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  • Post 20011102

    02/11/01, 05:52

    I’m starting to grasp what the comments about feeling like a lolly-on-a-stick were about….. Anyway, so in the end i had a second dose of morphine ‘cos otherwise I’d really have not got any sleep at all – it’s just above my able to cope threshold.

    One thing that is driving me insane is the fact I’ve run out of water but can’t reach the sodding “call an assistant” bell, so I think I’m going to have to call a nurse. I tried swiping for it with a bottle of lime but it wasn’t having any of it….


    02/11/01, 06:36

    ’ve got to lift yourself up from the ground

    #’cos it’s a strange world dragging you down

    Although, “She’s a good girl” is probably a more appropriate choice.. I’ve realised why the iPAQ has such problems with some of my writing – it’s ‘cos I’m a very lazy writer. A lot of my letters are formed from a single unidirectional stroke (for example my r is drawn from the bottom up which seems to result in either an i or a n). Aah well.

    Anyway, Mike Royle’s going to be popping in at about 8ish I’m told….and I’ve started to doze off again so I’m going to stop writing in a bit.

    Currently there’s this enormous sense of anticipation – which I probably should try to loose – I don’t want to end up feeling disappointed – although knowing that my body is actually the way I think it should be for the first time in 23 years…..vell that’s hard not to be excited about!


    02/11/01, 10:50

    One down (drip), 3 to go…


    02/11/01, 14:40

    Well, I’ve been sat up somewhat which has helped enormously with my back [#My mission drive, to open my eyes to all the shite you say]. They still seem fairly unwilling to give me much in the way of effective painkillers.

    Possibly because all they can give me is morphine which I don’t want. As kira said it makes me go away – not the pain. It also seem likely that my drip “tissued” which has not helped my left arm.

    On the other hand [#Laugh when he jokes, him when he chokes] it has at least been taken out which is good. It appears that I’m drinking enough…..thankfully!

    Mr Royle seems happy with my progress – which is good….Gah I’m tired again…just came over me like a wave.

    Anyway – I’m going to have my tea….


    02/11/01, 15:49

    OW! fu*king lolly-on-a-stick….ouch.



    Kate E

  • Post 20011101

    01/11/01, 06:26

    10 minutes before pre-med begins….sort of nervous anticipation. The item in question has returned to it’s smallest “normal” size – about 21/2” – which makes me a bit worried about the possible results.

    So, here I sit in a gown and paper knickers awaiting the nurse…hungry and nervous as hell…..


    01/11/01, 19:29

    Well, I’m back out and getting some very odd sensations from down below. Apparently it went well – and apart from some major backpain for which I was given a big dose of morpine earlier (although later found that rolling me onto my side for a bit really helped) I’m okay….:-)



    Kate E

  • Post 20011031

    31/10/01, 11:46

    Well its been an incredibly stressful few days and well, I’m terrified that when I come out one of my closest friends – no, she’s more than that. She’s someone I love…will be dead.

    I’m trying not to think about that. To paraphrase Lauren – I don’t half pick them…

    Anyway – moving away from that…I’m actually in hospital now; the nerves are quite definately here in force. Basically my brain isnt working very well now – it’s all occupied with one thought pretty much. I guess thats fairly unsurprising.

    This ward seems to be mostly full of old people which I find a bit odd….

    Aaaanyway….I think that’ll do…


    31/10/01, 12:09

    Well, bloods been taken for testing and the picolax has been taken….okay now I’m *really* nervous!


    31/10/01, 12:50

    Well, I’ve just had an amusing lunch – jelly, sorbet and black tea. It seems a bit odd to eat having just taken something whos express purpose is to empty me of food…

    One thing which is bugging me is that I dont really know what’s happening. I’ve never been in hospital myself before and I could really do with someone saying: “Well at about x o’clock this is going to happen, then at y o’clock that’ll happen”, etc. etc.

    Anyway, listening to elastica (how could they split up?) and waiting for the picolax to kick in…..


    31/10/01, 13.00

    da da

    da da

    da da

    I don’t love you

    (#da da da)

    You don’t love me…


    31/10/01, 13:45

    Well, the picolax has started working…now. Which is err…fun…hrm. And I’ve had a visit from our Mike….checking that I’m sure…

    Mostly I’m bored atm. And it’s only going to get worse! But I’m saving the magazines for afterwards….so atm it’s daytime radio/TV….

    Never did get to get a photo of me by the “Keep off the groynes” signs….


    31/10/01, 15:29

    Help me, I’m trapped in a holiday inn!


    31/10/01, 19:26

    So, it’s now half seven; and I took the picolax just after midday and I’m still going to the loo! Bearing in mind that I had my usual reaction to stress last night and I didn’t have any breakfast you’d not think I’d have so much in me…well that said I don’t actually have anything in me….but I still need the loo…

    Anyway I managed to get a nice bath in and, well, shave the required area, shall we say.

    …..back to the bathoom…


    31/10/01, 19:55

    Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch (just had an injection of anti-coagulent), ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch (it’s like a sodding bee sting only itchier), ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch.


    31/10/01, 21:14

    Well, I’m actually quite tired so I’ll probably head off to sleep soon….I’m actually very nervous now – I know that this is what I want but the actual operation scares the sh*t out of me.

    As long as I could find things to occupy my mind I didn’t really worry but now the only thing left is sleep and then a shower.

    I’m still rather sore from the anti-coagulent – although I’m sure that’s nothing compared to what I’m going to be feeling like tomorrow night! I’m also in need of the loo again!

    Okay, this is scary, lying alone in a hospital miles from my loved ones (all of them). I suppose of them all Lauren is closest and she’s, what, about 80 miles away – I feel terribly alone. I could do with a hug to be honest….

    [Raoul & the Kings of Spain]. Incidentally, if anyone is considering the Matsui CD200 – Don’t! Although it essentially does what it says on the nasty cheap packaging – plays CDs – it doesn’t do it spectacularly well (ohh, just gotta love that hiss!) – it also feels as cheap as it actually is…. :-)

    Nuts – sleeping with people reminds me how much I like having someone to hold…makes sleeping alone again that bit harder….

    And possibly my final thought for the night – a lot of my friends are going to meet my parents for the first time when I’m incapacitated….is that a wise plan?

    Gah – another one….a huge hug to all my friends and my family who’ve supported me when I’ve been horribly flakey and a complete state…

    However much I try to play down what’s going on tomorrow – it’s still something I’ve waited my entire life for – it’s a big, scary thing…

    And at 8am tomorrow – it’ll be happening….

    and over by lunchtime – not that I’ll be getting any! Okay, now to sleep (yeah, right!).



    Kate E

  • Post 20011024

    24th October 2001, 13:45.

    Bugger….: I AM 60% GEEK.

    Nerd, Freak, Geek, Dweeb. Sound familiar?
    That’s okay, cause I will be the richest
    person at my 15th year high-school reunion.
    If a “con” isn’t happening that weekend.

    Take the GEEK Test at Fuali.com!

    Nuts, I didn’t think I’d come out that high….

    Anyway, stuff.

    Sorry, this might be a bit disjointed, I’ve got evil moodswings going on at
    the moment, and it’s driving me up the wall.

    I’m also a bit chilly, I should probably get a jumper, but I can’t be arsed
    right now. Half my clothes are in the wash….

    Bah, I’ve got so much to do in the next few days. I want to put the top-box
    back on my bike so Mikes welding it back together….I dunno how long it’ll
    last, and it’s going to look as ropey as hell, but never mind….

    *sigh* I wish I’d not fucked up that bike test.

    I don’t even know what I did wrong, apart from be too quick, maybe, when I
    did my stop on the emergency stop. I don’t know. *sigh*

    3 f*cking minor faults, I’ll never be that good on the test again. That’s if
    I make it to the next test, and don’t wrap the bike around a tree traveling up
    the A38 in midwinter. Well. We’ll see.

    I don’t really know what I’m saying here, there’s so much stuff going on in
    my head. I don’t seem to be able to hold a thought at all.

    Anyway, when I got back from home I did a quick bit of shopping to get some
    odds and sods for the op. Basically, clothes which aren’t disintegrating,
    particularly knickers which aren’t disintegrating. So, now I’ve got clothes at
    least, clothes and a portable CD player. I need a little CD holdery-thing, which
    I’ll probably go and get this weekend.

    I’ve been adding to the about me section. Just a bit. A couple of photos.
    Well, three. I saved the one of my dad sunbathing with a pyramid on his nose for
    myself. I’ve not saved this one though: here which is in fact the first
    and only pack of condoms I’ve had. It was given to me, just before my
    16th birthday, with a talk about safe sex. It’s sat in my draw in Hemel, in
    Eastbury, in Birmingham….and timed out, because not being physically *capable*
    of having sex, well, not in the traditional sense (I guess there are various
    forms of
    sex which I could have been involved in….). But anyway, yes, they timed out,
    and I located them in my draw, where they’re still sat….

    Anyway, it amused me slightly. These people saying “take care when you’re
    having sex”….

    I keep thinking I ought to at least have some doubts in my mind. I always
    have some doubts in my mind about things, but I just don’t. What about? The
    surgery of course. I know it’s what I want, it’s what I’ve always wanted,
    well, no that’s not strictly true, it’s what I’ve always wanted since I grasped
    that I could have it. I mean, I’d prefer to be a completely functional female,
    but this is the nearest I’m going to get so it’ll have to do.

    Of course it hurts that I’m not going to have kids, although my experiences
    with John just proved what I thought, I’m not really a kid person, I don’t
    really know what to do/say with babies. The only thing which bothers me at all
    is the actual fact that I’m going in to have surgery – particularly with such a
    long run of bad luck preceding it.

    But, well, I’ll just have to see how it comes out.

    And hope that it’s okay.

    I’ve not talked about my dad much in this one, you may have noticed. This is
    because there’s currently not much to say. They’re going to try a procedure to
    make him more comfortable, and then it’s all down to holistic medicine, really.
    They don’t think the chemotherapy’s going to do much for him.

    Just kind of slow the cancer down a bit.

    *sigh*

    But he’s a strong bloke, and I *hope* his immune system will manage to push
    this into remission, with a bit of help.

    Anyway, this is my dad, here. Well,
    it’s my mum and my dad…..You know, until yesterday I didn’t know that photo
    even existed…

    anyway.



    Kate E

  • Post 20011022

    22/10/01, 09:44

    I wish I was dead.

    Nothing I do goes right, everything I touch turns to shit.

    I can’t, incidentally, retake my test before the 10 days are up – reardless of anything else that might be happening, so I’ll probably end up wrapped around a tree on some ungritted A road sometime early next year.

    Never mind.

    k’s got a new bike, which is cool, but spells the end of me going on any rideouts. *sigh*. It was hard enough to keep up with her on the ETZ – but it was possible at least.

    oh well, maybe I should sell the bike. It’s not like I get any pleasure out of my commute and since I’m never going to get a full licence, and I can’t go on rideouts with anyone (ride your own ride is fine advice, and I do but when you only ever see people at the beginning and end of the ride there’s just no point (believe me, I know, I’ve been on one ride like that and I don’t intend to repeat the experience)).

    Well, it probably makes no odds, given how things have been going recently it’s obvious that the world wants rid of me. It’ll get bored and kill me off soon.



    Kate E

  • Post 20011021

    21st October 2001, 22:40.

    I’ve just got back from the hospital, seeing my dad…..it’s very hard to even begin to be positive, but; but with cancer the very strangest things seem to work. Stuff which I have no understanding of how it could help has been found to help.

    So.

    The one thing I can actually *do* to help him is to do visualisation. This has been found, by various cancer centres to help people with cancer. I don’t understand how or why. But it’s the one thing I can do.

    To explain. What you (or actually I) have to do is to visualise the bodys fight against the cancer. It’s in the bowel, well, the main load is. And what I’m visualising, at my fathers request, is the bowel slowly being clensed of cancer. The body fighting this grey mass which has enveloped so very much of him, and beating it back. Slowly.

    Why does this help? I don’t know. Does it help? Well, some people say it does, and frankly I’d do anything right now to keep my father.

    If any of you fancy doing some visulisation…..please do….



    Kate E

  • Post 20011020

    20/10/01, 01:23

    I dont think that at any point today any two parts of my brain have ag eed on what mood I’m in.

    It’s like being in hell only without the logic. I nearly ended up dead thanks to my complete lack of self presrvation.

    One thing I hate is sleeping alone. There’s no real cure for that in my case tho’…



    Kate E

  • Post 20011019

    19/10/01, 08:17

    I don’t know what to do. Everytime something good has happened recently it’s been a prelude to something bad. Like me making it across Bristol to pick up the petrol tank and then back to the garage in less than an hour – during rush hour…..was a prelude to discovering that my car was f*cked. Or my bike actually working on the day of my bike test – prelude to failing it – like every other test.

    My dad getting a date for his operation that quickly – then finding out that it was inoperable.

    I just can’t cope anymore – it’s just too much for me.

    We’re meant to be having a party tomorrow night but I might just disappear – I don’t want to drag every one down to my level.

    Another question arises. How do I get to my op? I don’t want my mum leaving my dad although she’s determined to come and see me…. But atm I’ve got no transport down there…



    Kate E

  • Post 20011018

    18/10/01, 21:01.

    Well, Rachel just guessed that I was asleep – which I’m obviously not – either that or I’m very good at writins in my sleep. This is one of those times where I’m not sure if I want to be alone.

    But I don’t want to go and depress everyone else so I’ll stay here for the time being.

    ‘s odd being able to put down my thoughts at any time – one of the things which has always got in the way of my diary entries has been the inability to just jot down thoughts…

    Question. Why does crying leave me with a stinking headache?

    Question. Why does the iPAQ have such trouble with: h, g & r?

    *sigh*

    My head seems to have become a container for pain.



    Kate E

  • Post 20011012

    12th October 2001, 10:26

    You’d think I’d’ve learned by now, wouldn’t you. I mean, it’s happened every
    time I’ve ever bought something expensive on the basis that there’s nothing I’m
    expecting to need to do that’s expensive, and that I’m thinking “oh, I’ve had a
    fairly quiet month”.

    And then, lo, as soon as I’ve spent the money something incredibly expensive
    happens. It happened when I bought the PC, it happened when I bought the hdd for
    the RiscPC, it happened when I bought the hdd for the A440, it happens every
    fucking time.

    *sigh*

    And lo, it happened again.

    I buy an iPaq, and….yes….my car breaks down.

    The shit in the petrol tank problem has reared its head again. So that was 100 quid down the drain 2 years ago, and it’s going to be another
    130 quid or so this year. At least this time, I’m going to get a new tank.
    Albeit a pattern part.

    But of course, I’m meant to be taking my dad to the hospital on Sunday. So,
    I’m going to have to fix my bike because there’s no way on this planet that I’m
    doing a 120 mile round trip in a car which packs up every 15 miles or so.

    *sigh*



    Kate E