Not good....

I think it is about time I resurrect this poor unloved blog...

I would love to give stories of how good married life is, details of our new life in the country surrounded by animals and beds of vegetables but things have not worked out how either of us imagined.

Neil has not been well for a while, he has been complaining about tingling in his hands for years, his left hand is not working as it should do, unable to grip and not having much feeling in it.
After changing to my doctors he was referred to a neurosurgeon in Gloucester.
We then went through many hours in hospitals, MRI scans, the doctors appointments.
Currently he has an pre op examination/appointment at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol followed by a CT scan in a couple of weeks, and we are waiting for an appointment for another MRI scan...

They think he has had a tumour growing in his neck for 30 years. It has only been in the last five years it has been causing him problems. We have spoken to the 'main man' for spinal surgery at Frenchay, the tumour is rare, (he has only seen 2 others in 15 years of practice) but surgery of the top of the spine is something they are very used to doing.

Unfortunately the tumour is pushing against his spinal cord (as the doc said, he doesn't know how he is as well as he is). This could cause problems when they remove it, as they dont know how the cord will react without anything pressing against it, if it moves back slowly there is more chance of a full recovery, if it expands quickly then things are not good (and we are talking about as bad is it could be)

I go through days when things are difficult, I have lots of good friends that I can talk to and who will help out if need be. We are trying our best to be optimistic, we dont think the surgeon would operate if he thought things would not work out ok.

I have been trying to keep myself occupied, I was unable to concentrate on knitting for a while so have taught myself to follow crochet patterns.... so far one shawl, one blanket, a waistcoat and about half of another blanket.

We have known about the tumour for a couple of months, we have come to terms with him being 'poorly' (even though he doesn't look ill, all very strange really), I do have a problem trying to explain to others just how ill he is, and then I feel bad about spreading bad news, yes he is ill, yes it could be bad, but on the other hand they can do something about it, he may get the use of his hand back (and want an electric ukulele), or he may end up the same as he is now without the threat of loosing use of his arms & legs...

Hey ho.

We still have plans to move to Wales, we saw some interesting houses last week - who would think that hedges go green in the summer (you really had to see the wasteland the horse had dug up in their garden to appreciate how bleak the sea view was, and now they sat out in the garden with the wind, goodness knows....)
We have made an offer on a property, 8 acres of flat land, lots of farm building and a small cottage. If we do get it (and it does depend on selling at least one house, and the planning department) then we are going to have alpacas, kune kune pigs, angora goats, chickens, ducks and seasonal turkeys... and then there is talk of having some rare breed sheep...

I dont know if it is good for my stress levels getting my house ready to sell at the same time as being the responsible adult around here, but it will keep me busy and stop me thinking too much, which is bad for me.

So we will be trying to sell two houses at once, not an ideal plan....

I decided that I will update this blog with details of what is happening, I'm getting confused as to who knows what and who I owe emails/pm's to...

It is not good, but we are strong, and we will get through it, with help from the boys....




And this is what happens when I leave my chair, the cat is sitting on most of my knitting needles (in home made rolls)