Ten days....

...since my last post that is. As usual I have no excuse for not posting, but as I've been told by blogger friends and others. "It's you blog and you can blog if you want to or not". Apparently I've gone for the "or not".

There's not much going on around here at the moment. You know I posted pictures of the daffodils recently, and there are still more blooming, well I thought that Spring was on it's way but as usual we're in the middle of what hopefully will be a quick cold snap. There was supposed to be a huge dumping of snow on the mountain. I'm going to have a look this morning and if there is a lot of snow, I'll take a picture to share. It never fails that just when you thought you are in the clear, something comes along to mess it up.

Other news has to do with the various on going issues here. Hubbies mum is still very ill. He is probably going to go and stay with her and his dad for a few weeks. It will help them a lot and it will give him a bit more time with his mum. I still have not heard anything about when my hand surgeries, technically it will be wrist surgery but either way I've not heard anything about when they will happen. So I sit and continue try to keep my hands from going numb and also stop doing things that make them go numb like typing. Hmmm, maybe that's why I've not posted lately. I could so use that as an excuse but I won't because the truth is pure laziness on my part.

Well that will about do it for now but I'll be back, who knows maybe sooner more than later. Until then take care and enjoy...

More signs of Spring...

Well after that gloomy post I thought I would share some of the other flowers that are currently blooming in our garden. Every year I know that Spring is on it's way when or camellia bush and our rhododendron start to bloom. The camellia bush has been here for over 30+ years and maybe even 50+. The rhododendron is also very old. You can see in the pictures how tall thecamellia bush is as it is as tall as our house. The rhododendron is not as large but that is merely do some pruning done a year or so ago. You can also see that the camellia bush has both pink and white flowers. We're not sure what colour the bush started out as but because of the pibk flowers we occasionally get pink stripes in the white blooms.

All is well here and I have seen the local doctor. He has suggested that it would be better if I schedule the surgeries to occur in Sydney as it will be some time before I can get in to see the neurosurgeon here at home. I'll write to my doctor in Sydney today so he can hopefully get the process started in there and then I just have to wait until a spot opens up. I may have posted pjotos of these bushes before but it never hurts to see them again. Anyway, I hope the flower photos brighten your day as much as they do mine. Enjoy....

Home again...

Well I'm finally home again after a very long and exhausting 7 days in Sydney. I was originally only supposed to be in Sydney for 4 days in order to see the neurologist for a check up on the back surgery I had last July. I am having some on going symptoms associated with the surgery. I had a new MRI of my entire spine and in addition I had a Nerve Conduction Test (NCT) run on my hands because I have developed some symptoms in my hands, which would not have been associated with the lower back surgery. So, it was a totally new problem..

As I said the MRI was to follow up on my surgery sight and the NCT was investigating the symptoms in my hands, which included numbness and pain in both hands. I can not hold anything for longer than a minute without my fingers and eventually my entire hand going numb. My neurologist suspected that I might have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and the NCT confirmed his suspicions. I have (CTS) not only in one hand but both. We also discovered that I am developing peripheral neuropathy in both hands. The neuropathy is the same as the neuropathy I currently have in my feet.

The (CTS) can be fixed through surgery. I will have two separate surgeries so I will be able to use one hand while the other hand is recuperating from the surgery. I don't know when the surgeries will happen but the doctor is working on scheduling the surgeries. As soon as they have a date I'll be off to fix my hands. Unfortunately, the neuropathy can not be fixed and I can only hope that it does not get any worse and get as bad as it is in my feet.

The MRI found a suspicious spot near the area involved with my back surgeries (remember I ended up having 4 of them). The doctor then ordered a series of blood tests and a set of nuclear scans of my entire body which not only looked at the suspicious spot but also my bones. The doctor was trying to determine if the spot he saw was scar tissue or instead a collection of fluid which could be a site of chronic infection. If the site was a chronic infection I was looking at ongoing intravenous antibiotics that would be administered on a regular basis in order to keep the infection in check so it would not spread into my system. The results ended up being just scar tissue and not an infection. I was extremely relieved. The scar tissue will be something I will always have to deal with and it will unfortunately continue to give me some pain for the rest of my life. This is not uncommon once any type of back surgery is performed. I can and as I said will have to live with that.

All in all it was a mixed bag of results but overall I think we ended up with mostly good results. I'm not looking forward to the surgeries on my hands but at least they will help my hand get back to some sense of normal. I'll keep everyone abreast of all the latest developments and once again I want to thank all of you that have continued to send me such wonderful notes of encouragement.

One more thing, I don't have to worry about looking for a job until my hands are fixed so in some ways that's one worry off my chest. I hope by the time my hands are fixed the job market will look brighter. OK, that's all for now and thanks for reading this very long post. I'll write again soon and also make sure I do next months 12 of 12. I hated missing it but I did not have my camera with me in Sydney. See you soon. Take care...

Sydney Town...

We're in Sydney right now, so I can see the specialist. Well ,I've seen him and I will have to wait until Thursday to let you know what is going on. I was going to go home on Monday but now I have to stay until Thursday morning. I will be having some additional test done over those extra days. To say I am not amused is an under statement. Anyway, this will be a short post but I'll keep you posted when I know more. I hope everyone is well. Take care, stay well and enjoy...

Spring is in the air...

Amongst all the doom and gloom in my life, I'm glad to say that there is a little bit of sunshine breaking through. I took these photos of the first spring bulbs starting to bloom. Since our winter is basically mild, compared to those in the Northern Hemisphere, a lot of things that go to sleep in the winter wake up a bit earlier. So as you can see in the pictures, the rose bush is still asleep, as are the rest of them in the garden, but these lovely little daffodils have just started to bloom. In the background you can also see a lone jonquil that has popped up. There are more starting to build buds and I reckon they will be out in another week or so. All over the rest of our garden there are bunches of daffodils and jonquils that are starting to pop up and will also be in bloom in the coming weeks. The only other bulbs that have yet to make an appearance are the tulips but we usually don't see them until late September early October. So I say bring on Spring and enjoy the sunshine. Enjoy...

The daffodil laughs at the mighty rose that is afraid to come out of hibernation. If you look close, you can also see the lone jonquil in the back.

A closer look at these little rays of sun shine

Just another view

A close up of the brave little jonquil.