Still waiting

Stu is now a week on from his accident and we've not heard anything yet from a specialist or hospital.  It is a waiting game now apparently. He did go and see our GP who basically told him the same thing, we just need to wait.  

The trouble is we don't know if he should be doing any physio or if it will heal on its own.  The doctor said that he does need to continue wearing the sling but we have no idea about anything else.

We can't go away for various reasons.  Firstly, I'm not experienced at driving the motorhome and while I would be fine out of the city, I'm not confident enough to drive from our place onto the motorway. 

There are other considerations like comfort etc for Stu.  Maybe in a couple of weeks?  The other reason we can't get away is that we are waiting for an appointment... could be today, might be in weeks. I don't do 'waiting' well.

It is the school holidays though so we'll catch up with the boys and maybe have them to stay before they head down to Wellington with their Mum. She needs to get back down there to see her Dad who is still unwell.  

We would dearly love to get away at the moment because next door to us there are six two story houses being built so we are living next to a building site with all the noise that brings. We've had weeks of volcanic rock breaking from 7.30 am until 5.30 pm.  Now its trucks and gravel and banging and clanging all day.  Builder's radio blaring. On and on.  That is one of the reasons we were going away but now we are stuck.  Oh the joy.

So that's where we are at, in limbo.

~ Lynda

Change of plan

Damn, blast and bugger.  Today Stu went out riding with Cole and Stu came off his bike (Cole's wheel caught on his).  I got an urgent call to go and get him and the bike.  Cole and I took the front wheel off and he loaded Stu's bike into my little car (with a little help from me, good on Cole being a strong young man now). Cole rode back to our place and his Mum picked him up while I took Stu to the A&E at Ascot Hospital.

The good news is there are no broken bones but the bad news is he has an AC ligament tear, grade 3 in his right shoulder.  He has been referred to Auckland Hospital to find out if he needs surgery or just physio and time to heal.  We can say goodbye to many of the normal jobs he does around the property - mainly the hedge cutting - so I'll have to get some quotes for that to be done in future.

Of course all our plans for the next month have to be cancelled.  I'm pretty gutted because we had planned on going to see our friend in Hawkes Bay and then on to a trip to Wellington and then around the North Island for a month.  Not happening now.  Stu needs to be here for the appointment which could be in a few days or weeks, we have no way of knowing. Damn.

Maybe I can drive the motorhome for a short trip away so we'll see how that goes but I there will be no big trips at this time.

That's life, at least this is an injury that has a good recovery rate.

~ Lynda

My ex...

As I said in my last post, my ex-husband is seriously ill in hospital.  My daughter flew down on Thursday to see him and came back today.  Sadly his condition has declined and he only wakes for about 20 seconds at a time and is totally disorientated.  He is hardly speaking and when he does it does not make sense. He has since had two more brain bleeds apparently.

I am no doctor so can't give any kind of prognosis but I don't think it is looking positive at all.  His wife is at his side constantly (except when relieved by a family member) and even sleeps in a reclining chair next to him. My daughter is devastated and intends to drive to Wellington in the school holidays (a week from now) to see him again and be there with family.

Stu and I had planned to get away for a longer trip in the motorhome so will now include Wellington so that we can help out with the boys or whatever. Not planned but hey, that's life.

We've had a great time at the Motorhome and Caravan show and will go home tomorrow.  We've met up with lots of lovely people and it just makes us realise how much we love this way of life.  

Home tomorrow and we'll see what the coming weeks bring.  It's heartbreaking to see my son and daughter going through this with their Dad. It brings back so many memories of when my Mum died when I was 22 and my Dad when I was 39. Sadly I don't see my ex getting better from this.

~ Lynda

Another week

We had a brilliant time away on our last trip... nearly two weeks this time. We came home in time to spend and afternoon/evening with the family in case the boys forget about us or worse still, think we've forgotten about them!

Charlie loves to cook and he'd made a cake which was in the oven when we arrived.  After he took it out, he realised that he'd left the eggs out so as a cake it was a disaster.  Never mind, Mum had a great idea and he' soon constructed a chocolate trifle made with the disaster cake, boysenberries and chocolate mousse.  It was a triumph and it was decided that he'd make it for dessert on Christmas Day!  

It was lovely seeing the boys.  Stu took Cole and Charlie off to the local school to play ball and they loved that.  Stu also spent quite a bit of time with F talking about his Uni studies and future etc.  Cole played a selection of his songs on his guitar and my goodness he is really good!  Charlie is also learning and played some cords and music for us.  It was a lovely evening.  We are so lucky to have such loving family in our lives. 

On a sad note, my ex-husband... my children's father, is in hospital after suffering a haemorrhage.  He seems to be OK in that he is alive and talking etc but apparently he is very unwell.  It seems he is worse than first thought so my daughter is flying to Wellington later in the week to see him. My son has spent many hours at the hospital with him.  I hope he will make a full recovery because even though it didn't work out between us, he is a good man who the kids love. 

That's about all my news for today.

~ Lynda

Charlie constructing his chocolate creation.

Dinner with the family - a Mexican feast that my SIL spent hours preparing.

The boys admiring the finished dessert.

Walking!

We are still away, currently at Ohope Beach but tomorrow we'll move on to somewhere else.  Over the last few days my knee has become so much better and I'm now walking 'normally'... no limping or favouring the other leg.  I can walk for a long time too, something I just haven't been able to do up until now.  Yesterday I walked 8 km in total, up and down the beach and all around the camp and streets of Ohope.  

The main issue now is my left hip but I'm trying to ignore and just take some painkillers when I need to.  I seriously don't want any more surgery!  Anyway, I'm just so pleased to be over that awful virus I had and to get back to walking.  It's funny the things you take for granted but certainly not being able to walk far was not fun.

The scar on my leg is pretty visible but I think once it fades it will end up better than my other knee.  There is no hiding the fact that I have two awful scars and in the summer I will be wearing shorts.  

I went shopping the other day and bought myself two lovely dresses from Farmers!  I don't wear dresses normally because I find it so hard to find any that are flattering.  Anyway, the style of the dresses I bought fits me like a glove and I'm sure I'll be wearing them over summer.  

That's all my news, now a few photos.

~ Lynda

Out walking the beach at Ohope on a stunning day.

This morning I had a soak in the hot pool at the camp.  Stu had no interest in it so I went on my own,  it was gorgeous!

My scar.  It will fade but I really don't care as long as I can walk :)

Away

Oh how I love being away in the motorhome.  I am so glad we bought it, no regrets at all.  I love the freedom of not planning where we go each day and seeing new sights everywhere we go. We are currently just north of Whakatane and will probably spend a night neat Ohope but after that who knows? 

At the moment we are directly overlooking the beach—just the tonic for getting over being sick. I am finally sleeping well and seem back to normal with that but I do still have a cough.  I suspect that will continue for a while longer. 

Yesterday we stopped in at Tauranga and visited some of my dear friends.  They have been my friends since around 1988 when I was a solo parent.  Duncan, who was a solo parent himself then was such a great friend and then when he met his wife, she also became a firm friend.  Some days when I was down and struggling I always knew I could visit them and they'd just listen and be there for me.  Genuine friendship. 

Anyway back to today, we've had a beach walk and we'll just relax for the rest of the day looking out at the ocean and appreciating wellness, life and love.

~ Lynda

Directly behind us is the railway track and there about six trains in total passing throughout the day... we love it.

Beach walk this morning - it was a little windy :)

Our view from the motorhome.

Normal !!!

I slept from 11pm until 7am - OMG, amazing considering I've been getting only a couple of hours sleep.  My cold (virus??) is almost better except for a little coughing so we have gone away... I am just so excited to be out and about again!

I had been looking so DREADFUL for the last week - so much so that I'd get a fright when looking in the mirror.  Being sick ages you, I was looking way, way older than my 70 years but hey, feeling good and a little makeup and I'm back baby.  

Anyway, I just thought I'd do a little update.  I think we'll stay where we are for another night then head over to Tauranga to visit friends before heading down to some beaches on the east coast.  We have no firm plans, just how we like it.

~ Lynda

Phew... back to looking well.