GOING BACK HOME AFTER A BUSY WEEK

11th and 12th September 2010

My ankle ballooned during the night, it felt stiff and pain wise it was definitely a nine out of ten, I cried it was not fair to go to Sydney for tests and appointments and end up with an injury that will obviously now stop me from using my rollator when it arrives next week, I can't even put weight on it, it is just so unfair.

Despite feeling extraordinarily tired and still in pain I was excited because Dad was driving from Canberra to pick us up that morning. The best part was that he had arranged for Jarrett to be picked up and dropped home from running training so he could leave earlier which meant the sooner we left Sydney the sooner we would be home and for me this time Sydney had been absolutely horrific. When Dad arrived he packed the car and we went for a cup of hot chocolate so he could have a break before driving again. The traffic was not too congested and amazingly there were no hold ups in the M5 tunnel. We made good time, we stopped at Marulan for a drink and toilet break before arriving home just in time for a later lunch. On the way I had watched two DVD's in the car, it tends to make trip that little bit more interesting.

Nalani and Jarrett were so glad that Mum and I were home and we both got ginormous hugs then it was time to unpack, I often think that unpacking takes much longer packing. I needed to rest because the pain in my ankle had increased and also my knee was clicking and swollen. After my rest I wanted to help prepare the vegetable slice for dinner, I love cracking the eggs then beating them with the oil and self raising flour, Mum grates the carrots, zucchini and onion and then I mix them into my egg mixture and lastly the cheese is mixed in. Normally I eat quite a lot of vegetable slice but my stomach did not seem to handle it last night, I could only tolerate two small slices.

The Wests Tigers were playing the Roosters and we sat as a family to cheer my team on, I even got Mum to get my signed Tigers flag out so I could wave it, just like been at a game. When Roosters took a penalty kick to lead 2-0, I was not too worried and then the Tigers came storming back to lead 10-2 at half time, a decent lead but they needed to put more points on the board and that is just what they did. However, the Roosters made a comeback and in the last ten minutes it was any one's game really. When the score was 15-14 with the Tigers winning and only minutes left I felt we had it won, but then tragedy struck, my favourite player, Benji Marshall left the field, limping with a knee injury and as all the interchange players had been used the Tigers had to hold on to that narrow lead with just twelve men on the field. My heart was thumping and my throat was dry, I had my fingers and toes crossed and then the Roosters scored a field goal to lock the scores at fifteen all meaning that they would play golden point extra time, meaning they would continue playing until one team scored. We had our chances but were unlucky, so did the Roosters but from a move that I think should have brought about a penalty the Roosters scored a try to beat the Tigers 19-15. It did not seem fair and to have Benji injured was devastating, I am now hoping that St George beat Manly because it then means that Tigers will play Raiders next week, what a game that will be.

I went to bed tired, sore and upset, my whole right leg gave me problems during the night and by morning time I felt like I had not slept a wink. We had running training at the AIS today, I was delighted to see that the sun was shinning , it was a marvellous Spring day and a lovely day for a walk while Jarrett went for his hour long run. On our walk we discovered some tiny baby bunnies peaking their heads out of their burrows, there were blossoms of pink, purple and white and birds singing delightfully, the walk revived my spirits however with every bump that we went over my knee and ankle throbbed in pain.

The good news was that Jarrett did not have any asthma problems today, perhaps the weather assisted him, he did not have any problems on the Saturday either, maybe his new asthma medication is working for him now. He has to go to the paediatrician on Wednesday to find out all his results from his lung function tests, I hope they are good for him and he can continue to excel in his running.

We have some camellia's in our garden and they have been dropping their old flowers off, Dad was doing some gardening and I wanted to be in the sunshine because the sun reminds me of warmth, happiness and love, so Dad got a special tool that is like a hand as it can grab objects and I sat in my wheelchair and picked up the dead flowers and placed them in a bin. I was absolutely exhausted when I was finished and I must have twisted strangely because I ended up with a painful neck.

I rested for a while and watched a movie called Confessions of a Shop-a-holic with Nalani before cooking some piklets to have for dessert tonight with jam and cream. My ankle, knee, hip and neck are extremely painful at the moment, I have a headache behind my right eye and feel a little nauseous, perhaps I have overdone it today, so I think I will finish this and have another rest because I have school tomorrow.

During the coming week I should receive some more results and information about my return to Sydney, going every month is going to be difficult, it will make it harder to settle into school work and I hope that I will not miss any of the exciting activities that are planned for Term 4.

'I think we all imagine what sort of life we would like to live but we don't always strive to achieve it because we think we have all the time in the world, don't put it off, you don't know what is just around the corner, make the life you imagine a reality'