Friday, April 25, 2014

Abide With Me

I went to the local dawn service for ANZAC day today. It's such a simple way to show respect for those who fought, and those who continue to serve, for all Australian and New Zealand citizens.

It's days like today that put life back into perspective.



Wednesday, April 16, 2014

*insert line from a John Mayer song here*



I had another meeting that was draining and makes you ask yourself 'why is this happening to me?' yesterday but last night I didn't worry about a thing. I just enjoyed myself. I went to see John Mayer and loved every single minute of it. I had that feeling where you think to yourself 'if only I felt this amazing all the time'. Well let me tell you, seeing John Mayer can most definitely give you that feeling, not a biased opinion at all. Who would have thought after 10 years he would still be my favourite artist and every time I have seen him, he has played my favourite song, thanks John. Last night's show was just for me (just like every other big John Mayer fan says). I should have proposed then and there. I'm still on a high! Life can be good if you let it be!

I won't do a long winded review but I will tell you he can do a pretty good cover of Beyoncé's XO!

We were only 8 rows back stage left but the photos make it look as if were miles away!



We finally got to see John Mayer together. Only took us 8 years :D



I took so many photos and even though the camera on my ph is pretty good I didn't take many good shots. How do others do it? Is there a course for taking photos with your phone?

We were the happiest 5 girls on planet earth last night! Thanks for the photo Megs
 
 

Beyoncé's XO at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre!
Apparently this is the first time he has performed this cover! Lucky us!
(not my video, I was too busy watching but it's getting spread across the internet)

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Graduation

It's been a very long week but thinking about it now makes me realise it was quite a significant one.

Yesterday marked 7 months since surgery! I have no idea where the last 7 months have gone. Having said that I did spend one of them sleeping most of the time, but I'm not sure what filled the other 6 months up. On top of that yesterday was the last day of school for the term (unfortunately it didn't end as one would hope it to end as two 4yr olds were so engrossed in their play that I ended up having to change wet clothing and another teacher had to disinfect the slippery dip). I'm really happy I made it through this term. Retrospectively I shouldn't have gone back to my full workload at the beginning of the term because those first few weeks of work really knocked me around. It was definitely hard and I definitely had moments where I thought I would not make it but I did.

I had a meeting with my boss and my main consultant from my rehabilitation program on Tuesday to discuss next term. Our main focus was trying to explain the type of fatigue that I still feel and how I use almost every break to regain some energy so I can make it through the next lesson. I find brain fatigue a really hard thing to explain, and as my specialist points out, unless you experience it you can't understand it. Anyway, I've been let off of yard duties again this term but I have a sense there are a few people who aren't happy with this. If I muster up the courage my speechy and I will talk a bit about this fatigue during a staff meeting so hopefully these few people won't be grumpy about it, not that I actually care about how they feel about it, because frankly it's not up to them.

After Tuesday's meeting I felt a bit more relaxed about next term but then the thought of Wednesday afternoon was a bit daunting. I yet again had a meeting with my neurologist booked in. I was a bit annoyed that I had to see him because I'd seen my neurosurgeon only a few weeks previously and was given the 'all clear' for the time being so felt like I was just going to see him to have the same thing told to me again. Having to pay $1** to see my neurologist added to the frustration however when I left I no longer cared that I had paid over half a day's pay to see him for 20 minutes. The reason for this was because he told me that he didn't believe it was necessary to continue to make appointments with him as I've been seizure free for just over 4 years and my surgery went well. It was a shock to hear this. I still have to see my neurosurgeon for ? years as he will monitor any change in my tumours but the thought of not having to see my neurologist was hard to comprehend. I've seen this Dr. over the last 6 years plenty of times. He was the one who shocked me 6 years ago telling me I had tumors and epilepsy, then he helped get my seizures under control, he was then the one who suggested that I have a consultation with my neurosurgeon. All of these experiences stirred different feelings from anxiety to rage, not at him, yet I always felt comfortable with what he was saying and trusted him and his suggestions. The thought of not having to see him makes me feels like I have reached another milestone on this long journey. It's also quite a weird thing to accept because there's now room for more uncertainty in where things are headed. I'm going to take the standpoint that things are continually getting better. He made it clear that I am more than welcome to make appointments to see him if I want to and that in itself made me feel calmer about saying goodbye as the appointment ended.


Thursday, April 3, 2014

161c per litre

On any other day my response to the person standing behind the cash register who asks me 'How was your day?' would be the scripted 'fine thanks'. However this guy wanted to know more... 'Busy?' 'Yeah' 'What did you do?' *quickly think of an appropriate answer* 'Umm, I had a few appointments' 'Ok'.

How do you tell a stranger you were at your scheduled rehab meetings with a speech pathologist and an activites co-ordinator due to your acquired brain injury? Do you tell them?

I was a bit teary today kiddo but I'm fine!