Gray's 9th Rebirthday!

I apologise if the colour of this text isn't right but I'm sitting in the blazing sun still nursing my possibly broken ribs! At least I've found a bra loose enough round the back to wear. Am thinking about going to the GP's to get another sick note. The one I was given at the hospital takes me up to Wednesday and I'm day off on Friday anyway so I'll only be in for two days and I could do with another week for these ribs to settle at least. They're not going to be very happy with me at work but it's better than dragging myself in in pain and thedn having to do the long journey back again. The journey would be enough to make it feel worse!
I am wearing the splint just at night now and it has kept the pins and needles away that I get at night with my carpal tunnel syndrome exept for last night. I probably didn't tighten it up enough. I bought another splint from Amazon so nI can wash the other and I think I'mm have to wear it to work in.
I wet in to town on Friday to get some more things for his rebirthday which is today. It's 9 years since his heart attack and we celebrate it each year. This year being his 9th I got him a 9th birthday card and a lego alien! Anyway after my shopping we went for a Thai meal and my ribs really suffered!



We're off out tonight to celebrate Gray's 9th for a balti at one of our local balti houses Varsha.


On Tuesday it's his real birthday. Gray is at work on Tuesday and so would I be if I wasn't off sick. We're going for another celebratory meal at our local Italian restaurant La Nonna.




http://www.lanonna-restaurant.com/

Anyway that's about it for now folks. xxx

Well as if I haven't had enough problems I've now got another!


On Sunday we went to Leicester to watch Leicester Tigers beat Bath to get a place in the final at Twickenham. On our way back to the station walking along the path with the crowd of fans I tripped on a kerb. There I go again! I hurt my hand quite badly and managed to lacerate it. And of course it was the side I've had the lymph nodes out which puts me at risk of  lymphodoema.  We were debating whether to have it looked at because of my osteoporosis. So we we visited the A&E department at our local hospital Heartlands on the way home. I don't really like going to that hospital because it's where my Dad died but we don't know of any other A&E's round here. 


We were in A&E for four hours! Apparantly the government guidelines say a patient should be seen within four hours! Because of my osteoporosis they x-rayed it and the doctor said it wasn't broken but I had " funny looking carpals " and asked me if  I'd ever broken it which I hadn't. Although I have broken my other wrist. He gave me a splint to wear and said he wanted me to see a hand surgeon in the fracture clinic on Tuesday. He passed me on to a nurse to have my wound cleaned and dressed and I booked the fracture clinic on the way out. They couldn't get me in on Tuesday, they were fully booked so they booked me in on Wednesday. I found the splint a great help with the pain but it did tend to rub a bit on my cut. He told me to stay off work at least a week and that they would give me a sick note. Oh he also said I hadn't actually broken it.


On Wednesday I went off to the fracture clinic with my splint on. It was quite a warm day but I had to wear my winter coat because I couldn't get my other one on as I had to bend my wrist to get it on and it was too painful. I waited one hour after my appointment time until I was seen which was quite good really as I was once kept waiting nearly four hours for one of my oncology appointments! They apologised profusely for the wait bless them. The doc said I hadn't broken it but I had a displaced carpus bone which he showed me on the x-ray. ( I think they have digital x-rays like we've got at work!) He said it hadn't been done when I had the fall it was work related. I said I'd had pins and needles in my hand at night but I hadn't had them while I'd wearing the splint and whether I'd got carpal Tunnel Syndrome. He said yes I had and I should wear the splint when I was in pain and at night. He also gave me a sick note for another week as he was worried about the cut on my hand getting infected in my job as a dental hygienist. When I got home I phoned work to tell them and my manageress/friend asked what was I going to do about my job and didn't I think my hands were trying to tell me something? I said I'll just have to see how I get on and that I'd just have to wear my splint while working if needs be. Gray took me out for a balti in the evening to cheer me up.
 
The photo above shows the splint in action. The nurse at A&E asked me to take my rings off as my hand was swelling up and they didn't want to have to cut them off!

3 days ago I went for my first appointment with the breast surgeon to discuss my risk reducing surgery as they call it. As she described the risk reduction and the surgery I kept saying that I knew it already! I said I know what I want and who does it! She seemed very happy with that and asked if it was one of their plastic surgeons I wanted to see and it was. I said if he wont do it because of the radiotherapy I would go to someone else! She still seemed happy about what I was saying. She is going to refer me to the said plastic surgeon and a clinical psychologist. If I don't hear anything within 6 weeks to contact them.
I was asked if I'd seen the DVD on reconstruction and as I said no the breast care nurse came in with some booklets and the dvd. I also told them about the wonderful support I'd had from the BRCA sisterhood and gave them the addresses of BRCA Umbrella, FORCE and the BRCA sisterhood group on facebook. They were happy to have them. The breast care nurse was one that looked after me through the breast cancer and it was really good to see her again.


Now my brain is totally taken over by it all I  think I'm going insane! Perhaps I need to see that shrink!

Liz and Rian looking very pensive!

Next are a couple of photos of some of my BRCA sisters from the Family History Forum.

Caroline and Rian.

Have now managed to sync the camera with Windows 7 but unable to do so with the printer on the new pc! What a pain Windows 7 is, nothing seems to be compatible with it..

So Here's the first picture I wanted to put on of my old friend Jenny who was the cleaner where I work. She worked there about 20 years ago, left and came back a few months ago but has now left again. I took a photo of her just before she left for the second time. I will miss our chats.

Was in London again last Saturday. Left home at 0600 to catch a train and arrived at the Breast Cancer Care site where I met my good friends from BRCA Umbrella I did the Race for Life with last year in Birmingham. Leigh-ann , Lisa and Rian and others I'd met on the web but hadn't met in the flesh ,Caroline, Jennifer,Karen, Lulu, Liz. I hope I haven't left anyone off. We were split in to different breakout groups and I was put in one without most of my friends except for Lulu but I made lots of other friends. Someone asked why are group was formed and the counsillor who took us said we all had something in common-we'd all had breast cancer. Interestingly there was only a couple of us over 50 and the rest were younger. That's what you get with BRCA, I was told previously I'd gone so long without because of my healthy diet as I'm vegetarian and was vegan for many years. Caroline pointed to a lady called Jackie I think she was a counsillor to ask my implant question and guess what? She said a lot of surgeons will do implants for ladies 6 months after radiotherapy and I've gone 15 months. YIPPEE!!!!! The day was invaluable but very tiring for all of us.
Gray went down with me as I'm a wimp and don't like being in London on my own though I used to go there quite a bit during my time in the Navy on my own! He obviously couldn't go to the forum but he went to the Imperial War Museum as he'd wanted to see it for a while and he quite enjoyed it.Afterwards we went to a pub with Lulu and a couple of the other girls for a drink and a chat before catching the tube back to Euston. I asked them about their implants and one of the ladies had her expanders in and one of them said "yo've got your expanders in too haven't you!" Lulu pointed out that mine were real! It was quite funny because I'm quite well endowed!




I'd like to apologise for not putting any photos on for a while but my camera wont work with Windows 7 and are old pc has given up the ghost! I went to Boots to buy a new camera and the lady there looked at all their digital cameras and not one of them was for Windows 7. Can you believe it1 So my camera is useless!


Joy of joys! I received a letter this morning from the breast surgeon about my pbm! She says she wants me to see her so she can explain to me the pathway that they have for undertaking a bilateral risk reducing mastectomy. It's on Thursday 13th May. So the ball is rolling! I've booked the day off from work to make sure I get there on time and I can mentally prepare for it. Gray has an appointment at the Biobank on that day but he's going to change it so that he can come with me.


I'm on the phone at the moment trying to book Tigers tickets for a final match- and they've cut me off! Grrrrrr!