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Post by dixinormus on Mar 10, 2020 22:04:13 GMT
Never trust Brussels Airlines! I used to use them quite frequently until they started letting me down regularly.
Yes, the economy is heading south big-time. Retail, travel & tourism first on the block. Interest rates can’t be cut much lower to create any stimulus, but with many people already in debt up to their necks and now fearing redundancy, this could become a lot worse than 2008-9 😩.
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EspadaIII
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Post by EspadaIII on Mar 11, 2020 3:33:37 GMT
Yes. World economy a real issue. In 2008/9 people were able to buy things. Now they can't because they can't leave their homes/towns/countries.
To be fair to Brussels Airlines , they offered a sensible alternative but by then Espadrille was already in the air with easyjet.
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EspadaIII
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Post by EspadaIII on Mar 12, 2020 12:23:35 GMT
Dad's operation was not a success. They found secondary tumours when they opened him up so simply closed him up and have recommended chemotherapy.
All rather depressing but he has recovered well from the surgery and is thinking positively about the next stage of treatment.
In the meantime it's looking as though I will not get to see my family for several weeks. I need to see my father through the initial appointment with the oncologist and possibly into the first round of treatment. I am hoping to employ a live-in carer which may permit me to go home until such time as the quarantine regulations are stood down.
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Post by Alanović on Mar 12, 2020 12:26:29 GMT
Terribly sorry to hear that. Best wishes to all.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Mar 12, 2020 14:35:07 GMT
Sorry to hear that, Esp. Wishing you well for what’s likely to be a bumpy few weeks.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Mar 12, 2020 15:58:03 GMT
Sorry to hear the bad news. Best wishes.
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EspadaIII
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Post by EspadaIII on Mar 12, 2020 18:51:28 GMT
Thanks all. Things are not bleak but disappointing. Several treatments available I think, but clearly not the immediate resolution we were hoping for.
The quality of the medical/nursing care has been excellent. Certainly as good as any good NHS hospital. And every doctor has had very good English skills. Feel confident everything that could be done, has been done.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Mar 12, 2020 21:13:04 GMT
We all assume the NHS is among the best but there's better. I was very impressed with the "treatment/checks" we got after an RTA near Milan in 2006.
One of the checks I had to have before being discharged was a CT scan of my head. Also needed bloods and urine tests to be okay. Back in the UK at the GPs getting stitches removed and he told us that if that had been an RTA in the UK they'd have admitted me to observe in case there was a head trauma such as a bleed. i.e. wait to see if you had a problem instead of knowing there wasn't a bleed on the brain or similar. I think the Italians had the better approach...
... then again their health service is rated much higher by the WHO.
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Post by Humph on Mar 13, 2020 9:49:12 GMT
Sorry to hear your news E3. My father in law has been through a similarly torrid time this past year. But, the treatment seems to be working finally. There is always hope.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2020 16:31:05 GMT
It's always a tricky one when your parents, who have always been there, start to show they're human. 85 is a good innings as they say and he's still here so make the most of it E3. To still have a parent around as you are approaching 60 yourself is not a bad shout and you should remember that and enjoy it.
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Post by Alanović on Mar 13, 2020 16:54:45 GMT
True enough, I was a parent down aged 13. What I wouldn't give to have had him around the last 37 years. The things he's missed, he'd have loved to have had grandchildren.
Still it's tough any time and I hope EIII Sr pulls through. All the best.
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EspadaIII
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Post by EspadaIII on Mar 13, 2020 21:32:27 GMT
The hardest part is being alone. It's not a hardship (at the moment) being trapped in Israel. I have lots of good friends for support, the food is excellent both at supermarkets and in restaurants, and unless there is a storm (like now!) the weather is good.
But I find myself increasingly emotional. I just want my family with me but they can't be here and the irony is that Espadrille came home with a bad cold and has now been told to self isolate for a week! The kids are beside themselves in a mix of joy and worry but they have promised me they will look after her. To think I sent her home to look after them....
If the commentators of Middle East politics could see the hospital... Arab doctors, nurses and orderlies working with Jewish people of similar grades without differentiation. I can tell the Arab women by head coverings, but the men are all indistinguishable. And the care given to everyone is identical. The best nurse is a clearly observant Moslem lady of about 30. She is just lovely; a superb bedside manner, technically very competent and a smile and laugh to light up the room. Needless to say she speaks Arabic, Hebrew and English fluently and some Russian. I feel inadequate. Surprised she isn't a doctor.
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Post by Humph on Mar 14, 2020 13:31:27 GMT
Do you speak any Hebrew Espada?
I'm not too bad with European languages, I seem to pick them up reasonably quickly. Fairly good German, OK in French and Italian, and I can at least muddle along in Spanish and Portugese.
However, back when I was traveling to Israel for business, no matter how hard I tried to tune in to Hebrew it just didn't stick with me. Most European languages have some common threads you can latch onto and build on, but Hebrew was a completely different challenge, for me anyway.
Haven't been able to aquire more than a few phrases in Mandarin Chinese either.
Must try harder I suppose.
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Avant
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Post by Avant on Mar 14, 2020 18:33:11 GMT
I'm much like you Humph: I've always liked languages (hence the classics degree) but all the ones you and I can get along in are either Romance or Germanic - words and sentences constructed similarly to English.
But I couldn't get the hang of Mandarin either, even before getting to the hieroglyphics. They seem to construct their words syllable by syllable, so that e.g. there are five different meanings of 'ma', all pronounced with a different inflection, and only one of them meaning mother. Naturally the Chinese find it equally difficult to learn European languages.
I've never tried to learn Hebrew, but that may be the problem there too.
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EspadaIII
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Post by EspadaIII on Mar 15, 2020 8:46:18 GMT
For me Hebrew is different to say French. All Jewish kids outside Israel learn to read classical Hebrew (the language of the Bible and prayers) but even if we can translate it, we don't learn it to have a conversation.
Modern Hebrew is clearly closely related but I have not learnt it in way of modern languages are taught. I can get by using tourist Hebrew but the business/hospital environment is way beyond my capabilities. My problem is that I speak what I do know sounding fluent and almost native, so if I ask a question, I get a torrent of Hebrew back as an answer....
Anyway Dad is hopefully coming home today and then we wait for chemotherapy..
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