The past 6 weeks have been hell. In particularly the last week.
My last post ended with a funeral and a BBQ. So I will take up from there.
21/9/2009
Dave stayed home Monday due to feeling unwell from the flu, so the day was spent lounging on the couch watching television. The rest of the week passed uneventfully, which was good as the build up was on for the footy grand final on Saturday. So on Friday I drove down to Tasman meats and bought two lovely pieces of beef and lamb and a size 18 chicken to roast on the 'spit',
I called into Safeway in Lara and bought the ingredients to make a potato bake & some nibbles for Paige, on the way home I called into the bottle-shop and got the alcohol, grabbed a bag of ice and was ready for the big day.
Saturday started off very lazy, I read the paper, ate breakfast, tidied the house, made the potato bake then went and picked up Bec and Paige.
We arrived at Stewies around 12.20 pm to the smell of roasted meat wafting through the patio, the television was on with the sound muted, the men were hovering around the BBQ, whilst Jen was running in and out bringing salads, plates, cutlery and other items that were required by the guys. Paige immediately started playing with Grace which was good. I made Bec and myself a midori with lemonade letting mine sit for awhile to allow the bubbles to fizz out. I had bought a heap of mixers to make shooters later on in the day once the game had really started. We were all going for Saint Kilda....
By 1.30 the meat was ready so it was carved and dished up, I selected the most moist looking piece of lamb and beef, added a lovely scoop of salad including a piece of hard boiled egg, sat down and started to enjoy the feast. I managed a couple of mouthfuls before a piece of the hard boiled egg became stuck in the band, all of a sudden my moth filled with saliva and I knew I had only one option and that was to try to vomit to remove it, but experience has taught me it can take some time, so I had to go home, so trying to be as diplomatic as possible I left, arriving home within 10 minutes I had removed the obstruction but felt completely drained from doing so. I spent the afternoon quietly sitting in the office playing on the computer, every now and then I would go into the lounge to see the scores of the game but as Geelong was winning it didn't really interest me. .
The next week rolled on like the other one with nothing happening, the only thing I really achieved was to wash and groom the dogs. That brought in October, the week ended with a visit to Dr Jason Chan in Werribee for a weigh in and fill, my weight was 87.9kg on his scales and he added .5 mls, whilst there I got him to look at another hernia which had developed whilst on clinical placement in September, this one was above my naval, another incisional hernia. He told me to take things easy in the gym and he would reassess it in a month.
On Sunday with the weather being good we decided to take the boat out to try our luck at some whiting in the bay, we set out and found a nice spot however the anchors just wouldn't hold us and after 5 attempts at trying to get the boat to hold we just drift fished. This was okay until the tide turned and the swell picked up, I noticed the pier had gotten very close, I mentioned to Dave that we had better move, he agreed and started pulling in the anchors, he told me to start the motor and move the boat backwards, with the motor running its too hard to hear whats being said so i moved into the cabin, as I did the chair moved and hit the throttle causing it to go into forward and n full, the boat lurched forward hitting the pier, throwing Dave forward, luckily he was squeezed tightly into the opening so was unhurt, I was so shaken up, I dreaded to think of the damage to the boat expecting to see water gushing in at any time, we went slowly back to the boat ramp. We maneuvered the boat into the dock without too much fuss, I went and brought the Nissan down, only having to back up a couple of times before getting the angle right, we got the boat on the trailer without a hitch, problems didn't start until we tried to raise the motor, the hydraulic lifting ram wouldn't work, so finding the only available piece of metal, (a net rod, made of aluminum) we used that as a lever, of course it was crushed within seconds, I then managed to get a couple pieces of wood into the required spot, it held long enough to get the boat out of the water and up the ramp. I was wet from the waist down whereas Dave was soaked as he fell backwards whilst trying to lift the motor. I started driving back to Stewie's, halfway home I noticed black rubber pieces being flung from underneath the trailer, I told Dave and he had me pull into the closest service street, we had blown a tyre, the only choice was to drive slowly home the back way. I drove as far as the house and made Dave drive to the boat to Stewie's knowing that he'd be there a fair while sorting everything out. What an eventful day and not even a fish caught.
Monday stated off with a bang, Dave stubbed his toe so badly on the coffee table just on his way to work, his toe swelled up so much he couldn't get his boot on so he spent the day at home watching TV on the couch...
Friday arrived with Dave going fishing with the boys and me heading out into Williamstown with Mel for a girls night out, Captain Spalding was playing at the 'Dock's, I met Mel at her friend Scotty's place in town, we got to the pub around 10.30 and stayed till 1am dancing and drinking, Mel & I caught a 'private' cab to the Commercial in Yarraville, its the pub where she was holding her 40th.
The pub looks dilapidated from the outside and very different inside, there are rooms everywhere with old overstuffed lounge chairs scattered throughout, as well as bean bags, stools, a pool table and upstairs is an area for functions, the place apparently comes alive on a Saturday evening when there is a drag show performance. The place closed at 3am so we went back to Mels friends place for drinks, when we got there though, he had run out of everything, not even a cup of coffee to be had.
I caught a cab back to my car the following morning around 7.30 and drove home, had a shower then packed and got ready for the drive to Apollo Bay, Dave & I were spending the evening there to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary.
We arrived in Apollo Bay around 3.30 and packed our stuff in the hotel room and went for a walk up the street to decide on where to eat for the night. We settled on this quaint upstairs restaurant and went back to the hotel and booked a table for 6.30 that evening, we got ready and walked down for dinner, the meal was lovely, well priced and very enjoyable. We went back to the hotel and enjoyed the spa.
The next morning we had breakfast on the balcony, got ready then spent the morning fishing on the beach, when the surf became too rough we packed up and enjoyed a leisurely drive back home. That evening we had a meal at the Lord Of the Isles Tavern in Geelong.
The week started off with me fainting in the kitchen causing the clock to fall off the wall and hit me on the head, the following day was a review appointment with the dermatologist for a check up from the rash, he gave me the all clear.
On Tuesday evening Dave came home from work with a question...
He wanted to know if it was okay to lend his mate roughly $6500 to buy a boat motor...
I stood there, thought about it and agreed on one condition.
If it was good enough to lend his mate the money for a boat motor then it was good enough to lend me the money for my boob job, Dave agreed, I think he really had no choice.
So I get my boobs, Stewie got his motor and everyone is happy...
On the Friday 16th October Dave & I were invited to the Geelong Greyhound Cup the final of the round, so off to Beckley park for an evening of absolute boredom...
The following day Dave went fishing with the guys & Bec, Paige & myself went to the Geelong show for the morning. We spent hours walking around looking at all the displays, I treated myself to some mini Danish pancakes covered in lemon juice and icing sugar, they were divine.
That afternoon I went to Stewie Dad's place for lunch, the guys had cooked up a lovely feed of fish & chips, I spent a couple of hours there, but came home to enjoy the peace and quiet. I had a few Midori Splice's & Illusions, around 8pm Dave rang saying I had to go to the bottle shop as the guys had run out of grog, so off I went, collected the stubbies and spent another couple of hours listening to guys dribble shit.
Sunday was spent driving up to Euroa just to get out of the house and do 'together' things, we had lunch at a little bakery there, unfortunately the pastry got stuck so I spent the next half an hour in the loo bringing it up, we them drove to Shepparton then had an ice cream by the bank of a lake then drove back to Melbourne, stopping off in Williamstown where Dave had a spring roll and fried rice for dinner.
The only thing to happen during the week was my appointment with Mel for my waxing.
Saturday the 24th arrived which was Mels 40th birthday bash ayt he Commercial Hotel in Yarraville, I booked accommodation at the Plough hotel in Footscray and got there around 4pm, had a shower and went downstairs for dinner, I ordered a chicken salad, whilst I was sitting there a guy came over and joined me saying he didn't like eating by himself, I managed a couple of mouthfuls before I was full, which had been happening all week in fact the most I had eaten was 4 mouthfuls of a bowl of minestrone soup.
I had ordered a cab online, bit of course it never arrived, so I rang & ordered another cab, I arrived at the party around 8pm, the upstairs had all been decorated with balloons, streamers & set into a seventies theme, people in all sorts of costumes from disco to leathers were sitting around the bar.
I stayed upstairs moving from the balcony to the dance floor depending on the music, by 10pm I had found a comfortable seat downstairs and waited for the drag show to start.
The show was excellent, the costumes spectacular, it was interesting to see all the guys hanging off all the 'girls'.
At the end of the evening, my stomach was aching and my feet hurt, Mel was heading off to the casino so I decided to go back to the hotel room, it took nearly 40 minutes to get a cab, finally flagging one down and sharing it with 2 other guys, who tried everything to come back to my room, but I was quite adamant no I'm going to bed...
I collapsed when I got back to the room, sleeping until 8 in the morning, I drove back to Lara to find Dave had gone out to the yard to work on the truck with Daryl.
Sunday was spent just quietly lazing around, I was still unable to eat food so I decided to call the surgeon on Monday for an appointment, the hernia had protruded right out and was now pushing on my stomach.
Monday 26th October, I saw Jason Winnett in Williamstown at 1.30 pm, as soon as he saw my stomach he booked surgery for the following day at Western Private, so I went home and organised everything for the following day.
Tuesday arrived with me fasting from 7am, John picked me up at 10 am and drove me to the hospital, I was admitted and shown to my room, thank goodness I had brought my laptop and some movies as I was last on the list again, not getting surgery until 9.30pm.
I was up walking around the ward at 3am, showered and ready to go at 7am, Jason came around and saw me at 8am, and Dave collected me at 10.30, I went to bed when I got home. That afternoon Bec & Paige came over, as well as John for a BBQ that Dave had organised.
Thursday morning Bec caught the bus home, then Daryl & Fe came over and spent a couple of hours socialising, that afternoon I went and had a nana nap, getting up in the late afternoon and finishing off the classifieds for Missy & Al.
Dave got my dinner, watched some telly then had an early night, I sat in the computer room working on the articles for the Pilbara Echo, around midnight I told Miss I was getting some pain killers and would be going to bed in the following hour, a hot flush came over me so I got up headed for the sliding door to go outside to get some cool air, the next thing I know, Im looking at the ceiling & my head is pounding. I move to my right when a sudden pain crushes my left side, my fingers are tingling with pins and needles, I turn around and look at the ground a pool of blood the size a of a dinner plate had pooled and had started clotting, meaning I had been 'out' for quite some time, I grabbed a water bottle from the bench and doused my face, I grabbed the blanket on the chair and placed it over the blood so I wouldn't slip in it, I slowly got up and staggered to the the bedroom door, standing there I called to Dave, 'you had better call an ambulance I've had an accident, I don't feel very good, Im going to go and lie down'. I walked over towards the office and laid down in the walkway, Dave came over looked at the pool of blood, and said 'oh shit Jen', he rang the ambulance which took over half an hour to get here, I told Dave to put a pair of undies on me, cover me with a blanket and get a flat pillow.
Finally the ambo arrived and the paramedics were fantastic, they were concerned with a head injury and treated me as one, I had a neck brace put on me and log rolled onto a back board then once I was stabilised enough to go we drove slowly to Geelong hospital. Im estimating the arrival time of around 2am.
Once at the hospital I was seen immediately by a doctor who ordered a head, & neck xray as well as a xray of my collar bone due to the pain in my left arm.
They cut my nightie off me, and once in radiology removed all my piercings. By the afternoon I needed to go to the toilet so twice they tried with the bedpan but in the end I had to have a catheter as I had over 1 litre in my bladder, later that afternoon I had a CT scan done and finally at 4.30 pm the results came through clear so the neck brace could be removed and the head laceration looked at, by the time it was seen to the wound had scabbed and there was no point to stitching it as it would have meant re-opening the wound and I said it was easier to leave it, Dave came and collected me at 5.30 pm, there were no obvious fractures to the arm or collarbone but the doctors couldn't rule out a hairline green-stick fracture, so I would be swollen and sore for a couple of weeks.
So the last couple of days have been spent lying in bed watching DVD's or playing on the computer, I have done no housework, the most strenuous thing I do is make myself a cup of coffee.
I haven't had cigarette since Monday 26th October at 2pm and its going to stay that way, I got a real fright, thinking I may have had a stroke or a heart attack, time to start really looking after myself, Im not getting any younger...damn it!
So thats been the last month!!
I'm looking forward to some QUIET time....watch this space...
Oh yeah only 44 days till Missy & Al arrive for Xmas..
