life in the raw

Appearances can be Deceiving….

/ Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes / 29 Comments

When Milo was first carried into our world late one night just before Christmas, a tiny helpless kitten with the cutest smile and affectionate ways, we honestly thought he might bring a certain calmness to our lives. Something that has been missing since Merlin the magnificent passed away last summer.

I have to report that this has not been the case, not yet, anyway.

Milo is the naughtiest and fastest cat on the planet. He whizzes around the house, looking for trouble like a ninja turtle on speed. He constantly finds new ways to drive us mad, like shredding any paper or tissue he finds. He doesn’t like where we keep anything and rearranges everything. He pushes things off tables and worktops and hates the window blinds in the living room with a passion. One of these days, I expect to find them on the floor, along with all the other debris!

He is desperate to go outside and explore, but it will be a few weeks before that can happen. Besides, is our neighbourhood ready for him?

He intends to eat us out of hearth and home and finds any fingers fascinating and worth trying to catch with his claws, usually when you least expect it. But… like all young things, Milo is an angel when asleep. It’s a shame he is hell on wheels the rest of the time…

Not One of my Better Days…

/ Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes / 33 Comments

We waited nearly an hour in the waiting room before it was my turn to see a member of the cardiology team. I was a nervous wreck then, but I tried to answer his questions sensibly without rambling on.

After running a stethoscope over my chest and checking my swollen feet, he turned to the computer and brought up the images from the angiogram I had back in August. He studied these images for several minutes, allowing me to see them myself.

It was weird watching my blood travelling through the arteries. I saw the stent that had saved my life all those years ago.

The verdict was coming, but I didn’t want to hear it as I knew the next step would probably be a bypass, involving opening my ribs to get to the heart of the problem. Sorry about that; I couldn’t help it!

I didn’t fancy that much, even though, if successful, I would be back to normal and be okay. But I wasn’t prepared for what he did say.

My heart, apparently, was quite happy, as some of the other arteries had rallied around and taken over the job of the blocked one, supplying my ticker with the blood it needed. This is something that usually happens on the right side of the heart. He did add that this, although handy, was not ideal as they would prefer to fix the problem properly…

I took a deep breath and waited for him to continue.

… only not someone of my advancing years. But…

He looked puzzled when he said that, and there always has to be a but, doesn’t there?

My symptoms of severe fatigue and breathlessness, in his opinion, didn’t fit with my heart’s current state and could mean that something else was going on. He added that he would arrange for me to have a stress test, where they put my heart through hoops to see its reaction.

He seemed happy with his decision, but I wasn’t quite finished yet.

I had to ask the million-dollar question.

“If you do find anything, what will that mean?”

“Then we would be forced to operate…”

I hope I don’t have to wait four months for this appointment!

Listening to music has helped me to cope with all of this, so I wanted to share one of my favourites with you all…

Things that Matter… #HealthUpdate

/ Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes / 12 Comments

In a way, I thought this quotation to be quite significant for us, as rather than making a fuss about all the delays, we have been exercising patience. Luckily, this has paid off, and after months of radio silence, medical appointments have been raining down on us lately from all directions.

I finally received a follow-up appointment on Friday for my blocked cardiac artery. I was beginning to think they had decided, all things being considered due to the current state of the NHS, that my heart could manage on its own. After all, it has been over four months, and I am still here.

My sister now has checkups booked this week for her heart and thyroid, diabetes and iron, so, we have swapped one kind of waiting for another, but there should be some good news at the end!

We’re still kicking!

Macro Monday…

/ Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes / 12 Comments

Image by Markus Distelrath from Pixabay 

This will be a busy week, but I’m not complaining!

Long-awaited hospital appointments have all turned up this week for both of us, and fingers crossed it will be good news round…

Today is my turn, at the dentist… enough said…