Kids, kittens & tummy aches

Greetings to you on this first blog of 2009. Okay, I have copped a small amount of flak for being slack in updating the blog here. In my defence I have to say I have no defence, I am just slack. Okay, there, I said it. I actually don’t think I have been completely slack as I have been struggling a little with my health over the last 4-5 months. You may remember I had my Gall Bladder out back in October. That in itself was successful, but associated pain and nausea that I thought would GO when the Gall Bladder did, didn’t! In fact the nausea and pain got worse! BUGGER. There are a few things that make it worse, and they would be walking, exercising, eating, and bumps in the road. That last one is the killer.

As my job involves many hundreds of kilometres in a vehicle each work day, it sucks. Especially since country roads aren’t known for being pothole or bump free. And 4 or 5 year old Toyota Hiace’s aren’t known for their great suspension. The only thing that I have found that helps ease the pain isn’t medication, but an old motorcycle kidney belt. (Thanks Ken). I have been back to the surgeon, I have had an MRCP.

Definition of MRCP: Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, an application of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to the hepatobiliary and pancreatic system. An MRCP uses an MRI machine with special software to obtain images comparable to the cholangiogram and pancreatogram obtained by the more invasive approach with ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) without the added risks of sedation, pancreatitis, and perforation. Definition courtesy of (http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=19514)

In other words, they use an MRI machine to take pictures of your tummy. The MRCP showed nothing wrong. Blood tests have returned to normal. So now I am off to have Gastroscopy (16th January ‘09) and an Endoscopy (26th February ’09). The Gastroscopy is no problems, BUT I am not looking forward to the endoscopy. I hate it when the put the camera where the sun don’t shine. I am just thankful that I am unconscious when they do it. The hardest part is actually the preparation. If you really want to know what it’s like, drop me an email and I will let you know, this isn’t the forum for that much detail.

Danger, Danger.

Sorry Amy, but people need to know. On the 29th of December, 2008, my first born got her licence to drive a car. So far so good, keeping all fingers and toes crossed, she hasn’t had an accident. I am not sure how many she has caused or how many close calls she has had. I don’t think she would fess up to that. But kudos to her, she got it. Her cat had a kitten back in November. That’s right, it’s not a typo, a kitten. One. He eventually got called George because he was very curious. I think he took a long time to get his feet steady because he had no brothers or sisters to push him, but he did. I enjoy seeing a kitten learning to do the things it should, it’s kind of like an accelerated baby to toddler stage. 0 – 2 years in 6 weeks. It either shows how complicated we humans are, or how lazy. But as our life span is much longer, I guess we win. We said goodbye to George yesterday, he went to a new home. It nice not to have to worry about getting a kitten pouncing on your feet while you’re making coffee. But I will miss him a little bit.

Katrina has been working part time at Sam’s Warehouse now for a few months, and has been getting a lot of work over the holidays. She is a good worker so I think she is among the first they call if they are short staffed. She has been working hard with her physio on the knee she injured playing netball, and now thinks she might be able to get back to playing netball this winter after a year off. A bit more hard work and she will get there. She still has the same boyfriend, Locky, and it doesn’t look like ending to soon, but you never can tell can you. Katrina’s next goal is to get her learner permit, and get her hours up so she can get her licence in 15 months time.

Late in December, we put a computer in Roberts’ room, so that he would be better able to do his homework in year 9. I struggled getting the cabling for the internet sorted out so I left it for a time when I was more mentally prepared to tackle the trouble shooting. Anyway, a week or so ago I felt that I was ready, I was cleaning out the office, getting rid of a lot of old bits and pieces of computers, which gave me space to get to the cabling that lead to the router from the various computer points we have set up. To cut an extremely long story a little bit shorter, when Amy painted her room last year, I tucked the network cable back in behind the wall plate, as she now has a laptop which connects wirelessly. And when I pulled the cable through into Roberts’ room some months later, I pulled the wrong cable through didn’t I. Well problem solved, Roberts happy, and so are his sisters because now he has the internet in his room we hardly see him anymore. With the X-Box and the Computer in his room now, he is as happy as a pig in mud. All he wants now is a DVD and a television aerial, both of which are a no-no as he still needs to learn some socialising skills.

Anita has been working hard in the shop, but took a few days off between Christmas and New Year. Her customers don’t seem to mind, and the regulars actually seem to encourage her to do it. Things are now nearly back to normal after the flood, with the last of the insurance money in so she can replace the stock she lost. It has certainly been interesting watching things in the shop and comparing it to the current world financial situation. I think we are lucky here in Australia, as I we haven’t yet been hit as hard as other countries, and Bizzy Bees is blessed in so much as we haven’t seen too drastic a drop in sales compared to a year ago. So it’s keep your fingers crossed time for Anita, and keep your toes crossed for Glenn that one of the scopes explains things, soon!