Still kicking
G'day all!
I hope you all had lovely Christmases! Even better, all your Christmases came at once!
I had two Christmases - one on Christmas Day at my brother's place, then one on the 27th at the PiLs'. Both were very nice days with lots of food. My brother was having two Christmas dinners on the same day - one with his side of the family, then one in the evening with my sister's in law family. She had the place all cleaned up and ready for the next invasion by 4pm. How organised! So I have eaten well.
I must send a big shout out to my MiL. She has put up with us and fed us every day for the last week or more. I appreciate it and I guess that Nathan does as well.
We've had a few nice sunsets along the way - hope I've not shown the pic before!
I have to show off the Christmas knitting I've done but I have to redo some of it and also the laptop has nowhere to download the pics AGAIN. It needs a bigger hard disk. I only got three items done in time - Nathan's socks, Nathan's jumper/sweater and a scarf for my sister in sin. I have to show off my lovely Chrissy prezzies from Dreamcatcher too :-) But not today. That is them in the shot below, all wrapped up and ready to be discovered.
As for the bad health stuff? Heck, I am enjoying have a body that is still whole. After the surgeons get done with it, it ain't going to be whole any longer. I may indeed be rather lopsided. Plus I won't be able to lift anything with my right arm for MONTHS, hopefully not years, afterwards cos I don't want lymphoedema.
(At least Cheshire seemed pleased)
This whole thing has really been a bit of a shock on top of the move from the US. I miss various things there, not the least of which was a certain degree of carefreeness - I didn't have a nasty diagnosis there! But I am not missing the weather there - it says cold and raining currently. I miss various friends and the regular things we used to do, like going to knit night on Fridays and the Coop on Sunday and the farmers' market. We had ourselves set up so we could walk or bike to everything we needed/wanted to do. The local SnBs here in Melbourne are not very local - I either have to get the train into town or drive the car half an hour. Walking was so much nicer! But here I am amongst family and friends and I know (relatively) how to navigate various government things and deal with bureaucratic stuff and not fear that if I screw it up I'll be chucked out of the country and not allowed to return. Plus my health care here is unlikely to bankrupt us. Plus Nathan can get a job without needing a visa. I won't be getting a job for a while - we'll have to see how I go!
So I am not dead yet, I may be working on it but aren't we all? I know it is going to get worse before it gets better but I am aiming for better, just not for a while. I'll be happy with survivable for the nonce.
anon!
I hope you all had lovely Christmases! Even better, all your Christmases came at once!
I had two Christmases - one on Christmas Day at my brother's place, then one on the 27th at the PiLs'. Both were very nice days with lots of food. My brother was having two Christmas dinners on the same day - one with his side of the family, then one in the evening with my sister's in law family. She had the place all cleaned up and ready for the next invasion by 4pm. How organised! So I have eaten well.
I must send a big shout out to my MiL. She has put up with us and fed us every day for the last week or more. I appreciate it and I guess that Nathan does as well.
We've had a few nice sunsets along the way - hope I've not shown the pic before!
I have to show off the Christmas knitting I've done but I have to redo some of it and also the laptop has nowhere to download the pics AGAIN. It needs a bigger hard disk. I only got three items done in time - Nathan's socks, Nathan's jumper/sweater and a scarf for my sister in sin. I have to show off my lovely Chrissy prezzies from Dreamcatcher too :-) But not today. That is them in the shot below, all wrapped up and ready to be discovered.
As for the bad health stuff? Heck, I am enjoying have a body that is still whole. After the surgeons get done with it, it ain't going to be whole any longer. I may indeed be rather lopsided. Plus I won't be able to lift anything with my right arm for MONTHS, hopefully not years, afterwards cos I don't want lymphoedema.
(At least Cheshire seemed pleased)
This whole thing has really been a bit of a shock on top of the move from the US. I miss various things there, not the least of which was a certain degree of carefreeness - I didn't have a nasty diagnosis there! But I am not missing the weather there - it says cold and raining currently. I miss various friends and the regular things we used to do, like going to knit night on Fridays and the Coop on Sunday and the farmers' market. We had ourselves set up so we could walk or bike to everything we needed/wanted to do. The local SnBs here in Melbourne are not very local - I either have to get the train into town or drive the car half an hour. Walking was so much nicer! But here I am amongst family and friends and I know (relatively) how to navigate various government things and deal with bureaucratic stuff and not fear that if I screw it up I'll be chucked out of the country and not allowed to return. Plus my health care here is unlikely to bankrupt us. Plus Nathan can get a job without needing a visa. I won't be getting a job for a while - we'll have to see how I go!
So I am not dead yet, I may be working on it but aren't we all? I know it is going to get worse before it gets better but I am aiming for better, just not for a while. I'll be happy with survivable for the nonce.
anon!
d to hear you are keeping on keeping on!! Also glad you had a nice Christms(ses)!!! Only a few select people received a knitted item from me this year!!!
ReplyDeleteI totally work on the 'I'm not dead yet' theory. While there's life, there's hope, and what is one going to do anyway?? Hide under the blankets?? I think not!!
I subscribe to the 'not dead yet' theory. Glad to hear you had a nice Christmas and had some lovely pressies.
ReplyDeleteGlad the parcel got there safely! Gutted to hear your news (am catching up on blogs since before Christmas), you know where I am.
ReplyDeleteWelcome home, you have a terrible disease, please move along the queue. Great return to Oz!! Seriously, I know you will remain strong during it all, and I think Barb will be a help - one of the most robust survivors I have ever met, of anything!! Watch out for that lymphodoema, Alex Skilton from church has that and finds it more bothering than anything else. The one 'good' thing about being out of pocket on Medicare is that you might hit the safety net (make sure you are registered for that) and then rebates get much better. I presume you have heard all the cliches about catching it early, and I do know your family history and that you probably don't feel very optimistic inside - but hang in there and if there is anything we can practically do, please let us know. Hugs (gently) Judy
ReplyDeleteHi Lynne,
ReplyDeleteIt's good to have you back in Oz, and great to hear that you had a good Christmas. Bit of a bugger about the diagnosis, though. Stay strong - I've seen two friends walk this road in the past year (one having a second preventative masectomy soon after the first). They're both doing well, and if hopes and prayers make any difference, so will you.