The one in which there are no crafty pics. Just a bit of my news.

Hey there! If you are hoping for any crafty news or pretty pictures, turn away now.

I don't usually put lots of personal stuff in this space but I have had such an eventful time recently that I feel the need to document the experience here.

So, last month we had a big family passover dinner at my parents place. My 84 year old Dad had been feeling pretty unwell and had a terrible pain in his back. Within a couple of days, he became quite confused and developed a fever. We got him quickly to hospital.

It turned out that a bacteria that lives normally in the gut had made its way into his blood stream and his spinal column. The infection was causing lots of pain as well as the confusion which manifested as aggression and agitation+++. My Mum was at the receiving end of most of the aggression so my siblings and I were spending lots of time at the hospital to try to give her a break.

After loads of intravenous antibiotics and an operation on his back, followed by a stint in rehab, he is home again. Still having the IV antibiotics and still fairly agitated but seems to be on the mend.

While all this was going on, I was having a fairly routine procedure at my doctors and a nasty looking cyst was found on my left ovary. Although it was likely a benign cyst, it (and the ovary) would have to be removed. Only a post-op pathology inspection would be able to tell us for sure whether I had ovarian cancer.

My surgery was booked for yesterday. Naturally, I have been extremely anxious and worried about the outcome of the surgery.

To take my mind off it all, my 7 year old son kindly provided a perfect distraction by breaking both his arms at school on Tuesday. A friend dared him to jump off some play equipment and, being a 7 year old boy, he did!! Landed on both his hands. Crack!

Not only have we been dealing with doctors and x-rays and plaster casts, we have discovered that without the use of his hands, he needs to be spoon-fed, dressed and taken to the toilet. It's just like having a baby again.

We have also had to work quickly to find him a carer to help with his personal care at school. Otherwise, he'd potentially be at home for 6 weeks until the casts are taken off. That would drive everyone crazy and simply isn't an option. He'll be back at school next Tuesday and we hope we have found a suitable person. We are meeting her on Monday. Fingers crossed.

Wednesday night came along and we got the news that Dan's grandmother was in hospital after having on of her 'turns'. She's home now and doing much better.

In other family news my 15 year old niece has had to have some dental surgery which has left her very sore and sorry for herself. I wish I'd had the chance to give her a bit more support but my hands have been fairly full.

And so, I had my surgery yesterday and was in hospital overnight. The fantastic news is that surgeon feels it is almost certainly a benign cyst and he was able to save most of my ovary. Relief doesn't even begin to describe my emotions.

I'm home now and feeling pretty sore. But at least I'll be able to spend a couple of hours at the school fete tomorrow. Did I forget to mention that I am coordinating the craft stall? Of course there has been lots of making going on for that and hopefully I'll have some good crafty shots to show you after tomorrow.

I haven't told many people about all this stuff going on for me, until now. But to those of you who have known and sent messages, meals and been so very supportive in other ways, thank you!!
I feel so blessed to be surrounded by caring people ... a wonderful community ... and incredible friends.

Love to you all and I promise the next post will be much cheerier and more colourful.

Andi xxx