Extreme Knitting Redhead: MeeeeeOUCH!

Monday, September 29, 2008

MeeeeeOUCH!

Here he is, our brave little fellow. We were a bit shocked at the size of the incision but it doesn't seem to be bothering him at all and he's purring happily and doesn't seem to have any pain (thank goodness). The lump has been sent away to be checked so I expect we'll hear in a few days.

On the knitting front I finished the second Pomatomus sock and have restarted Mike's fingerless arm warmers which I lost interest in last year when I discovered Fair Isle! Must take a photo. I've promised him that I won't start anything else until they are completed. Then it will be the turn of the Oregon cardigan and I can't wait.

We always like to watch the sunset if possible and there have been some beauties this past week. I loved the pink reflections on the clouds.

I see some glorious sunrises too and this was taken on a very hazy autumn morning when I was out feeding the horses.

This weekend I did my 3rd 20 miler prior to the Beachy Head marathon. It was rather chilly when I left home at 6:30am and barely light and I foolishly didn't take an extra layer (how long have I been doing this?!) so was rather cold for the first 2 hours. Then the sun started to warm things up a bit so I was OK. I chose a really hilly route along the lanes and it was quite tough but nowhere near as tough as the actual marathon itself. Next week I'll do 20 miles off-road then I get to taper (reduce my mileage).

It was such a glorious day as well so in the afternoon Mike and I took a walk up to Great Dixter and that helped to stretch my legs out. It's a great feeling to be able to run 20 miles in the morning and then go for a 5 mile walk in the afternoon. If someone had told me 6 years ago when I started running that I would ever be able to do that I would have laughed!

1 comment:

Shan said...: I admire you so much. All that running - I don't know if I could even do 20 miles on a bike!; September 29, 2008 at 4:28:00 PM PDT

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.