Aluminum anniversary

It is meltingly hot here; 39C this afternoon, with higher humidity.  That’s the kind of weather where you’re panting as soon as you get outside, although thankfully not at the stage where you’re sweating as soon as you exit the shower.  I took a hot shower this afternoon and I feel fairly comfortable, thankfully! There have been a few storms in the last few nights, none of which lasted very long but each dropped the temperature a bit.  Jerry spent the night curled up on me for the most part, but had the urge to play every couple of hours and then spent part of the night hiding under the bed.  Don is walking cautiously; his pain is still present but seems to be somewhat muted.  His teams all seem to be bent on setting records for losses this year; the game last night, his team had less than half the score of their opponents.  They really are dreadful this year, and that’s from the non-sports fan in the house!

I had a broken night last night, in contrast to the night before where I slept until noon and would probably have slept all afternoon if I’d gone back to bed.  Last night, what with Jerry using me as a trampoline in the middle of the night, I didn’t get to sleep much until almost 6am, and then I was woken by a cold nose at 9… I can feel the lack of sleep catching up, so I’ll most likely head in early.  My worker made me an omelette yesterday which has turned into 3 meals!  I had some for dinner and again for breakfast and there’s another portion in the fridge.  Plus we made a couple other items that are frozen for quick microwave reheating.  I’ll ask her to make one or two more things that we’ll freeze.

I got a call yesterday from my little niece, asking me to read her new book to her.  It’s a French book on les émotions in a Frozen story.  I had hoped that her Frozen obsession was behind her, but it’s returned with a fury and has been accompanied by a fascination with Pinkalicious, which my elder niece used to love.  In either incarnation, I was not overly impressed, but that’s just because I’m cynical… After I’d read all about les émotions, and explained the words in both languages, she said, “Auntie Sonja, can I talk to you in the family room?” She took the phone with her to show me (and read to me) another book entitled, unsettlingly, Girls Don’t Fart.  I was very proud of her reading, although she admittedly skipped certain words but conveyed the story effectively accompanied by some enthusiastic sound effects!  My nephew popped in to say that he was a fan of Peppa Pig, and tried to read upside down 🙃 

Ten years ago today, at 6am, I went into the hospital for what I refer to as my “big surgery” where they removed the organs on my left side, and my ribs and diaphragm.  It’s one of the dates that is burned deep in my subconscious and I relive the days leading up to it.  This week has its additional trauma since I was in a medically induced coma for several days after a surgery that lasted over 22 hours.  Poor Don was frantic as it took so long and he just got told that I was still in the OR; my family were afraid to answer the phone until they got the call that I was in recovery.  I’m just going to take a moment to say how very grateful I am for the surgical team (the lead surgeon is now the Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation at the Cancer Centre, and she still remembers me.) There were so many specialist surgeons who attended and I never met most of them (at least, not when I was out of pain and coherent) but they cared for me  so well.  It took me almost a year to return to full time work, and I am so thankful for my job so that I didn’t have to worry about work during that time (there were other issues, but continued employment wasn’t one) Mostly I’m thankful for my friends and colleagues who did so much to support me through the very difficult times.  I tried going back to work multiple times, and I had great help throughout until I finally had to stop.  Another friend reminded me that 8 years ago today we met on a flight to London, where I was heading to an air show at Farnborough, which was a highlight of my career!  

I’m going to get myself a cake to celebrate this decade.  I’m happy to be here and to be able to share things with friends and family.  Not sure what dinner will be, but I’ll figure out something.  Good night!