Last December MOH had a really bad virus and with a cough that hung on for many weeks. He was even too sick to enjoy his own birthday but fortunately got well enough to enjoy Christmas. More recently he had a similar infection complete with cough so off we went to the doctor. He was given antibiotics specific for this type of infection and over a matter of several weeks he gradually got better.
We had reason to see the doctor again (for scripts etc) and I mentioned that MOH had never had a lung function test and as he'd been told he had mild emphysemia back in 2006 and was using asthma type puffers I was surprised that this hadn't been done. The doctor decided a chest x-ray would also be a good idea so off MOH went for that and the lung function test.
The x-ray came back showing what appeared as a nodule on his right lung. Straight off to have a CT scan of his chest and a 2 day wait that seemed like 2 months. To cut a long story short off we went back to our doctor yesterday afternoon for the dreaded results. GOOD NEWS. It would seem there was a type of scarring on his lung most possibly as a result of a lower respiratory tract infection. He of course still has emphysema and some bronchial damage but the relief we felt that the 'nodule' was not something nasty was overwhelming.
The lung function test showed somewhat decreased lung capacity but the doctor said that was nothing to worry about as MOH had been a smoker (he gave up over 40 years ago) and this would partly be attributable to that and also his age.
To celebrate we had take away Chinese for dinner (and it was delicious) and both breathed a big sigh of relief. This type of happening though is more or less a wake up call that we are indeed getting somewhat older and should perhaps make more definite plans for our future.
One good thing though is that MOH will be able to enjoy his 82nd birthday in a couple of weeks time.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
PLEASANT THOUGHTS OF A SPECIAL COUPLE
Yesterday my lovely daughter and her hubby celebtrated their 34th wedding anniversary and it got me to thinking about how and when they met.
Way back in the 1970s MOH and I used to play badminton in a hall near our home. They were a great bunch of folk and among them were two young men that I liked very much. My daughter at that time was on her own with her little girl and I thought it may be nice for her to join in and play badminton with us and also meet these two young men as well.
She came along to the hall and with her little girl being so well behaved she was able to bring her along too which was great. She (our daughter and not the 2 year old) seemed to enjoy herself and played badminton quite well and got on so well with the people that we invited them as well as family and other friends, along to the 21st birthday party we arranged for her. We felt sad that she was on her own so hired a hall, had the party catered for and had a DJ to put on some music so there could be dancing as well. We had a lovely cake made and I also made my daughter a very pretty dress to wear. You did that type of thing for 21st birthdays way back then.
Eventually one of the young men asked our lass to go on a date and their friendship grew from there until finally there was a marriage, 3 children to add to the little girl my daughter already had so a nice family of 6, and today they are real soul mates and it always makes my heart so glad that I was instrumental in them meeting. They have had their ups and down but have always come up smiling and I can only hope they have many, many more happy years ahead to spend together. I love them both very much and they are wonderful to MOH and me in our declining years for which I thank them so much.
Way back in the 1970s MOH and I used to play badminton in a hall near our home. They were a great bunch of folk and among them were two young men that I liked very much. My daughter at that time was on her own with her little girl and I thought it may be nice for her to join in and play badminton with us and also meet these two young men as well.
She came along to the hall and with her little girl being so well behaved she was able to bring her along too which was great. She (our daughter and not the 2 year old) seemed to enjoy herself and played badminton quite well and got on so well with the people that we invited them as well as family and other friends, along to the 21st birthday party we arranged for her. We felt sad that she was on her own so hired a hall, had the party catered for and had a DJ to put on some music so there could be dancing as well. We had a lovely cake made and I also made my daughter a very pretty dress to wear. You did that type of thing for 21st birthdays way back then.
Eventually one of the young men asked our lass to go on a date and their friendship grew from there until finally there was a marriage, 3 children to add to the little girl my daughter already had so a nice family of 6, and today they are real soul mates and it always makes my heart so glad that I was instrumental in them meeting. They have had their ups and down but have always come up smiling and I can only hope they have many, many more happy years ahead to spend together. I love them both very much and they are wonderful to MOH and me in our declining years for which I thank them so much.
Friday, November 4, 2011
MOTHER LOVE
I often think of my mum (the one that adopted me when I was very tiny) and also the one that gave birth to me and was forced to give me up. To have been so fortunate in being adopted by a wonderful couple was I think perhaps more than I deserved. I hope I never really let them down and I will always be grateful for their love and care. Thinking about this today reminded me of a verse in Mother's Day card I received some time back and I would like to share it with you.
Mums always show their caring in so many different ways
By giving warm encouragement, support and words of praise.
They give their understanding and they take the time to share
Warm moments of companionship that show how much they care.
Mums always give a special gift that really stands above
Any other gift in life - the priceless gift of love.
My real mother of course was never given the opportunity to do any of the above and I feel so sad that she was denied this. My 'other mother', although she had not given birth, had the pleasure of being able to do all the above for her chosen daughter and she did it without reserve of any kind.
My only hope is that I too have been a reasonably good mum to my children (and grandmother to my grandchildren as well) and have managed to instill in them the values I hold dear and that were taught to me. To my way of thinking one of the most important of all these beliefs is to endeavour always to treat others as you'd like them to treat you. If you can do that throughout your life you will cause little deliberate hurt and hopefully not be hurt by others.
As usual, I hope everyone out there in blog land is keeping well and happy.
Mums always show their caring in so many different ways
By giving warm encouragement, support and words of praise.
They give their understanding and they take the time to share
Warm moments of companionship that show how much they care.
Mums always give a special gift that really stands above
Any other gift in life - the priceless gift of love.
My real mother of course was never given the opportunity to do any of the above and I feel so sad that she was denied this. My 'other mother', although she had not given birth, had the pleasure of being able to do all the above for her chosen daughter and she did it without reserve of any kind.
My only hope is that I too have been a reasonably good mum to my children (and grandmother to my grandchildren as well) and have managed to instill in them the values I hold dear and that were taught to me. To my way of thinking one of the most important of all these beliefs is to endeavour always to treat others as you'd like them to treat you. If you can do that throughout your life you will cause little deliberate hurt and hopefully not be hurt by others.
As usual, I hope everyone out there in blog land is keeping well and happy.
Monday, October 31, 2011
AN AMUSING STORY ABOUT A FRIEND OF MINE
I have a Facebook friend in New Zealand that I met back in 2010. We both love playing Scrabble and have about 60 games going between us on Facebook and I must admit we are pretty well equal in our successes.
She is 23 years younger than me (actually almost the same age as my own daughter). This lass though is the eldest of 11 children which probably makes her a little different to my daughter who only had a younger brother to deal with. Her mother is proving to be a bit of a problem to the family by being very stubborn about her care whereas I, of course, am never a problem to my daughter (I'd not mention that to her though as she perhaps wouldn't entirely agree with that comment *_*).
As we can't converse in the normal way we sort of chat as we play Scrabble or sometimes playing Farm Town (another addictive game on Facebook). I will leave a message or a comment for my friend and next time she plays she will reply or leave another message for me. This may annoy some people but she and I really enjoy it very much.
The other day I played the word TRUANT at the same time leaving this message for her (I bet you've never played truant have you?) Next day came her reply "Yes I have a little bit and once I wanted to go to another High School so along I went with my birth certificate and told them that my mother was too busy working to come along with me and so I enrolled myself."
I thought this quite hilarious and next time I played Scrabble I asked how long it was before her mum knew she had changed high schools. The answer came the next day "When the other school rang mum and asked her why I'd not been to school for a month." A Month!!!! Wow what was that school thinking leaving it so long before contacting her mother?
When I asked my friend her reason for changing schools she said that all her friends were going to the school she had chosen and she didn't know anyone at the first school. This I felt an excellent reason for her doing this and it certainly didn't do any harm as she (when living in Western Australia years back) took up nursing and her use of words is excellent that a good education was obviously hers.
Just needed to share this little story with anyone who cares to read it as I felt it very amusing and hope you do as well.
She is 23 years younger than me (actually almost the same age as my own daughter). This lass though is the eldest of 11 children which probably makes her a little different to my daughter who only had a younger brother to deal with. Her mother is proving to be a bit of a problem to the family by being very stubborn about her care whereas I, of course, am never a problem to my daughter (I'd not mention that to her though as she perhaps wouldn't entirely agree with that comment *_*).
As we can't converse in the normal way we sort of chat as we play Scrabble or sometimes playing Farm Town (another addictive game on Facebook). I will leave a message or a comment for my friend and next time she plays she will reply or leave another message for me. This may annoy some people but she and I really enjoy it very much.
The other day I played the word TRUANT at the same time leaving this message for her (I bet you've never played truant have you?) Next day came her reply "Yes I have a little bit and once I wanted to go to another High School so along I went with my birth certificate and told them that my mother was too busy working to come along with me and so I enrolled myself."
I thought this quite hilarious and next time I played Scrabble I asked how long it was before her mum knew she had changed high schools. The answer came the next day "When the other school rang mum and asked her why I'd not been to school for a month." A Month!!!! Wow what was that school thinking leaving it so long before contacting her mother?
When I asked my friend her reason for changing schools she said that all her friends were going to the school she had chosen and she didn't know anyone at the first school. This I felt an excellent reason for her doing this and it certainly didn't do any harm as she (when living in Western Australia years back) took up nursing and her use of words is excellent that a good education was obviously hers.
Just needed to share this little story with anyone who cares to read it as I felt it very amusing and hope you do as well.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
AND THEN THE REAL TRUTH STRUCK ME
As you know MOH and I are getting on years and we are not complaining about that one little bit as the alternative is not even worth thinking about but.....
Over the past couple of years we keep saying to each other "I don't know why I am feeling so weary today" and words to that effect.
The other day MOH said exactly that to me and the truth suddenly hit me. MOH is approaching his 82nd birthday and me my 80th birthday come January. While we are sitting in our comfy chairs reading, crocheting (me not MOH) or watching TV or doing absolutely nothing at all I still more or less feel as I did when I was 35 or perhaps 45 and I could spring up and do anything I felt like doing. Now there's the rub. I can't do much of whatever it is I feel like doing at all and even though MOH is much better physically than I now am he too is finding he tires very quickly.
What was that inevitable truth that had to be recognised one day? I turned to MOH and said "You often wonder why you tire much more easily these days and I get frustrated because of so many tasks I now cannot do that I once took for granted. It's not just because we are getting older it is because we are OLD.
This does not mean we are giving up but only that we have to face the fact that much water has passed under various bridges since we were born. We are not giving up or giving in but at last will be able to stop trying to find answers to the question "Why is this happening" 'cos now we both know why. We can now stop worrying ourselves sick about what is wrong with us but just get on and enjoy all we can in the years remaining to us.
I still love to read, I crochet when my old hands will let me and I really love my computer and can type quite well for an oldie. We don't see as much of family as we once did nor are we now able to lend assistance as we could before which is regrettable. We used to love to have our grandchildren stay here and also take them on holidays with us. We are no longer able to look after little ones which is something we both regret but it would not really be safe for us to do so. We have so many happy memories of time spent with family and these memories will hopefully always remain with us. Photographs also help us pinpoint moments in time that were and still are so memorable.
Does all the above mean we are now enjoying a new lease of life? No, it does not but we will continue to be thankful we have been given the chance to spend so long on this earth in what is a very special and wonderful country (and of course in my view the best city in this great country too). MOH was born in the UK and lived there for 30 years. He has never had the inclination to return even for a holiday and now considers himself an Australian. He even has his Certificate of Naturalisation to prove it which he always tells everyone he signed with tomato sauce.
Now I have turned this corner in my life I am hoping I can return to blogging if I can find anything I think may be of any interest to anyone or perhaps just of interest to me. It is over 3 months since I dislocated my left shoulder and the arm is still not right so off I go tomorrow morning to have an injection in it (under ultrasound to make sure they hit the spot) which I am hoping will do the trick. My eyes are recovering well from the cataract operations (the specialist was extremely pleased with the results of the ops) and on Tuesday I am off to get new specs which will make a big difference as well. Still not too good outside when the glare is too bright but have been told the retinas will gradually adjust after 'being in the dark' for a while so that too will be good.
Oh boy! Am I being positive or am I? Hopefully this mood will stay with me and me and my family will see good times when we reach the new year of 2012 which is only only 2 months away. Oh heck that means Christmas too. I wonder will my fantastic daughter decide on Secret Santa pressies again this year? I think it worked out well last year and I can already think of a couple of items to put on my list.
I trust everyone out there in blogger land is keeping well.....just love and care for each other is all I can ask of you.
Over the past couple of years we keep saying to each other "I don't know why I am feeling so weary today" and words to that effect.
The other day MOH said exactly that to me and the truth suddenly hit me. MOH is approaching his 82nd birthday and me my 80th birthday come January. While we are sitting in our comfy chairs reading, crocheting (me not MOH) or watching TV or doing absolutely nothing at all I still more or less feel as I did when I was 35 or perhaps 45 and I could spring up and do anything I felt like doing. Now there's the rub. I can't do much of whatever it is I feel like doing at all and even though MOH is much better physically than I now am he too is finding he tires very quickly.
What was that inevitable truth that had to be recognised one day? I turned to MOH and said "You often wonder why you tire much more easily these days and I get frustrated because of so many tasks I now cannot do that I once took for granted. It's not just because we are getting older it is because we are OLD.
This does not mean we are giving up but only that we have to face the fact that much water has passed under various bridges since we were born. We are not giving up or giving in but at last will be able to stop trying to find answers to the question "Why is this happening" 'cos now we both know why. We can now stop worrying ourselves sick about what is wrong with us but just get on and enjoy all we can in the years remaining to us.
I still love to read, I crochet when my old hands will let me and I really love my computer and can type quite well for an oldie. We don't see as much of family as we once did nor are we now able to lend assistance as we could before which is regrettable. We used to love to have our grandchildren stay here and also take them on holidays with us. We are no longer able to look after little ones which is something we both regret but it would not really be safe for us to do so. We have so many happy memories of time spent with family and these memories will hopefully always remain with us. Photographs also help us pinpoint moments in time that were and still are so memorable.
Does all the above mean we are now enjoying a new lease of life? No, it does not but we will continue to be thankful we have been given the chance to spend so long on this earth in what is a very special and wonderful country (and of course in my view the best city in this great country too). MOH was born in the UK and lived there for 30 years. He has never had the inclination to return even for a holiday and now considers himself an Australian. He even has his Certificate of Naturalisation to prove it which he always tells everyone he signed with tomato sauce.
Now I have turned this corner in my life I am hoping I can return to blogging if I can find anything I think may be of any interest to anyone or perhaps just of interest to me. It is over 3 months since I dislocated my left shoulder and the arm is still not right so off I go tomorrow morning to have an injection in it (under ultrasound to make sure they hit the spot) which I am hoping will do the trick. My eyes are recovering well from the cataract operations (the specialist was extremely pleased with the results of the ops) and on Tuesday I am off to get new specs which will make a big difference as well. Still not too good outside when the glare is too bright but have been told the retinas will gradually adjust after 'being in the dark' for a while so that too will be good.
Oh boy! Am I being positive or am I? Hopefully this mood will stay with me and me and my family will see good times when we reach the new year of 2012 which is only only 2 months away. Oh heck that means Christmas too. I wonder will my fantastic daughter decide on Secret Santa pressies again this year? I think it worked out well last year and I can already think of a couple of items to put on my list.
I trust everyone out there in blogger land is keeping well.....just love and care for each other is all I can ask of you.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
THE GALAHS ARE BACK IN THEIR TREE
I really must have my camera with me next time we are near the post office. Stopped there today and on THE tree were a pair of galahs. I am presuming they have babies in the hole in that tree as they obviously did last year.
It is amusing to watch them eating the bark of the tree and there is now a huge area with no bark. Am hoping they won't eventually ring bark it as it is a very large eucalypt but I think it would take them a while to do that much damage.
Galahs are such delightful birds and comedians as well. I've often seen them on the light wires turning somersaults and really enjoying themselves having fun.
I will have that camera with me one day and then fathom out how to get the picture on here. All things on computers are getting a tad complicated for this old brain to fathom out at times but I'll at least give it a go.
It is amusing to watch them eating the bark of the tree and there is now a huge area with no bark. Am hoping they won't eventually ring bark it as it is a very large eucalypt but I think it would take them a while to do that much damage.
Galahs are such delightful birds and comedians as well. I've often seen them on the light wires turning somersaults and really enjoying themselves having fun.
I will have that camera with me one day and then fathom out how to get the picture on here. All things on computers are getting a tad complicated for this old brain to fathom out at times but I'll at least give it a go.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
MY DESTINY IN LIFE
It suddenly struck me recently that my destiny in this life is to nearly always be the one that has to replace the used toilet roll.
In our home I guarantee it is my job 90% of the time and when in hospital recently having a cataract op I went to the loo and would you believe....no toilet paper so who was it that had to pop the new roll on the holder? Yes, yours truly.
I suppose there are worse jobs in this world but I am quite sure that this was certainly destined to be one of mine.
In our home I guarantee it is my job 90% of the time and when in hospital recently having a cataract op I went to the loo and would you believe....no toilet paper so who was it that had to pop the new roll on the holder? Yes, yours truly.
I suppose there are worse jobs in this world but I am quite sure that this was certainly destined to be one of mine.
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