#277 Saturday 4 June

Hi y'all

I dunno why I'm chirpy .... in addition to the wrist, I've now caught Nomi's tummy wog ... toxic bot plus shakes plus sore throat & cough! I didn't sleep till 4am last night. Stuffed.
Naomi's had it for two weeks she tells me! How on earth does she cope?

...... and this morning it's the spill-a-drink-over-the-laptop routine again! Only water this time ... it'll be OK.

Kaylia's off at the pool with Sally. It's at times like this that I spare a thought for parents of auty ones that don't have a backup plan .... Children aren't good at empathy at the best of times but they usually have a fair understanding when parents are not well .... Kaylia is not aware of how mummy & daddy are feeling (when they're sick) .... without Sally to step in, life would quickly disintegrate!

6:00pm This afternoon we were planning tomorrow's diversions ... we found a new playground type place with a ball pit .... and somehow the idea of creating our own ball-pit popped up. So .... move the empty inflatable spa into Kaylia's room (a neat fit) and a trip to the shops to buy 5 bags of balls .... and we have a personal ball-pit!








It needs more balls! Any offers?
(K-Mart $12 per bag.)

Our funny girl has now done something strange .... the balls come packed in zipper bags ... Kaylia has placed 2 balls into each of the empty bags.

#276 Friday 3 June

It's the early morning shift again! 4:00am this time. I'm not sleeping through it as I've cut down on the Big-O and so I don't have the help to sleep.

In hospital, it was one tablet every 2 hours .... Last night I had one tablet at 8pm and nothing since. I've only woken once and .... but for Kaylia, I would probably have slept till morning! The tablets are very tempting though ..... I can see where the addiction would come from. Their attraction is that nothing else seems to work any more! It feels that way.

Kaylia's gone quiet! She dozes on the couch with the "big DVD" on ..... Since she's quiet, I'll try to sleep some more.
6:20am. She's been back to bed ... and now she's up again. No point in trying to sleep.

I've been playing with wrist photos again .... you may think I'm preoccupied ... but hey, it's my blog!









This is looking down on the top of the wrist ... thumb to the LH side. The blue "S" bone is gone. The C, H, T & L bones will (after healing is complete) be fused into one bone. The joining has been done so that I can still flex the hand up. This is the action needed for getting out of a chair etc. If the pain is gone, it will be good! The next few months will tell.

This entry is a test a a new gadget .... a bluetooth mini-keyboard ..... a few $ on Ebay! It's the same size as the iPhone so it gives a good travel companion!

#275 Thursday 2 June

The days are improving .... I still tire easily .... much more than I expected .... but each day I'm able to get more done. I expected that by this time I'd be back at work .... sore and slow ... but able to cope. Instead I find that I'm still almost an invalid!
Using the computer mouse is the hardest! I've been using my left hand for it but that's hard too. The best thing is a little finger-tip mouse .... it works well but even one finger gets tired.
Thinking is still hard .... I can do it if there are no interruptions .... but the slightest distraction and all the thought train is gone!

Kaylia is playing with play-dough ... making a mold of her nose! It's good play.

We have been having an exciting time .... we can't say much about it yet .... it's all to do with the villa in Sanur. When everything has been finalised, we will tell you about it.

One bit of good news .... again, we can't say much .... but Naomi has had a good boost to her business.

#274 Wednesday 1 June

It's 5:00am .... The visit to the OT yesterday was timely .... I was equipped with a "pressure glove" plus further pressure sleeve for under the splint. It is as though my mind ... now that it has been shown exactly what has been done to "it's territory" ... has changed it's perception of the pain! All night I've been able to feel the space in the wrist where the scaphoid used to be! I can't decide whether the pain is severe .... Or just mild. I suppose the fact that the Big-O tablets are not keeping me asleep ... I'm waking each 30-45 minutes .... Would put it into the severe category.

While waiting at the doctor's yesterday, I was "accosted" by a staff member .... a friend from 25 years ago in Northcliffe! She'd seen my name in the records and wondered if I was really the same person she remembered .... I am! It was very good to catch up and share a bit of history.

Kaylia has slept well tonight .... I think! If she doesn't galumph down the stairs, I can't really tell if she's been awake. The problem for Naomi is that it is hard to sleep well while listening with half an ear ... to see if she rouses. If we ever get through this phase, it will be a long, long time till we learn to sleep again!

#273 Tuesday 31 May

it's 4AM .... I should be taking some more big-O ... but I want to delay that till 7:00am so that I can have maximum effect while driving into SJOG for my appointments. The wrist is much better ... I feel as though it has "turned the corner" in the past 24 hours. It's still fluctuating between about 4 to 6 on the pain scale ... but this is much better than before. Physical effort is rapidly tiring ... Since any of my tasks seem to demand a big effort, it means I can't do much!

Kaylia has just galumphed down the stairs ... Considering that she slept most of yesterday, she hasn't done too badly. I smell poo ... if I can smell it from inside my room, it must be bad! I'll report later.

Its OK! It must have been a "Teddy fart" .... He's sleeping under my bed.

8:00am I survived the night quite well ... it was bad for Naomi. It's another case of constant current drains on the battery .... not enough charging time. This time of being sick is actually recharging my own batteries .... but Naomi is paying the price.

.... and then I think of what our life would be like without our live-in helpers!! Once again I praise our aupairs and the way they make our life possible.

Numbers One through to Ten ..... stand up for the applause!

Later
After a trip to the doctor to check the wrist ....









You can see the absence of the scaphoid bone ... and you can see the screws that secure the remaining bones to a special plastic disc.

8:00pm .... so ends the day.
Kaylia has had her cuddle time and drifted off to sleep with her current favorite DVD playing. We're very lucky!

#272 Monday 30 May

It's just after 7:45 AM and Naomi has left for uni ... The exam is from 9 to 12 - we'll be thinking of you! (even more than usual) .... I have a candle burning (in my iPhone) to remind me.

Last night was a bit better ... I'm going to need a script for more "missiles" I think. It's nearly a week since the op. The pain is improving but still high. The Oxycodone has addiction potential ....I've been looking at the processes of addiction as a precaution.

I tried to do some office work this morning.... I got a bit done but it's very tiring. I stopped when I'd done the essential items.

Later: Poor K must be crook ... She's home from school and she can't stay awake!

The word is that the exam went well.

#271 Sunday 29 May

Ooooww!!

That was soo bad ... I'll write about it help me to recover. I was fast asleep with my arm dutifully elevated (and in the rigid splint of course) ... I had it resting against the wall. I must have done a twitch .... The sort you do in your sleep. THE PAIN!! The hand would have waggled on the end of the arm.
The followup consultation on Tuesday includes x-rays so we'll able to see if any damage has been done.

5:00am Kaylia is up (she turned the big light on to see if I was here!) .... and now she is doing her dancing / singing thing .... but in such a way that she regularly checks on me. So she's modifying her routines to allow for the new "daddy arrangements".

I'm sorry the current blog entries are so brief .... writing left-handed is difficult ... and writing right-handed is a pain! :-))

... and it is hard to keep a thought in my head ... I think of something but by the time I've started writing, the thought has sort of drifted into foggy-ness. At least it helps time to pass!

Today Naomi must study for her exam tomorrow. This is an important one ... She must get a distinction. Two friends have each offered to help with Kaylia ... one AM and the other PM .... Thank you so much.