In the Blink of an Eye - Part 2

It's been a crazy few years since I posted last. My husband spent from August 30, 2011 to February 2012 away from us while he was in VGH and GF Strong recovering and getting the physio and training he needed to deal with all the changes in his life. He was lucky that he had a partial spinal cord injury so that he has some feeling and movement in both legs instead of being paralyzed from point of injury down. He can now walk again with the help of forearm crutches. We have a lift so he can ride upstairs if he is too tired to climb up, he hasn't used it since the first months it was installed, but perhaps he should be. We are all getting use to our new life and how we work together as a family. I think it has brought us closer together and given our son an up close view of continued how hard work can make big changes.

In the Blink of an Eye - Part 1

It's been a while since I've blogged. A lot has been going on that has kept me away from the the computer for the most part and from blogging in particular.

On August 30, 2011 my life changed. It was about 4:30pm, I was working when I received a phone call from my husband, I couldn't answer because I had a patient on the phone booking an appointment and another in front of me waiting to pay. I continued with my day not too worried since he had already told me he was on the way home on his motorbike and would be picking up our son soon. I thought he just wanted to talk about patio furniture some more and it would be fine if I called him back later. I checked his voice mail and it was all road noise so I sent him a quick text asking what was up and kept working. Not long after this I received a phone call from a nurse at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) saying that my boss's husband had been in an accident and she had to come to the phone. My boss to the call and then came out looking pale saying it was a motorbike accident, not her husband but mine. The nurse told me that my husband was in Emergency and I should come right away. I took about 10 minutes to calm down and say goodbye to my boss and then left. Son was at a friends house so I didn't have to worry about him, I knew he would be taken care of while I looked after Hubby.

Birthdays, Broken Bone, & Adventures

Once again August has proved to be a month to remember.

First the fun stuff. Camping was accomplished and we attended 4 birthday parties in 2 weekends!

• August 8 - 12 - Hubby and Son went camping with friends in Harrison Hot Springs. I had to work. It might sounds like I was abandoned, but honestly I was kind of relieved not to be tent camping in the rain. I don't sleep as well in an empty house though, so I was pleased when they came home safe and sound.
  
• Saturday the 15th - We attended the 6th birthday party of Son's best buddy in the park. Much fun was had by all on the tire swing, climbing equipment and running through the water park. Of course the kids enjoyed destroying the piñata and eating the cake too. :)
• Sunday the 16th - Son & I walked onto the ferry to Nanaimo to attend his Great-Granny's 91st birthday. This was our first time on the ferry without Dad and also the first time he didn't want to spend the whole time in the Play Area. We spent a lot of time on deck and wandering from place to place on the ferry in both directions.
  The party itself was great, everyone came that could and Son got to spend time playing with his cousins whom he hadn't seen in about 6 months. All the kids moved as a group, total pack mentality. It was fun to watch. Lunch wasn't served till after 3pm so the kids were directed to the veggie and fruit plate. Son focused on fruit and cherry tomatoes of course. :) Great-Granny was thrilled to have so many kids running around.
• Friday the 21st - Grandma arrived to spend the weekend, she wanted to be here to attend both her grandchildren's birthday parties. Son was thrilled!
• Saturday the 22nd - We attended my niece's 5th birthday party at a different park. Her father had taken the time to set up a treasure hunt, each group of kids had to find the hidden keys then follow the directions to the buried treasure chest. The kids had a blast going through all the treats and prizes in the chest.
• Sunday the 23rd - Son had his birthday party at the rec center of Brother-in-law's townhouse complex. All the kids and about 1/2 the adults had a good swim in the indoor pool then came up in time for a lunch of hot dogs/smokies, veggies, and chips. We also provided the kids with the fun of destroying a piñata and the parents the fun of watching them. Grandma left for the ferry with Brother-in-law after the party.

Here is where life starts to get even more interesting!

• Wednesday the 26th - Oma (Grandma in Dutch) came to visit, she wanted to visit with her aunt and uncle during the day and to be here for Son's actual birthday. While she was off visiting with other family, Son was playing in the playground outside his karate class. Nothing odd about this, he loves to climb all over the equipment and go down the slides. This time he is sharing a spinning wheel (has replaced monkey bars in many playgrounds) with a friend and falls. Again, nothing new, but this time he lands on his arm instead of his feet. He complained that it hurt but there are no lumps or bumps and he can wiggle his fingers so I just took him home, gave him some advil and let him watch some TV. I figured it was a sprain or strain and would get better on it's own. When Hubby got home he took one look at Son's arm and noticed how swollen the elbow was. It was decided to take him in and get that elbow x-rayed. After a few hours in the hospital it was determined that the humerus was fractured near his elbow and he would need a cast. The doctor on call in emergency was pretty confident that we would only need to leave it on for 2 weeks. Son was pretty freaked he had NO idea what a cast was, but he knew he didn't want one! Once he saw what it was and noticed that it didn't hurt as much now that he didn't have to hold his arm up with his other hand he was a bit happier. Son declared this his Worst Birthday Ever! We kinda agree, at least he had his pool party before he broke his arm
• Thursday August 27th - Son's actual birthday! He got to open Oma's present to him and one of mine first thing in the morning but had to wait for Dad to come home before he could open the rest of our present. I was happy to see that he was able to use his new Tag pen and books with just 1 hand. Son got to take the day off from Kids Club and visit Science World with Oma, at least there were activities he could do one handed there. Oma went home after dinner and birthday cupcakes for desert.
• Friday August 28th - My sister and her 3 kids (1 girl 1 yr old, 2 boys 5 yrs & 7 yrs) come to spend the weekend with us. They were sorry to have missed the party and actual birthday but understood that there are just so many people that can fit into our townhouse at one time. Cole was sooo happy to see them and thrilled to be able to come with me to pick them up.
  
• Sunday August 30th - The Boys had a big adventure!
  My sister and I left Hubby with all 4 kids while we went shopping so that the kids wouldn't be bored. He sent the 3 boys out to play in the back yard while our 1 yr old niece napped. After a while he couldn't hear them anymore, quickly checked the outdoor pool and was relieved to see that they weren't there and that a couple of families were using the pool so that they would be noticed if they went there. He had to go back to the house though as niece was still sleeping. He called to get us to check the school playground on the way home and send the kids back.
  About 45 minutes later I got a phone call asking me where the park was that had "4 slides." Apparently the kids had left our complex, crossed 3 main streets and 2 streets leading to other townhouse complexes, followed a path leading over a bridge, past baseball diamonds, and finally arrived at a playground with 4 slides with other good climbing stuff. They enjoyed the park, maneuvered over the rocks in the creek and generally had a good time. They felt very proud of their adventure, after all they had followed all the rules: they looked both ways at the streets, held hands crossing the street, and the oldest child was tall enough that the cars could see them! It was, of course, explained to them that as good as all that stuff was, it didn't negate the fact that they should have told Hubby where they were going. Son had only been to that park about 10 times in his life and usually rides his bike there. It probably took them about 20 min to walk there.
  Privately I'm pretty proud of them all. The oldest wanted to bail and come back, but stuck with the younger kids when they wouldn't hear of giving up. They made it to the park and back with no mishaps. This says a lot for Son's sense of direction and for all of them for remembering the rules for crossing the road. Can't let Son know quite how proud I am of them though, that might give him more ideas. :D
• Monday August 31st - Sister and her children went home, the house was quiet again.
• Wednesday September 2nd - Son had his 2nd bath since getting his cast and somehow managed to get a lot of water in it! None got in the top, so there must have been a hole in the bottom of the bag we used to protect his cast. Poor kid went to sleep clutching a cloth to his cast hoping to soak up some of the water.
• Thursday September 3rd - We called the Cast Clinic to see just bad it was to get his cast wet. It was recommended that since it wasn't a waterproof cast we should go in and see how bad it was and perhaps replace it. I arrived with Son at about 8:30am. The cast was removed, his arm cleaned and tension bandaged in prep for x-rays. After finally getting the x-rays we had wait for the Dr too look at them and determine how the fracture was healing. I was pretty sure we needed another cast since the Dr who looked at his x-rays on the Tuesday follow-up said we needed at least another 2 weeks. This was confirmed and we got to go back to the cast clinic to have a new waterproof cast put on. Son got to pick what colour he wanted, his first choice was red but he finally decided on orange as signatures would show up better on the lighter colour. All of this took about 3 hrs, Son was finally dropped off at Kids Club in time for lunch. *sigh*

I'm glad it's September now, hopefully the next month won't be nearly as eventful as the past few weeks were!

Proud of Myself

Looking back over the year I realized that I've managed to loose more pounds than my son weighs now. This is pretty significant. 50 lbs is a lot to loose, and surprising I didn't have to fight to loose it. It was a matter of everything coming together at the right time.

This time last year I weighed in at 182 lbs, that is the most I have EVER weighed in my life. That number on the scale shocked me and got me on my trip to weight loss and better eating. I never did get rid of my baby weight gain and soon after giving birth I had to go on medications which slowed down my metabolism and increasing my appetite. Some of the medications I took in the past 5 yrs were also given to patients who weren't eating enough to stimulate their appetite. I didn't find this out till much later, not that it would have mattered I needed the medication, there weren't any other options, I'd tried and failed to find them. However, if I had known about the side affects, I might have started to make better food choices sooner and maintained instead of gained. Who knows.

This past year I have seen what getting off the medications, improving the foods I eat, eating proper portion sizes, and adding exercise can do. With almost no effort I am now down to 135 lbs. People who haven't seen me in a while do double takes and always comment on it. They say "you've lost a lot of weight!" There is no question in their minds that there has been a change.

OK, maybe not no effort, but less than I thought it would take. I started out on SparkPeople.com tracking my calories, was AMAZED at how much I was consuming in a day. Those little chocolate bars and small snacks really add up. So does 1/3 a bag of chips in one sitting in front of the TV. Now there are no chips in the house, no baked goods purchased at every shopping trip, the only cookies are Peek Freans Lifestyle 'diet cookies,' 3 for 100 calories! My portion sizes are good and I'm trying to eat more protein. I don't go back for seconds and the carbs have been reduced.

I realized just how far I've come when I caught my reflection in a window and didn't cringe. That is huge, I've hated seeing my reflection in the window for so long, it never matches my inner image of myself. This week it finally did. I have lost 50 lbs and am now at a healthy 132 lbs. I'm proud of myself and how far I've come this past year.

My Poor Eye!

Recently I had an eye infection followed by the flu. This was pure misery as my Son was also sick with the flu so I couldn't lay on the couch and mindlessly watch daytime TV. I did finally get better and have had almost 3 weeks of good health.

Today I woke up with my right eye stuck together with goop and as the morning progressed it got more red and inflamed. I did what you are always told not to, I used some of my antibiotic drops from last time just to try to help it feel better. I have an appointment with the Dr later today. Hopefully it won't take too long to clear up.

I'm a little worried as this is the second infection in this eye in two months. This can't be good for my vision. I'm also wondering if it might be related to the silicon plugs I have in my tear ducts. They were put in after my eye surgery due to dry eyes. I'm wondering if the bacteria is getting trapped in there somehow and reinfecting my eye. Something to ask the Dr I guess.

I heard a rumour that the Canadian Optometrists will be able to prescribe drugs for eye related illness starting in May. This seems like a really good thing to me. It just makes sense to have an eye specialist be able to make those decisions.

Neti pot fan

A few years ago a friend from work suggested that I try "nasal irrigation' for my allergies. Well, the whole idea seem icky to me and i put it out of mind immediately as something that would never happen.

Fast forward to 2008 when a series of sinus infections and multiple rounds of antibiotics had even my doctor suggesting nasal irrigation. I figured it was time to give it a try and looked around the 'net for suggestions on how to do it and attempted to find a 'non-icky' option. Turns out there is no 'non-icky' option. The neti pot works well though. I make up my own saline solution right in the pot, it looks like a small teapot, and then pour it through my sinus', when all the water is gone I blow my nose and all that was stuck inside the sinus cavity comes out. Then I repeat for the other side. The end result is the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ability to actually breath in the midst of a cold!!!

I actually just went through a bad cold which lasted for more than a week and was able to avoid the use of antibiotics and go to work each day. This is almost unheard of for me, all my bad colds progress to sinus infections and the resulting pain and lack of energy from lack of oxygen have me home in bed suffering for at least a day or two. It was absolutly amazing to me to be able to almost breeze through the cold just by using the neti pot once, or on the worst days twice, a day that I would be able to breath without decongestants and sleep well, and go to work each day!! Wow!! I'm a convert for sure!!

Feeling hot and tired

I'm completely over my tonsillitis now, gotta love modern drugs! Within 2 days of taking the pills 3 times a week the pain was gone!

Now I'm just tired. I think it is due to the heat. we have been having a major heat wave with temps around 30 Celsius or 86F. Considering I live on the West Coast of BC, this is way out of the range of normal for me. I have decided that I really prefer 18 C to 22 C, or around 70F, slightly overcast. What I have gotten is lots of heat requiring trips from air conditioned car to air conditioned shops and offices to fan circulated home. Sleeping is not fun when the portable air conditioner is running, I prefer a silent room. *Sigh*

I know I'm tired because I just went to check on my tea and discovered that I had put the tea bag in the basket (I use a coffee maker) and put the correct amount of water into the pot, but then instead of pouring the water into the reservoir, I had just put the pot onto the heading pad. It was a bit of a shock to go in looking for tea and seeing a completely clear liquid waiting for me! LOL It's all fixed now and I am going to go have a cup, maybe that will wake me up. :)

Well enough grumbling, the weather should get back to "normal" soon and then I'll be able to sleep again... I hope. :)

Fun With My Health

This has not been a good year for my throat. First I got Laryngitis and had to take 2 weeks off work so that I could rest my voice. Now I have tonsillitis and have to take antibiotics and find soft things to eat.

I wonder why my throat doesn't like me :(

Laryngitis

I really wish I didn't know what this felt like!! I was doing fine last week about the time I should have been getting my tattoo, but within a few days my voice started going. Monday I went to the doctor and found out Laryngitis and have to rest my voice for a week. No work for a week by Doctors order, and limited talking at home. If I talk too much I will relapse.

I can feel my voice starting to get better. In the mornings it sounds pretty good, but by the evening it doesn't sound quite so good. But at least I have a voice now. By the end of a full day at work Tuesday my voice was trashed.

My tattoo was rescheduled for May 3rd, I really hope I have a voice by then. :)

out of balance

I don't feel focused today. I feel like i'm stuck up in the clouds with cotton balls in my ears. I'm not sick, just disconnected. "Spaced Out" like I've had too much milk (I'm allergic) or something. It's not a fun feeling. I'm here physically but my mind keeps drifting. I want to take a nap but I'm working at home and need to be available if someone calls. There are things that need to be done but I just can't focus. I know that a 15 min Reiki self healing would help me ground, but then I'd still be floaty, just with a string attached, and in any case I can't work up the motivation to put aside the laptop for a bit to do the healing. It's like nothing really matters, that I can just drift for a while. But I really don't like drifting, I prefer to know where I'm going.

Eye Hurts :(

It figures, I've been very good about keeping my grubby fingers out of my eyes so that they don't get infected or anything... but today they were crusted with "sleepy's" and I had to brush them off and get them out of the corner of my eye so that I could actually see. Well now the corner of my left eye is watering and kinda huring :( I can't have infected eyes next month. How am I going to deal with sleepy's???

Changes

Before I started practicing Reiki I had read that there would/could be changes that would happen. Changes to what I would want to eat, drink, do. I believed this to a point, but was going to wait and see. I had decided that I would reduce the amount of coffee I was drinking to mornings only with water in the afternoon, make an effort to self heal every day, get up and move when I felt like being a sloth. But under no circumstances would I give up my morning coffee!

Well, I've switched to tea for mornings and water for afternoons. It was a gradual change. I found that for 1 specific week in the month things went better for me if I stayed away from coffee, but black tea was fine. Then I got a flu and found that drinking coffee turned my tummy, again tea was fine. Then for some unknown reason I after my week of tea in the mornings I just kept on drinking tea. It's been 2 weeks and I've only had 2 very small cups of coffee in that time. I even got a Chai Tea Latte instead of my usual Cafe Mocha when I went to Starbucks earlier this week!

I'm also making changes for my health, going to a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and getting complimentary treatments of acupuncture & herbs to help bring me into balance. The combination of TCM and Reiki should really make a difference in my life. I don't think I have ever completely been in balance since before I move out of my mother's home. I never thought I would give up my coffee though!

Tired

Sometimes the day goes by so slowly. I keep looking at the clock expecting it to be almost 4pm and it only says 1:30pm now. I need time off, time alone, time without pressures or appointments. The last few vacation days I've taken have been filled with my son home sick, appointments, driving to and from daycare. I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. Hubby can take days off and decide not to pick up our son, but for some reason if I'm home I have to drop everything and be at the daycare at the usual time. I feel guilty sometimes about putting my son in daycare when I'm at home, but I do need the time to myself. One day I might even get it.

If you like Harry Potter...

You will want to check out Psychic Serpent by Barb! This is a great series of novel length Harry Potter FanFic which covers years 5-7 at Hogwarts and a prequel. Four books set in the wonderfully rich Harry Potter world. Barb has done a great job blending her view of how Harry and his friends should develope with the world that was created by JK Rowling. These are must reads if you are in any way interested in HP FanFic. Find these stories and more at Barb's yahoo group Psychic_Serpent.

I have read the first 2 books and am working my way through the third. I can't put them down and have stayed up late more nights than I care to mention reading them. I even created Mobipocket versions of them all so that I could read them on my iPAQ! Of course I put those files up on Barb's Psychic_Serpent2 site so that everyone can access them too. It just blows me away that someone could/would take the time to create these stories knowing they get nothing back but the appreciation of thier fans. Barb certainly has my appreciation, she has brough hours and hours of enjoyable reading into my life.

They certainly came in handy the last few days when all I have felt like doing is reading. Being sick isn't fun, but stories like this that can take you out of your own world for a little while make it easier to bare.