Peppermint Tea anyone?

I can’t remember the last time I visited the coffee shop in the ether. The bell tinkles above the door and I am greeted by the smell of freshly baked cakes that bring back happy memories of sitting on the yellow sofa close to the bookshelves at the back, sharing news of my week with you.

The cafe is surprisingly full with familiar faces. It’s good to be back. I make my way to the counter and order a peppermint tea – no cake today as I have a strict diet to adhere to. Searching the crowded space, I spot a seat near my favourite yellow sofa and gently shove my way through, barely making it to the low table and mottled red armchair without spilling. It’s so good to see your friendly face. As we are still under Covid restrictions, I won’t give you a hug. A big smile will have to suffice.

I ask you how you have been and what you have been up to over the past two years. Yes, it feels like a lifetime since we have chatted and so much has happened, I don’t think I will fit in all the news. So I begin with the biggest shocker and leave the trivial bits out for later. Since last year, my kidneys have failed and are working at 3%. Apparently my little organs were attacked by my own antibodies known as Anca Vasculitis. It destroyed the kidneys and the doctors were afraid that if it was still active, it could attack my lungs or my brains next. Over the past few months, I have been receiving chemo treatments to suppress my immune system and hopefully kill the vasculitis. I was going to receive my fifth treatment this week but I’ve caught Covid which has delayed the process. Plus my white cell count is low and other little issues are rearing their ugly heads which makes the doctors think it best not to dampen my immune system further.

As I take a sip of the peppermint tea, I tell you that it is not all doom and gloom. The dialysis is going well and I am still running my writing clubs and literacy booster private lessons. The mentoring has taken off too with more clients signing up for advice and help. It is thrilling to meet them and I appreciate their efforts to become the best version of themselves through the process of writing. My own writing has slowly come back and I am hoping to finish my next crime thriller this year. I missed the opportunity to submit my book to a publisher who was interested because I didn’t finish the script but I guess time and tide will tell whether it was meant to be or not. I am not stressing over it as I know how hard it is to complete a story with the right ending.

My mug is lovely and warm on this chilly Monday morning and I watch as the sun plays hide and seek behind the fast moving clouds outside as I listen to you telling me about your weekend and what you hope to achieve this week. We both can’t believe that January has already passed and we are into the second month of the year. Where did the time go? I think of how different life is now, living with an affliction that has changed my sleeping and eating habits, as well as my family’s. The ‘no salt’ rule in my house has been re-enforced. Unfortunately, rebel forces represented by the Hubble and oldest sprog mean that salt still finds its way into the food if they are in charge of dinner. The rest of us continue to battle to be healthy but it is very difficult when the rebels order salty, battered goods. My weakest point is when they buy Burger King Big Whoppers – my favourite! The struggle continues and though I do relapse into bad eating habits – overall, I think I have improved.

The mickey mouse clock with the moving eyes chimes, announcing the hour. It’s time for me to go. I take in a deep breath, trapping all the smells and tastes of the coffee house . It might be a week or a month till I visit again but when I do, I will be happy to see you here again. So save me a seat and let’s share our news the next time I visit.

Have a great week.

What is turmeric

What is turmeric? Turmeric is a common spice, which comes from the turmeric plant. It’s known as curcumin. Usually, people in Asian countries add …

What is turmeric

Another One Bites the Dust!

Help! Advice needed.

Facing Mortality

 I’m sitting here thinking about our mortality.  We are trudging around the life-long treadmill only to find a weary end to our existence.  If we are lucky we get in a few years of happiness before the light blots out.  But, how many of us achieve our dreams and expectations before this happens?  How many of us reach the plateau of contentment before the fall?  There are millions of sites dedicated to giving you instructions on how to improve your life, change your habits, eat your way to a healthier lifestyle, reach your goals by placing you feathers in the positions A-B-C!  Whilst we thresh out the bullshit trying to find the right solution, maybe it’s sitting right there, next to us, waiting to be noticed like a wallflower at the dance.
Receiving news that your friend might have the big C can squash your 2016 positive parade faster than a cruncher squashing old scrap in a junkyard.  Add to that the the fact that her mother is slowly fading and there’s nothing we can do about it, and she is the primary care giver since the rest of the family aren’t that interested. It’s a real humdinger of a situation.  Happy new year!  Let’s find that eternal happiness whilst we wade through this shitty situation!  My take on life is…the storms are going to come, the landscape is going to change.  I either stand fast and fight or I get out my waders, my wellies, my overcoat and prepare to hunker down until it passes.  Emotional outbursts will be allowed, just a few, but there’s no room for sappy behaviour until it passes.  My friends react in different ways.  Some cry and want me to cry along, others understand that I don’t tap into that side – it stays internal until it I can’t contain it anymore and it oozes out.  My friend seems to fall under that category and we get on well.  All I can offer is support and love as she closes the latch on her next ride to hell and back. Maybe it will be enough, maybe not.  I don’t know.

So, back to my “how to find the end of the rainbow before you die” spiel. It’s simple.  There is no rainbow. There aren’t any Fix-It Felix makeovers that will last.  It’s mind over matter.  I have known a few bloggers since I’ve joined this bandwagon with such severe sicknesses, I cannot even fathom their positivity. But, they are positive! They send out messages of hope, love, humour and sincerity.  On the blackest of days, they can get a little dark.  I like that.  That for me is the honesty behind it.  Life can’t be rosy everyday.  I salute those bloggers, my friends and all of you for living through your diverse tragedies of life.  Forget the self-help new year new you crap.  Celebrate yourself instead and what you’ve overcome because I can guarantee more adversity is coming your way; more hope, more happiness is coming too.  Be brave enough to grab them whilst you’re wading.  Remember, we aren’t going to be here forever and there’s always a break in the storm.  Breathe in that fresh air when it stops and clean out your worry bags because more is bound to come.  That’s our reality – our mortality.  

I’ll be thinking of you and I hope you will spare a thought for me as we cheer on our mortality and ride it like its our favourite bike (I chose to use a less offensive analogy there!).  Those are my thoughts for today.

The Voiceless

Trapped in a skin now slack
Barely enough movement in my back
Crowing noise is all I can say
To greet you through the day
Faces come and go
No kind word left to show
This fading memory
Of what I used to be.

Returning from the Ebola Front

I have attached a story written by Karen Wintraub for the National Geographics, covering the return of photojournalist Neil Brandvold from Sierra Leone and Liberia where he recorded witness events of carers and patients. He describes his self-imposed 21 day isolation from family and friends and the reason why.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141016-neil-brandvold-isolation-ebola-health-medicine/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20141016news-ebolaisolation&utm_campaign=Content&sf5268203=1

What I think you should know about the Ebola crisis…

I’m attaching my earlier post, http://wp.me/p4jaYl-7r, on Ebola. This is a post from Steven Konkoly, author of The Jakarta Pandemic, sharing his in-depth knowledge on the subject. A must read for anyone who wants to be prepared for Ebola.

When I published The Jakarta Pandemic in 2010, I had no idea it would be so widely read. Nor did I ever expect to be considered a “source” of information about pandemics. Over the past two months, I have fielded questions from concerned readers, friends, family, readiness bloggers, authors and preparedness consultants regarding the recent Ebola outbreak in Africa. I’ve been rather guarded in my approach to the crisis, having watched it slowly build throughout the summer. When the death toll exceeded previous outbreaks, including the outbreak made famous by the groundbreaking novel The Hot Zone, I started watching it more closely. The novel The Hot Zone, by Richard Preston was the catalyst for my interest in pandemic grade viruses and an inspiration for my first novel.

With that said, I want to share my thoughts on the current crisis and point you in the direction of some balanced, informative…

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I’m Alive!

I’m alive!

When Is It My Turn To Be Sick?

I love autumn. The incredible change of vegetation from different shades of green to hues of yellow, red, brown and even purple! ‘Tis the season that heralds the close of summer and entices the smell of hot chocolate and cinnamon as we prepare our daily lives for the winter to come.

BUT…