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| Deathcab for Cutie |
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| Prince |
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| Jackie, Diesel and me |
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Annual Catch-up Entry
Somehow, it has been a year again since my last post. 4 years since I moved to Sydney.
Best thing that happened this past year is that Mum's health is stable! Her surgery last November to repair her ureter was ultimately a success. It was 7 hours long. She had to stay in hospital for another month. There were many return visits for day surgery, stent insertions and removals.
Mum also developed a heart condition this past year where her heart rate went off the charts. It might have been from all the stress or she might have had it for a long time. It was discovered one morning as Mum was very dizzy again. She had been dizzy on and off all week. She was at a friend's house and had to lie down. She left, saying she was all right and drove herself to the GP who took her heart rate and sent her via ambulance to the emergency room. She was treated in various ways, beginning with blowing through a straw. They actually escalated things to the point where they gave her a drug that literally stopped her heart and told her would feel awful. Because technically she died. And they did this twice. It didn't quite work to bring down her heart rate. So they kept her in overnight and then released her the next day saying her heart rate was stable.
Four days later, she was waiting to be called into day surgery for the removal of a stent. She was going to receive anesthesia. Her pupils were dilated and she was short of breath. Her heart rate was over 180. An incredibly nice resident and consultant attended to Mum during a 4-5 day stay in hospital. They found the right medication and she has been ok since.
As of the beginning of this month, September, Mum received a thumbs up from the urologist, the cardiologist and the gastro guy. Best news in two years.
I have moved into a new house that I am enjoying. I have been working in post production on shows like Brothers in Arms: Bikie Wars, Mabo, Puberty Blues and Redfern Now.
I also produced a short film called Only One! Hard work, ton of fun and we are now in post production!
Best thing that happened this past year is that Mum's health is stable! Her surgery last November to repair her ureter was ultimately a success. It was 7 hours long. She had to stay in hospital for another month. There were many return visits for day surgery, stent insertions and removals.
Mum also developed a heart condition this past year where her heart rate went off the charts. It might have been from all the stress or she might have had it for a long time. It was discovered one morning as Mum was very dizzy again. She had been dizzy on and off all week. She was at a friend's house and had to lie down. She left, saying she was all right and drove herself to the GP who took her heart rate and sent her via ambulance to the emergency room. She was treated in various ways, beginning with blowing through a straw. They actually escalated things to the point where they gave her a drug that literally stopped her heart and told her would feel awful. Because technically she died. And they did this twice. It didn't quite work to bring down her heart rate. So they kept her in overnight and then released her the next day saying her heart rate was stable.
Four days later, she was waiting to be called into day surgery for the removal of a stent. She was going to receive anesthesia. Her pupils were dilated and she was short of breath. Her heart rate was over 180. An incredibly nice resident and consultant attended to Mum during a 4-5 day stay in hospital. They found the right medication and she has been ok since.
As of the beginning of this month, September, Mum received a thumbs up from the urologist, the cardiologist and the gastro guy. Best news in two years.
I have moved into a new house that I am enjoying. I have been working in post production on shows like Brothers in Arms: Bikie Wars, Mabo, Puberty Blues and Redfern Now.
I also produced a short film called Only One! Hard work, ton of fun and we are now in post production!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Honest emotion
I have been reading the blog of a friend of mine who is grieving the death of her baby Max. He died of SIDS and as you can imagine, she and her husband are devastated. The beautiful thing about Abby's grief is that she isn't ashamed because she has no need to be. She is real and writing the emotions that she feels and isn't complaining, just experiencing. I am so sad for her and her husband but I really admire her strength in her honest expression of her depression.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Birthday Post and Reflecting on Mum's illness
Right. Here it is, my birthday today. Very different than last year, but in some ways better.
I woke up sick yesterday, so wound up cancelling my party. Got some much needed rest and fluids.
Today, the day of my actual birthday, my friend Jackie kindly suggested I should leave the house and came to pick me up. She gave me a massage appointment for my birthday, which was fabulous. And then we met our friend Andrew and all went for a drive. They have been so incredibly supportive and so much fun. It really did make my day.
I am making a goal for this next year to write more on this blog and to share my true feelings, not gloss over things when they are really hard. You get to do that with good friends and they don't judge you or criticise you for who you are, as I have just been reminded over the last few days.
So much has happened this last year. The biggest thing is that my mother has been sick almost all year. And while she is doing very well all things considered, she is due in hospital for another major surgery next week.
Just before Christmas last year, she accidentally slipped while moving a potted plant outside. She fell backwards and the pot landed on her ribcage. She went to bed and when my sister got home from her night shift at 4:30 in the morning, heard my mother's laboured breathing. My sister convinced her to go the emergency. Luckily, nothing seemed too broken. For a woman with osteoperosis, that was a miracle. Except, it turns out there probably was at least a hairline fracture and Mum was in so much pain. It was the first time I have ever heard her ask for a pain killer. Getting over that took months. Her muscles would go into spasm. The worst pain happened when she leaned backwards getting into bed.
Just as she was healing from that, she was diagnosed with her third instance of bowel cancer. Because she has had two surgeries before, the first in 2005 and the next in 2009, the surgeon proposed a radical operation - to remove the entire remaining large bowel and to have an ileostomy bag. Mum had been saying this is what she didn't want. But the alternative surgery would have had her in the toilet 15 times a day. She didn't ask for a second opinion or do any research - that is not my mother's style. She trusted her surgeon.
The surgery was April 27th - will have to check that exact date. Mum has been in and out of hospital ever since. And will be back in surgery next week to repair her ureter which was cut during the first surgery.
I woke up sick yesterday, so wound up cancelling my party. Got some much needed rest and fluids.
Today, the day of my actual birthday, my friend Jackie kindly suggested I should leave the house and came to pick me up. She gave me a massage appointment for my birthday, which was fabulous. And then we met our friend Andrew and all went for a drive. They have been so incredibly supportive and so much fun. It really did make my day.
I am making a goal for this next year to write more on this blog and to share my true feelings, not gloss over things when they are really hard. You get to do that with good friends and they don't judge you or criticise you for who you are, as I have just been reminded over the last few days.
So much has happened this last year. The biggest thing is that my mother has been sick almost all year. And while she is doing very well all things considered, she is due in hospital for another major surgery next week.
Just before Christmas last year, she accidentally slipped while moving a potted plant outside. She fell backwards and the pot landed on her ribcage. She went to bed and when my sister got home from her night shift at 4:30 in the morning, heard my mother's laboured breathing. My sister convinced her to go the emergency. Luckily, nothing seemed too broken. For a woman with osteoperosis, that was a miracle. Except, it turns out there probably was at least a hairline fracture and Mum was in so much pain. It was the first time I have ever heard her ask for a pain killer. Getting over that took months. Her muscles would go into spasm. The worst pain happened when she leaned backwards getting into bed.
Just as she was healing from that, she was diagnosed with her third instance of bowel cancer. Because she has had two surgeries before, the first in 2005 and the next in 2009, the surgeon proposed a radical operation - to remove the entire remaining large bowel and to have an ileostomy bag. Mum had been saying this is what she didn't want. But the alternative surgery would have had her in the toilet 15 times a day. She didn't ask for a second opinion or do any research - that is not my mother's style. She trusted her surgeon.
The surgery was April 27th - will have to check that exact date. Mum has been in and out of hospital ever since. And will be back in surgery next week to repair her ureter which was cut during the first surgery.
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