So much has happened since my last post.....and this will be a LONG post but I want to get it all down "on paper" for my own sake.
The last 6 months of 2009 were, in a word,
disastrous for me on the health front.
July saw me taken to hospital in an ambulance after hurting my back picking clothes up off the floor. I somehow damaged a disc in my back and it may be a cliche to say that I have never felt pain like it before, but I can promise you, the pain was excruciating.
Consequently I am still under the care of a chiropractor and still suffering from the occasional twinge if I bend or twist the wrong way.
I must say too that without the love and support and kindness of the gorgeous girls over at
The Scrap Lounge, I would have had a much longer recovery...although distance prevented them from being a help in practical ways, their constant emails, phonecalls and SMSs kept me smiling and battling on.
I was due to have an arthroscopic procedure on my right knee the week after I hurt my back.
I have had severe pain in that knee since a fall in 2008 and finally got sick of the pain and the limping so took myself off to see my orthopaedic surgeon.
The bones in my knee are completely shot - "the knee of a 90 year old woman" is how the surgeon described it.
No rhyme or reason as to why it is like it is but it's completely stuffed.
So I put off the surgery until my back was considerably better and had it done in September.
Just about drove me batty having to be housebound and "resting" for 8 days and I am sure drove Mark and the kids crazy too, having to do so much for me.
Went back to the surgeon, only to be told I will need a full knee replacement...!!!!
To say I was shocked is an understatement....I was glad Mark was with me cause I didn't hear another word after the surgeon said "knee replacement".
When I have the surgery is totally up to me - and thankfully, for now, I am managing the pain with the occasional need for pain relief and the occasional glass of
Moscato Rosa....LOL
To aid the healing process, when I have the surgery done, I have lost some weight.
A long overdue process and to say I was shocked and highly embarrassed when I got on the scales to start my journey, is a
HUGE understatement.
I shed many many tears the day I realised just how overweight I had become.
But, I am proud to say that I have so far lost almost 15 kgs.
Must say i am feeling so much better for it and when I lose another 15 I am sure I will feel even better.
Nice to have previously tight clothes, now almost falling off me and at one point I was losing almost a kilo a week.
I still have a long way to go but feeling so good that I have finally taken a step in the right direction towards a fitter and healthier me.
Early November, I found a paralysis tick in my head.....and it had been there a while.
Not sure why I hadn't felt it when I washed my hair but I needed antibiotics cause the site of the bite had become infected.
Only little critters but boy they pack a mean punch.
At that point, I made the mistake of daring any higher powers to throw any other illnesses or injuries at me
BEFORE the end of the year because I had just about had enough of anything and everything medical by then.
BIG MISTAKE !!!!!!!!Early December, my gorgeous sister, Louise and her two girls Bianca and Emily were flying up as a family surprise for my Dad and step-Mum.
A few days before they arrived I woke up with a terribly itchy eye, a light rash on one side of my face and sharp shooting pains down one side of my face.
A trip to the doctor and he told me I "obviously" had an allergy and probably had cluster migraines.
Early the next morning I woke up in terrible pain and "gunk" oozing out of my eye....so Mark took me straight down to A&E where they quickly established I had a severe case of shingles involving my facial nerve + lesions actually up under my eyelid.
Probably brought on by a lowered immunity from the tick bite a few weeks before.
They put my straight onto the strongest anti-viral meds I could get, loaded me up with painkillers (the neuralgic pain down the side of my face was unbearable) and then made an appointment for me to see an eye specialist that afternoon.
The risk of losing the sight in my eye was extremely high.
Thankfully the anti-virals did their stuff and my eyesight is ok.
But as a result of having shingles, that are highly contagious, Louise and the girls had to stay in a motel and I couldn't nurse Emily and had to be very careful around Bianca.
I was devastated and with feeling so miserable because of the shingles, I had a rough few days.
But that too passed and 2010 is shaping up to be a great year healthwise
TOUCH WOOD...!!!And today I scrapped my first LO for 2010 for the
monthly sketch comp over at The Lounge
and hopefully there will be more to come.
If you managed to get through this post....well done to you.
I will be back soon with news about our family.....lots happening (and has happened) on that front too.
Hope everyone is well....until next time.....be happy, stay safe but most of all.....
always look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~
~*~ LIVE OUT LOUD ~*~shazz xo
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