Next surgery

Hi all
I saw the surgeon today (4 weeks 5 days post op). He was really happy with my progress and has scheduled the next op for November 9th. Hope it goes as well as the first one!
Today I did my longest walk so far - 1 hr! I am pretty tired now, but stoked that I could do it! I also walked some stairs (and forwards too!) - it is amazing how different my legs feel - the left feels weak but 'normal', and the right feels awful! It feels like it fills with lactic acid, and that there is a tourniquet around it - which I guess isn't too far from the truth.

Well 3 weeks to go til I have to go through all of this again, but at least after the next one it will be onwards and upwards from there!

Jeanette

1 down, 1 to go...

Hi all
My first surgery went really well, and I am now 13 days post op. The surgeon said he found more damage than expected. The damage had progressed into my common iliac artery (1.5cm), and a fibrous plaque was removed from this area and sent away for analysis. Will be interesting to see the histology report. The area that we knew was damaged prior to the op (from CT scan), was actually significantly stenosed (narrowed), and might well explain the problems I was having with activities of daily living (stairs, walking etc). The damage extended 5cm into the external iliac artery, so a total of 6.5cm of the arteries on my left side were repaired.

After the surgery I was apparently babbling like an idiot when I came out of recovery. Christine and Jase were there to meet me. Jase stayed with Christine as it was closer to the hospital, and apparently all I was worried about was the fact that Jase had no toothpaste as I had taken it!

That night was a long night. I didn't sleep a wink. It was a bad night for aftershocks and the hospital is apparently on rollers so moves around alot more than the short jolts I had been getting at home. I think the night nurse was getting a little sick of me ringing the buzzer every time there was an earthquake! She didn't ease my mind by telling me she was also scared and also didn't believe that we had had the big one yet! It was a little disconcerting being 2 stories up and being unable to move!

I came home 2 days later, and spent alot of the first week on the couch with Dad as my caregiver/servant/housekeeper/cook!! We really appreciate his help and we are not sure what we would have done if he hadn't come down. I have gradually been able to walk further and further, but I just get so tired all the time and need regular rests. Yesterday I walked about 800m so was pretty stoked with that! We also saw 2 whales just off the beach here in Sumner which was pretty cool!

I see the surgeon again in another 3 weeks, and hope to have the next surgery in 6 weeks time (8 weeks from the 1st). I haven't done much but I already feel better. My legs don't ache anymore, I can sit for longer, and I actually feel healthier. I am trying my best to not get frustrated at being totally inactive, as I know I have to go through all of this again soon.

Roll on 2011!
Jeanette

Surgery Update

Hi all (yes sadly no more 'bonjour' - we are back!)

Just an update on the plan from here for those of you who wanted to know...

I will have 2 operations as the surgeon decided that it is too risky to operate on both sides at once. The first surgery will be on my Left external iliac artery on September 15th. If all goes well with my recovery, the Right side will be operated on 6-8 weeks later. He expects that, with a good recovery, I will be able to return to work about 8 weeks after that.

Will keep you posted!
Jeanette

Au revoir Europe...

Bonjour all
Well our trip is coming to an end. We are still in Spain on the Costa Brava, but tomorrow we head to Montpellier to return the car, then catch the TGV to Paris. We will spend some time in Paris and then a day in Singapore before returning to the 'warm' weather in Christchuch. Please have that arranged for us! I think we may be in shock with the temperatures you have been having!

It has been a good relaxing time here on the Costa Brava. We have been spending alot of time at the beach. I have even had a swimming buddy the last 2 days which has been awesome. Today was my last swim as I probably won't get to swim in Paris. So now that it is almost over, I have to say swimming is very boring! I miss the change in scenery that you get on a bike. Although in saying that, it did get slightly interesting this morning when I thought a shark had nudged my pool buoy! It turns out it was just a wave hitting it awkwardly - but it did freak me out at the time! I have been thinking a bit about sharks this past week, as we saw on the news here that a great white had attacked someone in Florida which is highly unusual. I then started to tell myself that my pool buoy could in fact look like a giant lure... my mind was playing silly tricks, but at least it forced me to get out of 1st gear and lift my game slightly!

Yesterday at the beach we had front row seats to a skydiver landing. He was having trouble with the on-shore wind, and was turning and cruising up and down the beach near where we were. Then he finally landed about 15m away from us - it was very exciting!

We have been in a hotel for the last few nights as we could only rent our apartment for the week. The Spanish guy at the desk is hilarious. He is so excited that we come from NZ and keeps asking us all about it. I think he also likes to practise his English. Every time we go anywhere we have to leave our key at the front reception - and he always says "have a nice day" when we give it to him. The other day we were in and out so many times, and every time he said "have a nice day" - even when we headed out for dinner that night. He kind of reminds me of 'Manwel' from Faulty Towers...

Jase and I seem to be back to our silly competitive ways also. Our banter the other night culminated in us both getting up out of bed in the middle of the night to have an arm wrestle! I am highly irate to say that I lost rather easily... He keeps telling me that I am "stuck in loser-ville" so I am soon to come up with something I can win...

Well I probably won't write again now before we get home... Thanks so much for reading all my waffle. We have had a fantastic trip. It may not have been as good/the same as I would have liked, but it has allowed me to do some other things that I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. It has also given me the time I needed to make the right decision regarding surgery. Given how limited I am activity-wise (basically I can swim with a pool buoy, and walk slowly but not too far), Jase and I feel the right decision is to have the surgery. I hope I can get back to high level sport, but if not I at least want to be more active than I am now. I will keep using this blog to keep those of you from out of town updated on my surgeries etc.

See you all soon.
Au revior...
Jeanette

Cannes fireworks, Costa Brava...

Bonjour all (actually Hola now...),

Last Thursday we headed into Cannes to watch the fireworks... And last Thursday night we returned to Juan Les Pins having not seen them again!! This time we had gotten the day right, but as we were sitting down waiting to see them, a voice came over the sound system saying that they had been cancelled for the night due to 'technical difficulties'! Unbelievable! We had had a good night in Cannes though before this - we had looked at the shops and had a nice dinner out, so it wasn't a totally wasted trip.

The following night we headed back to Cannes, and this time it was on! Third time lucky I guess! It turned out to be well worth the wait. It was the most spectacular fireworks display I have ever seen. It was all to music, and went for a good 30 mins. Gutted that Christine and Mum missed it - you guys will just have to come back someday!

We are now in Roses - a small town on the Costa Brava (North East Coast of Spain). Today there are thunderstorms so we are not really up to too much. This place is pretty nice, although not as beautiful as the French Riviera or even further down the Costa Brava Coast. We arrived on Saturday after a mega drive from Juan Les Pins. Jase and I got up early that morning so he could go running and I could go swimming before we had to sit in the car all day. The water was beautiful - glassy, and no-one else there. It made me wonder why I can't drag myself out of bed early every morning!

The drive was tedious to say the least. We took all the major toll roads as they are so much faster - although much less scenic. For some reason the traffic all over France was terrible on Saturday - it was even all over the news that night, but we are still not sure why. We were stuck in some massive traffic jams and didn't end up arriving here in Roses until after 6.30pm!

We are staying in a studio apartment in a camping ground here. It is really nice and has all we need. Yesterday we spent the whole day at the beach. I swam for 45 mins in the rough sea - definitely making it more interesting! I don't know how many times I took a mouthful of salty water! Today I was really tired and woke to Jase arriving back from an early morning run. The weather is pretty average today which is actually a nice change (as long as it is good again tomorrow!).

This afternoon we decided to go exploring at the nearby beaches and coves. This plan was foiled however when we reached the car, only to find we had a flat tyre. We put the spare tyre on and then began the saga of getting a new tyre. We stopped at several service stations, but no-one spoke any English. Luckily for us, one attendant spoke some English and directed us to a mechanic (there are none at the service stations here). When we arrived at the repair place, it was turning into a bit of a drama as he spoke no English either - then I thought I would try to speak to him in French - and 'Voila' we communicated from then on in French! I still have a long way to go, but it sure has come in handy!!

Not much more to add. We are looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

Jeanette

French Riviera - Part 2

Bonjour All,

The top 3 photos are of the Gorges du Verdon (as mentioned last time).

Well all of our friends and family have left us now. Mum and Chrisitine left for 2 days in Geneva on Saturday. That morning, Mum, Christine and I went parasailing. Mum had made the comment to me the day before that she thought it might be "a bit tame". I agreed wholeheartedly with this but we thought we would do it anyway. Well as it turns out I found it pretty damn scary! We got off to a good start with our boat driver as he was wearing a NZ cap. We told him we were from NZ which put us on the right foot straight away - we ended up with a 30mins ride instead of the usual 10mins trip! We actually went up pretty high - it sure was a long way down and I didn't feel too secure in my oversized harness. I felt like it would be really easy to climb out of it if I had wanted to. We were taken down and dunked in the water several times (just as an aside, wearing a bikini for this one is not ideal!) which was awesome fun. Mum and Christine were not even slightly concerned about the height and were even taking their hands off to point at things - not me though - my arms were so sore afterwards from hanging on for dare life! Jase took the photos of us above in the boat and in the parasail. Awesome views up there!

Since then we have just really chilled out at the beach. I swam 3.2km in the open water the other day. I look like a bit of a nutter swimming with a pool buoy between my legs but c'est la vie! Jase comes with me for some of it - he generally kicks my butt for 5mins then he's stuffed and can't go on! I think his bike training hasn't translated!

Tomorrow night we will head to Cannes for the fireworks display (let's hope we have gotten the day and time right this time!). On Saturday we head to the Costa Brava.

Au revior pour maintenant
Jeanette

The French Riviera

Bonjour all

We are now down on the French Riviera mixing it with the rich and famous! We have seen plenty of rich but if we have seen anyone famous we don’t know who they are!

Our last night in Bourg was a little sad. We had dinner then went to our favourite café to say goodbye to Marina – the girl who has helped me quite a bit with my French. She gave us a little farewell speech which again almost had Mum in tears! She had also packaged up a little packet of homemade chocolates for me. When we left the café, Mum burst into tears, which then set me off. That night I also said my goodbyes to the old couple Jean and Giselle downstairs. They wanted to know what time we would be leaving and said they would be up to see us off. Sure enough, there they were first thing in the morning waving us goodbye. I have taken their address so I can send them a postcard from home when we are back – that will test my French!

On Sunday we spent the whole day travelling down to Antibes/Juan Les Pins. We took a scenic route (thanks Dean and Sara for the info!) through the Gorges du Verdon – an awesome canyon. We stopped for lunch at a cool little town called Moustiers-Saint-Marie just before the Gorge – definitely worth a look if you ever have time. The temperatures were into the mid-30’s the whole way down, making us very grateful for the air conditioning in the car.

Our apartment room here in Antibes/Juan Les Pins is in the perfect location – we have a supermarket downstairs, our own shopping centre with restaurants etc, and the beach is about 100m away. The whole French Riviera is absolutely beautiful! I wasn’t sure what to expect – I thought all the beaches would be pebbles and that it would be quite dirty, but it is quite the opposite. Our beach is sandy and the water is so warm. We have made a couple of day trips so far – one to Monaco which is an absolutely beautiful place. The views are amazing. We also went to Cannes, which was a cool place – so much to look at. A lot of people (not all) seem to dress up so much to go to the beach (in Cannes) - all the women are caked in makeup and in clothing I would consider suitable to wear to a wedding! We of course rocked on in wearing shorts and singlet tops, but we didn’t care – it was mid-30’s again!

I have been swimming in the sea here instead of the pool. Mum kept encouraging me to do so – think she may have noticed a mood change without the endorphins! It is way different swimming in the open water – I actually felt a little seasick at times when the boat wake hit me. It is certainly a lot easier at sea level than at altitude and I can now go back to breathing both sides every 3 strokes. The water is so salty and buoyant also, and it is a hell of a lot more interesting looking at small fish and rocks etc than the bottom of a pool. I have been swimming about 50 minutes at a time and Christine has been joining me for half of it which is great, especially since we appear to be about the same speed.

Yesterday we had a bit of a blow-out. We headed into Cannes at around 6.30pm to do some shopping, have dinner and then watch a fireworks display. Unfortunately when we got there the shops were all closing, we couldn’t really find a good place for dinner (unless we mortgaged the house!), and the fireworks were actually on the night before!! So we came back here and had dinner on the beach front.

Mum is having a great time here and is doing so well with her French. She managed to order at McD’s all on her own and totally in French – although we did have a laugh when she came back to the table with a Poulet Wrap (she had tried to order a Peche Frappe)! She also had a minor blunder at our apartment when she became confused in the bathroom and let’s just say there was an incident involving the b-day! As Christine is saying ‘what goes on tour stays on tour’ – although please remember to ask her about it – it is hilarious!!

Mum and Christine leave on Sunday for 2 days in Geneva with Pauline and Lex. Jase and I will stay here for another week as we love it here!

J