An appreciation of time

12 Nov 2011 1 Comment

by Tamsinin Slightly Insane Tags: , , , ,

I tend to avoid confessional style blog posts. I love the idea that I could be making people laugh and I also would rather tell deeply personal stuff to people face to face. This is about to change. I need to document what I am currently going through (god, that sounds dramatic, doesn’t it?) for my own posterity if nothing else.

For the past few weeks I’ve been feeling nauseous. So much so that one night, out with Squidge (a girl’s night treat as The Husband was away), I was gripped with such a wave of nausea that I could barely breathe. Now, this all was good news. Why? Because we have been trying to create Squidge Mark 2 for the past 11 months and I thought, “OMG, result!” When I was knocked up with Squidge I was ill all the time so this was potentially fabulous news.

The pregnancy test I had lurking at home was negative and I’d been experiencing kidney pains for a while so I figured it was time to go to the doctor. This is where it gets a tad tedious. Instead of my having a problem that can be described “above the belt” so to speak, I have to talk about pee. Oh, how my glamorous life continues.

There was peeing into jars (for which you now have to pay 30p) and testing and sending the samples off to the laboratory. Unexplained blood, could be an infection, don’t worry we will let you know. I totter home in tears. I know I can be a drama queen, but to go into a doctor hoping for pregnancy and walking out without anything but a possible infection is shit. And I hate the whole wishy washy, “Oh I don’t know what it is but the tests will show it“, attitude of doctor’s in the UK.

There, I’ve said it. It is a massive bone of contention between The Husband and I because I have absolutely no trust in this medical system at all. Not after my hellish experiences in pregnancy and labour and nearly losing my child because the doctors ignored me. But they are other stories for another time.

I didn’t go home with a feeling of knowing that it was likely an infection and that I was going to be alright. Instead I went home feeling like something was wrong but nobody knew what it was and, honestly, very worried that nobody would actually find it unless I pushed. This was Thursday afternoon.

The doc had said that the tests would be in on Monday so I needed to make an appointment to see them again after they came in. I did. I saw another doc but this man inspired confidence. He spoke straight, he gave me answers and he respected my nerves. The outcome?

The next bottle of pee revealed more blood. If the tests came back negative for infection then there was the possibility of malignancy and I needed to go to a specialist to test for the big C. I left the surgery in tatters. You see, I haven’t been feeling great for over a year and have ached and pained my way through 2011 thinking it was all part of getting old. Now a voice said, what if… What if? What if? What if?

It’s this voice that has accompanied me through the nights since Tuesday. The voice that started screaming on Wednesday morning when the doctor called to tell me that they were referring me to the specialist and to wait for the appointment in the mail.

The doctor did say that it was likely to be nothing, that the chances of me having cancer were slim but he also said that my history of smoking did put me in the danger area. Boy, have I been castigating myself for being incapable of losing that ridiculous habit. Bloody things.

So here I am. I have not yet had the appointment in the post nor have I found out the results of the first test. The doctor said they would call me if the result was positive so, theoretically, since I didn’t get a call it means the test did not show infection so it is likely that there is something else going on here. Terrifying much?

I vacillate between thinking that this is fine, I’ll be fine, and that at least I don’t smoke anymore, and thinking that I have failed in my life, have left no mark and that my daughter will grow up without her mother. Like I did. How do you stay positive in the face of What If? I don’t know. But I am going to find out…

 

International Nestle-free week. Support it now.

19 Oct 2010 1 Comment

by Tamsinin Parenthood Tags: , ,

From the 25-31 October it is International Nestle-free week and I can’t wait to take part.

Ever since I found out about how Nestle market their formula in third world countries, and how they have continued to defy the International Code of Breastmilk Substitutes, I’ve done everything I can to make a difference. I won’t buy their products and nobody in my family touches a single Nestle-branded item.

While we are only three people, the more people who do this, the faster it adds up to a 1000, to hundreds of thousands, to a million. Where do these guys get off ruining people’s lives just for the sake of money? That takes me down the path of rage about how many people let their lust for cash overshadow human decency. I’ve come to hate what money can represent when at its worst.

Here’s a quote from the press release at the Baby Milk Action site:

“During International Nestlé-Free Week 2010, Baby Milk Action is calling on the public to email Nestlé over its latest global baby milk marketing strategy. Nestlé is targeting mothers and health workers with the claim its formula ‘protects’ babies even though babies fed on formula are more likely to become sick than breastfed babies and, in conditions of poverty, more likely to die.

Nestlé is accused of undermining the ‘breast is best’ message by claiming its formula is ‘The new “Gold Standard” in infant nutrition’. Nestlé is also accused of refusing to provide important information to parents and carers who use formula. Nestlé has already received thousands of emails, but is so far refusing to drop this marketing campaign.”

This company cares more about its profits than the well-being of babies. It makes me ill. Angry. Sad. How do the people who make these decisions sleep at night?

Free Baby Knit

11 Oct 2010 Comments Off

by Tamsinin Knitting Mama Tags: , ,

Debbie Bliss is all over the place at the moment. I reckon she’s stalking me. Every page I turn, every knit I peek at, there she is. This free baby knit is, you guessed it, a Debbie Bliss pattern from 2006.

Baby shrugs are ace. They are relatively straightforward for a beginner and they can be customised with beads and ruffles and crochet flowers and all sorts. So, take a gander at the pattern. It looks like they give enough detail to supplant the yarn if it’s not available anymore.