Archive for July, 2010
Sorry for the blog absence. The school holidays are in full swing here and I’ve had zero headspace to blog.
I am incredibly thankful that today is Friday. Robyn has been away at her dads all week and I’ve missed her so much that my heart is actually aching. Katie is missing her too. She understands this time where she is and has accepted that but you can see that she is longing for her to come home.
Katie and I are struggling in eachothers company now. We have been out, played, baked, sung, snuggled and coloured our hearts out but I’m no substitute for her big sister that she adores.
Yesterday evening I was rather down in the dumps and so today I need to be thankful. Being down in the dumps isn’t good. Here are my things to be thankful for:
- Tomorrow I will see my Robyn
- Katie is being a good girl so far today
- My parents are having a lovely holiday and that they will be home on Wednesday
- We had such a wonderful time away at a family wedding last weekend
- Finding 6 Bilibo’s for only £2 each instead of £15 each at a toy shop. Katie loves hers and Robyn will be so thrilled to know she has one too. We’ll use the others for presents and sell a couple on eBay.
- For today being pay day
- Robyn told me on the phone this morning that I am the bestest person in the world ever.
It’s not just any old Friday today, it is the end of the summer term. Tonight when I pick up Robyn from school and Katie from nursery we will have almost 7 weeks at home together.
In that time Robyn will be at her Dads for one week and Anthony has a week off a couple of weeks later. We plan on going to Morecambe and also some day trips. The Sealife centre in Blackpool is on our list of places to take the girls to.
This week I am thankful for
- The chance of having almost 7 weeks with my girls with no school get-ups.
- My friends
- Katie being in a good mood this morning. I’m feeling full of cold and she is being co-operative which is lovely.
- Having time alone. I know, it sounds like a contradiction… I’m really looking forward to the holidays but I do adore “me time”. This week I got an extra morning which was wonderful.
- My family
- Origami. I’ve always wanted to learn how to fold paper to make pretty things. I am teaching myself how to do it and I’m loving it. Some people see it as a bit pointless but I think to create something interesting and beautiful from a sheet of paper is great!
Happy Friday everyone, have a good weekend and a great summer break if your kids break up today too 🙂
FOR TODAY… Thursday 15th July 2010
Outside my window… it is dull, rainy and generally miserable. School breaks up for the summer tomorrow and I can’t help but feel like the “summer” will be a washout (again).
I am thinking… about my mum and dad who are on their holidays in France.
I am thankful for… my friends. Last night I went out for something to eat with a friend and I had such a lovely time. It was the first time for a long, long time that I have done that.
From the kitchen… not a lot! I need to go and buy milk so I can’t even make a brew! It is a sad situation to be in!
I am wearing… comfortable black trousers with a baggy red t-shirt. They dry nice and quickly so if I get caught out in the rain it doesn’t matter too much!
I am creating… some thank you cards for Robyn’s teacher and the nursery staff. I was going to buy some and then decided to make some using my own photographs. I am also a little bit addicted to origami. I’ve bought myself some origami paper and keep making random objects.
I am going… to take Robyn to have her ears pierced on Saturday morning. She is so excited!
I am reading… “The other side of the Dale” by Gervase Phinn
I am hoping… that Robyn and her class mates have a good time on their school trip and that they don’t get too wet!
I am hearing… the washing machine spinning. I wish I had a separate kitchen so that I could shut the door on it!
Around the house… it’s fairly tidy. I did a quick clear up in Robyn’s bedroom this morning and she will finish it later. I need to hoover the downstairs and will do that later… maybe.
One of my favorite things… at the moment is going out for coffee. I’m a little bit addicted to it.
A few plans for the rest of the week: I shall be making the most of tomorrow afternoon where I shall be on my own in the house for probably the last time until September.
Here is a picture I am sharing… we celebrated my nephews 12th birthday this week 🙂
Come and see more daybook entries here.
Friday, Friday… it has been a long time coming this week! I could start and end this post by being thankful just for it being Friday this week! Let me explain why…
Early on Monday morning we got up and drove across to Leeds for Robyn to be admitted to hospital for tests. Robyn was meant to go down to the operating theatre in the morning. The nurse actually said that we were first on the list at 8.30am. However when the surgeon came round to speak to us he informed us that it would be the afternoon.
The waiting began and Robyn got very fed up. You could see how nervous she was and inside my heart was breaking because I could do nothing to help her feel better about things.
The lunch trolley came round and of course Robyn wasnt allowed anything because she was nil by mouth. She was so hungry. We watched other children go down to theatre and come back. One child had been to have his tonsils and adenoids out, another to have his finger reattached after trapping it in a door, another little boy with severe special needs had been to have a new feeding tube put in and a 6mth baby had his hips realigned. He came back with a plaster cast that went from above his waist down to below his knees. It was pretty heartbreaking to see but the baby remained happy and kept smiling at us 🙂
Finally it was Robyns turn. She went down to theatre at 2pm and it was to be a straightforward procedure of popping a camera down to have a look at her tummy and leaving a tube in with a ph probe on the end. The tube came out of her nose and was attached to a little black box. This monitors the levels of acid in her tummy.
They said she would only be asleep for 10 minutes so I waited next to theatre in a parents room… the most depressing room you have ever seen in your life. The 10 minutes passed and I was still waiting. An hour later I finally got called. I can tell you that during that hour every thought imaginable went through my mind. I knew I was being irrational, I knew that she was fine and that they were just being very careful with her but at the time I convinced myself that something had gone wrong. When I got called to go to recovery I pretty much ran there.
She was fine, of course. She opened her eyes and said to me sleepily “Can I have something to eat now?!” before promptly going back to sleep again!
While in theatre the surgeon noticed a part of her oesophagus up nearer her throat than where they have looked before appeared to be a bit abnormal. He also thought he could see a slight hiatus hernia. When she had barium swallows before one set of radiologists said there was a hernia, another set from a different hospital said there wasnt. Now I thought we were getting somewhere. Robyn was referred for more x rays the following day. Until then the tube in her tummy had to stay there for 22 hours so we went back to the ward and settled down for a long night.
A poor child in the next bed had his appendix removed a few days earlier and was very ill. That combined with the tonsillectomy child crying and also the baby in plaster crying made it a very, very long and tiring night.
Robyn was allowed an early breakfast and was then nil by mouth again until after her x-rays. She began to count down the hours until her tube was coming out. People came by and tried to cheer her up but she just wanted to be back to normal. Finally the tube came out and we went to x-ray for another barium swallow test. The radiologists didn’t see a hernia and seemed to suggest that the problem the surgeon had noticed wasnt there. I’m unsure though until I get official word back about the tests. They did say that there is some reflux there which goes some way to knowing what is going on I suppose.
We were discharged from hospital and went to a shopping centre on the way home where we gave Robyn £20 to spend on what she wanted for being so brave.
So, back to thankful Friday! This week I am thankful for:
- It being Friday!
- That the horrible, invasive tests are done with (for now at least)
- Doctors, nurses, anaesthetists, surgeons and radiologists!
- Wimbledon. Watching the tennis in hospital kept me sane
- Free patientline TV on childrens ward until 7pm
- Family and friends for helping out and caring
- Having a new car that got us to the hospital!
- Our good health. Seeing some poorly children really puts things into perspective
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