Hi All! Thought I'd catch up with you all. I've been travelling for the past month, first New Zealand, then Darwin & then Singapore. I coped well with my flights - none of which have been longer than 3 1/2 hours - by taking my pain meds and getting up and walking as much as possible. One flight I was even able to lie down across 3 seats and get some sleep!
It was good to see my Mum in NZ. She has become even more frail than I thought possible since I saw her a year ago. Just sleeps all the time. I spoke to the nurse about that and the new Dr reviewed her case and said even he'd be sleepy if on so many meds, so he's taken her off some and she sounds much better. One good thing is that having the money from my settlement allowed me to pay for her funeral in advance, so I took care of that while there. I know not a wonderful topic but it has been a real worry for such a long time, as she's been the "squeaky wheel" for many years and becoming even more frail over time.
I love Darwin! It is so warm! Even the swimming pool water is warm, despite being unheated. I stayed at the YWCA and had my own little room and just spent a lot of time relaxing. Pushed myself to see some of the sights and so flew to the "Tiwi Islands" in a small plane and met some lovely people whose family have lived there for over 10,000 years. They shared some of their culture with us. Brilliant! Then I went to a place called "Katherine Gorge". Aboriginal People have lived there for many thousands of years and have left drawings on the rocks. They are fairly difficult to get to, but I was determined I wasn't just going to sit in a boat and wait for the others to come back. I walk with a crutch and the tour guide and another tour member helped me find the easier path and even held me so I could negotiate the trickier bits. When I got back to the boat I had all these people smiling at me and one woman said "You have a brave heart". I was really touched!
Those two activities did exhaust me, even though I did a lot of relaxing and was doing my exercises in the pool. So, by the time I got to Singapore all I wanted to do was to relax. So I haven't done a lot here but mostly hung out with my daughter and her partner and their friends. It's been great to go with them to dinner (food is so cheap here - like $3-$4 for a great meal!) and to their favourite Irish Pub to socialise! This past week I've been in a lot of pain and wishing I'd brought my stronger meds with me - I left them behind because I was oncerned that there could be problems at customs. I've learnt I can't stop taking the magnesium, even for a day, nor the glucosamine & chondroitin and the fish oil capsules I've been on.
I have been having my teeth fixed up, because they've been so neglected since my mva and dentistry is also very inexpensive here - about 1/3 the cost back home! - and the dentist is very nice and trained in Australia. My daughter says I'm looking years younger. When I went to him this week there was a display in the foyer for "Masai Barefoot Technology" shoes. They're pretty weird looking (and very expensive) but I tried them on. Well, I was amazed! The pain I've had in my back and down my legs instantly dissappeared. I didn't need my crutch to walk with and I walked straighter than I have in years. So, I bought a pair of the sandals! I'll let you know how it goes but so far so good & so much better than the orthotics I've had since my mva! When I'm walking in them, no pain! I found their website : www.swissmasai.com
Oh, & when I was in Darwin I got a call from my realtor. I've been looking to buy a very cheap house that needed a little work so that I could put my settlement money to work and make some money, and one came up. My friend is an ex building inspector, so he looked at it for me and said it's the best bargain he's ever seen! I haven't enough to purchase anything on my own, so my kids are coming on board with me, the older two financially and the younger one has offered to work on fixing the house. So, I've been in negotiations over that - thank goodness for the internet! Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that we get the finance for this - I'll be able to live ok if I can generate some income from this deal. Otherwise the money will run out & I'm still not up to getting back to a "normal" job! Kinda scary but I do believe that where there's a will, there's a way! I'm determined not to let this mva destroy me completely!
Apologies for the length of this! I think of you all ots! Love & Light!
