally returns next week to take back his Friday dives from me. He has been away a long time off in a tropical paradise!! Hawaii for 4 months, no less... So unless I cover sessions, I won't be doing Fridays any more. I first took over Fridays from Eric, who had been at the centre for many years before I arrived there. Then after a while I handed the Friday over to Robert, but he only stayed around 10 months or so, so I ended up taking them back again. Then Mike took over for a few months before his extended break...
Well any way, the sessions today went well. I was with a relatively new no. 2 who had trained up over the past 4 or 5 weeks. The last day for many children of their Summer holidays today, there were 2 or 3 of them at the Centre who'd accompanied parents in and who seemed decidedly downbeat about the prospect of returning to school after I asked them. I know, I know... I shouldn't have even mentioned the dreaded 'S' word, the poor little ones... :)) (ha ha!)
Well, that's it for this installment. I am hoping to find out soon about taking over updating the website. I have some ideas I need to discuss with Charlene about it, so watch this space.
Take care all, my best wishes -
Rod
Friday 26 August 2011
Friday 26th August
Things have been going well at the MS Centre lately, and I do apologise again for not updating this blog for ages. I have been doing plenty of O2 Therapy sessions and (hopefully) helping lots of people in the process. There has been some work going on upstairs, above the oxygen tank and reception, which has been a bit on the noisy side at times. Hopefully they are finishing up now though. Nicki has had a proper office built up there, so she doesn't just have a little corner in what essentially was a large cupboard any more!! Good for her. They have also knocked through into the CVS (Centre for Voluntary Services) office and put a door in, which will save a lot of time for people (especially Nicki) getting around the Centre...
Unfortunately I did not get to the Scarecrow Festival last weekend, though I hear it went very well this year. There was some slight disappointment on the Saturday as there was rain which dampened people's spirits and enthusiasm somewhat... but other than that... Well, we made over £180 from the sales of cakes which many people had made specially (my wife Mandy and I made a big chocolate cake this year, which turned out nicely - hard to part with it, but we can always make another!) - and the tombola stall made £285, which is just fantastic. Yeah, I know, I'm repeating stuff I already posted on the FB Page Wall..! :)
I hope everyone enjoyed looking at the photos of the 10 winners from the Scarecrow Festival this year that I posted the other day. It is clear that people put a lot of hard work and effort into designing and creating these. If I have one slight quibble with them though... well, to my mind, they are so good that many of them do not actually resemble scarecrows at all... (or is that the point, to make them not look like scarecrows..?) Some of them could be mannequins, there's not a stick of straw in sight... But I'm just being picky (I'm sure old Wurzel Gummage is spinning in his... where do they put dead scarecrow people..? Answers on a postcard) I must try to get to the Festival next year and experience it for myself.
The first session this Friday morning has been cancelled, so I could've had a bit more of a lie in. Particularly as the weather today is so uninviting out there... Hmmm... The second one is going ahead, which is a 33 ft dive. It will be the end of our latest New Starter's initial 15 sessions, so she will decide which depth she prefers and hopefully slot into one of the regular sessions. A very friendly lady, she has told us that she very quickly began feeling the benefits of the O2 therapy, which is always great to hear.
Okay - I'm off to kill a little time and then head over the to Centre. Best wishes to all - bye for now -
Rod
Unfortunately I did not get to the Scarecrow Festival last weekend, though I hear it went very well this year. There was some slight disappointment on the Saturday as there was rain which dampened people's spirits and enthusiasm somewhat... but other than that... Well, we made over £180 from the sales of cakes which many people had made specially (my wife Mandy and I made a big chocolate cake this year, which turned out nicely - hard to part with it, but we can always make another!) - and the tombola stall made £285, which is just fantastic. Yeah, I know, I'm repeating stuff I already posted on the FB Page Wall..! :)
I hope everyone enjoyed looking at the photos of the 10 winners from the Scarecrow Festival this year that I posted the other day. It is clear that people put a lot of hard work and effort into designing and creating these. If I have one slight quibble with them though... well, to my mind, they are so good that many of them do not actually resemble scarecrows at all... (or is that the point, to make them not look like scarecrows..?) Some of them could be mannequins, there's not a stick of straw in sight... But I'm just being picky (I'm sure old Wurzel Gummage is spinning in his... where do they put dead scarecrow people..? Answers on a postcard) I must try to get to the Festival next year and experience it for myself.
The first session this Friday morning has been cancelled, so I could've had a bit more of a lie in. Particularly as the weather today is so uninviting out there... Hmmm... The second one is going ahead, which is a 33 ft dive. It will be the end of our latest New Starter's initial 15 sessions, so she will decide which depth she prefers and hopefully slot into one of the regular sessions. A very friendly lady, she has told us that she very quickly began feeling the benefits of the O2 therapy, which is always great to hear.
Okay - I'm off to kill a little time and then head over the to Centre. Best wishes to all - bye for now -
Rod
Saturday 13 August 2011
Saturday Comes Around Again
Wow, the weeks go by so quickly! Saturday has come round again. Today's featured doughnuts were mini lemon iced doughnuts from Sainsbury's. Very nice, and the whole of the 'Saturday Team' highly recommend them! :))
Well, the dives today went very well, and it was very nice to see everyone today. In particular the 2nd dive for the little autistic boy that I have written about before on here, was excellent.
As you may recall, we normally have a lot of problems with rapidly rising oxygen levels during this session, and 9 times out of 10 we need to flush the chamber by about halfway through. However, today the O2% started on 20.9 and ended on 20.9! I had to keep checking to make sure it was those particular clients in the chamber! The only thing that has changed: a new hood for the little boy to wear. It is a bit on the tight side, and takes some getting into and out of, but it is currently leak-proof and so makes for an easier, hassle-free dive.
We have another couple of new trainee oxygen treatment volunteers who have started training over the week just gone. They have both made good starts and show a lot of interest in what we do. I look forward to working with them both again. We also have another new starter who is having oxygen treatment in the chamber. She is about a 3rd of her way through her initial 15 sessions and seems to be doing fine. It is fantastic to hear that she thinks the O2 treatments are already giving her some benefits. :)
Well, I'll keep it a bit shorter this time - I will try and write some more soon -
Hope everything is well and good with everyone :)
Rod
Well, the dives today went very well, and it was very nice to see everyone today. In particular the 2nd dive for the little autistic boy that I have written about before on here, was excellent.
As you may recall, we normally have a lot of problems with rapidly rising oxygen levels during this session, and 9 times out of 10 we need to flush the chamber by about halfway through. However, today the O2% started on 20.9 and ended on 20.9! I had to keep checking to make sure it was those particular clients in the chamber! The only thing that has changed: a new hood for the little boy to wear. It is a bit on the tight side, and takes some getting into and out of, but it is currently leak-proof and so makes for an easier, hassle-free dive.
We have another couple of new trainee oxygen treatment volunteers who have started training over the week just gone. They have both made good starts and show a lot of interest in what we do. I look forward to working with them both again. We also have another new starter who is having oxygen treatment in the chamber. She is about a 3rd of her way through her initial 15 sessions and seems to be doing fine. It is fantastic to hear that she thinks the O2 treatments are already giving her some benefits. :)
Well, I'll keep it a bit shorter this time - I will try and write some more soon -
Hope everything is well and good with everyone :)
Rod
Tuesday 9 August 2011
Triple Session Tuesday!
Well, I do apologize for the lengthy delay in my blogs. Things have been going fine at he Centre though. We are looking forward to the next big thing for us, which will be the Scarecrow Festival in a couple of weeks. My wife and I will be covering a stall on the Sunday (it's a 3 day event) and so we will take photos for the FB Page and also I will write a little report for everyone.
Today I ran a total of three oxygen treatments at the Centre. The first one was for a new starter, and it went very well. She got on fine, despite having some initial concerns regarding sinus and ear troubles. I think she is quite eager and looking forward to doing more sessions and is very hopeful that the treatment will help to alleviate some of her symptoms, as do we :) She hung around the Centre for a time afterwards too, talking to people and getting to know us all a bit, which was lovely.
The second session was the usual 12:30 Tuesday lunch time session, which also went fine. We had an extra person in it today who was doing this session instead of the usual one. The main problem we experienced during this session was not related to the Chamber or session itself, but rather from above. On the floor above us, lots of people were having a good old clear out of stuff, ready for Nicki's new office to be built up there over the next fortnight. They made a right racket doing it, and we all ended up with headaches downstairs!!
The final session was with the autistic boy and his family as as usual it was a slightly trickier session, with O2 levels rising rapidly after 20-25 minutes, and the chamber required flushing by 35-40 minutes. This was fairly ineffective, probably due to the constant O2 flowing into the little boys plastic hood he wears (instead of a mask) and seeping out as he moves around a lot. We are toying with the idea of making his sessions 45 minutes rather than an hour in length. Quite often he only manages 45-55 minutes as we have to abandon the session, not being able to bring the O2 levels down enough.
More from me sooner (well, I will try..!)
Rod
Today I ran a total of three oxygen treatments at the Centre. The first one was for a new starter, and it went very well. She got on fine, despite having some initial concerns regarding sinus and ear troubles. I think she is quite eager and looking forward to doing more sessions and is very hopeful that the treatment will help to alleviate some of her symptoms, as do we :) She hung around the Centre for a time afterwards too, talking to people and getting to know us all a bit, which was lovely.
The second session was the usual 12:30 Tuesday lunch time session, which also went fine. We had an extra person in it today who was doing this session instead of the usual one. The main problem we experienced during this session was not related to the Chamber or session itself, but rather from above. On the floor above us, lots of people were having a good old clear out of stuff, ready for Nicki's new office to be built up there over the next fortnight. They made a right racket doing it, and we all ended up with headaches downstairs!!
The final session was with the autistic boy and his family as as usual it was a slightly trickier session, with O2 levels rising rapidly after 20-25 minutes, and the chamber required flushing by 35-40 minutes. This was fairly ineffective, probably due to the constant O2 flowing into the little boys plastic hood he wears (instead of a mask) and seeping out as he moves around a lot. We are toying with the idea of making his sessions 45 minutes rather than an hour in length. Quite often he only manages 45-55 minutes as we have to abandon the session, not being able to bring the O2 levels down enough.
More from me sooner (well, I will try..!)
Rod
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