"I find penguins at present the only comfort in life. One feels everything in the world so sympathetically ridiculous; one can't be angry when one looks at a penguin." – John Ruskin
This morning awesome fantastic favourite carer came at 10am but because of the long couple of days I’d had, I wasn’t able to get up. She did tell me she would try and swap to do my bath night (on of my least favourite carers was scheduled to do it) and she went and did stuff in the kitchen while I went back to sleep.
I woke up again at about 1.30pm, and played World of Warcraft. I finished visiting all the Midsummer Fires, and did a couple of heroics, including Zul’Aman with my guild. Unfortunately I caused a wipe in one of the heroics and had a bit of a meltdown because of it, which caused Johan to panic. Calmed down again, and awesome favourite carer came to give me my bath at 6pm. She put my hair into French plaits, which I’ve never had done before so it made me super happy 🙂
This evening I went on my first proper Cataclysm raid (though I’d been in Throne of the Tides before, it didn’t feel like proper raiding because we didn’t kill a boss and I didn’t have to do any proper healing). As it was, we were working on Nefarian, and since I’d signed late and wasn’t in the original group, I wasn’t expecting to go so was completely unprepared 😛
We didn’t manage to get him down, but we did make a lot of progress, making it through to phase 3 most of the later attempts. We should be able to manage it very soon 🙂
I’ve decided that virtual places count for this one, so I’m going with this song. It reminds me of Jaraxxus in Trial of the Crusader, as every time we did this boss (and I mean everytime) I would play this song and sing along. Turns out I’m pretty good at healing, moving out of the fire and singing at the same time 🙂
This is one of my favourite songs from the Cataclysm soundtrack. At the moment though, the lyrics are bugging me.
I know they’re Darnassian (it’s a Night Elf song, so that’s a given :P). I can make out some of the lyrics, but not all of them. This is what I have so far.
Aldrassil – (a tree on Teldrassil)
Zin-Azshari – Glory of Aszhara
Quel’dorei – Children of noble birth/High Elves
Nordrassil – Crown of the Heavens (original world tree)
Elune-Adore – Elune be with you.
Elune-Adore
After this, the music is too loud for me to work out the rest of them (I have problems isolating words from background noise). Any help? 🙂 Current Darnassian translations are available at Wowpedia.
I’ve had an interesting time. I saw my GP. He persuaded me to try codeine again, at a higher dose. It worked… for the first 90 minutes. Then I had the most horrendous stomach cramps- worse than the pain I was already in. So I stopped taking it. A week later, I ended up in A+E because the pain was unbearable. The morphine I was given also gave me stomach cramps. Because the doctor was able to ask what they were like while I was there, I was able to describe that they were like spasms (I have very poor body awareness and also a bad short/medium term memory, so after they’ve finished I can’t remember what they’re like). She had a think, gave me buscopan and it worked! No more stomach cramps. She also gave me tramadol to last a week (well, until the next morning with a prescription for the week) to last until I saw my GP.
My GP took me off the tramadol and put me back on the codeine, with the buscopan. It works, but it turns out not all the tummy troubles were spasms- I still get a really sore, uncomfortable abdomen with the codeine, but without the spasms I’m not rolling around in agony. I’m taking it because my experiment of not taking it failed, but I’m not happy as tramadol didn’t cause the same problems, and worked better. I am aware that the tramadol shouldn’t really be taken with the other medication I’m on though as it can cause fits, so I’m being a good girl (mostly).
Seeing the doctor also made me a lot more ill. He had me trying to stand up and trying to walk, which exhausted me so much, I’ve been bedbound pretty much all the time since then. Yeah, thanks. I’m currently refusing to go back there, as it’s not worth making myself more ill over it. I need more codeine though, as I only had 2 weeks worth from the first time, so I need to figure out a way of getting a prescription without getting out of bed or using the phone. I suspect I may be writing a letter, then asking Johan to take it down there.
I did manage to get out of bed long enough to go to college last Monday, but I couldn’t concentrate and I really wasn’t well enough to be there, as now I can’t even sit up unsupported for a few minutes. I’ve fallen really behind on Computing, especially since my brain is really foggy. It is half term next week though, so I’m hoping to be able to catch up a bit. I also need to do a bit of catching up with Interface work, but that’s not quite as difficult so shouldn’t take too long, though if it’s worksheets I’ll need a scribe as I can’t hold a pen for much longer than to sign my signature.
Some good news though- my laptop has been repaired, and now works mostly okay. It needs a new battery (not covered by insurance) but it lasts long enough, and since I don’t move around much I can keep it plugged in. It also means that when my concentration comes back I can do some Computing work in bed, as the laptop has Windows on it and runs well enough for VB.Net. I can also play World of Warcraft on it. It’s not good enough for instances or raids, but it’s okay for chatting and dailies. It’s also lighter and cooler than Johan’s laptop, so better for me in bed. I’m really happy to have it back.
In World of Warcraft, I’ve completed my first level 85 normal dungeon! Possibly not the biggest achievement, but it felt good and went well. I could tell how healing has changed, and how I need to adapt for when I get to heroics and raids. I also went to ICC and did a ton of hardmodes, and achievements. It was a lot of fun, as with being all level 85 it didn’t require much concentration, and I already knew most of the fights. I’m hoping to be able to do the rest of it with the same group.
My mood has been a bit up and down, mostly because of pain and being fed up of being stuck in bed. Overall it’s good, I just get a bit sad or upset when I can’t do something, like sit up. Johan’s been pretty ill though- he had a breakdown, and his anxiety and depression got really bad, and he couldn’t speak. He’s back on medication to help with anxiety, and has been referred to the CMHT to get help overall. We know the main cause is being under so much stress from looking after me, but he needs a bit of help to get through this patch.
We finally got our Social Services assessments. The conclusion is I should be entitled to quite a bit of help with personal care, and hopefully Johan can get some respite. Eventually, I’ll probably get a personal assistant, who may be able to help me with getting to and from college. That would be awesome. We also have forms to fill in to move house, on medical needs. I need a property which has level or ramped access, an adapted bathroom, and that is generally wheelchair accessible, since it doesn’t look like I’ll be walking any time soon. When we have moved, I’ll be getting an electric wheelchair if my appeal for higher rate mobility is successful, which would be awesome, as it would give me so much independence.
I’m trying to think of things that I can do in bed, that won’t make me any more ill. I really need to spend less time on my laptop, and I can’t concentrate well enough to read, so I’m thinking of maybe getting some crafty stuff like beads to work with for when I’m not napping. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get up and maybe go out soon. I’m on day four of not biting my nails, so I’m hoping to get some nail varnish and things to make them pretty 🙂
I’ll try not to take so long over my next blog post 😛
Yesterday I was really proud of how much I’d been able to do the last week- making microwave meals for both me and Johan, looking after Johan, keeping the kitchen clean (including washing dishes everyday). I even managed to do a past paper and some revision yesterday (which has shown me the areas I still need to revise).
Today: crash. My body is letting me know in every way it can that I’ve been pushing myself way too hard, and I have full blehness. I got up after 11 1/2 hours uninterrupted sleep (very unusual), sat at my computer, opened my post, and had to go straight back to bed. I alternated between reading and dozing in bed, before finally getting the energy to sit in my computer chair for a bit.
Luckily, I’m now feeling a bit better. At least I don’t feel like I’m going to faint every time I stand up, and can remain standing for more than a couple of seconds. I’m still feeling really weak and ill, more than normal, but I’m sure it will get better so long as I rest properly.
My exam is on Thursday. Not being able to get into college this week because of Johan’s flu means I’m feeling very unprepared. For various reasons revising at home is difficult, so most of my revision will have to take place at college. Does anyone know any online sites for revising for AS Computing, specifically the Comp 2 exam? My past paper shows that my main issue is wording- I know the material, I just don’t use the right words which would lose me marks. That’s something to be grateful for at least, as it means if I can get all the terminology into my head I should get a decent grade.