Vitamin C

You know, no one told me that with a wisdom tooth operation, or anything to do with gums, you must dose yourself up with vitamin C, as your body craves it to heal. Funny that! I’ve been suffering a bit recently with fatigue and a very sore back (apparently a big sign). For something so common sense, it was beyond me.

Anyway, close to finishing up at my current job. I have to say, I’m please as my manager is really pressing my buttons. Maybe this is just because I’m starting to lose my ability to suffer fools. Today she was in town and apparently I was ignoring her? Although she did not approach me about it, I discovered through my colleague that this was her feeling. Now, you see, it’s kinda hard to sit and chat whilst you are doing all the friggin’ jobs she lined up for me from her blackberry on her way from the airport! Honestly, someone’s a bit paranoid. This is beside the fact that I’ve been nursing a migraine and sore back, so I was a bit fatigued and not interested in making small talk with someone, who I admit, I have come to not like too much. Perhaps lack of respect has something to do with it.

Only a couple of days until we move out of the house and let the floor sander in to do his thing. Will be back online probably Friday - if I can be stuffed. I’ll upload some photos incase anyone cares.

Have uploaded some more photos to my flickr page, just retarded renovation pics. Nothing special.

I’ll leave you with that, because I’m a boring snot and I have nothing interesting to say.

Weekend in Review…

This will be brief, so shall bullet point things for easy reading:

• We pulled the kitchen out. Or, should I say, Glen pulled it on and I smashed the shit out of everything - it was faster!
• We found a geriatric tap underneath the kitchen bench island section - just sitting there, minding its own business except for one very crucial details - it was still connected to our main water service! Yay for us! Off to Bunnings to tie it off and ‘dig a hole’ through the lovely pine boards to push it underneath the house.
• Ripped out the pantry. Lots of nails and icky bits. Glen got up in the roof to have another look at where things landed etc. Joys.
• Now we have a very large hole in our roof covered over with a very large flattened carboard packing box! Ingenius.
• The loungeroom, hallways and our bedroom are now devoid of carpet. It’s very minimalist indeed!
• The garage, very full of furniture, carpet and building materials!
• The dog very tired after two days in a row of ‘friends’ over, as our friend came over to nail three rooms full of floorboard nails into the floor! Hrm!
• Two very stressed out cats - Zeus is more stressed. Hopefully he’s week-retreat will help. I dunno.

Left to do:

• One said computer room! Argh!
• Removal of furniture from the house
• Lifting the lovely brown linoleum from the kitchen and then remove the nails
• Pulling the carpet up and removing staples and hammering more nails!
• Sweeping and vaccuuming the entire house! Argh!
• Sleep
• Eat
• Relax
• Relax
• Don’t panic
• Don’t stress
• And oh yeh, take the dog and two cats to thei animal retreat for the week. Grr. Am hoping Zeus doesn’t have another attack. Poor little man. The change is too much for him, so I’m panicking about him being in a foreign environment with different smells and potentially other cats.

Anyway, time to hit the road so I can get to work. Haven’t been to work in almost a week - it was such a bloody struggle to get out of bed this morning.

Aella Bella

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Aella Bella, originally uploaded by Sams76.

I met this little girl tonight.

SO. IN. LOVE!

I also met her litter sister, who is the runt of the litter and is struggling to live. She’s so tiny and has enlarged kidneys. So tiny and sweet. The breeder is hoping she pulls through, but won’t be letting go of her, keeping her until August to make sure she lives. Poor little mite.

Little Aella snuggled and cuddled all over me tonight. She was so content and gooey! I can’t believe how tiny she was!

Anyway, enough gooey stuff. Off to bed with me!

Lips like the Sahara…

What gives? I’ve got the worst chapped lips ever since having this op! I’ve been applying the lip balm religiously, but I am still suffering! Whhhhy?

In other news, this man has lived a life of controversy. I guess he comes from a long line of controversial clan members.

Did I mention how dry my hands have become? Hrmph!

My bottom jaw has swollen up more since last night. I think my top jaw is quite fine. Momentous moment today - I craved real food! So, I made myself a ham sandwich and although it took me 30 minutes to consume, it was fabulous! Hopefully tomorrow when I see the specialist, he’ll tell me I am tracking along fine. More than anything, I just want these dumb stitches to go away. They feel so weird and at times, it feels like they are tickling the back of my throat. Paranoia, probably.

Anyone got any stories to tell me now about this stage of wisdom tooth extraction? Hrm??

Everyone’s got a story…

Since news broke of my wisdom teeth extraction, everyone has told me their stories. Whether they were bad or good, someone else’s story or their own, I seem to have heard it!

This has extended from my manager and her manager, my colleagues and future colleagues. This has even extended to the nurse at the theatre yesterday morning and to the man whom I have been conversing with on email to book our cottage next weekend (another story to come). Apparently his son has recently undergone the surgery and because of that, he’s happy for us to give him the money when we get there! *laugh*

I guess my point is that when you tell people about your woes, they cut you some slack and often, it brings out the nicest in people! I’m not complaining and I guess I could milk it for all it’s worth, but what if I wasn’t suffering from wisdom teeth separation anxiety and I was lying? People are so trusting when you share a mutual thing in common, I guess that’s how you describe it?

Anyway, so we’ve booked a cottage next weekend out in Cockatoo, just outside of Melbourne in the Dandenong Ranges. We’ve decided that even though we’re staying with a friend whilst the floorboards in our house are being sanded, we’ll take the weekend to relax and get away. This also means boarding the animals etc. No mean feat and not a small cost! I’m just looking forward to getting away with Glen - as we haven’t had a ‘holiday’ together for over a year, I think? Hrm. So much has happened.

In other news, Glen’s family sent me some money today for my birthday. What was a bit shocking was they sent it through the post. Now, the gesture itself wasn’t shocking, but the mere fact that the national mail/postage authority isn’t known for its ability to leave mail untouched if money is in it! Its employees aren’t known for their honesty - well, that’s my experience! I’d be curious to hear about others’ experience in this area.

Tonight, my gums and mouth are swollen and I’m revelling in it. NOT!

I had scrambled eggs tonight, with some ham. It was tasty, but took me so long to get through it. It sucks when you can’t chew things! So, I was basically tasting it and swallowing it whole - probably not the best thing to do. Go Metamucil!! Anyway, my diet has significantly reduced since this saga and to be honest, I’m curious about whether that means I’ve lost some weight? I’m curious…

The nights seem to hit me hardest with my mouth. Ok, so tonight is the second night and last night, I was probably still dribbling - when I woke up this morning, I had been dribbling in my sleep! *laugh* Very attractive. Anyway, tonight I was surveying the surgeon’s work and realised I had some packing in the molar beside the bottom left wisdom tooth (now removed) and I was curious as to why there was packing in the molar next to it? Plus, most of my teeth beside where the wisdom teeth were, now feel like they are encrusted with cement. It’s rough and I hate it. I’m fastidious about clean, smooth teeth! I can’t help myself!! Plus, i can feel the stitches poking out and there’s like huge gaps between the sides of my mouth and where my molars now start. It’s such a strange feeling, like there’s too many teeth missing and how will I possibly be able to masticate my food with that little amount of teeth? Honestly.

Finally, today my manager spoke to me, but via email, as I cannot talk still. However, my manager has been told of my resignation and although disappointed, she said she didn’t blame me for my decision. The mere fact that our initial presence in the organisation is no longer a focus, lead me to make my decision to get out. This is coupled with her ability to micro manage everything (but I didn’t tell her that!). Anyway, so I have made my peace with all of that and as of 10 June, I shall be unemployed for a sum total of 3 days - it coincides with the June long weekend and then I begin my new job! Woooot!

Although very happy to be leaving, I feel sorry for my colleague who I have learnt, is being loaded up with my work, plus additional work based on new projects being developed. They aren’t long term projects, but when she is hired as something more than admin, it’s a bit rough when she’s being asked to do all the crud admin work. Not that I am saying that there’s anything wrong with admin, because that’s my core role currently. But if she’s being paid to do something else and has absolutely NO experience in admin, you’d think that you’ve asked the wrong person, right? I feel for her. What’s more stunning is my manager doesn’t seem to realise that my colleague is equally unhappy in her role, as I was.

Yes, I know. I’ve been updating more in the last two days, than I have in the last two weeks - I blame too much time on my hands and too much time to think, navel gaze and ponder! And I’m wondering where the hell this mouth pain is meant to be? So far, it’s just a need to teethe and an avoiding of chewing! Irony.

I now go log off to feel sorry for myself. Hrumph!

Not Happy Jan…

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Hurty, originally uploaded by Sams76.

Ok, so here I am in all my glory.

My work colleague has already had a laugh at my expense, so why not the greater blogger community? come on! I dare ya!

You are allowed to laugh, because I don’t feel too bad. Apart from a little ‘teething’ sensation, I feel pretty good. It just looks worse than it is. The bunny rabbit ears are holding my saviour - my ice pack! It has helped keep the swelling down.

I am due to see the surgeon on Friday for a post-surgery appointment. I’m hoping that before then, I can eat some chewy stuff! Right now, I am afraid to chew on them as I don’t want to get food caught up in the gums and stitches. Plus, I’m to scared to hurt myself for food!

Operation: Wisdom Teeth Removal…

Coincidently, this is my 200th post.

I said I would write about my teeth removal on Tuesday, so here I am. I barely slept a wink on Monday night and I think poor Glen was starting to get a bit edgy too. I felt terrible for him, because I guess I had made my peace with the entire procedure, whereas he was left waiting for me.

I woke up at 6am on Tuesday morning, hopped into the shower and brushed my teeth. I could feel myself already dehydrating because I wasn’t allowed to have any water or food from midnight the night before. We drove to the hospital and arrived too early, so sat in the car before heading inside. The foyer was completely empty, in fact, the receptionist hadn’t even arrived for the day. We eventually signed in and wandered over to the day surgery rooms. The nurses were all very nice and Glen was made to leave (I nearly cried!) so that I could get changed and wait for the anaethesiologist. I sat out in the foyer in my blue gown, white robe and lovely blue slippers. I felt the picture of loveliness!!

I met the anaesthetist who was friendly, but abrupt and going through the motions. He informed me of the chances of a reaction etc, but in fact, there are no real threats to your body or person. I mean, not once did anyone say that there’d be cause for death or whatever. This was my fear. Anyway, I sat back in the waiting room before a nurse came in and asked me the same set of questions that everyone else had asked me! However, the kicker for me was that she had had her wisdom teeth out last year with the same surgeon I was seeing and she had nothing but good things to say about him. I felt more relieved. Again, I sat in the waiting room before she came to get me and we walked through to a very draughty, cold room where the surgeon, anaesthetist and a bunch of nurses were standing around joking. But the crux was, I wasn’t expected! So, I was sent back to the waiting room to wait. AGAIN.

When they finally brought me in, I was nervous, but just keen to get it over with. I saw it as my opportunity to face something hard, something that I could have easily chickened out of and walked out on. But I am glad I faced that fear.

So, I jumped up onto the operating table and they fluffed around with the arm holds on the side of the table. Then I had the anaesthetist fluffing around with my bung in my left hand, trying to get a vein to pop. He was whinging about how difficult it was to get a vein and how odd it was to see veins going across the hand, rather than up and down. Hrm. Ok, so I have odd veins! Anyway, they got the bung in, they introduced me to the oxygen, which smelt funny and then he was administering the general and before I knew it, I was off to sleep.

The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery, numb mouth, itchy throat and I felt like my lips and tongue had been bashed til I was black and blue, though I couldn’t see anything. The nurse came over and poured me a cup of apple juice and asked me how I was. I said I was fine because I was and drank some apple juice. Ten minutes later, she came over to pull out my bung, but I was trying to signal to her that I was feeling queasy and although she knew something was wrong, couldn’t help me fast enough and I promptly threw up on the blankets and possibly her! *laugh* She gave me a vomit cup to continue the process and she changed my sheets and helped me get my shirt on. I was given a litre of fluids intravenously before I regained my colour and dignity! I was sent out into the main area again on the recliner chairs and before I sat down, Glen was coming in to get me.

Let me tell you, ice cream from hospital is awesome!!

It was good to get home and I spent most of yesterday sleeping and resting. I’m missing real food, basically living on Sustagen, jelly, ice cream and soup. The good thing is, there’s no blood in my mouth, so that means that my gums are healing nicely and I’ve hardly felt any pain. I’ve taken some mersyndol forte for bed and a 1/4 of one today to take the edge off. But it’s my neck and shoulder which feels like I’ve been ripped and reefed around on the table! I swear, they must have hurt me pretty good yesterday!

Anyway, for anyone who needs to have an operation to remove their teeth, or a general operation of any kind, I’m telling you, it’s ok! It’s a bit scary and I guess you can’t stop that, but it’s just so easy to get through. Maybe I’m an exception to the rule, but there’s hardly any pain.

Soon, I shall post a couple of photos of me yesterday. Not a pretty picture, but it’s me!

Aella

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Aella, originally uploaded by Sams76.

Instead of whinging about my face and how I feel like a sumo wrestler, here is a photo of Aella - pronounced Ella. Aella is Greek for Whirlwind and I dare say her name will fit her nicely!

The breeder called me today and we’ll be visiting the little girl on Friday night.

I’m stoked. Will update later about the surgery, too tired right now. Suffice to say I am alive.

I’ve resigned myself to this life…

I came into work extra early this morning. This is on top of the fact that I dragged myself out of bed this morning at 4am to heat my wheat pillow and make a cup of tea, plus gulp down more nurofens for my migraine. It helped slightly, but it was raging again by the time I woke up at 7am.

Anyway, I went to work early to get some privacy and call my manager to let her know I was resigning. I left her a message on her desk phone and I waited. People started arriving into the office, so I called her mobile. I left a message. Finally, 20 minutes later, I get a phone call from her colleague to let me know she had called in sick. Great. So, I organised to speak with her manager, who is also my day-to-day manager and I broke the news to him. It went fine and in fact, he apologised to me because the nature of the role had changed significantly and he felt very guilty about it. After assuring him that I didn’t blame him, he wished me well and said he’d speak to my manager about organising a time for me to leave.

I stumbled through work today, and decided to leave at 1pm, since my head was still pounding. I came home and slept for a little while and then had to yell at my freakin’ dog as she was barking at our neighbours who were obviously getting their hot water system replaced. She WOULD NOT STOP! So, I stumbled outside, bashed her on the head - because that’s what happens when you go to smack you dog and she bounced up to meet you halfway and then dragged her inside and made her sleep at the foot of my bed while I passed out again.

So, here I am, not ready for tomorrow, but the moment is coming closer. I hope tomorrow is quick, I hope I come home, I hope I make it through and wake up. These are all my fears and I know they are irrational, but there is a small element to them that makes them very real. I am bearing my soul to you here, telling you that I am afraid of dying and it’s a very shitty thing to be faced with. In the end, I guess you just have to have faith and trust that the doctors and nurses know what they are doing. I know I am dramatic, but I guess that’s just how much I don’t want to die.

Anyway, one of the big hiccups is over. Also, we have organised to have our floorboards polished on the 27th May - that’s less than 2 weeks! So, we’ll be moving out of the house and boarding the animals for this to be done. I’ll be fairly quiet those days, except for being at work, but there’ll be no updates to blogger.

Take care everyone and I’ll be back a bit later in the week, maybe with some not-so-stunning photos of my bugs bunny impersonation!

A new world of opportunity…

Yesterday, I partook in some retail therapy. We walked past some shops that I wouldn’t normally look at, but my friend being of a smaller size, stopped to look. Anyway, she was picking out some track suit pants which were on special and I noticed my size on the rack. This is odd for me because only ‘big girls’ stores stock my size - well, other normal stores do, but their sizes are infinitely smaller than what they say they are, so I never pay them any attention. Anyway, I looked at the track pants, pulling them off the rack and realised they were very close to looking my size. I bit the bullet and for $15 each, I purchased two pairs. I got home and OMG, they fit nicely!

It was my first shop at a ‘normal’ store since I was a kid. Pretty pathetic, right? That I actually bought clothes at a store other than my usual haunts - the sum total of 2-3 stores - that’s my usual option of clothing stores.

Anyway, D-Day tomorrow, or should I say R-Day (R is for Resign which won’t be music to my manager’s ears). Experiencing all sorts of panic attacks about it, plus the day after with my operation. I hate losing control, and it’s all so apparent I will be losing that control. Scrooge humbug. I think I’ll have an early night.

Also, we have pulled up the carpet in the spare room and have exposed the floor boards. Photos have been taken, but I’m too tired to bother uploading. I’ll have plenty of spare time this week.