On a cold and frosty morning

Good morning 


I've been up since 4am this morning. Not sure what happened to my Bi Pap mask but something came undone and it started making screaching noises so on auto pilot I unclipped and removed it. Unfortunately I then went back to sleep. Big mistake. When I awoke again a while later it was to find my head throbbing. And now I am so tired. I guess it's not the best time to be writing a blog post, but I need to keep awake as we are hoping to go out for a drive later on this morning. 

I did an online order with Woolworths yesterday and chose the delivery time slot of 6-9am this morning. So far no show but I hope they get a move on as previously they have been late with their deliveries. In the mean time the bloke has has been getting his housework on and has so far vacuumed, changed the sheets, stacked the dishwasher and put the clothes on to wash. Of course none of this work can be carried out in silence so he puts on the C.D one of my daughters bought me a few years back. It is a compilation of up beat, energy rising tunes. Within moments he is stomping around the floor with the Dyson in hand to the boppy songs.
Aah, nothing I like more than seeing a nice, strong man with dance moves to rival John Travolta, doing such a mundane chore. I did ask him if he could slip into something more...becoming to a dancer of his physique, he told me in no uncertain terms that there was nothing wrong with his apparel of jeans and a flannel shirt!
Well just had a phone call from WW online, appears they are having trouble with their delivery truck and so my order of going to be later than planned;but at least they let me know. 
Yesterday I managed to complete another two pages for my scrapbook album. I showed it to my online scrapbook group and one lovely lady commented that she can see improvement in my work. I can't see it, but I will accept her opinion. With me I get all excited when I put all the concepts together but then something goes wrong when I lay out the page. I seem to be a little off with my final design. I think I get the colour coordination right, due to my experience with my fabric projects. Oh well I have plenty more photos to practice on.

I want to end on a happy note and tell you that this week has been a good one for me. For the first time in a very long time I have felt less pain and much stronger in my mobility. I have been able to get up and move off, in a more steady gait than I have become used too, and I have been walking to areas in the home that I usually don't do. I even plan on putting some wash on next week, after I get someone to teach me how to use the machine. Last week we had to buy a new washing machine when our old one suffered a meltdown. This one has so many buttons and settings that you almost need a pilots license to drive it. Still it is good to have a machine that doesn't beep annoyingly but rather plays a happy little tune when finished. Oh and it's not too bad on getting the clothes clean either.
So with that lot I will end and hope to be back soon for another update.

Everyday Things

                                An unusually clear table- love my vase of artificial flowers


I expect after my last blog post my regular readers might think I would be continuing on with the whiny theme. Happy to say that I'm not, or at least that is my aim. I really do try pick myself up when I'm down and out. Every day I get to wake up is a bonus, despite my rather bleak prognosis.


The Bloke has just had days off, and we all love that. The girls book him for servicing their cars, mending bicycle tyres, getting him to go on walks and on the list goes. On my list I asked him to please finish the painting the blue room, so called for obvious reasons. It has been a work in progress for the past couple if months and as The Bloke dislikes painting, it takes a lot to get his motivation levels high enough to initiate a start. Then I can move my sewing and craft stuff back into the 'spare' room. Of course it will be highly unlikely that I will sit in this room and work as it is bloody freezing in winter and stinking hot in summer. However the majority of my stuff can be stored in this room and out of sight unless we get guests to stay.


Over the weekend I managed to get into my laptop and clean up and categorise my pictures. Since I have taken up scrap-booking, it will be a lot easier to go straight to a folder and select the pics I want to print for my layouts. In the process of this overhaul I managed to delete over 4, 486 photos. Yep, you read correctly. I have so many pics in the time I have had this laptop. I saved some onto my USB stick so that my daughter can go and get them printed. Harvey Norman are offering a deal; 9 cents per 6x4"print. Not too bad I think. Once I get them I will get started on some  new pages.


So many things going on in this family. My daughter is counting down the days until her son makes an appearance. I keep dreaming on what he will look like. Will he have the dark curl hair that my daughter and me had? Will he have blue eyes like my girl or will he have his father's brown eyes? 
Will he have fair skin or be olive skinned? It is so lovely to imagine what he what he will look like and then when we get to meet him we will see if we were right.
No matter what he looks like he will know he is loved. The pic below was taken yesterday.

Well this post was a short one, just to keep my hand in, so to speak but I hope to be back soon with a bigger post.

Until then, Keep warm (if you live in Australia).

Health Matters

Hello
I returned home on Monday, after a short trip to the city late last week to attend an appointment with my Pulmonary Physician and to also see an Occupational Therapist (OT). 
The specialist was very direct with his opinions, and naturally for me I became anxious and incredulous at the same time that this was my health he was talking about. I sometimes sit there when I'm listening to some most unpalatable news with an almost out of body experience. It's like they, the doctors, are speaking about someone else. I guess it is my protection mechanism, but it could also be called denial. *sigh*.Of course the main problem he says is my weight. If I regain too much I run the strong risk of not being able to use my BI-PAP machine, as it currently operates at the maximum rate of 25/12 and it will not be able to ventilate my lungs. The result will be respiratory failure. He also told me that the right side heart failure is the reason my right foot is the size it is. While I sort of knew I had this, his stating it out loud and clear makes it all the more undeniable.
Whilst there he downloaded the data from my machine and could see that I use the machine most of the time, except for the times when my anxiety was so high I couldn't cope with the mask.
He said that the machine was currently working to capacity and all was well with that for now.

On the Saturday we went to Mandurah to meet up with my daughters MIL and we
went to the Mandurah forum for lunch. Phil and I went to the disabled
toilets first. I had bought a wheelchair on the Thursday to allow me to get
to all the places I have to go. Anyway it is a large chair and it wouldn't
fit through the door of the toilet so I stood up to walk in and was unaware
that the footrest had swung in front of my foot, so when I stepped forward
my ankle caught on it and I fell over it and down I went. It is one of my
worst fears -to fall over. I grabbed at the toilet as I went and that just
sheared off and broke, and cut my forearm. I fell on the left side which is
my where the lymphodema is worst. I hit my head on the tiles and lie on my
side along side the toilet. I was so shocked. Poor Phil didn't know what to
do-he thought I knocked myself out.
I just lie there crying at the whole stupid thing. Many people walked past
in the corridor, and I felt so bad. Finally someone got a security person
who took one look and told me she would get help. Another guy turned up but
there was no way they were going to get me upright. The ambulance was called
and two lovely male officers arrived. They attempted to get me up but as I
could not help myself at all, it was futile. So they told me they would have
to call for back up and called the fire brigade and 4 more men came to my
rescue. I felt so bad, but they were all lovely caring people. They managed
to get me out of the toilet then the 6 of them lifted me into my w/chair in
a sling lifter thing.
God I was so relieved. My poor daughter wondering why we were taking so long
in the loo, came looking and promptly burst into tears at seeing her mother
on the ground.
What a fiasco.
I did get bruises, and cuts which leaked lymph fluid and so have had to
go onto antibiotics to try and ward of infection.
I am still shaky and nervous about walking. The following pics show the results of my toilet diving. The first one shows the lymph fluid beading on the cuts on my arm. This is the first time I have had this happen, so it was interesting to see, but also quite scary as simple little cuts can lead to infections and serious complications for people with lymphodema. The net one is the bruise on my left knee that bore the brunt of my fall. It is very sore, stiff and unstable. I emailed my doctor on the way home from the city yesterday and she agreed that I commence antibiotics, and as I already had a script the bloke got it filled after we got home. I'm hoping it does the trick.

So after this little adventure I am feeling sorry, sore and lighter on the pocket. It seems that if the ambulance is called and it is deemed not to be an emergency then you will be charged full cost which in my case will be about $800-$1000. I am a little angry as the bloke has gold corporate health cover with the company he currently works for and our previous health fund covered ambulance. It was a very expensive few days with a $2100 outlay for the w/chair and then this ambulance charge. Please don't think I'm whingeing at the ambulance people. They are a fabulous mob. It is the health fund that I'm cranky with.
Has there ever been a time you have had to call the ambulance out and had to pay for it?
Well at this point I will finish up so I can post it and think about the next thing on today's to do list.
Keep the comments coming dear friends, it really makes my day when someone takes some time to drop a line of two.

Ciao

Life in Pictures

Life has been happening and here are the pictures to prove it. The first pics are the latest two pages I have completed in my new found craft-scrap-booking. Who knew it was so much fun.

The beautiful bassinet all ready for it's precious new baby. Note the quilts and softies which were made by me. :)

My very pregnant, tired daughter, 13 weeks to go.

The Bloke's back after having a skin cancer removed. Results were all good thank god.

                                                 The start of something sweet

The pretty birthday cake I made for my daughter, yes the one above for her 27th birthday. I guess she wont mind me telling people her age. We all loved this cake and it wasn't even difficult to make. If anyone is interested in the recipe let me know and I will get you the details.