One sick boy, one worried Nan!

My youngest grandson, Tyler, has unfortunately been in Starship Hospital since last Wednesday with parapneumonic effusion caused through pneumonia. What was initially thought to have been a bad case of influenza ended up being something more serious.  He has been in hospital having intravenous antibiotic treatments and we are still waiting to hear whether it will be necessary for him to have his lung drained.  Hope not!!

Here is a picture of him with his mates Wayne and Astro.

Took him some soup up earlier today (Sunday) and he was thankfully a lot better and his temperature had stayed stable overnight so that is a good sign that the antibiotics are finally kicking in.  It has taken nearly five days though for this to happen.

Our family has certainly had its share of hospitals over the past year or so.  Just hope that things get better from now on.

He has been such a brave and good patient but is now anxious to get back home again.  My daughter has stayed with him at the hospital the whole time and is looking very tired, so hopefully she can get home and have a good night’s sleep herself.

Butterflies for me …

I have been spoilt again!!  This beautiful card arrived earlier in the week from the lovely Pauline McArdle whom I have never met but who has been so sweet and kind to me over the past couple of years.

As my husband and I are going down to Napier (where Pauline lives) in the middle of September to visit an elderly Aunt (yes, there actually are people older than us!!), I am going to see whether I can meet up with Pauline so that we can have a nice face-to-face chat.  I really would like to thank her personally for all her caring and kindness.

Isn’t this the loveliest card?

Fabulous Friends

To put it simply - no-one could be more blessed with wonderful friends than me.  This morning my lovely neighbour and friend, Joan rang and said to get ready we were going to do the shops and have lunch.  This was unexpected and very enjoyable - thanks Joan.  I have decided I am going to be more spontaneous from now on - forget the housework or washing that needs doing!

I also had a phone call from Beth the Oncology Nurse Specialist at the hospital who liaises between patients and doctors as she had just been reading my notes from my checkup yesterday and wanted to make sure I was coping alright with the news.  It is good to know there is someone there to talk to and get advice from.

Then tonight on her way home from work my talented Stampin' Up Demonstrator and good friend Karen brought me this gorgeous bunch of spring flowers.  They smell as lovely as they look.  Such a sweet thoughtful thing to do - bless you Karen.  I am now off to put them in a vase.

All in all a much more peaceful day.  I fluctuate with my feelings but it has occurred to me that statistics need to be maintained lol.  So if my news is bad then someone else somewhere has received good news - so hopefully I have unknowingly passed on some good luck to that person!  Mmm - reading what I have just written must make me sound crazy!

Then there are all the lovely comments I have received. Thanks everyone for making my heart a little bit lighter and my day brighter.

Wow, look at all this blog candy

http://bevscrafts.blogspot.com/2009/08/thank-you-collab-blog-candy.html 

What an absolutely mouth-watering selection of goodies!  Go check it out.

Friendship

Recently sent this to a friend in Canada - I love this colour, it's so soft - well of course, the cardstock is called Soft Sky!!

Have just received my first order from our new SU Spring Mini catalogue - well actually I have just about bought everything in it though not quite.  Hope to get to have a play with it tonight - this should take my mind off my troubles!  Here in New Zealand it is 7.18 pm so have done something I rarely do unless we are with company - I have poured myself a gin and tonic so my bad mood (see my previous post) has now subsided (slightly!!)

I am so angry ....

Have to get this out of my system.  Sorry to lay it on all of you but I am so, so angry - not with anyone in particular, but with what life is dealing me lately.

Went to the hospital for my oncology checkup today and once again my CA125 levels are creeping back up and are not in the 'safe' range.  So it looks like I am not in remission as I thought and for the third time this darn cancer is back.  It just seems to go on and on and on.  So now have to go and have another scan though they don't expect to find anything yet - just another waiting game like last time.  After all I went through over the last 18+ months I didn't want to know, talk or hear about cancer again but now once more I have no choice.

Will just save this blog for a while before deciding whether to post it but it was good to write it down - just like having a silent scream!!

PS:  Yes, I will post this - it is a bit like putting your troubles in a box then closing it for a while!

Boys will be Boys!!

Went down country to my youngest daughter's last weekend and gained a few extra white hairs (as well as a few extra kilos, well maybe not kilos but definitely gained weight because my son-in-law kept 'forcing' me to eat chocolate - yes, I did try and resist but failed miserably!)  Anyway, back to the white hairs - this was because my two grandsons Matthew and Michael were riding their dirt/motorcross bikes or whatever they're called, around the farm.  I say riding but that sounds a bit tame compared to what they were doing, particularly the eldest, Matthew.  I just hope he drives his car safer than he rides bikes.

Anyway this is them posing in their riding gear by their bikes - and I'm relieved to report that they survived the weekend unscathed.  Don't know how my daughter stays so calm, because I was a nervous wreck!

Fifth Avenue Rose

Just got my Fifth Avenue floral set - so gorgeous and with so many creative ways to use it.  First off I decided to take the rose, stamp it up 3 times and watercolour and layer it with each layer smaller than the previous.  I then wet the edges of the rose petals and curled them.  This gave the rose a lovely 3D raised effect though I am not so sure that it is really suitable for mailing as it would get squashed!

Here is a close-up photo of the rose.

This has come out looking slightly blurry but I am sure you will get the idea.

Now I need to try out some other ideas that I have for this set.