Happy Days

Greetings fellow travellers.

Put on a Happy Face

Despite the bad news that I've received this week, the last few days have been wonderful and full of nice surprises.

I find myself a happy man tonight.

Here are a few things that happened on Friday (16 MAY).

My extra four legs

My walker and shower chair were due back at Port Kembla hospital, their 3-month lease being up. I was hoping that I could pay another $50 and get them for another 3 months.

The young man on the phone was explaining that they only loaned the equipment for a 3 month period and renewing that was not an option. The stuff had to go back. Sighing as Port Kembla hospital is way south of here, on a hill, parking is shit, and my legs are still weak - thus the need for a walker in the first place!

I was about to hang up when the young man, who must have been reading my file, asked if I had been referred to the Palliative Care team. I said "yes." That had already happened when I got out of hospital 3 months ago.

"Oh that's alright," he said. Being connected to Palliative Care meant that I could keep the walker and shower chair on indefinite loan at no cost. "Until I no longer needed them." [insert ominous music]

Anyway ... fucking BONUS!

Not this guy! Too techie.

Then my lawn mower man popped in (lawns did not need doing) with a Mac laptop under his arm. Apparently he had been trying to send me some e-mails and they had bounced. I took a quick look and determined that he had mistyped my address. Simply fixed. He's not too tech saavy - but is trying. Fittest 70 year old I ever met though.

He said he wanted to get MS Word but didn't know how to go about it for the Mac. I took pity as I had the installer discs of a slightly older but perfectly serviceable version. I told him I'd fix that for him too. He took off for another job and I got out the discs. When he returned it was all installed and up and running. He was very happy.

We chatted about his need for an external backup drive. I told him what he needed, but he did seem somewhat confused. Anyway I said that I have to go and pick up some things from Officeworks (big office supply store). He asked if they had backup drives and I said, yes they were sure to. So he offered to drive me into Officeworks so I could get my stuff and help him choose what he needed.

When all that was done we headed to the checkout. I started to sort out what in my walker basket belonged to me, and find my wallet, when he stopped me. "I'll pay for it all," he said. "You've helped me so much it's the least I can do." So pay for it all he did, with a hearty thanks from me.

Strange nice little surprises sometimes come your way. The Universe isn't totally heartless and cold and fucked up.

Saturday (17 MAY) was even better. I had a visit from long-term (nearly 30 years) friends Keith and Sharyn. I had some copies of the first 6 episodes of the new Game of Thrones (don't ask me how I got them - that damned stork delivers more than babies ya know ;-)

Sharyn in particular was keen to watch a few episodes to start catching up with what was going on. Keith wasn't too fussed - I think he was sort of dragged along. We got all comfy in the lounge room with my big tele & surround sound. Dark chocolate and microwave-heated cashews appeared and we settled down. I'd seen them before, but I do like seeing things like that a 2nd time. You tend to pick up so much more.

I  expected we might get through 3 or 4 episodes, but in the end it was Keith who was the driving force - demanding every time that an episode finished that we go onto the next one. He really got into it.

 Go team Targaryen!

After the 4th, Sharyn had noticed that from time to time I'd been fading out and having little grandpa-naps. What with the radiation induced fatigue, my crap general health, and the cancer pain pills, it's easy enough for me to do - especially curled up in front of the TV. It was late afternoon and they were murmuring about leaving. I'll be honest, I didn't want them to go. The naps had refreshed me, and if we watched the last 2 episodes that I had, our marathon would only finish around 7:30.

They happily agreed to stay and onto the last 2 episodes we went. I was particularly keen to see the ending of episode 6 again. Peter Dinklage at his finest.

After that it was hugs all round and they headed back to Sydney,

I was in a fantastic mood! For the first time in ages I had done something NORMAL! Friends, snacks and a TV marathon. There was nothing medical involved at all.

It's sad that my life has become defined to some extent by all the medical stuff that I need to go through. People seem to think that someone who is chronically ill, as I am, swans about the house all day watching TV and wanking.

I've had nurses ask me "So, Stephen, how do you fill in your day?" Are ... you ... fucking ... KIDDING ME?

I have to keep this crazy cavalcade of events in iCal, and print off a monthly copy and put it on the fridge, just to know what I'm doing, what's going to get done to me, and when. There is a never an empty day. At the very least I have to get my dressings changed that keep the nasty cancerous areas on my head clean. Every day, without fail, by a Community Nurse. Then there is the round of meetings with my GP, Specialists, check-ups at the Hospital, scans, blood tests and so on.

So you can imagine that Saturday made me feel so alive.

So much so that I brought the long running saga of my family history book to an excellent conclusion.

I'll write about that, and a visit on Sunday from my closest friend Leigh, in some forthcoming posts. For now, the pain killers seem to be working well enough that I might attempt bed - again!

G'night.