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I found this marigold flowers writings three weeks ago on the stairs of a café in Ubud, Bali :) |
H A P P Y N E W Y E A R 2 0 1 9
May 2019 bring you peace & joy!
Last year was a year of research as to what would be the best course of action to put our daughter back on her feet, with consulting the best experts in the world to 'crack the code'. This year, an agreement was reached by three top experts based in NYC, London and Sydney on what is unanimously categorised as a 'complicated case', and as a result, a third surgery was conducted in Sydney in May/June. We are at the limit of experimental and that is why it is so hard to (possibly) fix. We have been warned that it may not sort out the problem, but that it was worth giving it a go as it was likely to improve her life.
And it did.
We went from unbearable sufferings to bearable, and believe me, there is a difference. By bearable, I mean that under the right amount of medication, she is able to do quite a lot, like walking for two/three hours in a row without too much pain and its co-laterals ...
We managed to go on holiday for the first time in three years as a family in November - see Bali Page -, and she has been able to switch from her Nursing degree (too physical) aborted two years ago, into a Bachelor of Health Sciences at the University of Queensland. She starts at in February. We'll see the surgeon again in April 2019.
Our son has now completed Year 12 with very good results - in the top 5% in our state. We are waiting for the University offers to come for his cohort in January. It is hard to know as yet what he will enrol into because he has applied for very different fields of studies like Veterinarian or Engineering.
He is known for building/dismantling/rebuilding/troubleshooting endlessly since he is little, so this is no surprise he applied for engineering, but he did very well in literacy, with A+ in Philosophy (ethics). I am so glad he took that subject; ethics is much needed in sciences (methodology, thinking about the consequences of one's actions, etc).
I was very glad he continued his piano lessons despite final year studies' pressure and difficulties rehearsing at home, a big thanks to his remarkable teacher. He did it all of his own accord, and I hope that it will give him an outlet for relaxation and pleasure for now and later in life.
We had to give up the flying lessons early this year because of mild colour blindness. Although he would still have been able to fly recreationally, during the day (red lights are for landing at night), he could not have pursued it very far. He nevertheless reached the point being able fly a Cesna a couple of times in solo, passed his theoretical test, and we were waiting for bad weather to take the last two training flights (flying in bad windy conditions is part of the test) but the bad weather did not come in January last year, and after that we were too busy with other things. He does not seem to have much regrets, still got his flying logging book. At 17, life is your oyster.
Just before his sister's surgery, I took him in France in April for 10 days to see his grand-father that he hadn't seen for 7 years. We made our way to Paris via Geneva, so that we could enjoy five days skying in the Alps creating great memories and refuelling before the coming surgery. Having introduced him to skying when he was 8 years old, and observing him at the time, I knew he would love it, and I was right. In five days, not only was he able to ski as well as me (I lived in this area for two years) but he also took snowboard lessons - in French! In the meanwhile, Paul took care of Josie for 10 days.
He later was able to fly on his own to England to see his other grand-parents for a couple of days. As a result, he was not too worried to fly alone & find us in Bali earlier this month as we left earlier than him. He had to complete a last minute bridging course chemistry exam (he added a subject to his end of high school subject list) and enjoyed three days doing schoolies with his mates, celebrating the end of High School, in Byron Bay.
As for us adults, this year has mostly focused on the children as it was for both of them such an important time of their lives. In addition to my usual now part-time (20h) job at Red Hat Pty Ltd, I am still working remotely for ENN Network translating crucial conversation between academics in Oxford and practitioners on the field (NGOs) on nutrition matters.
In Queensland, I have done a lot of community interpreting this year to supplement my incomes (much needed this year again), mostly on the phone, it was tough but useful (alleged rape case in Alice Springs - the guy I was interpreting for was found not guilty, domestic violence, African refugees' family disputes resolutions, etc.), and I worked on corporation audit translation projects with a part of the team based in France.
I have been lucky to be able to work mostly from home this year, but I am confident I should be able to go to the office a bit more in 2019. When I don't work or look after my daughter, I swim and I read (often in the middle of the night, it is my relaxation outlet) - see reading list on previous blog entry. As for my husband, he still pursues IT-Environmental academic research work successfully.
2018 has been better than 2017, bringing in much relief for our daughter, but we have lost touch with many people, live a more secluded way, which is unfortunately to be expected when dealing with such additional-work/emotional-load, and the frightening aspects for many serious health issues.
This should all change next year, as I have learned to deal with emergency services more efficiently (I have now a pain management specialist plan in my pocket at all time), I now know how to profile and know who I can count on (morally and/or practically) in difficult situations, and believe me, you don't know who it is until it happens. While it has its benefits, nevertheless, I would not recommend you find out unless you have to :)
I have to say that I found incredible people in the medical profession, but not only, people I barely knew were able to give so much (kindness, knowledge, support, facial expressions, jokes) in so little time, and vice versa, people who seem good with words, that I have known forever, but pretend they don't see and/or do nothing, throwing at me their petty problems, with no sense of timing, oblivious to the fact that I was dealing about brain surgery matters; I wonder if empathy and selflessness are really innate, or if these traits should be learnt. It doesn't come naturally to everyone for sure.
The same applies to the ability to bring joy,
some of us may have to 'work on it' a bit more than others lol.
Somehow, I am happy to know better the people around me as a result, and can truly and deeply appreciate kindness when I see it as honest, even when it is awkward borderline inappropriate, at least, it makes me laugh.
I see a lot of that as well, down to my wonderful neighbours!
Thank you to all the kind people I met this year, and to my faithful friends and family, and although we couldn't get as many people as I would have liked this year, there was much to celebrate,
I think this was the best Christmas for 3 years!
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Cane sugar & Christmas pudding Ice cream, with Brandy cream in the middle |
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| Creme pâtissière, Pâte sablée, Strawberries and Pistachios Tarte brought by my friend |
2019 looks good so far, so let's hope 2019 will have good omens for us all!
As usual, here are some snapshots from the Woodford Festival where I like to spend at least one day each year to relax in a pseudo world of music, simplicity, quirkiness and kindness.
While in Sydney this year - May, June and July - I managed to sneak to the Sydney Light Festival one evening in June, the surgeon said: go for it, and don't see it from a boat, you will not see as well, so I wandered the streets, and I made a short video using my Mobile Phone and the Free part of Power Director app (hence the limited choice of sound track options): here it is:
https://youtu.be/U5IZS1OJ2Js
