28 February, 2011

Taking steps...


We drove to Liverpool today with the Old Person. The hospital there is one of the biggest in Sydney; with the new extension it may be the biggest. I have not driven to Liverpool in several years: mostly it has not changed including very sparse carpark availability.

I was given Admission papers by the Specialist last week for my operation. I had had my GP sign them for me last week. I had filled them out over a few days last week. There are two sets as I will need two Admissions.

The walk from the front entrance of the Hospital to the Admissions area is quite a distance. I found it difficult to walk the distance - and with no where to sit along the way it was tiring. The daughter was with me, so she stood in line while I was able to sit in the theatre sized waiting room.

There is a small desk with two clerks doing the Admissions, one computer between them. You can see an open plan office behind them through about three different doorways. We were there about fifteen minutes before it was our turn. The clerk just told me to wait so they could do my booking. About ten minutes later another clerk came, called my name and informed me that they would phone me to come in for an information session and then a letter would be sent to me. I am looking at around 3 months till I will be admitted.

I am almost excited about this operation, as the condition has been what has been causing my mental depression. You will have noticed that through my blog, I continually refer to my depression, even after I had been on medication. This is what has been causing the depression. Now I can look forward to getting over it once and for all, to walking properly so that I can exercise and loose weight. All the diet food in the world has not been working. I can do back muscle strengthening exercises to help the general deterioration in my spine.

It will be like getting my brain back and being able to do studies and have some hope to completing my studies.

I can't deny that the operations and recovery are going to be harrowing for me - ironically the depression is making these fears worse at the moment. I don't know how soon afterwards I will start noticing a difference.

I have had calls of support from family members which is reassuring.


23 February, 2011

Finally some news...

I went to the spinal surgeon today. I have a crushed vertebrate in my neck. I will have to have surgery - two operations. One will be from the front and will remove one bone that is pressing on the cord, and the other will move the other bone that is also pressing on the cord from the back.

If I don't have the operation it is only a matter of time and I will be paralyzed which I certainly do not want to be. It will be a bit painful at first but I think I can deal with that.

The operations will be done the front removal first and after a week, if I am healing up okay, the second. Otherwise I will have to wait about a month and then get the second done. I usually heal well after surgery, so I am very hopeful that this will be no different and I can get both done fairly close together and done with.

My biggest "phobia" with surgery, isn't so much the surgery itself, it is afterwards, when I first come round I vomit and immediately afterwards discover I have a drip in my arm and start to seriously freak out. I understand now that they can give anesthetic that wont make you vomit, but I think I will get a referral to a psychologist about the drip because I really do freak out. It has to do with when I gave birth to my children. As this is surgery that involves my neck and I may not be able to eat for a while, it could get to be a serious problem for me otherwise. I will also probably discuss it with my doctor.


22 February, 2011

Stupid Credit Union

So Unicom credit union, that I have been a member of since 1999 has finally pushed me to the limit. Over about the last 2-3 years they have changed policy without notification and downright lied to me about things and I am going to vent all over the internet.

I opened an account into which I put $20 per fortnight. Just for if I have to pay a bit extra for something, or need money for something. I do not touch this money. I have only opened it in the last couple of months. I've been on new start waiting to get all this medical stuff seen to. Thinking I would have enough for the specialist today.

Oh no, no such luck. I had not left enough money in my main account for my transaction fees; even though this has never been a problem in the past. Not once. But this month, they decided since I had money in my savings account, they would take that for my transaction fees. So, not enough for the bill for the specialist.

But, not relying 100% on that, I had deposited a largish (for me) cheque from my birthday last week. They said it would take 3 days to clear. Today being day 4. Was it cleared? No. Liars. If I wanted to get it cleared I would have to pay a fee.

Luckily for me the specialist has an opening tomorrow I can fill.

After tomorrow guess where I will NOT be having my money left with?

18 February, 2011

Dental Update...

After three days of being in pain, I think I have an infection where the remaining teeth were extracted and I will be off to the dentist and maybe doctor this morning. I have also had a headache to go along with it. I rarely get headaches and it is quite frustrating.

I have taken to wearing my sunglasses for the moment; it seems to help with the headache. Being on the computer doesn't really seem to help ;-)

I am looking forward to finishing off a couple of projects this weekend. I also think I will get out my Kobo, re introduce myself to it and load it up with some e-books - of course, depending on how the headache progresses after I have seen the dentist/doctor.


15 February, 2011

New Blog

Yes I know I am a pathetic blogger, but I felt a new one was needed for my religious thoughts. You can find it here.

I am going to be doing two correspondence courses starting in March, one in religious studies and the other my Certificate 3 in IT. Maybe by doing a Cert 3 I will be able to finish my Cert 4 and understand stuff better. The IT studies are through OTEN and the other through a College in Tasmania.

Keeping the above blog will allow me to document and discuss on my own terms what I am learning.

Had the remainder of my dental work done today. It was quite painful coming off the anesthetic even with a painkiller, but now after the second painkillers it is tolerable. In a couple of weeks I will make an appointment to see the prostheticist and get dentures made. Next Tuesday I will finally be seeing a spinal specialist with all my scans and xrays, so fingers crossed I will find out what is wrong with me once and for all, and find a way forward.

The weight loss is still there, but only just, because I can't exercise fully as I would like to, and hopefully if I can get rid of the cramping and spasms, I will be able to walk and it will come off a bit faster. Now that I have had my teeth seen to that should help as well.

I have more arts and crafts that I have been doing and finishing up and will post when a) I get photos, and b) when I remember to post.