RIP Hemingway

Hemingway goes in and out of the house as it suits her. Mostly she spends her nights outside, and even in winter, prefers to go outside to do her business and perimeter checks. She's an outdoor cat.

This morning Hemingway wasn't at the backdoor when we let Abby out at breakfast.  In fact I hadn't seen her all morning and was starting to get uneasy when I received THAT phone call around 11am:

Hi is this Melissa Hicks? We tracked you down via the microchip on a little black cat called Hemingway; she'd been hit by a car early this morning. We found her on the the road and took her to our vets. Mary managed to re-start her heart but the damage was too great and she died, I'm sorry.

Why?
Why didn't we see her?
Why did we let her out?
Why her? She's not the sick one! She's not the one we're mentally preparing to lose!
It's not right! It's not fair!

I want a do over button damn it - just to last night.  Just to make sure she would be locked in all night.

She's lived here and spent the nights outside for most of a decade. Why now? Why today? Why ever?

I didn't get a chance to take photos of Hemmy in her older years. Or photos of all three cats together. And now I never will.

Poor mum - just as me and my two invade, she loses her only remaining companion. First Josie (her chihuahua) a couple of years back and now Hemms.

Things Mel Discovered This Week

Things Mel discovered this week:

Sitting down
   (I'm so dizzy, my head is spinning)
Closing my eyes while sitting down
   (like a whirlpool, it never ends)*
Opening my eyes while sitting down
   (Wham - migraine)
Standing up
   (Vertigo is not just the name of a Hitchcock movie)
Bending over
   (how to pass out without alcohol)

Sleeping
   (the knock-me-out drugs are out of my system)
Sleeping in a single bed
   (I forgot how many bits of me could hurt at once)
Sleeping in a single bed with my ample body
   (there is very little room)
Sleeping in a single bed bed with my ample body and a determined geriatric cat
   (did I mention the lack of room - or is this related to the sore body parts)
Sleeping in a single bed with my ample body and a determined geriatric cat and a determined elderly cat discussing dominance issues
   (perhaps sleeping is the wrong word)
Sleeping in a single bed with my ample body and a determined geriatric cat and a determined elderly cat discussing dominance issues on my body
   (oh fer crying out loud!) **

Are there too many ads on daytime TV?
   (don't bother answering that)
Are there too many insurance ads on daytime TV?
   (and why are the same ones played incessantly at strange times of the day)
Are there too many types of insurance ads on day time TV?
   (and do they all need to use scare tactics to sell their product)
Is it healthy for me as an ill person, temporarily home bound, to see an ad for funeral plans every five minutes?
   (my DVD collection arrives in 4 days!!!!)***

All however is not lost. I only spent one day reduced to relying on daytime-TV for pain/disorientation distraction. Yesterday mum and I went for a walk and bought some plants for the garden. I was quite worn out by the trip, but it was an improvement.  I was even gracious enough to encourage mum to buy the marigolds she was favouring instead of the carnivorous plants I was lusting after.

For an hour today I could not only follow a conversation, I could add meaningful suggestions and help make plans before the fog of pain and disorientation descended.

Its going to be a long journey, but it seems that we're heading in the right direction and that the encouraging bit.



*apologies to Vic Reeves
**  at this point I should mention that Abby, being the sensible young cat she is, avoids all of this, by sleeping on mum's Queen-sized (heated) water-bed each night, stretched out in luxury!
*** for those who comment about why I have the TV on in the first place, for the above mentioned vertigo/dizziness I cannot read for long periods of time and for noise-related issues I cannot listen to audio books or music - hopefully all of this will soon change

Medical Update

Hi all,

Just a short note.  I saw the consultant neurologist today. Based on the information he already had he decided that my previous diagnosis had been correct, and I am suffering from Primary Daily Chronic Headaches.

He has however, completely changed the drug regime I am on.  That starts tonight so we play the "what side effects does Mel get on these drugs" game tomorrow :)

He wants to see me in a month's time to see if these drugs are working and already has the next thing ready to go if these don't work.

He will also re-run my MRIs etc for the growth on the pituitary gland in a couple of months time.  He said that I've been through enough tests right now - so we will concentrate on reducing/removing the migraine pain and then we will look at other issues.

I liked Dr Andrews as he explained things in a completely different manner to the Perth guys.  To be honest, both mum and I received the impression that the Perth specialists arrived at the right verdict for the wrong reasons and really should have understood what they were diagnosing more ...

An Inkcircles Day

I had an Inkcircles day today :)

While wearing the hand knitted socks that Tracy sent me a while ago, I was stitching Inkcircles Masquerade when the postie knocked on the door.

He brought me a parcel from Chele that was the Inkcircles Fireweed kit! Thank you sooo much Chele!

He also brought me a parcel from Tracy herself.  It included some beautiful earrings and note cards I bought from the Inkcircles etsy shop.  The earrings are sooo cute and adorable - they are my new favourite earrings that I will wear everywhere!  The note cards are digitally coloured pictures of Tracy's own stitching - very bold and colourful and perfect to send to stitchers ...

Included in this parcel were also some Inkcircles bookmarks that Tracy mentioned on Twitter a while ago, and ....

and ....

and ....

I have a sneak preview of a new Inkcircles chart being released sometime soon ...  Mum and I are doing floss tosses tonight for an alternate colourway .... so ....

Neener neener neener - I know something you don't know :D

What? I'm supposed to act like a grown-up?  Since when???

We're heeeeere!

Well the last week has been a blur, but we are all here, back in NSW and settled in.

The garage sale went OK. I was very disappointed in the book side of the sale, but a friend bought the best pieces of my fabric stash so her payment will help with the medical bills (when the money comes in).

We ended up bringing more boxes of stuff over than expected, we had a packer who's girlfriend had dumped him the night before and two movers who had to come down from the nearby  RAAF base - so there were a few complications, and extra costs .. but we are here now.

The cats survived the trip quite well and are settling in fine.  We lost Abby for quite a few hours yesterday.  It was a cold, wet, drizzly, dreary day yesterday. We opened the back door a little in the morning and she vanished.  We didn't even see her go out.  Every time we were outside, we called and called. We thought we heard her a few times, but we couldn't see her.  Eventually we crawled under the house, and up the manhole into the ceiling (two of her favourite haunts). Finally around dusk I saw her come out from a niche under mum's bed.  Mum has a water bed so Abby had curled up in the warmest part of the house.

Trubs is doing OK - a bit stiff but again is just curling up on mum's bed to sleep, or under the heater in the lounge room.

There have been a couple of territory issues with Hemingway, but Hems is such a laid back cat that there's no cat fights, and barely any hissing.

We have the first specialist appointment next Tuesday. So just a relaxing weekend planned until then ....

So what else is happening in the world?  What did I miss?

Big News

For those that don't already know ...

I'm leaving WA and moving home (NSW) in the next couple of weeks.  I've handed in my resignation at work and advised my Real Estate Property manager and am in the process of feebly de-cluttering before mum arrives to help me pack.

The migraines have gotten worse again this year and I just cannot get any medical help from WA specialists. THe endocrinologist says I need to speak to the neurologist.  The neurologist says "I diagnosed you last year, if you're not getting better, then you're not taking the pills I prescribed".  The neurosurgeon will see me in June after my scheduled MRI scan and no we can't bring that forward.

Also no other neuro specialist in Perth will see me, because I am listed as a patient of the above three.  Apparently second opinions are an anathema to specialists in Perth. The low point came when I found out I didn't even have a GP as she had moved on from the clinic and no-one would tell me where she went.

Weeks later and many fights later, I have a new GP and written referrals to specialists in Sydney and Canberra.  Both sets of specialists have asked for more information and copies of my scans.  The Canberra neurologist has booked me in for an appointment on 29 March.

The Sydney suite of specialists have my history, reports and scans and will let me know when they've reviewed my case.

So, packing and moving.  I wont have a job, and frankly I don't have the health to apply for a job anymore, so I'm moving in with mum and living off her for a few months until we get this medical stuff with my head sorted out. 

Not the most triumphal return from the wilds of WA, but unfortunately a necessary move.

All Stitchers Lounge

Afternoon all,

Many stitchers are now on social media sites and chat via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, blogs (so many different types of blogs) and it's so unfortunate that we don't have a single port of call like the knitters Ravelry.

While trying to find or create a one-stop place for all our stitching adventures, we discovered so many of our brethren can or do only access via basic web usage or email.  After much deliberation, Mariann, Tina, Kay and I have set up a new Yahoogroup email list called All Stitchers Lounge and is now open for you to join.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/allstitcherslounge/

With this new group, we have attempted to keep the best parts of previous groups as well
as trying some all new features. We believe All Stitcher's Lounge to be a place
where you can hangout, relax, kick back and chat about your stitching projects,
share latest stitching gossip, list new finds, or discuss old favourites :-)

We really aim for this to be a one-stop place where you can share your blog insights, new designers you have found, your thoughts on recent releases and old favourites that have been in your stash for years.

As moderators, we are actually very excited with the opportunities a new group
can afford us, and we are playing with the new Beta Applications area of Yahoo
Groups. If this sounds promising to you, please feel free spread the message and join in :)

We've been working on this group for the past few weeks, so please drop in, look around, make yourself comfortable and let us know if there’s anything we’ve forgotten to do to get it all ready for you :)

Feel free to contact Mariann, Tina, Kay or myself if you have any questions :)


EDITED TO ADD: In a blatant act of promotion, I am running two draws of free goodies open to those who spread the message about a new group.

Anyone who writes a blog post regarding the new group or mentions a link on their blog back here goes into a draw for a chance to win a section of threads and fabric (around $50 US). Please add your blog name and post in the comments here to be in the draw.

Any stitcher on twitter who retweets my message linking to this blog post will go into a draw for a chance to win a smaller selection of threads and fabric (around $20 US).

Both draws will close 11pm Australian Western Time on Saturday  5 March 2011. Winner will be notified after breakfast on Sunday :)