Sunday, July 11, 2010

A COLD, WINTRY WEEKEND

10th and 11th July

We are certainly in the middle of a miserable winter here in Canberra, we have only seen a hint of sunlight over the past forty eight hours, it has definitely been indoor weather.

Jarrett is fully recovered from his injury and yesterday morning we were off to the AIS for hill training. I had been hoping to go for a walk but it was just too freezing to even attempt to leave the car, even with all my winter woollies on.

The rest of our day was a quiet one spent at home playing Upwords, drawing pictures with Nalani and Jarrett, playing Buzz Pop Quiz which by the way I won - just and making some extraordinarily delicious pancakes with Mum and Nalani. Family days spent together are wonderful and when laughter fills the air it makes you realise how lucky we are to have each other. Because it was so cold outside, Dad planted my pansies in the pots for me and it looks like a cascading rainbow, I can now hardly wait for the rest of my garden to transpire.

I have not been without pain this weekend it has continued to rip through my body like a hurricane through a town. My whole right side feels so weakened by it and it is now starting to affect the lower half of my left hand side. I am still unable to stand without falling and attempting to walk has become virtually impossible. I think there is a saying that says you have to learn to stand on your own two feet before you can walk, well this applies to me at the present time. I have also had some more headaches which are causing dizziness and require me to lie down to experience some relief and again I have been unfortunate enough to experience the same total loss of hearing again which lasted for approximately twenty minutes this time.

Last night I slept and woke, slept and woke once again with pain and nausea. The strangest thing happened though and that was one of our cats, Cosima was up on my pillow and she was licking my head. She has done this before, it was for a period of time prior to being diagnosed with my tumour and she has not done it since however last night she was very persistent. I think perhaps she is concerned about me and this is her way of looking after me and trying to make it all better.

The wind was howling and whistling along the side of the house and I could hear rain hitting the window pane, it sounded extremely bitter however the outside temperature was actually quite mild. We had running training again today, this time a long run of fifty minutes along the trails around the AIS area. Even though the temperature was well above average the wind was too arctic to go for a walk and the rain had eased but changed into what appeared to be sleet falling softly from the grey morning sky. I started on a Sudoku puzzle but nodded off to sleep while we waited for Jarrett and the squad to return from their run. At least I was able to gain a half hour extra sleep, I think I am able to get about five hours sleep if I am lucky on any one night and that is on a good night, many other nights I am waking nearly every hour with pain, discomfort and feeling ill.

After running training we came home for a warm drink, they always seem to warm not only your stomach but leave you feeling comfortable and warm all over. We then played Upwords and decided to rug up and venture out to Belconnen to see if we could find any fairy ornaments for my Fairy Garden there, unfortunately we came home empty handed.

Cold, miserable days provide a great opportunity to watch a movie, so we decided to watch a comedy to make us all laugh and break the dismal mood the weather had caused. Billy Madison which is an Adam Sandler Movie is what we chose to watch and we all enjoyed a laugh.

Denis visited and brought boxes of athletic magazines and books for us all to look through, with wet weather predicted for next week I think we will be well occupied with these. It was such a generous thing for Denis to do.

My fingers are tingling as I am typing this so I think I should take a break. Tomorrow I have an appointment with my Paediatrician, he will be able to write the letter for me to get my hearing aid that my oncologist did not do. I will also be able to ask him a few questions about some of the effects I have been experiencing and hopefully he can shed some light on them.

'Sometimes we are dealt a difficult hand in life but no matter what happens we have to stand tall and move forward because life goes on'

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi dainere - i heard you on abc radio today...you ARE the sun that makes the rainbow - i have ordered two of your books to give to my 2 daughters to read - they (15 & 18) are starting to think about their roles in life, and I am hoping that reading your story will help them connect to a meaningful future - just as you are doing now. we wish you strength, purpose and love, and thank you for sharing your journey with us all, sally nell lucy xo

Anonymous said...

Hi Dainere,
Like a few other people reading here today I heard about you on ABC radio this morning. I'm glad I was listening!
Sometimes in life someone very special comes along, who has the ability to genuinely share and influence and inspire others. You are definitely one of those special people, I hope you realise how much good you are contributing to other people's lives.
Thankyou :)
Jo

Anonymous said...

Hello Dainere I missed you on ABC radio today but I am keen to hear all about it soon. I hope you and your family can get along to the meeting of the ACT brain tumour group on this Friday at St Ninians Hall - Moaut Street - all welcome. We put some notes about the meeting up around the Canberra Hospital. I hope a few people see them and come to your blog.

It will be very low key and we are making soup and rolls. Bring some of your books please. Oh-have you any favourite soups? We are not Masterchefs.

Thanks for this blog and regards Susan www.btaa.org.au

Anonymous said...

Dainere - hiya. I haven't heard your radio interview yet, but have it bookmarked ready to listen to tomorrow. I hope you got to see Benji's contribution to the Tigers win over the weekend. I am not a big follower of rugby league, but when I saw the highlights of their win, I thought of you and how pleased you might be. What's the deal with their away jersey colours? That one threw me, to be sure.

Cats can be amazing companions. I am spending a lot of time at home with mine at the moment, and they truly make my day. In fact, as I type one is curled up against my legs, snoring. Can you believe it? - a snoring cat. Give your cats a nice big pat for me.

Hopefully tonight brings at least a couple of hours restful sleep. Take care.

Anthea

Anonymous said...
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Ali Davies said...

I am loving the little quotes you put on the end of each of your posts. Here is one of my favourites.
"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step" - Martin Luther King Jr.