1st November 2012
A long spell between postings due to the computer
giving up on us. Meanwhile Barry has
layed the paver path at the side and bottom of the vegie patch and Merry has
cleared heaps of lantana. Barry removed
the caravan external quartz halogen light as the globe had blown and replaced
it with a LED version and added a second one in conjunction with it. The lighting in the annex is not just twice
as effective but about 6 times as effect and is white light not yellowy, and we
will not need to plug the 240 light in anymore. He has also
replaced the plastic guide rail that the shower door slides on as the old one
had several splits in it which was reluctant to allow the door to slide. Unfortunately the only ones available in
Mackay are white were the original was grey like the rest of the shower recess,
but it works.
Barry has had a prostate biopsy and been cleared of cancer. However,
he is not out of the woods yet as he still has a severe liquid retention
problem, a bit like his memory as it allows plenty in but won’t let it out
again. As a result of that he has
elected to bite the bullet and have a T.U.R.P operation (rebore, like an old
engine) in a week’s time. This will
require a couple of days in hospital and then a long spell of nothing too
strenuous for quite a few weeks As a
result he has done some mowing, etc in readiness for the return of Mark and
Jeane a few days after he comes out of hospital.
7th November 2012
Barry has had his operation. and although still in
hospital is doing alright with no problems but hopes he never has to have the
spinal block anaesthetic again, Even
with having been pre-warned, the total lack of feeling and inability to move
the legs or toes, or feel them being touched, is a horrible experience. It only lasts a few hours but is enough to
get an idea of how some accident victims feel whilst they pray it not going to
be permanent. It has increased my
admiration for people like our friend Stu who have the mental strength to live through
it on a daily basis without complaint.
11th November 2012
Barry is now out of hospital and Mark and Jeane are
also home from their holiday, which relieves us of the property and chicken
minding responsibilities. Barry is
taking it easy but has admitted that the operation, whilst not exactly a stroll
in the park, was not as bad as it sounds, but fails to understand why at least
five doctors in Karratha didn’t make an issue of the need for this operation
about seven years ago despite having pocession of ultrasound pictures highlighting
the potential problem.
12th November 2012
Merry and Barry didn’t see Jeane or Mark in the late
afternoon yesterday as they both retreated to watch the test match on TV whilst
Jeane and Mark said their farewells to the other couples they had round for a
lunchtime BBQ. We found out today that
Jeane had chosen to walk down their 100 metre long driveway and at some point
had wandered off the drive and down the slope to check on some trees she
planted a while ago. In the process her
thongs had a tangle with something and dumped her damaging her right foot, and consequently
spent today resting it in bed.
12th November 2012
Jeane’s foot has improved but still restricting her
mobility which is really bad news for her as she is a very active person,
however, she managed to have her usual Wednesday Mah-jong session with her
girlfriends.
17th November 2012
Both Jeane and Barry have overcome their problems
although Barry still has to avoid lifting and anything strenuous for a few more
weeks. We had a trip into Mackay to
collect our outside TV from the warranty repair agent. It only took him five weeks to achieve a
result with it and even then it is a very crude warranty repair. He eventually hard wired the 12 volt cable
directly to the power board to eliminate the dubious plug and socket on the
back of the unit which Barry suggested when we first took it to him. He chose to order a new power board from
overseas that didn’t cure the problem and then tried to talk the manufacturers
into replacing the whole unit, which obviously failed. Fortunately this crude repair has given Barry
the opportunity to cut the 12volt cable and fit a socket to it and fitted a
plug to both the 240/12 volt adaptor cable and the 12 volt cable that plugs
into the side of the caravan, so we can run it off the 240v mains, or directly
from the caravan battery. Meanwhile our
inside TV has developed a continuous snowing and flickering problem and will go
back to the shop for repair on Tuesday.
The outside TV is being used inside.
The power board in the Vast satellite decoder also died and had to be
replaced which cost $120 as it was about a month out of warranty. Barry would have preferred to have replaced
the board himself if he could have acquired it as it. He had a look in there before we took it for
repair and the power board only has about $10 worth of components on it and is
a plug in board eliminating the need for any sort of expert if you only had acess to the new component.
20th November 2012
Barry revisited the specialist for a check up and
all seems well at this stage but is required to have another check and tests
done in 4 weeks time. If that works out
okay we should be on the move again towards Canberra in readiness to meet up
with Richard and his kids, Jack and Rory, again for another short holiday with
them. Meanwhile Barry still has to take
it easy and is becoming very with not being active, other than drinking water
by the litre. He has drunk more water in
the last 2 weeks than he has drunk in the previous 2 years. Many days of sitting around has allowed Barry take numerous photos of at least 20 species of birds in this area.
22nd November 2012
Some relief from the boredom is now available with
the start of the second test match.
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