wagwaan?

"Great Aunt"?? Sounds like someone in their nineties

My birthday has come and gone, and I've not been on here at all because that lurgy I came down with just went on and on and on.... I wasn't going to visit the doctor until I'd had the cold for at least a week, because I thought there was no point.  However, on the Friday I felt (and looked) so ill that I had to admit defeat and go home to bed again instead of being a guinea pig for the medical students' revision exam. That evening, Dr O called me and said she was worried about me and that I should get my chest checked out. I duly called the out of hours doctors and was given an appointment for the Saturday, where my chest was listened to and Amoxicillin prescribed.  I thought I'd feel better after a couple of days - that's what usually happens and you have to remind yourself to finish the course of tablets. Unfortunately, though, this cold had other ideas and I had to start on the steroid inhaler to stop my asthmatic cough waking up the whole neighbourhood. I had to return to the GP this morning and she doubled my asthma meds and gave me the delightful news that this type of cough can go on for six weeks. Lovely. 

In the meantime, I had a lovely day for my birthday, despite feeling so rough. Claire gave me her present early in the morning, before she went off to work, and I was so delighted because she bought tickets to go and see Mamma Mia in the West End. What a great time we had.  I have pictures but I've been so busy packing for the move and being poorly in bed that I haven't had the energy to upload them. I will, honest.

We also, the night before Mamma Mia, went to see our friends Beth and Simon compete in a charity dancing competition. They did a great job and I think they were robbed of a place. The people who came 3rd were ok, but the couple who came second were rubbish!  It was all "jolly good fun" and for an excellent cause; I just wish I hadn't felt so ill because I couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have. 

The biggest and best news of February, though, is the birth of my gorgeous Great Nephew, Joel, just before my birthday. We are all so excited for his parents, my niece G and her husband. We can't wait to meet him but for the moment we have to make do with pictures. We had planned to do a newborn shoot but what with my lurgy (I don't think I'd have been allowed anywhere near him!) and lack of funds due to the cost of moving, it's been put on hold. No matter, this Great Aunt will get gorgeous pictures of him whatever age he is when we finally meet. 

I start a new job on Monday, so what with packing and being ill, I really do have rather a lot on my plate. Not that I'm complaining, mind.  It's just that I don't have the will to come and post so often, so if you will bear with me, normal service will resume shortly. Thank you :)

 

Gosh darnit!

I know I haven't been around much - I have a lot on my plate (some say too much!) and to add insult to injury the computer just crashed when I'd nearly finished writing  a long post. Aaargh!   

So, the fundraising for Headway went well. I spent the morning with the todders group, where the littlies made crowns or hats with our craft supplies. The mums said I could take photos, but I'll just put the ones where you can't really see their faces on here:

 

I was going to say the post-stroke fatigue had got better, but I'm having a pretty bad day of it today. Typical!  At least I don't end up in bed for days at a time any more, and I am trying very hard to think ahead. This means realising that, although I don't feel the fatigue until it's upon me, I need to build rest periods into my schedule. 

What a shame - I had written quite a witty account of the other stuff I'd been up to, but now I'm really feeling the strain so I'm going to go and have a nap. I'm sure I'll be back on top form tomorrow! 

Lucky 13

I don't know about you, but I love the number 13. I see it as my lucky number. Well, I would - I was born on a 13th wasn't I?   Anyway, today I must buy a lottery ticket, no doubt along with a few million others, eh?

I haven't been a very prolific blogger but it has been a busy week. I've been trying to spread out the workload, but things have gone a bit bonkers, it has to be said. Sadly, one of the things that really took over was dealing with a difficult situation with one of Dr O's private patients.  I try very hard to be understanding, as this person evidently has mental health issues, but boy, it's difficult. You can't reason with someone who is paranoid and has other significant issues; you can only try damage limitation. The hardest bit is when they go and tell everyone else what a horrible person you are, when all you've done is try your best to accommodate them. 

Anyway, that's what's been taking up so much time, that and a hospital visit with Claire to see a neurologist. A few months ago she started having a very different type of headache, and of course, with my history the GP didn't want to take any risks with Claire's health. The doctor doesn't think it's anything to worry about but wanted to do a scan of her head, for which, due to the way the system works, she had to refer her to the neurologist.  We saw a very, very nice man who did a thorough neurological examination and talked us through the options. It turns out he shares his job between our local hospital and Queen Square where I had my surgery, so he knows my surgeon very well. As she had previously told us, they wouldn't normally do an MR angiogramme on someone asymptomatic unless they have two first-degree relatives who've had subarachnoid haemorrhages. For a start, it is a very invasive procedure, threading an angiogramme up from the groin to the brain....  The problem is, it's estimated that up to 5% of the population are walking around with aneurysms that they don't know about. It's very rare for them to rupture - I was one of the unlucky (yet at the same time lucky) ones.  If the scan were to reveal an, or indeed several, aneurysm(s), then the doctors would have to weigh up the pros and cons of surgery or coiling. Often, the risks far outweigh the advantages, and so you might end up with an aneurysm that they don't want to touch, and then you'd have to go through life thinking you've got a ticking time bomb in your head. The Consultant said that many times he's had patients who have regretted finding out about their aneurysm.

What he has agreed to do, to set everyone's mind at rest, is an MRI, a simple and straightforward procedure. This would check that there are no physical abnormalities in the brain (the word he deliberately avoided was tumour...) although it won't give a detailed picture of the arteries.  He implied that he thought the pains are migraines, although not as severe as the type her dad has, and we will keep a "watchful eye" on them in case they get worse. 

Right, so no post is complete without a picture and yesterday I had a wonderful visit from my friend N and baby E who is growing so fast: 3 months already!  Claire snapped this and although I'm making a silly face, it's a sweet pic.

I particularly like Baby E's frilly bottomed-tights. Cute!

Right, I'm off to do some fundraising for the charity Headway - of which more anon....

Your invite to the Royal Wedding!

Well, the auction is live.  Check out Rose & Bird's blog to find out more.

More Royal Wedding stuff

You might have seen an article in the paper recently about a lady who has knitted the Royal Wedding party. Well, it turns out she's from Chorleywood, which is not far from here - indeed, we used to go on picnics there when we were little. Anyway, I didn't realise when I saw it in the national papers that she had released a book with the relevant knitting patterns in it.   I think my sister should try knitting some of these ;)

(jml - you know, Claire still has her bunny AND her Peter Rabbit that you knitted for her. They are in my room for safekeeping...!)

Her Maj (*curtsies*):

I read on someone's blog that a group of knitters are re-creating this for auction on ebay, with the proceeds going to the Red Cross Japanese tsunami relief fund. If you're into that kind of thing, you might want to keep an eye out....

 

Comic Relief

Aw, I got a cute email from Comic Relief thanking me for my donation.  It was the least I could do....

I'm just slightly confused as to why the thank you comes from Children in Need... Oh well!

One of those days

Yesterday was not one of my better days, and I had to resort to whipping out my Headway card when I got all confuzzled in the chemist's.

Luckily for me it is only the second time I've had to use it, but I was really upset about something and just couldn't work out which paper was which in my pile of repeat prescriptions. It did the trick - the pharmacist was very gentle with me ;)   

So, after a good night's sleep I'm feeling much more refreshed today. With yesterday in mind, and after someone brought up the subject of recovery on the SAH forum, I popped over to the Community Centre to discuss spreading the word. In the UK, Brain injury awareness week runs from 9th to 15th May, and on Friday 13th May they are encouraging "Hats 4 Headway" where people don the most outrageous headgear they can find to raise money. In these times of economic instability and council cuts it is essential to press on with fundraising. 

 

Right, I thought I'd finally upload a picture of the Oxygen shoes I told you about. Remember? Well, finally, here they are

 

Yes, they are like a 5-year old's Clarks sandals. And your point is? 

Right, that's enough from me for today. See ya later, peeps.

 

Kiva update

You'll see in the right hand column that I have changed the Kiva picture that was there. I got my $25 back from the first person I lent it to and it was sitting in my account (for which I feel bad because it wasn't helping anyone there!). So today I lent it to the Feliz Group in Paraguay because they only needed $25 to reach their target. Plus "feliz" means happy, so how could I not give to them?!

I wish I could do more but at the moment y'all know my finances aren't what they could be. If any of you feel moved to join Kiva, I urge you to do so. You get to feel good whilst giving to a worthy cause.