SCHOOL AND AUSTRALIAN HEARING

1st and 2nd June 2010

Thank goodness the grey skies disappeared and the sun made an appearance in our winter skies, shinning its warmth on our lives. I had school in the morning and it was strange walking from our new home. My first lesson was Science, the class had completed an experiment the Friday before where they tried to freeze water that had been saturated with salt, it did not work because when you add salt to water it lowers the freezing temperature, I learnt that this is why in countries that received lots of snow they put salt on the driveways, footpaths and roads to stop them from becoming frozen. We were then talking about emulsions like milk, suspensions which is things like medicines that have to be shaken before use and concentrates like caramel where so much sugar has been added to make it. I then had English and I was given topics for a speech which I am going to do in Week 9, I have decided to do one about peer pressure and how it can make people turn evil. My right hand was still in pain and I was unable to move it or use it so I had to write with my left hand, luckily I have done this before, after my surgery when I could not use my right hand because the surgery had affected it. The writing was a bit wobbly and all over the place but I still made an attempt and towards the end I asked Mum if she could finish it off for me because it had become just too difficult and fatiguing. My last class for the day was Maths and we were doing area, we were taught about how to work out the area of a triangle - easy! It is 1/2x the base x the height, I already knew that from last year. We were given a sheet to complete and as you found the answers you completed a dot to dot. I flew through the sheet and had it finished by the end of the lesson. Mum did the writing and I could easily work out the answers in my head.

When I returned home and the pain in my right hand had increased, there is nothing I can do to ease it and I have no idea what is going on. Nalani had a physiotherapy appointment for her knee and she is now walking around on no crutches at home and only one for school just for better balance, so she is definitely on the road to recovery well and truly. My hand is most likely from problems with my muscles or nerves and it is something that will be investigated when I go to Sydney next week.

I did my Mathletics homework, we went to running training and I helped sort out our stationery into drawers that we bought. I was extremely exhausted from my busy day and went to bed to try to keep my hand warm and hopefully it would improve for the next day.

After another restless night sleep with my hand, knee, hip and ankle I woke with great anticipation, today was my appointment with Australian Hearing, finally it had taken three months to get the appointment. When we arrived at the appointment they reviewed my testing from Sydney and said that the level of hearing loss in my right ear required a hearing aid and I may also need an FM amplifier later on depending on how the hearing aid goes. I was relieved and delighted to hear that something would be done to try to assist my hearing, it will never be perfect like it was but the hearing aid should make a difference for me and help me at school to be able to hear the teacher and other students. It will also help the constant ringing which I have in my right ear. I am getting one that hooks onto my ear at the back and then has a little plastic amplifier that goes into my ear. I got to chose what colour I would like and of course I chose my favourite colour - pink! I go back on 25th June for fitting and then have another appointment on 30th July. Term Three at school is going to be so much easier for me with a hearing aid.

When I came home I did some painting because I have some orders for canvases and I wanted to get stuck into them, I still could not use my right hand, the pain was excruciating and movement was difficult, so I painted with my left hand, it was not too hard and I am so proud that I am not letting any of these hurdles that are thrown at me, stop me from doing what I love.

I played Upwords with Theodore and we were able to use all our letters which was fantastic, we got all the difficult letters like x, q, z and v early in the game. My hand is still throbbing with pain but life goes on you can't dwell on terrible things, you have to face up to them and move on. I think I have said this before, there is always someone out there in the world who is much worse off than you.

'Do not be bothered or discouraged by adversity, instead meet it as challenge. Be empowered by the courage it takes you to overcome all obstacles that are thrown your way'