G'DAY MATE

After a late night (remember - I'd slept 8 hours on the plane)....we woke to a beautiful day in Glenelg.  Dad and Andy went on a coffee run and we all just chilled.

My Haematologist appointment wasn't until 2pm so we did a run to Harbour Town (Me, Mum and Dad sat in the car while ANDY and Piper went for a shop looking for new runners), then we went to the Tennyson Centre. 

My Haematologist had come in especially to see me (legend) and has worked out a plan so I don't have to travel to Adelaide every 2 weeks.  Between he and my awesome local GP, we can do bloods every 2 weeks and they will work together re results. 

Confirming all that Dr F had told me, he was very thorough and suggested I lay low for a little while but to not get crazy about it,    Steer clear of sick people, crowds etc but relax at home and in a couple of weeks, start to do a job each day (out of the house)...avoiding crowds, etc.
I can do school drop off soon (staying in the car) but that's exciting (don't judge) !!

He confirmed my fears about all you Thailand, Bali, etc travellers but said that they could either go get checked out if they really wanted to but otherwise just wait a few weeks to see them.....so that's fine too as mentioned above, I'll be hibernating for a bit.

My legs (even as I type this today) are sooooo weak (again - think 10 times worse than before I left) so I am happy to be hanging around home for a couple of weeks in the hope that I can get some strength back before anyone sees me...cos I think you'll be shocked.    I'm going to do 'little exercises' just to wake up my muscles if nothing else. 

Mum and Dad think I'm walking better in that I'm not dropping my foot but I know within myself that I am SOOO weak (frustrating much)...but both Dr F and my Haem said this is because of chemo / blood levels / living in a 3m x 2m box for 30 days and NOT MS (which makes sense because of course I DON'T HAVE MS)!!  But I did see other patients walking out so much better so it IS frustrating.

My bloods are great/normal; I have a few medications to take; a LOT to learn about food; take my temp each day; LISTEN TO MY BODY (so hard); and I'm DOING IT!!  RECOVERY is absolutely as important as the procedure so I need to do it right! 

After doing some bloods, we drove home around 4pm Friday.  Isn't it crazy when you go away and then suddenly it's like you NEVER left!  We stopped at Tailem Bend (SO normal); the scenery was SO FAMILIAR...how can I have seriously just been away for 5 weeks and CHANGED MY LIFE SO COMPLETELY?!

Andy pulled over just near the airport.  I was thinking we were avoiding a Roo on the road....and then I saw the beautiful sign that Dad had made (and thanks to Milla also).   So MORE tears (and again now).

So....I'm sorry...but MY DAD beats your DAD.

Said sign is now in my backyard.  So special.

And that it.  I'm home!!!!

As promised, my little sis brought food yesterday but then (virtually) ran away...I'll hug her eventually!! :)  She'll pick up Piper tomorrow (tooting from the safety of the car)!! :) 

My big sis has been sick as has my niece so I'll see them in a few weeks...it's great how people 'get it'...very comforting. 

Poor Andy sneezed this morning and Piper had him masked up and "Aquimed" before he knew what was happening!  My poor dog Basil just looks at me through the glass door in total bafflement.....and the cat...well she's a cat - she just doesn't give two hoots.

Andy's gone to watch Bathurst with his Dad and Piper is playing with her cousin.  I will clean up the lunch mess and probably rest after that (again - SO frustrating).

School is back tomorrow so I'll make sure Piper's bag doesn't have 2 week old food in it (my bet is it does). 

I didn't think I'd be good at the "REST" thing....but I think I'll be fine.  These legs will ONLY do so much before they dummy-spit it at me.  But it's all good.  I'm so happy.  I don't have MS.  These legs will sort themselves out....I feel well...I had an amazing experience (and I mean the entire year)...I am so grateful to everyone....

I just now have to do THIS BIT (recovery) well as this is as important as everything else.  So I have my game face on and will do whatever I'm told to do or told not to do. 

I'll continue to blog if something of interest happens or if you have questions but I doubt it'll be daily..."Got up; had breakie; got Piper ready for school; meditated; did exercise; slept; had lunch/watched Ellen; cleaned up after lunch; slept; put stuff in slow cooker; slept; etc"... could get real tired real quick!

If you have questions - inbox me on Facebook and I will do my best to answer anything!

Thanks for reading so far.  My photo's have been RAW (and if you know me - you'll know that's been REALLY hard for me) but I wanted to be as honest as I could.