Sarah's Blog

Mad week

Been a rather manic few days. We've had to have a new shower fitted because ours died. The landlord decided to splash out and get us a rather expensive, flashy one but when the electrician came to fit it last week he discovered the wiring was a bit knackered. Worse than that it was, apparently, dangerous! This surprised us because the other shower had only been fitted (by someone else), 2 years ago when they re-did the bathroom. I said to him that, surely, the other people had obviously thought it was ok. He said, "it's not ok ... it's really not ok". Um... righto. By all accounts we're extremely lucky not to have had a housefire. Heavens! Go and have a shower and BURN the house down! Fantastic. So, he came back this Monday and put in all new wiring which took FOREVER and resulted in us having the electric turned off for most of the day. He left and Tim went to have a shower ... he was in there less than 5 minutes when the thing stopped working and fused the rest of the house. Perfect.

We phoned Richard, the landlord, who was INCREDIBLY apologetic (almost beside himself by the sounds of it) and arranged for someone to come round first thing this morning to sort it out. Anyway, long story short ... it now works and is utterly blissful! :)

What was also utterly blissful was the weather today. Sunshine, blue sky! Ahhh! more of that please! Even the birdies outside seemed positively ecstatic and making much noise!

Floyd has now settled in nicely and has stopped hiding in the shower. In fact, he's doing a pretty good line in taking over the place ... witness....

"my floor"

"my sofa"

"my bed"

"actually, Floyd, I think you'll find that's April's bed"

"no, it's mine"

"oh, ok then, she'll have to sleep on the floor I guess"

"no because that's mine as well, REMEMBER?!"

"oh yeah, silly me"

"idiot human"

.... and on another note

Our shower has broken. In fact it's been broken for a while. We got onto landlord who said they would contact electrical company to get a new one brought and installed.

We got an email yesterday from landlord saying that the company were attempting to get a new shower but it would be a while because there is (and I quote) "a shortage".

A shortage of showers?!!!

What ON EARTH are they talking about?! Has everyone in the UK decided to do some post-Christmas revamping and there has been mass-shower-purchases? Have the shower factories burned down?!

I've no idea but, yes my friends, there is apparently such a shortage of showers that it's going to take a while to purchase a new one for us.

The word "baloney" springs instantaneously to mind.....

I really must be getting old!

Aaaah! Sunday! At one point my most hated day of the week (school on Monday!) now .... I'm starting to feel a strange contentment when Sunday rolls round. We've got the radio on (Nicholas Parsons doing "Just a Minute"), the gentle hum of the washing machine, April quietly playing Starfox Adventures on the Gamecube (a game I love as much for it's atmospheric music as much as anything), slightly steamed up windows because it's a cold day and the smell of Sunday lunch cooking (roast beef and yorkshire puddings). It's all "nice" and reassuring and gentle and homely and ..... right.

I need reassuring and gentle at this moment in time. Had to make an excruciatingly difficult decision about a member of my family (my brother) today that filled me with sadness. Not a decision I really wanted to make but one I felt I HAD to make based on circumstances and what is best for me and Tim and the kids. I found out something yesterday that made me feel like I was being sucked back into a whirlpool that, a few years ago, I climbed out of and felt relief. Yesterday I felt panicky and stressed again ....... the decision had to be made, however painful.

Tim and I are a lot different from pretty much everyone else in my family (although, thankfully, not HIS family). We're terribly old fashioned really - keeping to "traditional" routines, joining in with our kids and getting madly excited at Christmas and birthdays, bringing them up on a diet of "family traditions" (like me going out at the crack of dawn EVERY Easter to hide eggs for them to look for!) We try (go out of our way) to bring up our kids in a way which is peaceful ..... childhood is short, fleeting, it shouldn't be anything less than idyllic (or at least as much as we can make it) - the kids deserve nothing less. More than that though, LIFE is fleeting - I want MY life and Tim's life and the kids life to be HAPPY and relaxed. It can't be that way if things are stressing us and, so, hard decisions have to be made.

We've got our "way" of doing things and we're happy with that ... Nicholas Parsons and steamed up windows on a cold day and roast beef and all that ............. today is a little sad but that shall pass ....

*Sigh*

.... a rush journey to A&E at 1.30 this morning. Drip lines in both arms. Morphine. Pelvic x-rays. UNBELIEVABLE PAIN. Yep, another ruptured cyst. This is getting tedious :(

Home now (obviously) but have an appointment first thing on Monday morning back at Bournemouth hospital for more scans and, possibly, surgery which may involve completely removing the ovary/fallopian tube on the REALLY knackered side.

Life

Well, it's been a bit of a couple of days really. Firstly, the news we got yesterday is about my mum in law - she is in hospital after having a stroke and is quite unwell but, at least, mentally "all there". She is having problems with her left side not working properly and not being able to talk properly but is, hopefully, going to be ok (although is going to need a lot of physio). Her stroke was caused by a clot rather than a bleed and she needs drugs to try and break it down which, in itself could cause a bleed so there is still worry but she is, at least, in an environment (hospital!) where they can monitor her continuously and treat anything that crops up. Still, deeply worrying last night and today :(

Still medical related - I had my hospital check up this morning. I was told when I went in there that they wanted to do a laparoscopy to check on the remaining couple of cysts I have/had on my ovary. However, when I told the doctor that I had been completely pain free and well since my hospital visit a couple of months back, the decision was made to not go ahead with that and, instead, scan me again in a few weeks. Doctor said they didn't want to "rock the boat" and starting cutting me open and prodding about unneccessarily if I was feeling perfectly ok. The largest of those cysts was only about 2cm anyway (as opposed to the one which burst which they estimated had been about 11-12cm!) So anyway, I'm relieved at that and hope I continue to stay well!

Apart from that, nothing has happened!

Walking

Tim has 2 days off in a row (THERE'S a novelty!) so, as the weather was gorgeous today, we went off for a walk. We went to Hengistbury Head and it was lovely as usual - definately starting to look a little autumnal - very pretty.

It all went splendidly well until April took a tumble down a very steep and slidey slope and landed untidily at the feet of some people walking the other way at the bottom. She then screamed blue murder and said that her arm "really, really hurt!". We checked her all over and, fortunately, she was ok physically - just shocked more than anything. She was quite subdued for the rest of the walk though which was sad :( Poor babba. Anyway, here are some piccies ....

The kids (pre-tumble!) swinging from a fallen tree

Tim. Relaxing :)

The Polar Bear! This is looking out to the Isle of Wight

Rosie found a grasshopper

April, again pre-tumble

Nice view

Me! Tim was further up the tree and I was scrambling up to him!

Rosie gazing off somewhere

Finally, this is AFTER the tumble - poor old April needed Tim to give her a carry on the way back to the car - you can tell she looks a bit sad in this picture .... ahhh!

Apart from the fall, a really nice walk AND we've got a whole other day tomorrow to spend before Tim goes back to work!

Oh, hi....

Sorry, went a bit AWOL there for a while. Initially, this was because I was busy planning for the new school year. A necessary evil of homeschooling - I simply cannot "wing" it like some homeschoolers do - I need to know what I'm doing and when. It's very tedious but I like the end result.

However, just when I was thinking about blogging again, a couple of days ago, I ended up having a 2 day stint in Bournemouth Hospital.

You know, I never knew it was possible to go from being perfectly well to very ill in the space of less than 5 minutes but it is. There I was, happily enjoying my evening - ate dinner, chatted to my brother on the phone and then ...... ohmybloodygodPAIN!!!!! Sudden, excruciating, mind boggling abdo pain. I went in the bathroom, nearly blacked out, staggered back into the lounge then just lay flat on my front sobbing with pain and threw up and up and up (luckily Tim had grabbed a bucket in time!) Now, I should have gone to the hospital there and then but I was SO exhausted and done in that I, somehow, managed to fall asleep. Woke up next morning STILL in severe pain. Got an emergency appointment with local doctor who examined me and was straight on the phone to the general surgeon at the hospital because it was thought my appendix was on the blink.

So, I went home, got an overnight bag as expected and went off to hospital where I was examined all over (including where the sun don't shine .... "shudders"), had drip things stuck in my arms, had blood tests taken and was nearly made to cry by the doctor who felt my tummy because it was still agony. Time went by, another doctor (surgeon this time), came back and said he was satisfied I DIDN'T have an appendicitus because the symptoms were not consistent (they build up gradually whereas mine happened in an instant). They still weren't sure what WAS the matter only that I had this awful abdo pain, high blood pressure (unheard of for me!) and low-grade infection. I spent the first day on nil-by-mouth "just in case" they needed to do surgery for something.

Next day, I had breakfast but was then put back on nil-by-mouth because they had arranged for me to have a pelvic scan (the not eating thing turned out to be a mistake and I SHOULD have eaten and drunk LOADS to make the scan easier). Eventually had the scan (which had to be done internally due to the fact that they couldn't see anything with the conventional over-the-tummy one due to the fact that I hadn't flipping well drunk anything! I was not best pleased! However, scan was done and examined by gynecologist who said I'd had a ruptured endometrial cyst on my right ovary and that, judging by the fluid residue left behind it had been pretty sizeable. He also found a couple of other very small ones on the same side and I have to go back as an outpatient and see him about those although they may go on their own. He did say that they didn't generally always get huge and some could just stay really small and not cause any problems.

Anyway, back home today, still a bit tender and taking things reasonably easy. Have now found out that my darling husband thought I might die the other night and he "would have been very angry with me" if I had! Honestly, *laughs*, I was a long way from quitting this mortal coil but it WAS very dramatic and scary and bloody, bloody painful.

Ug day

Well, an ug few days really :( Won't be too graphic but it's "female related stuff". Had to make a trip to the doctor today so that he (yes, HE .... would have been more happy with a female nurse but hey-ho...) could remove an iud. Damn thing :( Been in for nearly 3 years and I've been suffering more and more with it - terrible monthlies, pain like you wouldn't believe ..... Anyway, over the last few days I've been crying with pain, unable to stand up straight, vomiting - the full works. In the end couldn't take it anymore and, yesterday, made an appointment with the doctor.

I went in there with pain right across my middle (just where my diaphragm would be), sweating, bloated. I came out a short while later completely pain free and no bloating. The bloody thing had somehow got itself dislodged, HOWEVER, on reading up on this particular iud (the Nova T380 in case you're in any way interested or want to avoid it!) I find that the symptoms I've been increasingly suffering from over the last few months are not uncommon. Why I don't know - it's not hormonal but it screws you up completely - hideous mood swings, cramping at all times of the month, your entire body bloats up and the bleeding ... scary isn't the word for it :(

I'm never having one EVER again. Am now recovering - terrible pain is gone but still very tender.

Still here!

Still doing website stuff - slow going!

Had a bit of drama yesterday. April fell out of bed in the early hours and bumped her head on the radiator. She seemed ok all day but then, about teatime, she started to feel poorly and couldn't eat anything. Then she started saying that her eyes hurt and her head hurt. Hmmm. I was feeling a bit worried by this point because I know that, sometimes, with head injuries it can take a while for anything to show as being wrong. However, she hasn't been over the horrid virus she had all that long so I did wonder if it could be that coming back. Anyway, I gave her some Medised which I hoped would ease her headache and make her feel a bit better however, she promptly threw up ... on the living room carpet :( At this point I decided to call the out of hours doctor who, because she'd had a bump to the head decided to call the ambulance.

So, along came the paramedics, in their little ambulance car, to check her out (the big ambulance also came and, because we live at the end of a little cul-de-sac, the entire road was blocked for a short while!). The big ambulance got sent away again though and the paramedic checked April all over and came to the conclusion that there was no sign of concussion or anything and she felt it was, indeed, the virus come back. Anyway, they gave us some Ibuprofen for her and went on their way - April went off to bed and got up this morning as right as rain! We're very relieved! :)

Multiple choice quizette

Here's a little quiz for you lovely readers. Ready? Ok.

Q. Which of these things has given me a LOAD of hassle today?

a. Trojan horse viruses

b. Yahoo email

c. Chrome web browser

d. The Leaning Tower of Pisa

e. None of the above

A. Actually, that was a bit mean because they ALL have! Well, not d and e obviously ... that was just being silly.

What a bloody day!

Started off by opening my Chrome browser this morning (which observant readers will remember I mentioned a while ago as giving me grief). It was running MEGA, MEGA slow. Oh god, *yawn*, here we go again. I finally, got to my Yahoo mail page and tried to sign in at which point I was given some rubbishy message that due to some security "issue" I was being locked out for 24 hours! What?! Erm...

At that point, Chrome decided to give up the ghost altogether and completely jammed up taking the rest of my computer with it. Ok. Fine.

Restart. Restart. Restart.

I could NOT open Chrome again but (and this is a feast of weirdness for you!), on one occasion after restarting the computer but BEFORE I went online I checked the task manager and there, strangely, I found Chrome still apparently running!

Anyway, to cut a very long story very short, the computer just kept jamming up so in the end I decided to uninstall Chrome. This in itself took several attempts because everything was jamming before I could even get into my add/remove programmes list. Bloody hell!

Finally got it removed and decided to do a scan "just in case". It was part way through this when it found .... the Trojan Horse virus. Oh lovely. Super. Then, about half way through the scan, the computer jammed AGAIN. Aaaaargh!

Restart. Restart. Restart.

Got the scan going again .... from scratch and this time it didn't pick up any virus and the computer is running quicker and not jamming so I'm guessing AVG sealed away the problems. Weird thing is, trojan horses are supposed to run quietly in the background stealing all your stuff NOT make your computer wade through treacle and get stuck!

Weird no?

Anyhow, tried Yahoo again - no silly message this time so that's cleared up whatever it was *shrugs*. Computer is now running fine (fingers crossed!). Just leaves the question as to where the hell the virus came from! I'm very, very careful about sites I visit and never open anything dodgy in my emails or anything so I'm at a loss to know.

Gone boggle eyed from staring at the screen all day and sorting out the problems. Be glad to go to bed tonight!

Night, night honeys.

What a gas

Well, it was all a bit go round here this afternoon! There was a gas explosion at a building site just up the road from us and they shut off all the road and evacuated people from there houses and all sorts. We were JUST outside the exclusion zone so weren't directly effected. Luckily, no one was hurt but it caused all sorts of mayhem with the traffic and Tim, unfortunately, got stuck in it on his way home from work - it took him over half an hour to just get up the road!

Anyway, as if that wasn't enough, I then noticed that the gas had gone out on our boiler. We assumed, naturally enough, that they had turned the gas mains off to sort out the explosion but we wanted to check. So, Tim phoned up and the lady on the phone understood him not at all and decided WE had an explosion and promptly dispatched a gas man to see us! Actually, she gave him the wrong address and dispatched him to a house up the road *rolls eyes*. Anyhow, he had our phone number so we gave him the right address, he came round, manage to establish straight away what the woman on the phone didn't and told us that, no, the mains was not off. He had a look at our boiler anyway and managed (after a while) to get the thing lit again and said it might be our thermal couple (NOPE, I have NO idea what he's talking about).

It's working at the moment and we're having it (the boiler) serviced next week so shall mention it then.

Gas man left us with a gas-stinky house and gas-headaches but at least we've got heating again :)