Happy Birthday you Silly Yak!

I got something totally amazing for my birthday.   You'll never guess what, so I'll just blurt it out and tell you.  I got coeliac disease!  Woot Woo!!!

Well it wasn't really for my birthday. Like as in it wasn't wrapped up or anything.   Maybe I should explain.... Since my return to work in mid April after Radioactive Ablation in February 2013 I have never felt well.  Never felt right. Never felt like I did before the whole cancer thing.  I was not just feeling physically unwell, but I had a poor work attitude and my moods were less than pleasant.   I had no energy and so in mid september I began seeing a psychologist and my GP on a very regular basis to try and work out what the heck was going on.  Well it has taken some months, untold blood tests, examinations and poking and prodding and chatting to finally get a preliminary finding that I am a coeliac.  Gluten intolerant. An auto immune disease where the villi in my intestine have decided they no longer wish to absorb any iron or vitamin B12 I ingest.  They have shut up shop and will not be nice to me until I cease consuming the bits they don't like.

Now this is a preliminary diagnosis only.  I have been referred to a gastroenterologist who will do a small intestine biopsy to confirm what the Doctor has surmised. Even though I am not fussed on yet another procedure, I do want confirmation one way or the other. So its back to hospital in February.

So what does being a coeliac mean.   Well it means that a toasted sourdough and a beer are out of the question if I want to feel good!!!   In more technical terms it means that gluten, the protein found in wheat, rye and barley is toxic to me.  At this stage I don't know a great deal more about it all, but I expect that to change soon enough! I did investigate the gluten free section of the supermarket this morning and was pretty impressed with the range of items available.  I was unimpressed that a small box of "corn flake" style breakfast cereal was nearly $7 a box!  It does explain why the British Government provide "prescriptions" for subsidised food for coeliacs.  I'm sure I'll figure out the food options though.  I can't see too many changes for my lunches and dinners, but I am a weetbix or oats girl at beakky and that will be an issue!   Oats themselves are fine, but they are usually processed in the same machinery as wheat and apparently that's a no no.

So there is a steep learning curve ahead of me, but I am hopeful that I will begin to feel back to normal soon.  It's been a long hard struggle. And at least it is not another cancer, which is what the Doc suspected from the start!

Next birthday I want something WRAPPED!!!  Thanks in advance!

UPDATE  19 February 2014 :-   The small intestine biopsy was done on 29 January and results were given today.  I am NOT a Coeliac. Nor is it another cancer, in fact they do not know what the problem is, but they are still working on it and I can't ask for more than that.   So I'm back on the sourdough and beer but along the way I learnt how hard it can be for a coeliac and how much wheat is in the everyday food we eat.  Ice cream as an example....  who would have thought ice cream and ice blocks would have wheat in it.  My hat goes off to every coeliac.  It's not an easy life.

My 40th!!!

Yep, My 40th blog post.  If you thought it was my 40th birthday you are in the wrong millennium and probably need to seek out a trustworthy optometrist !!!  I don't even remember my 40th to be honest.  Never paid much attention to the whole counting off the years thing.  Sure, I love the cake, but living in the land of plenty we can have cake whenever we want!  So nope, not 40th birthday .... 40th blog post.

3000 views too, well actually a chunk over 3000, whoodathunkit!!!

So what do I use my blog for?   That's an interesting question that I'm not sure I have an answer to.  Most of the posts for 2012 were about me.   Me me me!! It's all about me,  Me being sick and me feeling better and I hope that someone who is diagnosed with Papillary Carcinoma (Hurthle Cell variant) can read up and see that the treatment on the whole is pretty good.  One post that received a heap of viewers was the one about no longer being able to be an organ donor, but Sharm came forward and took my place in that line!  I thank her for that!!  Organ and blood donation are poorly patronised in Oz and many many people die waiting for a donation that never comes.  If you aren't registered..... give it some thought.  It really is the last thing you will ever do.

Prior to getting cancer I think my blog was mostly about my photos.  A place to share the ones I liked and to be able to view them on a black background instead of the usual flickr white.

I'm not sure who in Trinidad is reading this, but they are an avid regular reader! Hello from me!
The stats functions with Blogger is interesting.  It can tell me whether the viewer is a Mac or PC user, what browser they use, what page they look at first and if they then move to another.  I have no idea why i need to know that stuff, but it is interesting.  I guess if the blog was a commercial venture then that kind of info would be important. But it isn't, so it's not!

I do read a few blogs too.  Ms Moo has a couple of interesting ones happening.  Now you know I am crap with links, but I shall try. http://lilmsright.blogspot.com.au/ Homespun Field is a goodie too.  http://homespunfield.blogspot.com.au/ and my mate Rebecca has a newie happening too at http://hambyhomeinstead.blogspot.com.au/ .  There is a top blogging magazine called "Artful Blogging". It is from the USA and is often hard to acquire, but there are heaps of great blogging links in it.  I'm trying to get my sister to blog. She has an obsession with quilts and quilting, dolls and dolls houses and I'm pretty sure there a a number of other freaky people worldwide into that kinda stuff.

No point blogging without a photo or two to make the reading worthwhile, so here's a couple I was messing about with earlier.  I do like a car, but real ones are better!

How things have changed!!!

After the 24 November post (yeah I would link it here if I knew how) where I whinged and moaned about being a misery and how it had to change..... well vote 1 for the power of positive thinking. A complete turnaround! Happy, cheery and bright. Looking at the positives and a great future.

Was totally surprised to see so many people had viewed the blog. Then I found Andrew had tweeted a link. I don't tweet, so that was a bit weird and very comforting. Over 2000 views!! So many people emailed and texted me. Poor old Scotty took me for coffee 3 times in the one week. He's confident now I am over the bad stuff.....and I am too. So its all good and looking up!

Other great stuff happened over the fortnight too. My No.1 Nephew was promoted to Able Seaman. Not as awesome as when he was awarded his Dolphins, but great news for his career as a submariner in Fremantle. No.2 Nephew has finally cracked an apprenticeship. The one he wanted, with a big company up the Valley beating hundreds of others for the position. I had yet another birthday which was fun. LOTS of cake was consumed!!! I returned to work and slipped right in as if nothing had changed. Work is great fun. I am surrounded by awesome people.

There were a couple of tragic moments this week though. My mate Jenny came to the realisation that it was getting all too hard to come to work each day and applied for a medical discharge. She is fighting cancer and it has been a long battle for her. Later that same day a senior Officer, Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson was killed on duty. I didn't know him, but I know how his death affects all the people I work with. Both events show the strength of the policing family and how they come together during the bad times as well as the good. It also shows how professional they are. How they can arrest the alleged offender and remain calm and cool. They know they must remain professional, even when hurting, so that Justice can be done by the courts.

So that's the fortnight that has been. Summer has really hit with long hot days. The lawns are high and need some controlling, the veggies are growing madly but need some care. Christmas is just around the corner. Tree is up, all gifts bought, wrapped, labelled and under the tree. Even given out the first couple!!! 10 more days at work and then I have about 10 days off. Much as I hate to admit it, I do need the break!

Now what photos for this post....... CAKE of course!!!