A visit to the (operating) theatre

Going for an operation is a strange experience. At the back of my mind (well actually at the front of my mind!) was the thought that I might not wake up again. So I wrote letters to Jamie, Ally and Davie just in case. I actually started these a couple of years ago and saved them in my phone so all I needed to do was update them. I also wrote an email to James, and then I felt ready to face the operation. 

The morning of the operation (Friday) wasn't fun. I had all my check ups on Thursday and was then sent home for the night. It was nice to be home but the next morning we had to go in to Gartnavel very early - for 7.30 a.m. and by this time I was very nervous. Everyone is very pleasant at the eye infirmary but there always seems to be a wee bit of confusion about what happens when! So first I was sent downstairs then back up to the ward and then back downstairs to the pre op area. Although I didn't have to wait there long, it was a scary time of anticipation for me, and I was almost relieved when I was wheeled through to get on with it. The anaesthetist was great; kind and reassuring - and efficient. She said that the first injection was a really strong painkiller, and the second was like a big glass of wine - and that's all I remember until I woke up in the recovery area with a huge patch over my eye! Back in the ward I then had to lie on my front for four hours. 

Meanwhile in the outside world there was heavy snowfall in the afternoon so it took James, Ally, Davie and Cat more than an hour to drive over to visit me, and the same to drive back. The highlight of visiting time was Davie fainting when we talked about what happened during the operation! He slumped sideways onto Ally's lap, who at first thought he was joking but then realised he had really fainted! 

It was lovely to see them and Jamie texted from his holiday. I felt lucky.

Snowy at Kirk O'Shotts

I have settled down a bit about my forthcoming surgery and have a list of questions to ask at my next appointment on Tuesday. I realise that the operation is vital or I will lose the sight in my eye, but I do want to know exactly what is going to happen before I get it done. And I have some arrangements to make and letters to write to my boys just in case things go wrong. 

So today has been a good day. It was rather wintry on our trip to Edinburgh to see Jamie; sleety on the way there and downright snowy on the way back. We went for lunch to Rollo - Stockbridge has so many nice restaurants, it's great. The three of us had such a pleasant time, chatting away. James promised to behave in Waitrose which we visited just before heading home. He managed not to rant about the price of the fruit but was unimpressed with the tasty and exotic dips that I bought for Heather and Ewan's visit tomorrow; we made a swift exit before his patience ran out!

A party in my eye

Just before Christmas I thought I was getting a migraine because I had visual disturbance in my left eye. My colleagues helpfully gave me various pills and potions and no headache developed. However to my puzzlement the visual disturbance continued over the next few days. It's like a kaleidoscope of floaters and tiny confetti-like colours around the edges of my vision, with an occasional bright light drifting upwards across the middle. My eye also feels kind of heavy.  A few days later it was Christmas so I decided to wait until after the holidays, and anyway I thought it might go away. But it has persisted so yesterday I phoned Carol and she told me I must come to see her and Craig straight away. I made an appointment for after school time today. 

Craig examined my eye, and then put drops in it and examined it again. It turns out that I have a detached retina. This is not a good thing. I have to go to the hospital tomorrow morning which is very inconvenient because of work but Carol and Craig said I must go and that I will need an operation. I really appreciate their skills and professionalism, they were really good to me and I was there for an hour and a half! I am feeling worried and not a happy girl this evening.

Out, out brief candle

We watched the last two episodes of Breaking Bad last night. The ending did not disappoint. I will miss watching it! When I went to bed I lay thinking about all of the characters and what had happened to them. 

Yesterday I started something called the 5K challenge - using an app on my phone. I have only done one session of twenty five minutes and I have to say that I absolutely loathed it! The training is done by a mixture of walking and running, and it was the running bits that I hated. My shins were in agony. The trouble is, I would like nothing better than to run - runners look so fit and free - but I have never enjoyed it and I suspect that I never will. We will see. I will at least try a couple more sessions. 

I had a lovely bath later. Davie gave me a magnificent box of bath balls for Christmas and I used one of them. It was a beautiful green colour and as it fizzed away the centre was revealed to be ruby red. It was mesmerising. And when it was all gone the surface of the bath was covered in flat patches of white foam - it looked like clouds.  

Something wicked this way comes

And so the holidays have ended the way they began; peacefully and happily. I feel as if I have been on holiday for a good while, and I do feel quite healthy and energetic, so I can't complain. Tom and Ruby continue to be great fun - this morning I had a long lie in bed while James, Ally and Cat were away hill-walking and the kittens were running absolutely wild around the house. I love it when they run sideways while leaping in the air. By the time I got downstairs, two little exhausted furry figures were lying asleep on their beds! When Jackie heard that we have kittens she and Noah popped round to see them. Noah loved them (they had woken up again ready for some mischief by this time) and played with them which of course they enjoyed mightily. 

Our wind blown hill walkers arrived back - they had been up which was all covered in snow and Ally had actually been blown off his feet at the top! We had dinner and a convivial evening with Grandma, and after she went home James and I watched an episode of Breaking Bad. It was tremendous. We now only have two episodes to go. At the weekend we were discussing with Heather and Ewan its Shakespearian qualities (and in my mind Walt's particular resemblance to Macbeth) and this episode (Series 5 episode 14) reinforced to me the Macbeth-like remnants of goodness and nobility still within Walter, despite everything. I can't wait to see the last two episodes.

Dodging the showers

As I write this, the rain is battering on the roof of the back room, making me feel very cosy indoors. The weather has been very mixed today, with huge clouds sweeping across, turning the sky dark and emptying large amounts of rain onto the city. This made us feel all the more fortunate that we managed to fit a good walk this afternoon with Heather and Ewan in between the showers. We went up Bar Hill to its Roman fort from where we could see the canal and the Campsies in the wintry sunshine and then descended and walked back along the canal to Auchenstarry; it took us an hour and a half. We could have walked a bit further but it started to rain and I thought that we shouldn't push our luck! After a well deserved coffee at the Boat House we went back to Heather and Ewan's to get changed and have a drink to toast the New Year.

We had an absolutely delicious curry at Rasoi; I so wish that we had such a great Indian restaurant near our house! We chatted and laughed about anything and everything, from books to travel to cat vasectomies and much more besides. A lovely day and evening.

A Guid New Year

So here we are in 2015! I had a lovely birthday on Hogmanay and was thoroughly pampered and treated all day. James brought me breakfast in bed then I had a relaxing long lie in bed and the kittens joined me for a snooze and a cuddle. We went out for lunch to Hutchesons in Merchant City, it was a lovely setting and we had a great time. The meal was good except for the boys' steaks which were seriously undercooked and had to be re-grilled! Cat and I were luckier with delicious gnocchi with broad beans and cashew nuts. Jamie sent flowers and phoned from Edinburgh and Ally & Davie made me an amazing personalised birthday card with a picture of me relaxing - they had even photo-shopped in a tiny bottle of J2O, my drink of choice!

We brought in the New Year at home and in the wee small hours I had rather an interesting journey around the south side to collect various celebratory young people from parties. And we had another phone call from Jamie who sounded very jolly at a party in Edinburgh!

Today was another family day. After a brisk and rainy walk around the neighbourhood we went for a late lunch in Troon with Grandma, Marjory, Forrest and the cousins. The meal at the Piersland Lodge was excellent and later we went back to Grandma's for a cup of tea; Marjory brought their new kitten Millie to meet us! She is so sweet, quite like Ruby in colouring but a bit bigger and fluffier. She was full of fun and playful.

And now I am quite tired after all of this pleasant socialising and am on my way to my comfy bed.