A year later.........

Recap on the last year........

Living in the MidWest with my lovely man for about 4 months, then just when he was about to head into a 3 month whirlwind of traveling on business trips all around the globe I got offered a rather great job in the UK for 3 months - so I took it.
Living back in the UK for what I knew would be just a short time was great, I got to spend every weekend with people I love, visiting friends and family all over the country.
Then the posting was over and it was back to the US where the man and I got on a motorbike* and rode for four thousand miles over the North East (5 states) and Canada (5 provinces).
We stayed at posh hotels, camp grounds, mom & pop B&B's and one rather dodgy motel, it was quite the adventure.
2 months later the summer was over and it was time to go back to work, this time I had just a 6 week job waiting for me so headed back to the UK wondering what would happen next in this adventure. Within 2 days of my arriving back in the UK I'd been offered two very good jobs, one in the UK - tempting and one in the Caribbean - hmmm very tempting.
First day of November saw me packing up my summer clothes and heading to the beach, I've been here ever since and am loving it. Even more exciting is that the lovely man came down for a month over Christmas and decided that he loves it here too.
So he went back to the US, worked a few things out with his company, got a new job here on this island and is moving down to this small island in the sun with me.
He arrives in two weeks, all a bit exciting really, both of us living and working in the same country - together.

So that's been my 2010......



* Oh yes it turns out that I'm a bit of a biker chick - who knew!

Top Tips

.
Things I have learnt in the last few days.

Marble floors and wet rain are not a good combo.
Throw in some jostling by 2 policemen and 4 building management type people and it is a really bad combo.
Falling over in front of other people is not embarrassing if it really really hurts - then you just don't care who saw you.
Falling over and your head hitting the edge of a heavy glass door then bouncing on the floor is not good.
A block of ice wrapped in a clean tea towel really does help with the bump, but not so much with the pain.
Being disoriented and confused enough to actually call your parents and tell them of the above situation leads to them being rather worried - apparently.
Feeling crap but going to work the next day might well result in tears.
Going home from work alone while in tears might result in the journey being rather fuzzy.
Not being able to eat anything since the fall for 24 hours doesn't help much with the light headiness and dizziness.

Going to bed at about 6:00pm, sleeping through the alarm and being woken up by your boss who has forced their way in past the maid 14 hours later is not a good way to wake up. Especially when they are for some unfathomable reason very angry with you!

When confused, in pain, disorientated and being sick do not ask the above mentioned boss if they think you should go to the doctor - because sometimes the boss says stupid things like "oh probably not"

Do listen to your older sister who tells you on the phone in no uncertain terms that you should get yourself to the doctor ASAP.

Going to the doctor and finding yourself crying from the moment they say hello to the moment you leave with a 5 day sick note and orders to rest is a good thing!

A new quality of life

6 months ago I wrote that I was considering downsizing my life massively. And yes I am. I have shipped out 4 boxes and am checking in 2 large suitcases when I fly to a new part of the world in 7 weeks time.

I'm very excited. I'm starting my 4th life and I can't wait!

The cold fairy visit

Last night I was feeling great, cooked myself a healthy supper and was curled up in bed at a decent hour with a good book. Then at 2:00am I woke up with a cold! A thumping head, streaming nose, sinus pulsating, dry throat coughing, cold! Seriously that cold fairy had better not visit me again in the night. ~bleh~

Boobies

It's time for the annual Boobiethon

Home page is work safe, be careful where you go next but its all in a good cause! If you like boobies or even have a pair of your own have a look, make a donation and even better submit a photo of your own. And yes I will be submitting have submitted my boobies. Just like I have for the last few years.

How about you?

Quick list

Knee still sore and stiff, but not slowing me down anymore.

Tummy reallllly sore due to this.

Think I might be getting addicted to Night Nurse cough syrup, I'm sleeping very well on it!

Today I had NO spam in my inbox at all.



All in all things are going well.

Fat rant

~bleh~

.
Not my favourite day so far this week ....

I've got something awful going on in my tummy, I have had terrible tummy spasms of pain every time I even drink water never mind eat anything so I'm all spaced out due to not eating anything in the last 28 hours and curling up in a ball every now and again clutching my digestive system and begging it to stop the party. I'm also running a bit of a fever so I keep taking off all my clothes as I over heat.

And the child in the upstairs apartment has finally started to learn a new tune on the piano. The Freaking Wedding March!!! I was woken by it at 6.20am and have heard it on and off ever since I got home from work.

Seriously its time I went to bed already!

2:16am

I got the call to say that the surgery went well.
Have just spoken to him and he seems tired but lucid - which is more than I was at 2:16am when I was woken by the phone.

He had a pain free night, but didn't sleep at all well, off to get some x-rays done in an hour to make sure that everything is all good.

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes

Still waiting

.
Due to the wonders of international time zones I had to wait for half a day before my father was even awake. Then apparently they decided to put him at the end of the days schedule due to his possible infectiousness ......... I've just heard that he has only NOW just gone into surgery.

~sigh~

It's going to be a long night.

Bit scared

.
Today my father is having an operation.
An operation that is very similar to the one he had almost 3 years ago which resulted in an infection which caused complete organ shut down, which resulted in me getting one of those dreaded 2am phone calls. A phone call that I often have nightmares about

***********

Sib: Hi sis it's me - wake up properly.
Mia: It's 2am here, are you drunk again?
Sib: No - are you properly awake?
Mia: Yes, I am now Sitting up in bed and suddenly feeling worried
Sib: Dad's been taken back into hospital, he collapsed, its not looking good, he is in a coma.
Mia: . . . . . . . .
Sib: Are you still there?
Mia: Yes. What should I do?
Sib: Get the next flight home. Call me back when you've sorted out a ticket, call the parents number I'll be there in 20 mins.
Mia: OK.

An hour later after battling with online booking of flight in the middle of the night and being unable to see through the tears I call back.

Mia: It's me.
Mother: Oh hello, how are you?
Mia: Ummm not the best, what's happening?
Mother: Oh not to worry, Daddy had a bit of a funny turn, do you want to speak to your sib?
Mia: Yes
Sib: Hi
Mia: It's me, ok, what's going on? Is Mother on valium already?
Sib: Mother is in her favourite place, denile. His organs have shut down, he is in a coma, on life support, its not looking very hopeful.
Mia: VERY HOPEFUL??? What does that mean?
Sib: It means, pack for a funeral - he's probably not going to make it through the next 24 hrs.
Mia: OK, what's the hospital number?

I call the hospital and speak to the ICU nurse who is sitting by my fathers machines.
Mia: Can you tell me what's happening?
Nurse: Sorry, we cant give out patient information over the phone.
Mia: But I'm calling from Hong Kong, my Mother seems to think its all ok, my Sib told me to pack for a funeral.
Nurse: I'm sorry but your Sib has got a more realistic view on the situation. I'm sorry.
Mia: (in tears) OK, thank you, please look after my Daddy.
Nurse: We will do our best, how soon can you get here?
Mia: The flight doesn't leave till after noon (It's nearly 4am now) and takes 13 hours, and that just gets me to London.
Nurse: I'm sorry.

I call a friend in the North of England, he instantly offers to drive from Liverpool to London to meet me and drive me up North - 4 hours drive each way. My flight gets in very late at night so he will leave for London after a full day at work - he's a good friend.

I call a friend here in HK, I wake her from her sleep and I cry. She throws on some clothes and comes over to sit with me while I pack, while I pack for my fathers funeral. She leaves to go to work while I sit there. I email work and tell them I have to take emergency leave. Itake myself off to the airport hours ahead of time, as if me sitting there at the depture gate will make the hours pass quicker.
I cry.

I get on the plane, I've no idea who is sitting beside me, the TV's are not working, I think I probably cry the whole way there, I mourn my father, I don't expect to ever see him again. I cry. (later I feel sorry for the poor people sat around me, at the time I have no idea who is there)

I arrive in London, I wake through the gates and see my dear friend C, he has chocolate in one hand and a large box of tissues in the other - he knows me so well. He holds me close

C: I spoke with your Sib last an hour ago, your Dad is still alive.

He hands me his phone, I call my sib - my poor sib who is having to deal with all of this, to step up and organise things, to make heart wrenching phone calls to people he loves in the middle of the night.

Mia: Hi, its me, I've landed.
Sib: Ok, get C to get you up here, SAFELY, the ICU said you can go straight in - we are all taking it in turns as they only let 2 people by the bed.
Mia: It's going to be 2am before I get there.
Sib: Thats ok, the staff said to come in, don't wait till morning.
Mia: Oh......

C drives me up North, he talks to me about his children, about his new gf, about all sorts of things, he tries to engage me in conversation and then he lets me have some time to just stare out of the window. We arrive at the hospital, I see my older sister's car in the near deserted visitors car park. C takes my hand and we find the ICU. My sib comes out just as we get close. My sib hugs me (my sib never ever hugs me!) He points out the bed that is holding an old man, an old man hooked up to wires and tubes. He doesn't look like my father - my father was cutting down garden hedges with an electric chain saw just 3 weeks ago.
I go and sit beside him, I hold his hand, I tell him I'm here.

The next 4 days pass with the staff telling us to be realistic about his chances, but that they are surprised that he has fought so hard. We tell them not to be surprised, that Daddy has been given his 'orders' by us, he has to pull through this. And Daddy is a man who has long followed orders. We have to sign papers and give permission for amputation - for anything that will help him to get through this.
And he pulls through. The next 2 weeks are spent making notes on the ridiculous things that he is saying to us during his drug induced haze

"went out drinking with Keith Richards last night, feeling a bit rough today" !!!

"tonight Ted and I are going to break out that guy in bed 3, he's undercover and needs to get back to make his report"

"I'm heading off to the Grand Prix next Saturday, do you want to come?"

Also making notes on the sometimes conflicting information that the different organ specialists are giving us. Its not a great time.

After 2 weeks my siblings both return to work, after all they will have to be on hand when I return to Hong Kong but for now its me that is driving my mother to the hospital every day and sitting with her while she talks about how she wants her body to be used for medical studies and her ashes to be scattered. Its not an easy time for any of us.

I return to Hong Kong, after making a deal with my father, if he makes it to Christmas then I'll come 'home' as well. (I have never returned to the UK for Christmas any other year)
He keeps his end of the deal, and so do I.

Physically he is a shadow of the man he once was, mentally he is weaker as well. He's never able to travel overseas, to take that 3 month trip around Asia that they had planned. But he's alive, he gets to spend time being a Grandpa, he gets to hear about his children's adventures (well some of them!!) and he moves on with his life.

But........... today he has another operation, very similar to the last.

So today I'm a bit scared. Tomorrow I'll still be a bit scared and will probably be a bit scared for a few weeks until everything is recovered from and he is safely home.

Perfect

.
It is official, I have a certificate to prove it.....

~~~ I am perfect ~~~

My wonderful lovely fantastic surgeon told me so!

Ok, so he was only talking about a certain area of my body, but what the heck I'm sooooooo happy to hear it!

As if there were any doubt!

.
Chocolate can be good for you.

....... obviously, taken in controlled amounts!

Under the influence

.
I've had a couple of sessions of hypnotherapy a few times in the past and I've also recently been listening to a motivational hypnosis CD late at night. I've been told in the past that I'm a good subject for hypnosis, which sort of makes sense when I accept how much I'm influenced by others moods on a day to day basis.


Although this CD doesn't aim to help me sleep I'm finding it very useful as it allows to me to 'switch off' from all the worries and concerns that seem to swirl around my mind in the darkness. As I lay there counting back from 300 (as per instructions) I can literally feel the pull on my mind and eyes as I am being taken under the influence, its a sort of fluttering over my eyes, even though they are closed and I'm relaxed against my pillow I feel that I'm being taken deeper - deeper to what or what I am not so sure. I just know that on the nights that I fall asleep listening to this CD I sleep well, don't have scary dreams and wake refreshed in the morning. And the furthest I can remember counting down to from 300 is 235 so by that reasoning I'm probably getting an extra hour of sleep a night which is great in itself!

6.4%

.
6.4% is my new favourite number, I'm hoping that it will change in the next month but for now I am loving it.

What's so special about 6.4%?

That's how much my body fat has been reduced by in the last 2 months. I'm fitter and leaner and happier and faster and bendier and lighter and overall in so much better shape.

This weight I am at now, I was last at in September 2003 - yes I do keep a record of such things.