#263 Saturday 21 May 2011

Musing: my current reasoning about the wrist.
The prospect of Tuesday's operation is worrying .... it's a serious & permanent step. I worry that my wrist pain is not bad enough to justify such a drastic solution.
However.... all the medical evidence (x-rays & expert opinions) shows that the problem is real. The rate at which the problem is worsening has accelerated rapidly. A year ago it was very annoying but intermittent .... now it is constant and it demands lifestyle change. Without surgery I expect that the pain would become much worse in the near future.

I think I have to do it.



.... but maybe the whole problem won't matter? ........ the media reports that the Apocalypse will commence at 6:00 pm tonight!!! If it does, I won't be too fussed about some wrist pain! :-/

Just in case ........
"Bye y'all ... you've been good friends and it's been a pleasure to know you!"

If you're reading this blog after Saturday 21st May? .....  It didn't happen!  You can breathe again!

#262 Friday 20 May 2011

Wow ... it rained today! It was so hard I was almost guessing where the road was at one point.

Kaylia must have caught the mood ... she's very happy. This morning (Anni take note!) Kaylia was singing the Australian anthem in the shower!!
Today I had a lovely offer from a friend to come & stay overnight on the long weekend to allow us to have a break .... we're pondering the practicalities to see whether the idea would work. Regardless it is a very nice offer! Thankyou.

#261 Thursday 19 May 2011

We've got our 'happy girl' back! She has been cheery & relaxed today. We went out for tea tonight (Nandos) and I heard her saying "...happy"
Afterward we went to the shopping centre and it was good to see her so confident .... striding out through crowds .... then looking back to make sure we weren't far away.
Kaylia has her problems but overall she's developing into a confident well adjusted person.


Preparations for the wrist operation continue .... and I continue to waver!
.... Will I? ..... Won't I?
I think it will happen but I don't think I've ever been so unsure of the decision!

#260 Wednesday 18 May 2011

It's 1:00am. She's wet the bed and is now wide awake .... downstairs ... singing and dancing. (It's a new moon ... I told you!)
So we're all awake. What a way to start the day! It's getting me down I can tell you!





I was about to tell you a little tale ... but I had to delete it. I couldn't work out a way to tell you without it being able to be identified. All I can say is how much Naomi & I appreciate the wonderful people who've given us a part of their lives to help with Kaylia. (The person I'm talking to will know what I'm saying!)

The toe? Latest news is that the toe infection will not mean a delay for the wrist operation next Tuesday ... so it's still "off to the chop shop"! Scary. The drugs I've been taking for the toe have also taken away the pain from the wrist ... adding to all the doubts.

3:00am "Jigsaw puzzle ... Open!" Ggrrr! Go downstairs.

6:00am .... She's still going! She quiets down and you wait .... Has she actually gone to sleep? ..... Nooooo! Off she goes again.
7:00am 'Lunatic' .... moon madness .... I wish we could include a sound clip on the blog ..... maniacal laughter .... this must have been one of the worst nights. In the other bad nights she's nearly always run out of steam at some point and slept for a few hours. This time she must have loaded up on long-life batteries ... she jus' ain't stopped all night!

I won't bother with school today .... She'll collapse in a heap by mid-morning.

Evening:  She didn't sleep!  She lasted right through to about 5pm ... and she was pretty grotty to boot!  I didn't last though.

#259 Tuesday 17 May 2011

The day after a significant change is usually bad for Kaylia .... today has followed the pattern ... she had a bad day at school, she was OK for the afternoon .... and she's been monstrous since tea time! It's now 8:00pm and she has calmed down .... soon she might calm down enough for bed time.

She's now able to unlock the front door of the house! This means that a new management strategy will need to happen.

#258 Monday 16 May 2011

Sl'mat pagi to you. It's 5am ... she's dancing round while watching DVD .. wide awake of course. Maybe she will tire herself so she sleeps on the flight home later today.

I'm told that I'm very similar in looks to my brother Peter (that we're staying with) .... Kaylia obviously thinks so 'cos she seems to think that Pete's an acceptable replacement for me at times! I wish I had a photo of them walking along the Bali street hand in hand.

The toe pain? Not completely gone but easily tolerated. There's a deep infection there that will need attention but the antibiotics are doing their job.

3:00pm We've taken off not long ago and so far so good. We gave her the nighttime medicines and she's fast asleep. If there was anything made of wood near us, I'd be holding on tight!

The morning went well .... a few nearly attacks ... but these were averted and we all (Peter too) got out to the airport. The checkin staff were all set to put us in separate seats but some insistent sanity prevailed. Well done Naomi.

Now we sit on tenterhooks (now there's a mixed metaphor!) till our turn to run the gauntlet of Oz customs.

One hour later: ssshh! She's still fast asleep. Just as well too .... we're surrounded by crying babies .... Kaylia would be distraught if she were aware!

8:00pm. We're home again .... the trip was brilliant and Kaylia was an angel. The plane was full of noisy babies and noisy kids .... But Kaylee slept the whole way and was perfect through baggage and customs.
We've learnt some lessons in "Kaylee management".

#257 Sunday 15 May 2011

4:00am ..... I think it's over. I woke up and realized that the pain was almost completely gone. I think that was the worst pain I've had to endure without IV type pain control. Last night I literally cried myself to sleep. If I keep up all the range of medications I have, it should stay under control today.
With Kaylia in 'happy mode' (touch wood), today should be good!

Another drama yesterday (as if we needed more!) was that the house water supply failed! On Thursday night, the noise of the pressure pump (constantly cycling at 10 second intervals) was hard to sleep through. The pump is right beside our bedroom window! From my farming days I knew that this was faulty so on Friday night, I turned the pump off. Come morning when I turned it on again, the pump no longer worked at all! .... so no water for showers or toilets! Fortunately an emergency SMS to Yudhi soon had a team of guys around and by late morning all was well.
Of course through all this Kaylia was happy to play in the pool! She had an anxiety attack about 10am but a session of the new "whispered chant" technique helped her through it . Naomi was off having her 'break time' while this was going on ..... When she returned from her valiant exploits, we headed off to Galleria and DONUTS! (The donuts there are very different and terribly more-ish!) Once this craving was satisfied it was back to the pool while Naomi once more gritted her teeth and went off to do battle with the shops again! This time it was a new one .... Biarritz ..... lots of beads for Kaylia and lots of inexpensive clothes for Kaylia.

While Naomi was away, I took Kaylia down the nearby lane to the beach .... Kaylia took one look at the sea and said "bathers!" .... so it was back home, change ... and back to the beach for a swim. It wasn't pleasant in the water .... too shallow and too much weed ... Kaylia wasn't impressed. Two local kids about the same age arrived ... towing a gi-normous old surfboard! They were having trouble getting it down to the water so I helped out .... soon we had Kaylia and the two boys all sitting on the board while I towed them along in the water! Great fun!

This was all yesterday .... What will today bring? ..... watch this space!

Later: .... dawn is a lovely time ... the birds singing and the sky changing colour .... The shades of pink are a delight.
I like this time 'cos I can write and think without having to manage Kaylia ... it's break time from the 24/7 task.

Evening: It's been a good day ... Naomi has had some good shopping experiences and she's very positive about Sanur & the villa setup. It's a wonderful way to arrange holiday breaks. It's inspiring us to make changes at home ... to de-clutter and simplify .... to prepare for the inevitable time that we move house.

Memorable moments? The "fish spa" at a nearby warung where you dunk your feet in a pond and little fish do a ticklish task of cleaning all the dead skin off!
Noisy donuts .... we went to Galleria and there was a public concert in full noisy swing .... at maximum volume! Too loud! We soon left!
Kaylia has been in a strange mood today ... not hard to handle but not normal. Maybe the antibiotics she is on are interacting with the other meds? The antibiotics finish tomorrow so if that's what it is, it will soon be back to normal.
Naomi is out shopping tonight.
I bought a whole carton of Indocafe sachets today .... 500! It should keep us supplied till we're next here (July).