Saturday, May 31, 2008

Falling apart...

After being rushed into hospital once in the beginning of April, and then being sent back again after one night of release, it was a pain in the gall bladder to end up back in hospital again this month!

This episode started almost exactly like the last one, where I had a day of feeling incredibly rough (it was a Bank Holiday Monday this time!), then a night of being painfully sick, and then a morning and afternoon of feeling much better. Just to lull me into a false sense of security...

Once again, I was lying down on the bed talking to Ruth, thinking about going back to work the next day, when a huge pain exploded in my stomach. This time the pain was up near my diaphragm, and at least I knew that it wasn't my appendix as they'd taken that out last time!

Unbelievably, I was able to get an emergency appointment with my doctor, and it didn't take them too long to identify that it was a classic case of gallstones, and it was time for me to take a trip to the hospital again...

We didn't bother with an ambulance this time, and headed down to my favourite hospital to see what they could do. The pain was quite different to the appendix / diverticulum pain that I'd had last time - for one, this time it would come and go, and when there was no pain at all, I felt pretty healthy! Unfortunately, when the pain did hit, it was absolute agony - probably worse than the pain that put me in hospital last time. If you ever have to choose between gallstones or Meckel's Diverticulum, choose the Diverticulum every time!

I was admitted into the hospital, with a suspected infected gall bladder, brought on by gallstones. So, I found myself back in a hospital bed, trying to keep down hospital food, stuck with a IV drip full of antibiotics, and in a ward with no TVs. It was three-and-a-half days of absolute boredom, mixed with absolute pain, followed by more boredom, and a bit more pain thrown in for good measure. Even worse was that I was in a ward with no windows, so had no real idea of the time, or what the weather was like, or any means of escape! Plus, I was absolutely gutted (pardon the pun!) to be back in hospital again so soon after the last time, with an illness that had nothing to do with the previous illness at all. It was like my body had decided that 33 was old enough for anyone, and decided to give up on me one bit at a time.

The good news was that I was on a day ward, which closed at the weekend, so the doctors seemed quite desperate to get rid of me before the weekend, rather than try to find a new bed for me! It meant that I got sent home sooner than I probably should have done, but it was so nice to escape that I could put up with the pain and illness at home over the weekend, just for a chance to look out of the window!

So, I'm now down on the waiting list to have my gall bladder removed! Sadly, until that operation happens, I'm stuck on a low-fat diet to try to prevent any recurrences... I've got to say that having all these bits taken out of me one at a time is seeming like a very effective, if painful, way of losing weight!

Friday, May 30, 2008

Book worm

After flying through the Rainbox Magic books that she had for her birthday, Hannah is hardly ever seen without a book in her hand these days!

 

Given the choice, it seems like her perfect book would involve princesses, fairies, mermaids, pirates, ponies and unicorns!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

How many children can you fit in a tree trunk?

Hannah, Thomas, and some of their friends from church, decided to find out what the answer was, and squeezed into a hole in a tree trunk at Tredegar House grounds.

The answer, in the case of these particular children and this particular tree, was seven!

 

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Let's go fly a kite

It was a beautiful, but windy, Saturday today, so we headed up to the Wenallt to try and get our kite to fly.

Hannah holds the kite ready for lift-off, while Thomas checks wind speed...

 

Despite all of our best efforts, the kite spent more time on the floor (or on people!) than in the air!

 

Will thought that the whole thing was just hilarious, and spent his time watching us with great amusement, and trying to eat rabbit droppings!

 

We gave up at the Wenallt, and headed further up the hill to the top of Caerphilly mountain. Sadly for us, and the kite, the wind was way too strong up there, and it slammed the kite into the ground, broke the frame, and left Hannah, Thomas and Will in tears! I don't think they're cut out for extreme sports like kite flying!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Build 'em up...

...knock 'em down!

 

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Mary, Mary, quite contrary...

...how does your garden grow?

 
 

With helpers like these, we're bound to win 'Cardiff in Bloom' this year!

So cute!

It's a bit worrying that Will looks so cute - the chances are he'll get away with anything once he's old enough to wrap people around his finger!