December 2009
Thanks Sailor, as usual your wisdom is inspiring.
My wish for you, and all our fellow 'cyber' friends, may this Christmas be filled with love, peace and strength.
Jill
PS: and some plum pudding too!
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December 2009
Hi Samex,
I am definitely accepting help whereever it is offerred. There is no way I can do this on my own.
Shopping hasn't happened yet, I only have my sister and a nephew to buy for and our boys and Greg. I might even buy myself a pressie too!
A lot of the normal stuff is on hold right now, in terms of home duties, I was just hoping to feel like a normal mum for a few hours by going out and facing the hordes of people filling up shopping centres.
Thanks for the cyber hugs,
Jill.
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December 2009
Julie,
Rant and rant, I totally agree about bureaucratic bu@*%()t.
I really hope the day isn't too draining for you tomorrow and that the appts go OK.
On the flip side, I have found that friends have stepped up to the plate when it really counts, despite my feeling a few weeks ago that no-one cared.
Another meal has just arrived on my doorstep, so it looks like it's shepherd's pie for dinner!
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December 2009
Hi Julie,
I love that song by the Proclaimers, it brings back memories of when I was flatting with a friend, we were living in the city and both had boyfriends in the country, so every second weekend we would drive to spend the weekend with them.
The 'tape' as it would have been way back then, was belting out "I would walk 500 miles" for most of the way!
On your travel stuff, oh don't you wish you had actally 'travelled' somewhere that distance for a holiday!!! Think of where you could have gone!
I have only had my new car 2 weeks tomorrow and it is already clocked up 980km, and is booked in for its 1000km service tomorrow! Most of which has been this last week with trips into Hollywood and back.
Jill
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December 2009
Hey Kym
So good to hear from you, I was hoping you would still visit and keep up with what is going on.
Two friends came and cleaned the floors/bathrooms etc for me yesterday and put clean linen on the beds, which was really wonderful.
Other school mums have been making meals for us most nights which is very helpful.
Will have to talk to the social worker again, yesterday was her day off and today have just got back from Greg's radiation treatment and are about to head off to our son's school concert.
I thought life was busy before, it has all climbed a few knotches now!
Take care and thanks for your message, it really does make me feel good when I read everyone's caring messages.
Jill.
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December 2009
Hi Sally,
A delete key, what a wonderful idea, I DEFINITELY want one!
Jill.
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December 2009
Thanks ladies, life pretty much sux right now.
Greg is home today which is wonderful for him but just adds extra work to my load.
He is not coping with his loss of independence, I had trouble keeping him under some semblance of control before all this and now, well, it is going to be very CHALLENGING.
We have two radiation treatment sessions left this week, so have organized another Mum to get the boys off to school tomorrow and then will have to make arrangements for Thursday, last day of school term.
Friday my Dad is going to take Greg to his work xmas function down in Freo, and I am going to try and get some xmas shopping done and be like a 'normal' Mum for a while. The boys will spend the day with friends.
Will let you know tomorrow how I 'cope' with the first 24 hours of having Greg at home.
Dad is staying with us till Friday night, not sure what happens after that.
Jill.
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December 2009
Oops, I hit the wrong button, will start again.
A week and a day ago my husband was a person living with cancer, who had sailed through chemo treatment with hardly any time off work. Scan results were showing his primary oesophageal tumour was barely evident and peritoneal cancer hadn't changed from scan in August.
A week ago our lives changed forever when he was diagnosed with an aggressive 4 1/2 cm secondary tumour on his brain (right frontal lobe) with a lot of swelling.
I had noticed mood swings and some personality changes in the last couple of months, he had been quite unpredictable in his responses. I put it down to stress, he hadn't been talking to anyone about his cancer and how he felt about it, so I thought he was just 'overloaded'.
Two weeks ago, he had a big week, played golf 2 days in a row with nights out after each (an annual event with work colleagues). He went to work next day and then had a sleep study that night (Tuesday) to determine if he sufferred from sleep apnoea. Wednesday he was tired, Thursday morning he played golf again, then had meetings in the afternoon and Friday he worked most of the day.
I expected him to be tired, but he was falling asleep at the drop of a hat, he also mentioned that he had a headache start on the Tuesday night and it stayed with him for the week.
I thought maybe he was a bit dehydrated. Thursday he met me to pick up my new car, when he arrived he wasn't himself, he seemed very vague and didn't seem to be understanding/comprehending as normal.
He thought it was Friday and then forgot that he needed to sign some more papers, (which obviously he shouldn't have done-in hindsight) immediately after he had been told that he had to stay to sign them.
Alarm bells were starting to ring. I asked him not to play golf on Saturday morning as it was forecast 37'C. He said he would be fine.
He didn't finish the round, came home early and slept.
Sunday morning he slept in till 10.30ish then while I was out hanging out washing, he got up and got dressed in his work clothes preparing to go to the office. He thought it was Monday. Now I was really scared, this was real confusion on his part. He was adamant that it was Monday and that our sons and I had no idea when we were telling him otherwise.
I convinced him eventually and he got changed, got into bed and then slept the rest of the day.
Monday morning he got up and went for his 6km walk with a friend but didn't take our dog. That was very unusual. As he was sitting at the breakfast bar eating breakfast he was falling asleep.
He went back to bed and I took our boys to school. On my way home I phoned the oncologist's rooms and told them what had been happening over the last week. They agreed he should come in for a head CT, it was booked for that afternoon.
Immediately he came out from the scan, I was told that they had found a 'lesion' and that there was a lot of swelling and they wanted him to be admitted immmediately. They had phoned his oncologist and we were to wait till he rang back.
I knew it was serious, I had no idea how serious.
It was all making sense now, the mood swings, the forgetfulness, the unpredictability, the vagueness, fatigue, headache and confusion.
A week ago today I was told that he may have 2-3 months, that treatment is to try and minimize the effects of the tumour, to try and provide quality of life, rather than extend life.
He has had 3 radiation therapy sessions, with 7 more to follow. His headache has gone and the confusion/vagueness has reduced, which is all good. His thought processing is affected, as his memory ability. He doesn't believe there is anything wrong, he feels normal and good. He can hold a conversation really well, it just isn't always accurate, in his mind it is.
Five days ago I was told he is not deemed 'competent'. I wonder if he ever will be again?
How I would love to be able to turn the clock.
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