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Back in Hospital

by steve, on December 5th, 2012 (Australia)

I woke up this morning feeling a lot better than yesterday. My throat pains have reduced significantly over night and I feel totally ready for whatever they throw at me next (except the hospital food. Chemo yes. Hospital food no).

I’m now back in Monash Hospital receiving my penultimate round of chemo. It feels a bit like business as usual although my mental faculties are miles above where they were when I was here previously which somehow changes how I’m seeing everything. We recognized all the staff and they recognized us. They all thought my hair (lack of it) looked good and commented on how different and well I was behaving (read it right – all of you). Each round, this time, comprises two intravenous dispensations of Cytarabine with a cocktail of drugs to smooth the way. Including my old favourite, Dextamethasone. Now that I’m pretty much on the ball mentally I can feel the battle going on. The chemo drug is knocking me down and the dex is picking me up. I may get some sleep tonight but there’s a nutter in the ward screaming every few seconds. At least I have a room to myself again but the walls aren’t thick enough. With a bit of luck we’ll be home tomorrow.

Helen stayed most of the day with me. She went out from time to time buying food. The hospital food is truly disgusting. It shows how sick I was that I actually liked it for the first three and a half chemos. Now with my continued tongue funniness there is nothing funny about the food. She also went to visit a couple we’ve come to know. Ken is the patient and his wife is always with him. We first met them here in this hospital and last met them at the Peter Mac while I was having RT and he was waiting to see a haematologist at the Monash Moorabbin clinic. Sadly his health has taken a nose dive and is getting worse each day. It’s now just a matter of time as he’s being moved to palliative care.

Helen and I spent some time chatting but I spent most of the day doing stuff on the laptop and Helen doing stuff on hers, reading and resting. Since the last blog yesterday evening here’s a taste of the things we accomplished, in no particular order:

  • Commented on tripadvisor.com on a few places we stayed at/visited on our Great Ocean Road trip.
  • Started inquiries in the UK as to the state of IT education and future direction (gathering thoughts for what Helen might do in the future)
  • Started our bucket list
  • Localized the laptop to UK from US – dates are now the right way around everywhere.
  • Talked to brokers to get dates for boat viewings in December
  • Decided we’re going back to Brisbane before Xmas and booked flights.
  • Confirmed appointment with Prof MacManus at PeterMac.
  • Merged all my TODO lists into one TODO list thus eliminating another TODO item off my main TODO list.
  • Sorted out all my OneNote notes cleaving off all current stuff into a few sections and putting old stuff out of sight
  • Kicked some financial planning in US and UK into a higher gear. Already managed to determine worst case scenarios are not going to happen and things are looking optimistic. Some actions already taken, more now planned.
  • Paid off some UK bills
  • Kicked off getting Tax Filing Number here in Australia to avoid further punitive 46.5% withholding rate on interest.
  • Chased a loose end with a recent property sale in the UK
  • Frequently checked for Nexus 4 availability in Australia. No luck. Hope dwindling of getting one before we leave.
  • Clarified and chased additional work to Dignity from two of our suppliers.
  • Paid the gas fitter.
  • Paid the gas inspector.
  • More follow up and knowledge gathering re boat electrics here in Australia.

Somehow at the end of all this my TODO list is now longer than when it started. Like working on the boat, whenever you start doing one project, another three spring up – mostly ideas of something else to do. This seems no different.

 

The nutter is still screaming and other patients have been yelling at him. Joy.

 

PS. I do realize the word ‘nutter’ is a poor word choice and may be seen as bad taste, for someone so ill, but it is important for one’s own sanity to distance oneself sometimes. Dark humour is one way of doing this.

Category: Australia | Here is my comment

Catching Up

by steve, on December 5th, 2012 (Anthem, Australia, Boree, True Companions)

Phew. A lot has happened over the last few days. Unfortunately it all coincided with the peak of my side effects from RT which has left me feeling pretty wiped out a lot of the time. So a combination of lack of time and lack of energy has delayed me blogging. Good news is I am feeling on the upswing and on a roll.

So a quick recap of what’s happened since last time.

Every day on the boat was filled with more work. Minor fixes, cleaning the boat/cupboards/surfaces/anything, head in bilges cleaning pump valves (to prevent water backfilling bilges), packing the last of our stuff to take to the UK, etc. Helen did far more than I as the Queensland heat and RT side effects would knock me out and I’d have to rest for a while. While not active I was often still busy setting up new brokers and the endless follow up on all the stuff going on in our lives right now. One of the things now behind us is the sale of the NJ rental property that all started just before we set sail in 2008. The whole thing has been a bit of a disaster financially but we’ve had some astounding help. If anyone is looking for a first class property manager in the Cranford area, contact us.

We did have some fun times too.

On Saturday we met up with Steve and Vickie from True Companions and Bert and Ingi from Boree. Steve and Vickie were interested in our lessons learned selling a boat here in Australia. Bert and Ingi have graciously agreed to keep an eye on Dignity while we’re out of Brisbane as they’re staying in the bay for some time. We all ended up going out for a Chinese meal together in the evening.

On Sunday Sam came over to pick up some of his stuff. We took him to his digs in Brisbane and then went out to watch the latest Bond movie. Afterwards we ate dinner together then sat chatting in the park by the South Bank. It all seemed familiar in a way to us and we wondered if it was the site of Expo ’88 which we visited when we were last in Australia nearly 25 years ago. Later research showed it was.

Monday was a bit frantic as we mistook our flight departure time for our leave the boat time. We realized this when waking up but had to cram a lot into the morning with 2-3 hours less than we’d planned for. In amongst all this we had the gas inspector round to certify our appliances. We are now fully certified – Yay.

Jack and Jan came over from Anthem to say goodbye. We were all quite sweaty as we were all working in the heat but it didn’t stop the hugs goodbye.

We returned our hire car and made it to the airport in good time arriving in Melbourne without delay. With good traffic we were back around 7pm local time in time to celebrate Russ’s birthday with their first BBQ of the summer.

Dignity, in a lot of ways, is now no longer our home. We still have a couple of options to return to her and take her out for a final sail. We haven’t done so, so far, due to lack of time mostly, but it would be nice to take the old girl out for a final spin sometime. We’ll see.

Back here in Melbourne life goes on. Yesterday I had a blood test to make sure I’m ok for the next chemo beating which starts midday today. The next two (and final two) sessions should be chemo lite. I imagine the treatment as rubbing down the gelcoat. We’re now on the final fine grained sandpaper hopefully leaving a nice smooth finish. Final MRI is now booked as our our final meetings with consultants from Monash and Peter Mac. The end, no sorry, the beginning of the rest of our lives is in sight.

Category: Anthem, Australia, Boree, True Companions | One reader has left a comment, here is mine

Conjunctions

by steve, on November 30th, 2012 (Australia, Boree)

After a gentle morning rise we had a light breakfast, last chats with Ella and a last, for now, conjunction with Bao. The drive back down to Brisbane was fairly easy but we took turns as we were both quite tired.

Back on the boat we both got back to work. Helen focused on replacing all shower hoses/heads/supports and cleaning up the boat while I got back to admin. There are a few minor things to do with the new rigging which I followed up on. We inspected the work the gas man had done. It looks pretty good except for the fact it looks like some gas oil was spilled onto the teak. It all came out with soap but it would have been better if he hadn’t caused the spills in the first place. I have now booked the gas inspector to come on Monday to certify the appliances.

Sadly our relationship with the broker who recently nearly sold Dignity has broken up. She had been truly helpful to us in the early phases to the point we had recommended her to friends of ours. She had given both Helen and I assurances that during the pre-sale sea trial Dignity would be handled professionally and would be covered for any damage. When we returned to Dignity last week we found evidence of dock collision and poor tying to the dock resulting in further minor damage to the boat. In the scheme of things this is trivial. Expecting her to step up to her prior assurances we have since experienced total denial of responsibility and ridiculous assertions of blame elsewhere. We have patiently given her a few opportunities to step up but she’s chosen to leave her reputation in the dirt. This was not about the money, it was about professionalism and trust. We have totally lost trust in her and requested the relationship be terminated.

More admin around chasing quotes for the boat sides to be cleaned / buffed and getting on board with another broker.

We’re building a list of minor things to fix. It’s all kind of business as usual for a boat but it will all help when we get another buyer in the door.

The day ended in style with a visit from Bert and Inge from Boree. We chewed the cud on the back deck with the usual lubricants before heading over to the clubhouse to eat dinner. I left the memory card out of the camera again!!! so we have no pics. We’ll just have to see them again before we go.

The day ended with another beautiful conjunction – the Moon passing by Jupiter.

Category: Australia, Boree | 2 readers have left comments, I want to comment too

Grandparenting with Ella & Bao

by steve, on November 29th, 2012 (Australia)

We’ve had a brilliant couple of days. Tuesday started off a bit busy. Around 7am the shipwright came round to inspect our stern light for a job we wanted done. He also took a look at some other issues to provide a quote for some work related to our ongoing conversation with a broker. Shortly after, the sail guys came over to fit the mainsail and measure up for the sail bag. Around 11am the gas fitter arrived to do the work to bring Dignity in line with Australian gas regulations.

We managed to get out before midday and shot up to the Sunshine Coast to visit Ella and Bao.

Family time is priceless. As a result of the recent offer being withdrawn we had more time to spare. In a lot of ways I’m happy we’ve had the extra time to get to know granddaughter Bao and her mum Ella some more.

We did not get out on Tuesday. We simply stayed in and chatted. Helen went to bed way before Ella and I who finally gave up on the evening around 2:30am.

This morning we went for a walk along the river outside of Ella’s parents’ home where we are staying. In the afternoon we went to Mooloolaba to walk beside the beach and to pick up some seafood and meat for an evening BBQ.

The BBQ turned out to be great. Bugs, prawns, oysters, steaks and sausages. And beer. We’ve been in Australia for 5 months and have finally managed a BBQ. Finally.

The pics say it all really. If you want to see what was keeping Bao amused on Ella’s HTC phone, click on the picture to the right.

Category: Australia | 2 readers have left comments, I want to comment too

Thanksgiving Weekend

by steve, on November 27th, 2012 (A Cappella, Anthem, Australia, Bristol Rose, Inspiration Lady)

Friday ended up a bit of a chore day. A lot of communications were required with the broker involved with the recent near sale. I am not yet ready to share the nature of these conversations as a little more time is needed to determine if it’s good or bad.

Friday evening we were joined by Sam. Helen had cleaned and packed the rest of his stuff as he has found a cheap and secure place in town. It was nice to spend time with him.

On Saturday we drove down to Trish and Rob’s home in Tumbulgum to join the crowd from Anthem, Inspiration Lady and A Cappella for a slightly delayed Thanksgiving Dinner complete with turkey, ham and all sorts of veg.

Trish and Rob are now CLODs (Cruisers Living On the Dirt). And what a fine piece of dirt they have. Set on 60 acres of land their home is idyllic. Much of the land is woodland with plenty of flower gardens. Their 11 year old home was built in a rustic style sitting on the hill with fine views across the valley.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner early afternoon and spent the evening chatting and playing cards. My swelling in my trachea and esophagus had become painful again so in the morning I tried half a dexamethasone tablet. I think it helped my symptoms but it certainly got me a bit euphoric. I chatted far too much. But at least I maxed every card hand I played. My side effects from the RT should peak soon and after then I can expect things to improve naturally.

The next day the other visitors left leaving Helen and I with Trish and Rob. I spent a few hours fixing our camera flash which had got jammed as a result of a recent accident. Their home felt like our home. We needed the escape.

Later, Rob and Trish took us around their property showing us many things not at first obvious. It was all very interesting and amazingly tranquil. It felt like walking around walking around private gardens / a private estate, which is unsurprising as that is what they’ve got.

After this we headed to the coast to where Rob spent time in his youth. A place called Fingle. We bought fish and chips and ate the at a small park by the ocean in the company of some of Australia’s amazing birds. We then walked along the beach and then along a path behind to where there was a rock formation aptly name the Giant’s Causeway.

Helen retired early in the evening leaving Trish, Rob and I chatting til late.

Despite intending to leave early in the morning, we eventually ended up heading back to Brisbane just before midday. We took a long way back to see the sights.

Back on the boat we finally got back in contact with the gas man who will be round tomorrow to bring our galley up to Ozzy standards. Communications with the broker resumed with mixed results.

This evening we had a left over turkey curry followed by a TV show. Great.

Category: A Cappella, Anthem, Australia, Bristol Rose, Inspiration Lady | Here is my comment
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