Visitors

We've had family from New Zealand visit and that was good for us both. My hubbies Mum, one of his brothers and his wife came for a week. It was nice to catch up with them and hear stories from home. The hard part is when they leave ... my hubby gets very upset, coz he's left wondering if he'll ever see them again. I think that's why he's not sure if he wants any more family from New Zealand to visit.

Our kids are due back in about seven sleeps ... can't wait! It's tough for them having to leave their jobs and friends, but they both want to spend as much time with their Dad as they can. I can't begin to imagine how tough this is for them.

We're noticed that our local friends don't call as often as they used to. A couple still do ... but it's getting hard for them ... you can see it in their eyes. They love my hubby (and they've all worked for him also) and I think they're finding the sight of him suffering is just too hard ... which it is!

Family and visitors

Our kids have been staying for a week or two now and it's been great having them here.

A close friend of my hubbies ... a guy he made friends with while at primary school ... and his wife have been visiting from New Zealand.

Local friends, many of them Kiwi's living in this same area in Australia, visit most days to see how my hubby is doing. It's a tough time, as apart from his time in hospital and his not feeling very well, it's also the time his managers, supervisors and contractors have returned to work ... without him. I can't begin to imagine what that must feel like for a man who really enjoys his job as GM.

We're so lucky to have wonderful kids and wonderful friends.

Hubby home ...

After much discussion, it was decided that my hubby would have an endoscopy on the Monday and it showed that the tumour had narrowed his esophagus in two places. We then had a discussion with the gastro doc, who was confident that the placement of two stents was the way to go. Other discussions with our oncologoy team, raised areas of concern, but finally my hubby agreed that he would have the two stents put in. This was done on the Tuesday ... and a nervous time it was. Fortunately it all went well and he recovered with no obvious affect to his lungs.

We were still hoping for him to be released on christmas day, but the docs said he had to stay till boxing day, so that he could be guided through the ... clear fluids, full fluids and soft food choices. On christmas day the four of us went out for three hours. We found a fish and chip shop, bought a feed, then found a spot by the sea and enjoyed our dinner. It was horrible to see how quickly my hubby was exhausted by his outing, and we had to return to the hospital, so he could have pain relief.

On boxing day I left home about 7 am, so I would be at the hospital for the doctors rounds. Unfortunately my hubby's docs were on leave, but we still had a good discussion with the doc who saw him. We left with a pile of liquid morphine, morphine patches and other stuff. The letter for our pallative care team about my hubby's need for oxygen wasn't there ... but hopefully that will be followed up this week.

By the time we got home, my hubby was exhausted. Our daughter had the oxygen machine running ... so he sunk into a chair with that and liquid morphine.

That night was a horror. We didn't seem to be able to get on top of the pain, and my hubby became quite distressed. Around 9 am I phoned the emergency pallative care number and our nurse phoned the duty doctor for advice. She organised stronger liquid morphine, to be administered more frequently and a stronger pain patch. This was wonderful, as all we had to do, was collect the script, take it to the pharmacy and pay for the drugs.

The second night, my hubby had a far better rest and although I needed to massage him once through the night, his 'bones' (shoulders and back) didn't seem to ache so much. He also got out of bed and slept in the recliner for a few hours, so that pressure was being distributed differently. My hubby was amazed he'd slept so well ... and his morning was a good one. He sat in the wheelchair on our back deck for a few hours, enjoying the sun and giving our son and a friend who's visiting from NZ, instructions about what needs doing to our back area. We think he may have overdone things ... but it was great to see him enjoying the fresh air, family and friends.

Here's to tonight being similar, or better, than last night!

Hubby still in hospital

It's three week and my hubby's short visit to hospital continues to drag out. The 80+ km a day drive from home to the hospital and the 80+ km a day drive back is starting to take it's toll, but not as much as my need to have him home ... my need to get him out of that place and back to things that are more familiar to him.

The 'talc' mix was put in his lung last week and the tube removed on Friday. His x-rays showed two small areas with fluid/air in them, but the lung doc is happy with how the scaring has worked.

On Friday a doc from the Gastro department arrived and said he wanted my hubby to have an endoscopy done on Monday, as the problems he's having eating and holding food down (soft, minced food) may mean that the tumour has thickened, and he may benefit from having a stent placed in the esophagus. This all sounded scary, but good, but today my hubby's oxygen levels have dropped ... we're not sure why ... it maybe related to the infection he has at the site where the tube went into his lung ... no one seems too sure. But anyway, due to his oxygen levels being low, he may not be able to have the endoscopy done, as the risks would be too high. I'm not sure where this leaves us with regard to his eating ...

I just want to take him home!

Our daughter arrived last Wednesday and it's been great having her for company during the drives to and from the hospital and at home during the short evening, before we fall exhausted into bed. She brought her dog, Charlie (a moodle - maltese x poodle), with her, and Wilson and him are having a great time! Our son arrives on Monday ... and then our family will be together for christmas ... just gotta get hubby out of the hospital!

Kids Visit

Our kids have just been here for five days ... it was awesome!

We're so lucky that they were able and prepared to take time away from their work and friends and spend some precious time with us. They flew in last Wednesday, and out again today.

This was the first time they'd met Wilson and all three appeared to get along well. Wilson is still stuck in the 'chewing everything in sight' stage, which isn't the best, but he's still very cute and growing bigger every day.

We're back

We had a great holiday in the Northern Territory!

The trip up in the train was fun and we had an awesome time seeing Uluru and Kata Tjata. A truly magickal area of Central Australia.

The weather in Darwin was fantastic ... with most day temps in the mid 30's and night temps high 20's. This is the weather we love and we were totally comfortable.

Our kids joined us in Darwin for a holiday and that was loads of fun. They're gorgous and we had a great time together ... sweet as!

The markets in Darwin are amazing and we loved the opportunity to watch the amazing sunsets, while sampling the foods of many countries, and being entertained by some amazing musicians. We spent time wandering round the markets and found some great goodies produced by very talented people.

It was great catching up with friends and we hope to get back up there again soon!

It was tough leaving, but we needed to get back to South Australia to see how our new house was progressing.

My hubby is still eating well and looks great!

Trip to the Northern Territory

On Wednesday we board The Ghan and travel to Alice Springs. We get off the train on Thursday and spend a night in Alice Springs. Then it's a coach ride to Uluru. It's about 400 km to Uluru, but the coach makes a few stops, including one at a camel farm, and about 5 1/2 hours later we'll arrive at Uluru.

We're staying for two nights at Uluru, so we can get some major cultural experiences. On the first night, we're doing the Sounds of Silence experience. Then early the next morning we're doing the Sunrise and Base Walk.

On Saturday a coach will return us the 400 km to Alice Springs, where we stay the night. On the Sunday we will board the next Ghan and travel to Katherine. After a few hours to do some tourist stuff, it's back on the Ghan to Darwin.

We arrive in Darwin on the Tuesday, mid afternoon.

Our kids fly in from Sydney on Wednesday.

On Thursday we hope to go the Mindel Markets.

On Friday Merv is hoping to take the kids Reef Fishing.

Then hopefully on Saturday it will be a ride down the Adelaide River, doing a Jumping Crocodile Cruise.

Late Saturday night, some more friends arrive and Sunday will probably be a rest day with maybe a visit to some markets.

Our kids fly back to Sydney at 1.40 am on Monday morning ... very early, but it means they're back home in time to go to work.

The rest of our time will be spent chilling with friends, visiting markets, eating out and for my hubby to do as much fishing as he can. My hubby and a friend are planning a barramundi fishing adventure on the Daly River. They will have a guide with them, so here's to it being a load of fun.

We haven't bought return tickets, but expect to fly back after about a three week break.

Planning trip to Darwin

My hubby is feeling good and is eating well ... very important with the type of cancer he has.

So now we're planning our train trip to Darwin, plus organising our kids to fly to Darwin to spend some time with us!

Can't wait to see them both, and as they've not been to Darwin before, I'm sure this will be a fun time for them also.

My hubby is planning to take them fishing and we'll all do the Market thing ...which Darwin is so great at. Plus we'll take them to see the crocodile's jumping ... which is a great trip on the Adelaide River.

We are back

We had a great five days in Sydney with our kids, then it was off to New Zealand.

We arrived at the same time as a storm 'hit' the North Island and there was plenty of 'fat' NZ rain landing on our island ... the South Island.

We flew into Christchurch and spent a night with my hubby's bro and step bro. Then to Ashburton for lunch with an Aunty and Uncle of my hubby. Spent two nights in Waimate visiting my parents, bro and sis. Then to Moeraki to my girlfriends for the night, plus a stop in Oamaru to catch up with a couple of my hubby's Aunties. Next to Mosgiel for four nights with my hubby's Mum.

We had many gatherings with family and friends, including a 'live wake' with around 50 people. Friends organised this, and invited between 20-30 of my hubby's past work and hockey friends. Seems like the news got out and many more made the effort to call in. It was an emotional time, but exciting to see so many friends in one place.

Next we flew from Dunedin to Wellington and spent a night with an awesome couple we met when we lived in Fiji. Then a friend picked us up and drove us to his home in Hastings. Then a day trip to Wairoa to have lunch with the Mum's of two special friends. This was a great time, plus my hubby and I shared our first 'boil up pie' ... and it was good!

Next our friend drove us to Auckland, where a girlfriend of mine from Fiji joined us for tea, for our last night in New Zealand.

Flying Business Class was fun ... loads of leg room, good drinks, food and service!

Planning our Trip Home

It's been 25 days since we were told that my hubby's cancer is terminal. It's consuming and I'm finding that difficult to cope with.

Our daughter has been staying, while she recovers from her back surgery. She's returning home, when we fly to Sydney this Wednesday. I know already that I will miss her something wicked, when we return from NZ.

We have a HUGE few days planned before we fly to New Zealand.

We're flying to Sydney on Wednesday and my hubby is going to a Trade Show on the Thursday. He wasn't going to bother, but he's been getting phone calls from people he's worked with over the years, who want to see him, and this is a good opportunity to do that. Friday and Saturday will be spent with our kids, and that includes going to the Bledisloe Cup Rugby Union game on Saturday to watch our much loved All Blacks play Australia at our favourite sport!

We're staying at our favourite spot, overlooking the harbour ... so hopefully that will allow us time to refuel before our flight across the ocean.

My main wishes at this time are ... that my hubby will enjoy his time back in New Zealand, and that I will become strong and be able to support him better!

Visited our kids ...

Last weekend we both flew to be with our kids in Sydney.

Our daughter was having back surgery, so I was already booked to go over and spend time helping her. Now with the dreadful news we had just been given, we felt it was important for the four of us to be together, as this was a time of great sadness, but also of support for each other.

We had a sad but wonderful time together.

Our daughter's surgery went well and she's now joined us in South Aussie.

Our son had two days off work and didn't play or sing in any bands while we were visiting, so we were able to be together as much as possible.

Much grieving was started. Hard, but important.

Diagnosis

Never get sick around a long weekend ... or at least that's what my hubby's medical team kept saying as we waited for the results.

Finally a week after the biopsy was done, the Dr came to tell us that unfortunately the tumor was cancerous. It's quite large and they recommend shrinking it before considering surgery. One positive, it's appears to be a primary tumor, which means there's no signs of tumors else where in his body. It's recommended that a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy be used to shrink the tumor, then surgery to remove it ... if that's what we want. The surgery for this type of tumor is huge! It requires two surgeons, one working from the abdomen and the other from the chest. They remove the tumor, then stretch the stomach and the oesophagus to meet each other.

We were told that we have to make all decisions, as that cannot be done for us. We will have all the options explained, but it's up to us if we do any or some of them.

It was way to much to take in ... but at least we had a diagnosis and for that we were grateful.

The following morning, when his medical team arrived, my hubby was told he could go home. I was with him, as I wanted to hear if there was any more that could be explained, but we were told that the Oncologist would have more answers and hopefully we'd have an appointment with that person next week.

So more waiting ... but at least my hubby is home! He's still on fluids only, and he's been making veggie soups, custard, jelly and drinking the ensure and enlive the hospital gave us to take with us.

Hopefully we'll see an Oncologist this week!

Humps along the way ...

My hubby (of 28 years) is unwell. He's been unwell for quite some time, maybe six months or more, but I guess we always thought he'd heal, with rest and love, like his hockey injuries used to. Unfortunately this isn't a hockey injury and over the past couple of months (and weeks) it did become more and more obvious that this time, rest and love alone was not going to heal the issues. He's also lost 38 kilos, seven of them in the past week. It's good for him to have lost weight, but not in this way, or at this speed.

He was finding eating difficult and in particular bread and meat became impossible to eat. Then any foods that weren't moist, or were doughy and soft, had to be ruled out. Over the last few weeks his choices became even fewer and while I was in Sydney last week, he finally was unable to keep fluids down. When I returned to Adelaide Airport last Sunday he appeared as pale as a ghost and looked run down, exhausted and most unwell.

On Monday the doctor sent him to hospital. He was 'fed' two bags of bloods and put on IV fluids. On Tuesday he had a Cat Scan and unfortunately a shadow was found around the lower part of his oesophagus and upper stomach. All other organs were clear, but he needs to go to a hospital in Adelaide.

On Wednesday I took him to Adelaide and he was checked into the QEH. Today he had an endoscopy and now we have to wait for the results.

Zombie Flesh Eaters

My son and some of his friends in Sydney have formed a band. They describe it’s genre as ... Metal / Death Metal / Grindcore ... which all sounds a tad scary, but having spent a few hours at an Irrelevant show, when they toured Adelaide in 2007 and our son was acting manager and their merch guy ... or something like that ... I quickly realised they’re just all noise and the band is a bunch of sweeties!

I’m excited that he’s planning to write again and will get his creative juices flowing. When we lived in Fiji, he used to write reviews for music websites and mags most days. He became real good at getting demo’s from publicists, as he couldn’t buy the type of music he was passionate for, in Fiji.

I never tire of reading his work ... bias I know, but he has an earthy visual style, very similar to my own, just loads better!

Here’s the banner that the band want to advertise their MySpace ...

...too fast moving for my eyes, but I’m sure many will like it.

Here’s the pic I’m more comfortable with ...

My son has a zombie bride and groom tattooed on his feet ... and she’s similar, although not the same, as the bride.

There’s a demo song on the site ... and that’s my boy! I am concerned about his vocal cords, but my wish is that he’ll have fun and enjoy his passions!

Christmas 2007

We had an amazing time!

We flew to Sydney on 22 December and stayed at the Four Points Sheraton on Darling Harbour. That night our son joined us and we had a lovely time together ... which included a great meal in one of the many fabulous restaurants around the harbour.

The 23rd is our daughters birthday, so we took her for a day out to Taronga zoo. It was great to be able to go out as four adults and have so much fun! Our daughter's flatmate joined us, and we had a great day. That night we met up at the Star City Casino for a fabulous meal. Our son brought his girlfriend and my two nephews (my brother's sons) joined us. It was great seeing them, as all the next generation on my side of the family (mine and my brother's children) currently live in Sydney. We had a huge night.

On the 24th we chilled ... enjoying fine dining around the harbour and rests in our hotel room.

Christmas day ... well it arrived and Sydney was dull and cool. We wandered around the harbour for a while and found ourselves sitting in a cool breeze by the water with takeaway cups of coffee and tea. It was a bit like ... 'is this really Christmas?' ... but more was to come.

Next we walked to a train station ... and got lost. When we found a station, we were told to take the train on the yellow line ... which we did. We were soooooooooooooo proud, as we could easily see the stations we had to pass through to get to Westmead Children's Hospital, where our daughter is a nurse. We watched them pass ... until we realised that the last two weren't on the map ... damn! Then we realised this wasn't the right train and had taken a turn to the right, instead of the left. At the next station we got off, called a taxi and paid $30 to get to the hospital. It was great to see our daughter at work and spent time meeting other staff and being shown around the hospital. I loved the Japanese garden that children and family can sit in, as it has water moving gently around ... very peaceful.

When our daughter finished work, she drove us to our son's place and they both joined us in our hotel room for presents. Then it was to the hotel bar and then to a wonderful Christmas night meal ... it was fabulous.

On Boxing Day our son had a party at his flat, so we spent a few hours there, but decided to leave and let the 'real' partying begin. We chilled back at our hotel ... and enjoyed another night of fine dining at a restaurant on the harbour.

Our final day ... damn ... it always goes too fast, but we'd had a fantastic time. Our daughter picked us up and drove us to where our son works, so we could see him and his friends in action. Spent some time with him and then it was to the airport!

We arrived back to a heat wave in South Aussie ... phew it was hot with day after day over 40!

Our beautiful 10 year old Milo was thrilled to have us home!

January 2006

We had an awesome Christmas and New Year! Our Christmas Eve was particularly great as our family met with one of our nephews and we had dinner together at Darling Harbour. We'd not seen our nephew for over 11 year ... so it was a fantastic time.

New Year was wild in Albury in NSW ... we had a fantastic party and celebrated first for Fiji, then New Zealand, then round the states of Australia ... doing our best to remember who is and isn't on daylight saving etc. At 3 am we decided we'd done enough celebrating and found out beds!

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone who reads this a very merry christmas and a great 2006,!

We're off to our son's place in Sydney for Christmas ... 12 hours drive. Then to Albury, on the NSW/Victoria border, for new year! Should be fun!

All well with my mouth ... except for the lig on the 'wayward' tooth. It's fallen off a few times, but I'm trying to keep putting it back ok. Really strange!

Have a great holiday everyone!