2 August 2015

So.

I’m limited to a wheelchair for most of the time.

Well what do I do all day, and how do I pass the time without going stir-crazy?

I’ve decided to go through the past week- which has been quiet as far as medical appointments go – and give you a bit of an idea of what goes on in my life.

Ø  I have twice attended the cancer rehab exercises. Exercises are determined according to the individual needs of each participant, and the mean trainer (actually he is very nice!) has just adjusted mine yet again and I have discovered just how poor the muscle tone is in my legs and tummy areas. Never mind… I’ll keep on trying…

Ø  My friend Jen has taken me to the pool for exercises. She too can be quite mean, keeping me on task, and insisting I do impossible things like standing upright in the water whilst keeping my tummy and backside tucked in. Here’s proof that we really do go down the ramp and into the water… 

Entering the water down the ramp

Ø  While attending the rehab exercises, a nurse found me to give me my monthly injection of Denosumab. No side effects.

Ø  Brian and I went down the street several times for shopping. Sometimes I sit in the car watching the world go by, and other times I wheel myself around, as I did this week, discovering that a lot of the Aldi ‘Specials’ displays are too high to be wheel-chair friendly. I guess that’s what little kids feel like all the time.

Ø  Went to Centrelink – TWICE – because on entering the premises the first time, we saw a lengthy standing queue as well as every waiting chair occupied. So we turned around and lumbered the wheelchair back into the car and went home! Several days later we tried again with much better success, though the assistant was unable to answer our query – and neither was anyone else at the centre. Ah well…

Ø  Enjoyed several lovely visits from friends. We have also enjoyed the daily visits from our ‘paperboy’ – Brian’s orchid-hunting mate who has generously brought his newspaper around after reading it, for the whole period of Brian’s foot surgery and recovery (can that really be 7 weeks now?) We’ve enjoyed these daily visits and discussions and debates.

Ø  On receiving the papers, we copy the puzzles page so Brian and I can then each tackle our favourite daily puzzles. We are particularly competitive with the ‘Target Master’ – making words from the 9 letters – and there can be some serious debates as to the spelling and validity of some of the words!

Ø  Preparing meals. I do most of the meal cooking, but Brian is also very helpful and does his share. There is not too much else that is done, although I did make a gluten free slice out of sorrow for Brian last week (as we had been given some delectable but gluten-filled nibbles! Thanks so much Cait!)

Ø  Brian and I have not found it easy to attend our usual church home group this year, but we were given the dvd being used by our group, so we enjoyed watching and discussing this together.

Ø  Had a visit from one of our visiting nurses. My main issue is getting the back pain under control as I commonly have a period in the afternoon where the pain breaks through and these dear nurses are great with their suggestions of working through these sorts of difficulties.

Ø  This week I played piano for church so we had a band practice at our place on Saturday – so much easier to practice in the coziness of home. I somehow managed to play this morning, but it was actually Adrian (on guitar) and the singers (including Brian) that did the job so well.

Ø  Won’t go into boring details like reading, doing some proof-reading for a friend, and routine household chores. (The dusting only gets done up to as high as I can reach, so if you visit, don’t look any higher than around eye height.)

You’ll be glad it’s not been a busy week!

Blessings to you all. 

This should help you read your doctor's writing