Lemons and Lemonade

You know the saying "When life gives you lemons you make lemonade" Well that is kinda of how I have felt ever since my surgery in December. It wasn't what I expected but I had to go on and do what I had to do to get healthy and my life back in order.

Today we were in the doctor's office and hubby was having his check up post surgery when we started chatting with the doctors nurse. She was asking me how I was liking my new job, and I had said to her well if I was there it would be nice. This lead into explaining to her what had happened. After our little chat hubby being who he is pipes up and said, if I ever needed an autopsy I already had the pattern in place and that they just needed to connect the dots. She looked at him wasn't quite sure what to say at first, but when she saw us smiling she laughed and told him he was pretty quick witted. Well that was like adding fuel to the fire he then says.....I should get a tattoo that says " In case of autopsy cut on dotted line" Ba ha ha.......You are to funny honey!!!!!!!

But truly, isn't life like that. Of course we could wallow in our own self pity, but what good would that do us? Not much good at all I think. Oh don't get me wrong there were times during my healing process that I was in tears, but those tears didn't get me anywhere. Nope, I decided that I was going to take control of my healing and not let it control me. They told me to make sure I walked every day so for the first 3 months that is exactly what I did. Snow, sleet, wind, rain, I was out there walking with my trusty companion Bert.

Each day I set a goal for myself. I would walk to the top of the drive and look down the road ahead, initially I wanted to make it to the end of the road and back, but it didn't take me to long to realize I had bitten off more than I could chew. But through trial and error I made my destinations. One foot in front of the other. I would eventually make it to the end of the road, then it was the next road and then the next. After that is was going down the hill and back....then came my stepper. I decided that I was going to see what I could do. So onto my stepper I went. The very first time I don't think I lasted more than 4 mins. before I got lightheaded and realized I needed to get off. Next time 10 mins, then 15 mins all the ways up to 45 mins. Of course starting off at the lower level. Today I did the stepper for 35 mins at level 5 Yippee! I have been out for 3 runs. I am able to comfortably run 6 km. I'm pretty pumped about that.

Last week I introduced a weight training program. I started off small, I am using a variety of weights and apparatus. Hubby and I converted one of our rooms into our exercise room, so we have the universal, the weight bench, my free weights, the exercise ball and my rubber bands....I put my a little stereo in there and I am good to go. The stepper is still in the office, but it will eventually end up in the room as well.

Anyhow, the point to all of this is that I could have kept the poor me hat on.....I could have sat on the couch and done nothing....I could have whined about how I have felt really isolated through this whole process, how I felt the medical field really abandoned me when I left the hospital,but what good would that have done me. I had to be my own advocate. I had to get myself onto the road to recovery. I still have a whole life ahead of me and I want to live that life to it's fullest. If there was one thing I learnt through this whole process, it's how fragile life truly is, in a HEART beat it can be taken away from you. So I say....it's a good thing I love lemonade.

Heads or Tails Tuesday

Well I haven't played this in a long time.....let me first say how much I love the variety of headers we can use for this meme....thanks Skittles. The theme/prompt for today,is:

HEADS - See
*OR*
TAILS - Sea

Make any kind of post using either "See" or "Sea" as your prompt. You can even use both. This is an easy one and allows for a lot of possibilities.

When I see the word "See" I think of "Seashells down by the Seashore". Which then prompts me to think about all the huge oyster shells I "See" by the "Sea". One day in particular hubby and I had been out wondering the beach when what should he "See" but this oyster by the "Sea" That foot that you "See" is a size 12. That's one big oyster that you "See" down by the "Sea"
If you would like to play along please check out Skittle's Heads or Tails home page for all the intstructions.

Man's best friend......

I have had a request to post a more recent picture of my dear dog Bert......which then got me thinking about my four legged friend and companion.

Bert is 4 years old. Hubby and I got him from the SPCA when he was 9 weeks old. He stole our hearts right from the get go. There he was cowering in the corner of his cage....hubby called him over...he had one ear the stood straight up and the other that flopped over...to us he was just so adorable. The previous owners had abandon the whole litter and were left in a terrible state...so our dear Bert was a SPCA rescue. We wanted him, we knew we could make a good home for him.

Bert when we brought him home

Bert grew really fast. The vet told us Bert is a Retriever, Labrador Mix. My hubby says he is part Retriever and Kangaroo. We get a funny stare when he says that....but Bert has always had such a spring in his step....he bounces. It's so funny to watch.

This is Bert at 4 months. He could just see in the back door.....I swear he was saying "Hey dad let me in, it's cold out here"

Bert as I said grew fast. But he didn't out grow the puppy stage as quickly. I remember one time we had shoes at the front door....I am not sure where we were but when we returned Bert had taken every shoe from the front doorway and put them outside. We lost a few shoes during that phase. Bert I swear had a shoe fetish. I can remember that once he got over the chewing the shoes, he would take one of my shoes and one of my husbands shoes and put them into his bed with him. We would wake up seeing Bert in his kennel and with one of our shoes just on the kennel door way.

Bert has always had a good temperament. Does what a dog is suppose to, the only time he barks is if someone is coming down the drive or to the door. He growls when he thinks he hears something outside....and more times than not he's been right on the mark. He has never been to a dog park. With 5 acres there is really no need to take him to a dog park. The down side to that is he doesn't get many opportunities to socialize with other dogs. Well, my in laws breed Yorkies so he has them to chase around the property. Mind you some days I swear it is the Yorkies chasing him.

We take him to the beach and on our road trips. He's great fun when I go for my walks and he really enjoys socializing. Hubby has trained him well. Bert comes when called, heals and follows direction. We rarely have to put him on leash...when we do, we do it more so for when we come to others who have a dog and we don't know how their dog will respond to Bert. Bert is the farthest thing from being aggressive, but because of his size I know people are intimidated by him.

Bert on guard......

About 18 months ago we noticed that dear Bert's nose was red and raw. We took him to the vet and she put him on medication. This never worked. We took him back, this time his eyes were also not looking good so back to the vet we went. She wanted to do some biopsies. We agreed. Bert had the biopsies done. Have you ever tried to get a dog the size of Bert into your vehicle while he is still dopey from the drugs and wearing one of those cone heads. Not easy thing to do. Poor Bert had to live with this cone on his head for 10 days. Poor Bert was nnocking into everything and scaring himself half to death.

The day came and Bert was to get his stitches out and we were to get the results of the biopsies. Turns out that our dear Bert has Discoid Lupus. He is very sensitive to weather changes and the vet told us that he needs to stay out of the sun and when it is cold to stay indoors. Well my goodness, Bert is not an indoor dog. Of course he is in on days when the weather is poor and during the nights...but generally he is outdoors. When it snows there is nothing more Bert likes to do but bury his nose in the snow!

Bert and his buddy Cooper(Golden Labrador)

So other than his Lupus Bert is good and staying pretty healthy and keeping us happy.

As time keeps Marching on.....

It certainly has been a busy time in our household. This month just seems to be flying by.

Hubby seems to be healing well from his surgeries. He is still on heavy duty doses of antibiotics for another two weeks and then he will see the surgeon.

Two days after his discharge from the hospital my niece and entourage arrived for the weekend....they had no sooner and left and I had to get the linens washed and rooms cleaned for my girls arriving on the Monday. They stayed until Wednesday and we had a wonderful visit. But of course their visit led to more laundry and well....you know. I love having company and I always say my door is open.....but it's a lot of work.

The rest of the week was spent try to speak with some in Service Canada regarding my Employment Insurance for Sick Benefits. Seems like they cut me off 7 weeks to early, and without any explanation. Have you ever tried to get through to a government agency? I am sure you have. They have these automated messages press this if you want to speak in English, this if you want to change your address..blah blah blah.....heaven forbid you miss the number you were suppose to hit....cause they either cut you off or you have to go right back to the beginning and listen to all the prompts all over again. I finally got smart and just pressed "0" and was put on the list for calls waiting for a customer representative......that's when I put the phone on speaker and go about doing my chores....if I didn't I would be sitting there for a very long time watching my nails grow.

My quest to find out what was wrong with my claim started on Tuesday....after my lengthy wait I spoke with a representative....she told me that they didn't have my doctor's certificate on file. I asked how that could be because I mailed it in with the other documents that they got and had on file.....I got the local fax number for the office closest to me and faxed it in right away.....this didn't resolve matters....I needed to speak to someone who could actually make the change to my records. The representative said that she would mark my file for someone to call me ....but they had 2 full business days to return my call which meant they had until the end of the business day on Thursday to call. I waited around fearful of missing their call, but something also told me that they would want an updated form from my GP so I had made an appointment for late Thursday afternoon. The way my luck has been running these days I figured they would call once I had left the house so I gave instructions to my hubby asking him if he could find out from them what they wanted from me in order to get my claim up and running again....I worried for nothing...they never called.

Friday morning bright and early I was on the phone yet again trying to resolve this situation. I went through the prompts pushed "0" put the phone on speaker and went about with my chores. Finally a friendly voice came on the phone....I explained my situation once again....she said that my file would be marked as urgent...but as protocol they had 2 business days to return my call. Well Friday ended with no follow up call. this now meant that I would have to wait until Monday to hear from someone.

Yesterday was a glorious sunny day, a little breezy but wonderful all the same. Hubby and I decided that we were going to go out and take Bert for a nice walk. Whilst we were getting ready, the phone rang....."Hello........." the voice on the other end said......"Ms. C this is Kate from Service Canada" my chin almost hit the floor. Since when do government agencies work on the weekend? Anyhow, we chatted, and as I figured they wanted something updated from my GP.....yippee for me that I had been proactive and got the updated doctors certificate...I told her I had it...I she was a little surprised by that, I said I could fax it to her right away, again she seemed surprised....she said she would stand by the fax and wait for it to come through. I got off the phone and faxed it STAT.....she called me right back told me she got it and that my claim had been re approved and that I was to file my next report. WOW I was impressed.....I couldn't believe it. Jokingly I shouted down to my husband " Hey honey we don't have to eat dog food for the next two weeks"

I desperately need to get back to work. I am so thankful for the EI sick benefits but in no way does it come near to what I was making nor covers our household expenses, and hence the credit cards are on fire. I know I am not alone here. With the economic times being what they are I know that there are many many people in the same boat.

I have my appointment with the specialist at the beginning of April and I am optimistic that I will be given the go ahead to start what we call a gradual return to work. I really am looking forward to getting back to work...not only from a financial aspect but I love what I do and I really do miss it.

Well, that pretty much sums up what's going on in my small world......how's life in yours?

March...out and about

It's been a crazy time in my household. Hubby ended up having emergency surgery for his arm last week. Actually he ended up having two surgeries within a three day period. I spent every day making the 120km trek to be with him in the hospital. Some days I was there 12hrs or more.....I just didn't want to leave his side. He is recovering well at home now. On massive dosage of antibiotics for 3 weeks and then follows up with the surgeon.

This past weekend I had my niece, her son, dog and friend come for a visit. We had a really nice time.....this time of year the herring are running and I know in previous years I have shared photos of the herring boats and all the action that takes place along the coastline during this time. The eagles, seagulls, seals, and sea lions are abundant. A place that the sea lions like to return to every year is called Fanny Bay. The sea lions like to congregate on the log booms. This year was no different.....they were abundant and huge...some of these sea lions weigh over 2000 lbs. The tide was out when we went to go see them and they were only about 100 feet away....I wouldn't want to live in Fanny Bay this time of year as the barking sounds of all these seals is very loud!!
The wind was blowing and it was rather chilly at the waters edge, so back into our vehicles we got. The adventure was not over yet, I took them to a couple of our favourite spots, Rosewall Creek, and my favourite spot up on the logging roads. Seeing as we both were driving 4 wheel vehicles I decided it wouldn't be back roading if we didn't try to make some jumps....here is a little clip of my niece and her friend making the jump...this footage doesn't really do it justice. We had to drive up a almost vertical hill, then jump a crevice that was about 6 feet wide and 10 feet deep.....it was such a rush!!!!

Comox Lake

My girls have been here since Monday and again we had to get out and about. This time we went up to Comox Lake. It is a lake as a result of a hydro dam....it is situated in the mountains and in the summer it is a very popular spot. One of the nice things about visiting Comox Lake is that you drive through historic Cumberland BC. Cumberland is a town which came to be as a result of coal mining. The mines have long since closed down, but there are many historic sites to see.

Not sure what they would have done if they had fallen in.....