Caityquilter.com » Quilts and Quilting

Two weeks…

Caitlin — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:42:32 +0000

First time I’ve felt able to post, and it will be a short one! Thanks so much for all your good wishes - it’s going to be a while yet before Bouncy Caity™ is back, but I’m making progress.

I have to hold on tightly to my tummy when I walk or it feels WEIRD - like it’s going to wobble right off! And “gas pains” - yeah, let me tell you about “gas pains”. That’s my second favourite piece of nurse-speak in this whole thing.

Cos when they tell you “You’ll experience some gas pain for a while” what they MEAN is: “A sharpened cast glass tornado will rip your insides out from your bum to your breastbone. Then if you’re VERY lucky you’ll make a teeny weeny fart. Repeat.”

Ouch.

My favourite piece of nurse-speak was written on my chart (yes I read it, wouldn’t you?!) and was an observation written by staff in the recovery unit before I was moved to the ward: “Patient no longer screaming quite as much.”

Lovely bit of understatement there, eh?

Everything is EXHAUSTING, just taking a shower puts me back in bed for the rest of the day! Short visits might be nice soon though.

And thank you notes are going out in the mail asap - really, this whole process would have been MUCH worse without your love and support! Of course, thanks most of all to the Teabot5000™, who I’m sure will keep you all updated. Mit pretty pictures, even!

Best way to get in touch is on my mobile - SMS is good. If you need my number, send an email.

I’m off to take the next round of painkillers (YES - GIVE ME PAINKILLERS!!) and collapse again for a while.

As you read this…

Caitlin — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:30:14 +0000

… I am probably gently snoring at the cute anaesthetist. And the doctors scalpel has probably already revealed just how thick the fat layer is on my belly…and the various nurses etc will have handed him retractors to get my muscles out of the way. Within 2 hours or so all the girly reproductive gear will be GONE GONE GONE and off in the pathology lab to be examined.

YAY!!

Mr Beloved will be posting updates as soon as he can. But be assured, I will be back home and blogging for myself REALLY REALLY SOON!

Love yers all,

Caity

This just in from the Syndey Morning Herald

Caitlin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:07:48 +0000

Major overhaul of immigration policy

Josephine Tovey
July 29, 2008 - 12:03PM

The Minister for Immigration, Senator Christopher Evans, has heralded a new era in Australian immigration law in a speech in Canberra this morning, bringing to an end the previous government’s practice of indefinite mandatory detention, which he slammed as “dehumanising” and detrimental to Australia’s international reputation.

Caity sez: Hear Hear!

The senator told an audience at the Australian National University the Rudd Government would “fundamentally overturn” the previous government’s immigration policy, and implement a risk-based policy of detention.

“Under Labor’s reforms, persons will be detained only if the need is established. (emphasis added by Caity because she is thrilled and relieved that this will be the new policy.) If a person is complying with immigration processes and is not a risk to the community then detention in a detention centre cannot be justified,” he said in the speech, titled “New Directions in Detention - Restoring Integrity to Australia’s Immigration System”.

The senator said all those now held in detention centres who met health and security requirements would eventually be released into the community, but could not say when that would occur. We must hold the government to this - DETENTION OF ALL CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE !! sez Caity.

Those arriving by boat on Australian shores will still be detained to undergo mandatory health, identity and security checks, but would be released into the community once they had been cleared. Ok, but how about a timeline, then? Say, “within 4 weeks”? I don’t think that’s unreasonable, do you?

“The set of values adopted are designed to drive the development of a very different detention model.

“The values commit us to detention as a last resort; to detention for the shortest practicable period; to the rejection of indefinite or otherwise arbitrary detention,” Senator Evans said.

Children will also no longer be detained in Australian detention centres. Our household cried with JOY when we read this.

Unauthorised boat arrivals made up only a small fraction of Australia’s detention centre population, comprising six out of 357 people now detained in facilities throughout Australia, he said.

Most people detained under the current policy were those who had overstayed their visa.

Senator Evans strongly criticised both the morality and the effectiveness of the former government’s approach.

“Desperate people are not deterred by the threat of harsh detention; they are often fleeing much worse circumstances. The Howard government’s punitive policies did much damage to those individuals detained and brought great shame on Australia,” he said. (Caity’s added emphasis again there, because Yes, they did. )

The senator began his speech with an anecdote about eight Burmese people who had been left languishing on Nauru, despite being recognised as refugees.

“When I asked why the eight Burmese had not been settled in Australia in accordance with international law there was an embarrassed silence.

“Eventually the answer emerged. The Howard government had ordered they stay put. They had been left rotting on Nauru because the Howard government wanted to maintain the myth that third-country settlement was possible,” he said.

This new story has cheered me up immensely. Here’s to HOPE!

edited to add: Of course the Oppostition has IMMEDIATELY jumped and rather than thinking through policy alternatives, or the good of the country, has just said (in effect): “SHAN’T, So There!!”

Grrrrr.

Another boring post…

Caitlin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:22:09 +0000

So here I am after yet another day spent mainly in bed… I did get out to the doctors but could hardly walk, so we didn’t do the lung function stuff today after all. We’ve re-scheduled- she thought it might be a good idea to do it before the anaesthesia. (ya think?!)

Doc prescribed Brufen for the pain and swelly belly - she was very sympathetic but limited in what she could offer, with the TAHBSO now just 4 weeks away.

Mr Beloved went out to (local department store) Bailey’s closing down sale and bought me two nighties for the hospital trip - in the worst weather I’ve seen since moving to Toowoomba - the news tonight confirmed that with the wind chill, our 4 degrees outside temp actually felt more like minus four.

Still quite apprehensive about the op - not so much the operation itself, but the aftermath: recovery from the wounds, healing time, and of course the fear of what the pathology might turn up. I find it hard to believe that these symptoms are benign; the sheer swelling and pain are making me so miserable and nervous…this can’t POSSIBLY be normal. And you know those ads on the tv lately about ovarian cancer? *shudder* At least soon we will KNOW, there’s comfort in that. But I’m still ~~a bit~~ ok a LOT freaked out.

(That’s my eye there - one of them, anyway - being FREAKED OUT. Note my “aztec sun” eye pattern which is apparently typical for “Autumn” colouring. There ya go!)

Poor little Constance has been doing her Faithful Guard Dog Schtick™ non-stop: she has to be convinced to eat when she’s on duty, and will only leave her post to go to the loo when I do, or when she becomes utterly desperate. The least sign that I might be getting out of bed brings her to full alert - even tuning over to get a better position around the hot water bottle or stretching my toes has to be treated as moving to Defcon 1. (And if I swing my legs over the side and slide my feet into my slippers - the Twirly Whirly Poodle HaPpY dAnCe of JOY™ must be performed. With vigor.)

Poor old cat cat was brought up from the shed after quite disconsolately sitting in front of the unplugged heaters, and looking at Mr Beloved as if to say “These ones don’t work. MAKE THEM WORK, Daddy!”

Time to download my podcasts (including this new one from Wendy Harmer and Angela Catterns - yaya!) and head back up to bed. The podcasts are such sanity savers - when I’m feeling slightly less blah I work on the Tuesdays and TV quilt and listen, but mostly I just turn off all the lights, huddle around the hot water bottle, and enjoy the audio without distraction.

Hoping to get to Toowoomba Quilters tomorrow if I’m not too sore and miserable… although it’s a bloody cold room… hmmmm. Maybe not.

In case you were wondering….

Caitlin — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:27:25 +0000

Yep, I’m still here. Except most of the time “here” involves curling up around a hot water bottle and moaning. Not conducive to actually sitting in front of the computer.

I did manage to get to Toowoomba Quilters this week - our raffle quilt is finished (and I know at least one person currently in Finland who will have been cheering to hear that!) and the show is ever so close - not sure if I will have anything hanging other than my Dancing Beijing challenge quiltlet.

So - no sewing, no weight loss, nothing exciting happening here - I’m not even reading very much, because I find it easier to sleep than deal with the pain. VERY BORING. Mr Beloved is doing pretty much all the “keeping the house running” stuff. He is wonderful.

He’s also well along the path to bringing teh interwebs right to my bedside for After The Op. No small task, and involves a HUMUNGOUS reel of some mysterious wire called Cat 5 and much climbing ladders followed by crawling about under the house.

Normally we Do Not Allow either TV or computers in the bedroom but I think this is a fair enough exception.

I’ve just about run out of sitting up for now. Hope to catch up on reading blogs and email later….

STILL Crook!

Caitlin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:02:38 +0000

Although at least now I have my voice back…

Been getting quotes from the various parties involved for my surgery - so far it’s about $1000 out of pocket expenses; that doesn’t include pathology (obviously they can’t give a quote before they know what’s getting sent to them - hmmm.)

I’m just so bloody tired of this! It’s really frustrating.

*sigh*

Anyway, onwards and downwards, eh? I’ve managed to walk some this week; the dog is much happier for it and I’m enjoying it - even on a day like today when the temperature was only 12 and the wind was QUITE brisk! Big parka and the mp3 player and we still had a good forty minutes.

I’d put on some weight last week (not much, but it’s the first time it’s gone UP - disheartening, really) so tomorrow the dietician will do another impedance measurement to work out what % is fat and what is muscle.

And now - I think I’ll go get a nice hot cuppa tea - brrrrrrrrr!

Maybe if I had a Guinness??

Caitlin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:56:37 +0000

Cos right now, I feel like a steamroller has run over me. The Cold from Hell (now with added asthma!) is still dominating my life. Ick.

Look for me as soon as I can remember how to breathe and think simultaneously,

Doctors Waiting Rooms….

Caitlin — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:24:31 +0000

MAKE ME SICK!

I am down with The Dreaded Lurgey. Mr Beloved even had to go to the LIBRARY For me today - so you know I’m really crook!

Arrrgh. Bed, again. Still. Grrr.

Bleah.

Caitlin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:26:49 +0000

Sorry for the not posting thing - I am spending more time horizontal (and wrapped around a hot water bottle) than vertical at present.

The good news is that I have an appointment with the specialist on the 15th July - and fingers crossed will be able to schedule surgery (TAHBSO - yep, the works) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Yep, then I have to deal with menopause all of a sudden - but at least the ovulation and period pain WILL BE GONE FOREVER, muaaa haaa haaa!

My GP is wonderful and agrees that after an (unsuccessful - it made things WORSE) trial of The Pill this is the next course of action - having a specialist “look at things more closely.”

“They can look at them all they like ONCE THEY’RE IN A JAR”, I said.

Back to bed.

Irrational Desires…

Caitlin — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:08:24 +0000

I am cold. Toowoomba has been freezing cold and windy all day - which is part of the reason I stayed in bed for most of the day. I’m only up now because even though Mr Beloved has just read the starting grid for tomorrow night’s Formula 1 grand prix, I want to watch the qualifying.

But I have a completely irrational desire to make THIS:

Vogue 8421. I want the version on the right, with the impossibly huge sleeves. Do I own this pattern? No. Do I have fabric to make up into this pattern already in my stash? NO. I am crazy in love with it anyway?

YES!!

*sigh*

It’s Susannah’s fault - she’s wearing something like this in one pic in the new book, and I am smitten. Also with the vest thingummy she’s wearing over it -I could ROCK that whole look. Especially now I’ve worked out what shape I am (Vase. Yep, vase. Huh! Now if I could just work out what bloody COLOURS to wear, I’d be set!)

The fact that the blouse takes 3.6 metres (of 115cm wide) fabric and most of that is in the sleeves WILL NOT STOP ME.

Being too bloody cold to do anything but dream about it might!