Pause Part 1

For the last year I feel my life has been on pause. We found out last year that my father in law had chronic kidney failure. This alone was a shock to everyone. Alan had been very fit and healthy all his life, he taught half of Waterford to swim, he regularly canoed, (more about this later!), and was always out walking gardening swimming- I’m exhausted just making the list.

Back to the story- his consultant had been looking after him so well for years, but the time had come for the dreaded D- Dialysis.

Kidney dialysis is something we have all heard of but is foggy in its intricacies. The Irish Kidney Association Website was our first point of call. For us it involved Alan going into Waterford Regional Hospital 3 times a week for 4 hours. He got “plugged in” as my daughter use to say, and come back to us refreshed and ready.

Having such an active lifestyle it was a shock to suddenly have to be so restrained every couple of days. Don’t get me wrong- dialysis is pretty miraculous. Sue and Alan investigated home dialysis but it was decided that we were so local to Waterford that it made more sense that he continue with the dialysis there. The dialysis on Alan was done through a central line. This in itself caused a few headaches and restrictions; he couldn’t get it wet- which meant no swimming- his great love, also a central line is quite a serious thing due to the fact that it goes straight into your bloodstream at the jugular, so keeping it clean while gardening with a shirt off was an issue!

How did this affect his life? Well primarily it affected all our lives, more than I ever thought. Our lives revolved around his dialysis times. Everything had to be checked with the diary. Even something as a family dinner was sometimes a logistical nightmare. Sue and Alan both love to travel, the dialysis meant that he either had to have very short trips, or organise dialysis elsewhere in the country. This was a headache for the dialysis unit, who were absolutely wonderful and never complained! As every time he returned to Waterford he had to be put on an isolation machine due to the probability of cross infection.

With Alan & Sue’s son and daughter being the other side of the world meant he could not see those grandchildren in Australia and New Zealand as travelling that far on dialysis is not an option. Applicants on the transplant list are not supposed to leave the country- not even their normal place of residence without notifying Beaumont. This concerned me so much that one weekend- with Alan and Sue in Kerry- I woke Nigel and made him promise that wherever his Dad was in the country he would get him to Beaumont in the 2 ½ hours. He said yes of course, but this logistic was always at the back of our minds.

I've wanted a pantry for quite some time now.  In fact talking to my BH I've wanted one FOREVER.  Well last night my dreams came true, and how did I feel? Exhausted!!! I'd completely forgotten how tiring emptying presses, sorting things and stacking shelves can be.  Bet I walked miles between the old and new kitchens, himself reckoned it was miles anyway and I'll agree so I won't feel guilty about any chocolate consumption I might have today.  Of course now all the food is in one side of the house, and all the plates/ cooking utensils are in the other side, so yes I feel a chocolate binge coming on as payment to myself for my marathon walks.  Just as well my mouth is feeling better, no point excercising without some reward?

Dentists scare me. Actually they terrify me.  Beyond belief.  I've a tiny mouth and too many teeth.  It doesn't really equate.  I had REALLY bad problems with wisdom teeth a while back, too traumatic to talk about.  Since then changed to a lovely new dentist who feels my pain metaphorically speaking.  Three weeks ago started getting pain again in the nether regions of my mouth.  My BH advised a dentist visit, which I phoned for.  Honestly.  But with the jigs and tooth filled reels the appointment ended up being three weeks later, so by the time yesterday came I was in serious pain and would have got at them myself with a carving knife.
I will spare you the details!
Today, relief, RELIEF.  Sore, yes, very very sore.  But relieved.  And now to the crunchie bit, the credit crunchie bit.  Was FAR FAR cheaper to extract the troublesome ****** than to root canal, crown, then crown again!! Now to be fair we discussed the extraction, my beautiful dentist and I, but the gut busting cost of <em>possibly</em> saving a tooth all the way at the back of my tiny mouth that nothing except my porridge sees was not a difficult choice.  So today, I feel better both financially and physically better about my loss.
A downside to this tale? Reduced eating for the day due to pain.  Don't worry, will make up for it!

I've been contemplating a blog for a while. I'm the kinda person who assimilates all the info and then when ready fully launches into the idea. Hence my eruption onto both the twitter and blog world this day. On collecting my daughter from school she announces, not unusually i might add, that she's hungry. And has specific requirements. Cheese on toast with Salami. Now although I do consider myself a good cook, she felt she had to specify even further. Cook the cheese on toast - then add the salami. Before this I had put the salami onto the bread, then the cheese, both to be toasted together. What do I learn from this? That I have reared a child who; a) knows her own mind and palate, and b) She's not happy with my version of cheese on toast!!!