wagwaan?

It's Spring! It's Spring!

I thought I'd jinxed it but the very next day this is what I saw when I looked out the bedroom window

It's still freezing, but there are signs of life in the garden too - see?

And it's spring indoors too...

That's a cute chick my colleague gave me. I bit off its head. 

So yesterday, on a whim, Claire and I decided to go to the cinema. For the first time in so long, I seriously can't remember when we last went! The plan was to go Harrow on the Met line but of course it was suspended due to engineering work. In the end we got a taxi (eeek) to Vue Watford, bought our tickets (more eek!) and, as it was lunchtime, went to the concession to get some, um, "food". Triple eek!  Boy was it an expensive outing, but oh so worth it. We saw Danny Boyle's "Trance" and it blew our minds.  I can't even tell you the plot, really, and I'm glad I didn't read the Guardian's review before I went because, honestly? I don't think they saw the same film we did. 

Spring? Really?

You see that photo up there, with the daffodils? That's a defiant choice in the face of all this cooooold greeeeey snooooowy weather we've been having. I know, it's so very British to talk about the weather but boy is it different from this time last year. It seems as if it will never be warm again. Oh, is that a bit dramatic? Sorry! 

Talking of this time last year, in some ways it feels like a lifetime away and yet it seems like it was only yesterday. I am lucky to have a wonderful family, brilliant friends and, most of all, a fantastic daughter who all look out for me, but I will admit the smile slips a bit at times.  I never took my relationship for granted but at the same time, I never thought we'd break up, so yes, I admit, it's hard.  I definitely think if we had a bit of sunshine it would be easier to get out and enjoy life though. Ooh imagine that? A day trip to the coast, or a picnic in the countryside... I think I'll concentrate on that for the moment. I am smiling already!

An honour

How interesting: on the very day I bring home a CD of my head scans, the lovely Kate Davies gives me a shout out on her blog, which leads to hundreds of page views.

I feel very honoured that Kate feels a sense of kinship with me. Our strokes were about a week apart, and although she suffered a clot and mine was a bleed, which have different consequences, we both suffer from the long-lasting effects on our energy levels and general wellbeing which are very difficult to come to terms with. 

As for the CD, well my sister told me yesterday her doctor had asked if I could pass on any medical information on my psoriatic arthritis, to help with her own diagnosis. In requesting my medical notes, I spoke to the radiology department and as I've always wondered what my head scans look like, I asked for them too.  They really are fascinating. I still don't know exactly what I'm looking at, but on the second one (done a month after the SAH) you can clearly see the titanium clip that was inserted across the neck of the aneurysm. It's right in the centre of my head and shows up as a white line. You can also see where I had a "hygroma" after my operation, which shows up as a bulge on the side of my head. This collection of fluid was both outside and inside my skull and led to a nearly 3mm deviation of the midline of the brain - luckily for me, with no apparent side-effects.  The more I look back at what happened 3 years ago, the more amazed I am to be here, pretty much 100% recovered. I feel very humbled.

So, if you're visiting because of Kate, thank you indeed for coming to say hi. 

Welcome to my blog!

Thank you for visiting.  If you are a brain aneurysm survivor, or if you are just curious, the posts where I talk about my SAH are tagged "the brain thang" and it all started in February 2010.  

 

Saturday

I never thought I'd say this, but now that I am on Facebook every day I don't really feel I have anything to bring to blogworld any more. I still remember the days when I thought "Facebook? Shmacebook!", and although I had an account I didn't start using it till I was in hospital in 2010. Since then I've got twitter and Instagram accounts and poor ol' Wa'gwaan has fallen behind.  It's just so much easier to post to Facebook isn't it? 

Having said that, though, I don't want to stop blogging because it's like a diary where I can go back and read and reminisce and I love that.  I started my first blog in the summer of 2004. Can you believe it?!  I was reading it again yesterday and so many memories came flooding back. I've also been able to pinpoint when I had certain surgeries etc, which is good, because whenever a doctor asks me I go uummmmmm and just can't remember. I've now put them in a list on my iPhone...

I guess that's just a long-winded way of saying I ain't going anywhere!

Anyway, what's been happening here? I hear you ask. Well I realise I never blogged about our girlie outing to the Grease Singalong showing near Leicester Square. It was so much fun. We didn't dress up especially but there was a little bag on each seat with props in it, and the girl doing the intro told us how and when to use them, so we all joined in with gusto. I was surprised how many young children there were in the audience. They, of course, were all dressed up as pink ladies with a couple of small boys ast T-Birds in leather jackets and quiffs - so cute!

Paper bags on heads during Beauty School Dropout.

 

Chinese New Year, Chinatown (next to Leicester Sq)

Whata else? Oh yes, I went to another Craft morning at the Community Centre a couple of weeks ago. I always forget to take pictures, but we have coffee and cake and generally have a good old natter while we are being industrious. The stuff we make there is destined for our market stall, and all proceeds go to the Centre. Last year we raised over £2,000! 

Apart from that, it just seems like Winter has gone on for EVER. Snow and ice and freezing cold. Then a brief Spring-like day or two, and back to cold and ice.  Crazy.   Nice weather for snowdrops I s'pose.

Oh and I did get some daffs one day - 10p for the bunch as they were beginning to open. Marks & Spencer do have some good offers sometimes! By day 3 they were all crazy open:

Every so often we had blue sky... 

So that's about it. Tomorrow I am going up to London to meet up with a friend of mine who will be making her way up from Sussex. She lost her sight a few years ago but she doesn't let that stand in her way. She had a guide dog but was then so ill after a pancreas transplant that then failed that the dog was taken away from her. She wasn't able to exercise him, so it was felt best. She is now much better and cannot wait to get another because otherwise she is just a prisoner in her own home. I can't even begin to think how she copes. 

In my next post, I might very well tell you about the internet dating scene... We shall see.

:photos:

I love photos. And mosaics. So I thought I'd upload some. The end.