Went to the clinic (that always makes me think of an STD) on Friday and my blood results were all normal. Fantastic but you know how I know this, I asked after being told I only need to go back in three months. (Apart from SCT process but this is at a different hospital.) I am constantly amazed at how much information I see on other blogs regarding numbers, particularly your American ones, although admit that 99% of the numbers mean nothing to me. I think it would be easier to extract a tooth from my consultant than any detailed information. I only know I have IGA myeloma because I saw it on a blood test envelope in October.
Okay I’m being a little grouchy. I don't like being told I can't do something. After posting a comment re exercise on Myeloma UK a lady said that her husband had been referred by his consultant via his GP to a HeartSmart programme which despite its name dealt with any serious illness that would benefit from exercise. My haematologist (I can’t spell this word, I ALWAYS get it wrong, so I’m using blood from now on whether it looks right or not) who we saw on Friday won’t do me a letter saying what exercises I can’t do so my GP can’t refer me to an exercise programme . He says I should leave it for a while. I kind of knew we may have a problem there because when we said the professor we saw re the SCT said some weights may be okay, he said why would I want to do that!
Whilst at the hospital I got up to go to the toilet and hubby informed me that my new dress looked from the back like ‘one of those hospital gowns that doesn’t close at the back, but your dress does, but it is nice’.
I now have purple hair – hubby likes it better than the red.
We have a new driveway/front forecourt – it’s gorgeous, the neighbours have been looking possibly, apart from it being irresistible, because it’s a million times better than the previous eyesore.
Hubby doesn’t listen – I’ve suspected for a while but he excelled himself on Friday night. The flush on the now clear toilet wasn’t working. I managed to fix it. (That sounds like it was technical but it was actually just catching on the back of the cistern.) I rushed downstairs where B was just coming in from the garage. ‘I fixed it, I fixed it, I fixed it’ x about 10 whilst dancing a little ‘I fixed it’ nah, nah, na nah nah kind of jig, embarrassing but relevant. Half an hour later B’s in the bathroom, flushes and says ‘I fixed it’, thinking he’s being funny I say ‘Did you, that was clever of you’. Turns out he’d pulled the arm up firmly and it was flowing in but now won’t switch off. A little discussion ensued. I informed one of our extremely handy neighbours of this yesterday and am now under a gagging order. I finally managed to sort it properly today. So B either doesn’t listen or I get so excited about everything and jig about so much that B doesn’t notice anymore!!
B also likes his cherry tomatoes sliced in at least two. I think this is because when they are whole he wastes time chasing them round the plate so can’t get food in this mouth as fast.
I think I may be watching too much South Park because I've started to understand what Kenny is saying.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
To Do List 4 – Times on List in Brackets
New
* Make 3 baby presents, 1 for friend’s grandson, Kaiden (new to me), 1 each for etsy mom’s. I like trying out new ideas with someone in mind, so decided to join the etsy baby shower. I thought I had until the end of February until the first arrival but Declan from House of Mouse has arrived early!
I’m one of those people who wait for the idea to materialise, they always just do, rather than force it out but Declan has arrived before my idea has completely appeared.
Still Hanging About – but started
* Make nosebands for donkeys (4)
* Sister in law’s birthday present (2)
* Aran cardigan for me in rose tinted colour (2)
* Post patterns and knitting to Ravelry (2) – if one pattern and one item knitting count as started
* Pattern for colourful baby blanket in squares (2) – again if four rows count
Still Hanging About – not started
* Make another pet toy for etsy – have two ideas for this (2)
Done
* Make fabric hearts – well heart, no s
And from last week's here's the sweater I designed and knit with the sleeve hand bits inspired by Roobeedoo.
.jpg)
* Make 3 baby presents, 1 for friend’s grandson, Kaiden (new to me), 1 each for etsy mom’s. I like trying out new ideas with someone in mind, so decided to join the etsy baby shower. I thought I had until the end of February until the first arrival but Declan from House of Mouse has arrived early!
I’m one of those people who wait for the idea to materialise, they always just do, rather than force it out but Declan has arrived before my idea has completely appeared.
Still Hanging About – but started
* Make nosebands for donkeys (4)
* Sister in law’s birthday present (2)
* Aran cardigan for me in rose tinted colour (2)
* Post patterns and knitting to Ravelry (2) – if one pattern and one item knitting count as started
* Pattern for colourful baby blanket in squares (2) – again if four rows count
Still Hanging About – not started
* Make another pet toy for etsy – have two ideas for this (2)
Done
* Make fabric hearts – well heart, no s
And from last week's here's the sweater I designed and knit with the sleeve hand bits inspired by Roobeedoo.
.jpg)
Friday, 12 February 2010
Driving Test – I Failed but... I now have a toilet I can flush
You’re allowed 15 minor faults for a pass but no serious or dangerous faults funnily enough.
I got THREE serious faults. Oops! And a few minors.
The edited highlights are as follows
Went to car to do show me, tell me questions
Examiner, we’ll call him Mike, because that’s his name: ‘Show me how you would check the indicators were working without starting the ignition.’
I click the button the keys to open the car I then put the key in the car door and lock the car. I then get a little confused. Realise what I have done and push the key fob button again. Put the keys in the ignition and turn far enough to get indicators, put on left indicator then decide that if I put the hazards on all four will be on at the same time. Do this and walk round the car.
Mike: ‘Happy they work’
Me: ‘Yes’
We get in the car and the next question.
Mike: ‘Tell me how you could check the tyres to ensure sufficient depth’
Me: ‘No cuts or bulges in tyre or side walls, 1.6mm of tread over centre ¾ of width and all round the tyre’
Mike: ‘You learned that well’
Then it went downhill faster than a freewheeling bike down K2 (don’t know how it got up there in the first place like).
Steering (3 minors) – swerve before we even got off the test centre car park, then first left turn just outside test centre I clipped the kerb with the back tyre, later on we went round a mini roundabout and I seemed to be pushing the steering wheel round and round and round
Observation (1 of each) – failed to look left before starting forward on last bit of turn in the road (this was the only one I didn’t realise I’d done but I did know it wasn’t as neat as normal but he said it the actual turning was fine), apparently he was looking at me intently and on parallel parking I didn’t look round enough. I remember thinking where did that car come from as it whizzed by!
Control (1 serious) – parallel parking after aborting the first attempt the second attempt was worse and I was on the kerb, I didn’t even notice this as it was lowered for a drive at that point but did think we were awfully close to the two wheelie bins on the pavement. And this always goes really, really well on my lessons. Before we moved off he went into a detailed description of where to go next and then when he started to do it again even though I said I understood, I had to say ‘I live just behind these houses’, ‘Oh, so you know the area?’ Yes, I just can’t park in it. I thought you may have a little rubbish you wanted to dispose of.
Mirror, single, manoeuvre (1 minor) – signalled on a side road before I checked my mirrors
And then my piste de résistance...
Road markings (1 serious)
Mike: ‘I’d like you to turn right at the top of the road and head for the town centre’
The road we were on splits into three at the top with a join from the right just before the junction and has a box junction if that makes any sense at all.
I check my mirrors and indicate and then don’t move into the correct lane, realise because I notice it says Hard Lane in the middle lane and Town Centre in the right hand line in letters two feet high. I move over but we are half and half. Mike feels so concerned that he tells me I need to be careful. Later on the debrief he said there was a car behind us trying to go straight ahead, well couldn’t it wait.
Then as we turned there is a pelican crossing literally just after the junction, you’re still at an angle, and the lights were on amber so I had to stop for this.
Ten minutes before this I was thinking let’s just get back and get me out of the car.
So we travel back without any further faults but he felt the need to say as we drove into the test centre car park and the parking space straight ahead so no manoeuvring required ‘Just drive in slowly’, well Der!
Me: ‘So, when can I take it again?’
Mike: ‘So you know then.’
Me: Thinking ‘Well if you drive like that and think you’ve passed you should never be allowed on the road again or even in a dodgem’
Apparently he did wonder if I would stop at the crossing after the disastrous turn and was and I quote ‘impressed’ that I had.
Me: ‘Why, because I couldn’t see two foot high letters on the road’
Mike: ‘No, because there was a lot going on and the sun was really bright’
Dave, my instructor, looked more disappointed than me. I’d ruined his current passing streak of seven but he told me not to worry about that. He couldn’t believe the steering faults I’d made and the parallel parking mess.
In other news since 15:08 this afternoon we have a flushing unblocked toilet. It still needs another visit and we need to sort the modern equivalent of a ball cock out (maybe they made it more mechanical looking because the name was politically incorrect) but we can use it. Yea! Bernard said to the nice young drain cleaning specialist we had to call that it was my back log that had caused the back log!
I got THREE serious faults. Oops! And a few minors.
The edited highlights are as follows
Went to car to do show me, tell me questions
Examiner, we’ll call him Mike, because that’s his name: ‘Show me how you would check the indicators were working without starting the ignition.’
I click the button the keys to open the car I then put the key in the car door and lock the car. I then get a little confused. Realise what I have done and push the key fob button again. Put the keys in the ignition and turn far enough to get indicators, put on left indicator then decide that if I put the hazards on all four will be on at the same time. Do this and walk round the car.
Mike: ‘Happy they work’
Me: ‘Yes’
We get in the car and the next question.
Mike: ‘Tell me how you could check the tyres to ensure sufficient depth’
Me: ‘No cuts or bulges in tyre or side walls, 1.6mm of tread over centre ¾ of width and all round the tyre’
Mike: ‘You learned that well’
Then it went downhill faster than a freewheeling bike down K2 (don’t know how it got up there in the first place like).
Steering (3 minors) – swerve before we even got off the test centre car park, then first left turn just outside test centre I clipped the kerb with the back tyre, later on we went round a mini roundabout and I seemed to be pushing the steering wheel round and round and round
Observation (1 of each) – failed to look left before starting forward on last bit of turn in the road (this was the only one I didn’t realise I’d done but I did know it wasn’t as neat as normal but he said it the actual turning was fine), apparently he was looking at me intently and on parallel parking I didn’t look round enough. I remember thinking where did that car come from as it whizzed by!
Control (1 serious) – parallel parking after aborting the first attempt the second attempt was worse and I was on the kerb, I didn’t even notice this as it was lowered for a drive at that point but did think we were awfully close to the two wheelie bins on the pavement. And this always goes really, really well on my lessons. Before we moved off he went into a detailed description of where to go next and then when he started to do it again even though I said I understood, I had to say ‘I live just behind these houses’, ‘Oh, so you know the area?’ Yes, I just can’t park in it. I thought you may have a little rubbish you wanted to dispose of.
Mirror, single, manoeuvre (1 minor) – signalled on a side road before I checked my mirrors
And then my piste de résistance...
Road markings (1 serious)
Mike: ‘I’d like you to turn right at the top of the road and head for the town centre’
The road we were on splits into three at the top with a join from the right just before the junction and has a box junction if that makes any sense at all.
I check my mirrors and indicate and then don’t move into the correct lane, realise because I notice it says Hard Lane in the middle lane and Town Centre in the right hand line in letters two feet high. I move over but we are half and half. Mike feels so concerned that he tells me I need to be careful. Later on the debrief he said there was a car behind us trying to go straight ahead, well couldn’t it wait.
Then as we turned there is a pelican crossing literally just after the junction, you’re still at an angle, and the lights were on amber so I had to stop for this.
Ten minutes before this I was thinking let’s just get back and get me out of the car.
So we travel back without any further faults but he felt the need to say as we drove into the test centre car park and the parking space straight ahead so no manoeuvring required ‘Just drive in slowly’, well Der!
Me: ‘So, when can I take it again?’
Mike: ‘So you know then.’
Me: Thinking ‘Well if you drive like that and think you’ve passed you should never be allowed on the road again or even in a dodgem’
Apparently he did wonder if I would stop at the crossing after the disastrous turn and was and I quote ‘impressed’ that I had.
Me: ‘Why, because I couldn’t see two foot high letters on the road’
Mike: ‘No, because there was a lot going on and the sun was really bright’
Dave, my instructor, looked more disappointed than me. I’d ruined his current passing streak of seven but he told me not to worry about that. He couldn’t believe the steering faults I’d made and the parallel parking mess.
In other news since 15:08 this afternoon we have a flushing unblocked toilet. It still needs another visit and we need to sort the modern equivalent of a ball cock out (maybe they made it more mechanical looking because the name was politically incorrect) but we can use it. Yea! Bernard said to the nice young drain cleaning specialist we had to call that it was my back log that had caused the back log!
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Driving Test
I have my driving test at 9:17, my driving instructor is picking me up at 8:20ish, it’s currently 7:48. With the week we’ve had I haven’t had time to worry too much about it. I had to get my mother in law about of the bath where she had been stuck for three hours, subsequent water sample excitement, haematology support group meeting, sleepover at mother in law’s and continuing adventures with blocked toilet.
I now need to finish breakfast, get dressed (haven’t done yet in case I spilled breakfast), transfer money to pay for new driveway and go to neighbour’s to use toilet. But this has reconfirmed my conviction that the MM isn’t going to get me because I am going to have a heart attack this morning!
I now need to finish breakfast, get dressed (haven’t done yet in case I spilled breakfast), transfer money to pay for new driveway and go to neighbour’s to use toilet. But this has reconfirmed my conviction that the MM isn’t going to get me because I am going to have a heart attack this morning!
Knitting Thank You
The neighbours who took me and Tommy, the needle and thread eating puppy, to the vets have a 5ish month great grand-daughter. So as a thank you I knit the following whether they want it or not - it's the way knitters show their appreciation. A knitter may have to wait a while until a suitably sized opportunity arises (having a small child ensures a quick response). So if you ever get a traditionally knit fairisle or a bedsized blanket you know you did something truly fantastic about ten years ago!
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This potentially both sucks and blows
I know from what I read that myeloma is not genetic but that there may be a genetic susceptibility for the switch to be tripped by exposure to some toxins (possibly petrochemicals) ie, I get exposed and get myeloma but someone else doesn’t.
My Auntie En rang tonight to say that she’d had an x-ray that had shown up a collapsed vertebra and kind of a mass. It was like déjà vu. Plus some crumbly bones. They have said that her GP should start treatment for osteoporosis but wanted blood tests. Auntie En heard them discussing her age, she’s 83. The blood test envelope requested a myeloma scan. I don’t know whether this is routine for these symptoms at this age or not. No-one actually verbally mentioned myeloma to her but she’s as we would say ‘all there with her cough drops’ and read the envelope and obviously knew what myeloma was. The results will be in next week.
I can’t put into words how I feel.
My Auntie En rang tonight to say that she’d had an x-ray that had shown up a collapsed vertebra and kind of a mass. It was like déjà vu. Plus some crumbly bones. They have said that her GP should start treatment for osteoporosis but wanted blood tests. Auntie En heard them discussing her age, she’s 83. The blood test envelope requested a myeloma scan. I don’t know whether this is routine for these symptoms at this age or not. No-one actually verbally mentioned myeloma to her but she’s as we would say ‘all there with her cough drops’ and read the envelope and obviously knew what myeloma was. The results will be in next week.
I can’t put into words how I feel.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
The Toilet Exploded
Well okay that’s not strictly true but it definitely leaked and since I was the one to flush at the time it’s my fault. It was Sunday evening, tea was in the oven and I decided to go to the toilet. I flushed and water and some other stuff came squeezing out of the pipe at the back. I reached for the toilet roll and decided that the only place for that was in the bath out of the way.
I shouted that the toilet was leaking, B shouted back ‘What Mum’, or so I thought. I rushed downstairs, because I now can, and said ‘Did you just call me Mum?????????’, ‘No, I said how come’, not ‘Stand back fluffy female, I’ll deal with this!’ Okay he knows way better than to call me that. So I got some old towels from the garage and whizzed back upstairs and threw then on the wet river fortunately it wasn’t too bad then I rushed back downstairs for more towels, bleach and a bin bag and what was my darling husband doing – ringing an emergency plumber, suiting up to go in and unblock it himself – no, putting up his barm cakes for work.
So after establishing that it was indeed leaking and another flush wouldn’t clear it while being looked at in an accusatory way B having finished making his ‘lunch’ had come to watch the show. Realising this may delay his tea he pitched in. Then he suggested I may want to finish tea. So after changing the towels, bleaching the floor and the toilet, a lot of washing, a change of clothes and liberal use of hand sanitizer I went to put the pasta on while B had his shower.
Then things hit crisis point. B is very much a creature of routine. He also goes to the toilet more than anyone I know. So normally there is a toilet visit before his shower and then another one after his tea, before work! I know you really wanted to know this. So routine had already gone out of the window. What to do? Ring the neighbours and ask to use the loo that’s what. I jokingly said take a toilet roll. I watched him walk up the road swinging said toilet roll.
When he got back he only wanted half a bowl of pasta because he didn’t want to have to go to the toilet again before he went to work. Now I know what you are thinking it is physically impossible and defies the laws of physics that any food consumed under normal circumstances (we all know medication can cause all sorts of stops and starts) could get through the system in less than half an hour, I know, I know it’s crazy but somehow this is how B’s system works. It may be like a relay team thing but without scientific investigation we’ll never know. It’s like Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
The neighbours’ grandson had a look at it last night but apparently the blockage is too far to reach, we have an internal soil pipe so there is no access to the hatch for rodding. He replaced the gasket where it leaked and I am currently having a whale of a time putting Just One Shot drain cleaner down. We’re currently on our third shot. So I feel a strong letter coming on.
I shouted that the toilet was leaking, B shouted back ‘What Mum’, or so I thought. I rushed downstairs, because I now can, and said ‘Did you just call me Mum?????????’, ‘No, I said how come’, not ‘Stand back fluffy female, I’ll deal with this!’ Okay he knows way better than to call me that. So I got some old towels from the garage and whizzed back upstairs and threw then on the wet river fortunately it wasn’t too bad then I rushed back downstairs for more towels, bleach and a bin bag and what was my darling husband doing – ringing an emergency plumber, suiting up to go in and unblock it himself – no, putting up his barm cakes for work.
So after establishing that it was indeed leaking and another flush wouldn’t clear it while being looked at in an accusatory way B having finished making his ‘lunch’ had come to watch the show. Realising this may delay his tea he pitched in. Then he suggested I may want to finish tea. So after changing the towels, bleaching the floor and the toilet, a lot of washing, a change of clothes and liberal use of hand sanitizer I went to put the pasta on while B had his shower.
Then things hit crisis point. B is very much a creature of routine. He also goes to the toilet more than anyone I know. So normally there is a toilet visit before his shower and then another one after his tea, before work! I know you really wanted to know this. So routine had already gone out of the window. What to do? Ring the neighbours and ask to use the loo that’s what. I jokingly said take a toilet roll. I watched him walk up the road swinging said toilet roll.
When he got back he only wanted half a bowl of pasta because he didn’t want to have to go to the toilet again before he went to work. Now I know what you are thinking it is physically impossible and defies the laws of physics that any food consumed under normal circumstances (we all know medication can cause all sorts of stops and starts) could get through the system in less than half an hour, I know, I know it’s crazy but somehow this is how B’s system works. It may be like a relay team thing but without scientific investigation we’ll never know. It’s like Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
The neighbours’ grandson had a look at it last night but apparently the blockage is too far to reach, we have an internal soil pipe so there is no access to the hatch for rodding. He replaced the gasket where it leaked and I am currently having a whale of a time putting Just One Shot drain cleaner down. We’re currently on our third shot. So I feel a strong letter coming on.
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