Sadly, it seems, in her case, that pretty well all medications with serious enough pain reducing capabilities to take the pain in her leg away, also muck (block) up her digestive system, and some, like the liquid morphine variety, result in her throwing up on and off for the whole next day after taking it, so she is often quite reluctant to take anything at all, which results in some nights of very little sleep as she sits up, dangles her leg over the bed, massages it, and does pretty well anything she can think of to ease the pain so she can get to sleep. Occasionally she gets me up in the early hours to heat up a wheat bag which seems to help at times.
But look, I don't what to give you the impressions that life is living hell for her, as it is far from it. The problem really is irregular, and seems to pop up out of nowhere, and no matter how many times Mum thinks she has worked out the problem and how to best deal with it, the next time it occurs always proves her wrong. If you spoke to her right now as I write, she would tell you she is great, because she has just had a pretty good week, and a wonderful 81st birthday (yesterday, 26th), and I am very pleased to be able to share a few pics that highlight this.
I took the pic above on the first time since 2006 that Mum visited Babinda, the town where she and Dad lived for many years, and where my brothers and I grew up. It was also the first time she had been back there since losing her leg, and that fact did evoke some hesitation in her. But the occasion was an extremely positive and uplifting one, and any fear she may have been feeling was quickly melted away by the very nature of the visit.
You see, she had been invited by Dad's ex pharmacist business partner Fred Lizzio, who still runs the Munro Theatre in Babinda to watch (on Sunday 18th July) Andre Rieu (who always makes her feel wonderful) in a live-streamed concert from Maastricht in the Netherlands. Since being badly damaged in cyclone Larry, insurance payouts and government grants enabled the theatre to be repaired/upgraded with all the latest digital projection equipment, and it is now able to show movies in full 3D AND host live streaming events like this concert, via a satellite link.
On top of that, several friends new she was coming and came down to the theatre to see her before the show as well. From left, in the pic above, you can see her friend from Atherton, Meg, who had come with us at Mum's invitation, and then her Babinda friends May Jago to her left, Patsy and Chris Hannam behind her, and Betty and Wes Richardson to her right. Yep, I've written so much about the theatre, you'll probably have to scroll back up to see them . . . LOL! :)
One Sunday later, on the 25th July (the day before her birthday) we took Mum to the International Club in Atherton for a birthday lunch. From the left, in the pic above, we see Phil, Simon, Doris, Alison, Shellie, Harley, who were all there to celebrate Mum's 81st birthday, and the birthday girl, herself. Yep, I'm not in it 'cause I took the photo LOL! Naturally, there was a birthday cake . . .
The following day was a really wonderful day for Mum, as she was inundated with flower deliveries, cards arriving in the mail, a visit from a past Babinda neighbour, Pam Schultz, who shared lunch with us (forgot to get a pic), and a seemingly endless number of phone calls, resulting in her only complaint for the day . . . her hand going numb from holding the phone for so much of it LOL! She wanted a pic of all the flowers and cards so I gathered them all together, and took this one . . .
Well, that's it for this update. Did I forget anthing? Probably, but, you got the best of all that has unfolded up here at the Atherton Ackland's place since the last update, and so . . . until the next one . . . ciao :)
