Sunset From the Dock

Recovery

So its been over a week sense surgery and I'm feeling much better. I still nap a lot, I get tired easily, I'm not allowed to lift things, and I still can't fly because there's a possibility of haemorrhaging and death. But I'm no longer in pain!

I believe the surgery went well. I say 'I believe' because when the doctor came to talk to be me post op I was on a lot of drugs and really out of it so I have no memory of what was said to me. Its really just a big blur. But seeing as that my mother hasn't told me otherwise I'm pretty sure I'm now pre-cancer free.

In the past week nothing too exciting has happened, there's been a lot of bed rest and movie watching. Things I've learned from this process:

• I don't do well with IVs my veins are tiny and difficult to find. And it leaves a giant bruise that just continues to get worse days after it's taken out.
• T3's are not as fun as people make them out to be. A lot of people were inclined to point out the silver lining that I get good drugs. Wrong. I was confused and nauseous and I hated my life. It wasn't fun, it was highly frustrating. 
• I do not own enough comfy pants. I used to think that girl's whose entire wardrobe consisted of yoga pants and sweat pants and pyjama pants were lazy and completely out of touch with fashion. Now I realize that they're just ingeniously preparing for the worst. No one wants to wear jeans while recovering from surgery. 

So this Friday I will be heading out for the Philippines for my second year of teaching there. Since I've been on medical leave, my classes have started without me. I'm a little nervous to see what state my classroom is in, and how the substitute teacher has done.

Change of Plans

Right now I should be in the Philippines, getting my classroom ready, about to head out to a conference in Manila on curriculum review.  Instead I'm sitting on the couch at my mom's watching Saving Hope (don't judge it's summer time and there's nothing good on tv). This is because tomorrow I'm headed to Kingston tomorrow to have a super normal, no big deal surgery.

I've struggled with writing this for several reason: how much information should I disclose, I hate having to deal with freaking out relatives and friends, and I've been panicking to try and get together lesson plans for the supply teacher (substitute for you Americans). Let's just say trying to put together lessons for someone to teach art who has never taught art, and is possibly not an actual teacher is hell, what makes it worse is my giant pile of resources is scattered in the Philippines.

So I have pre-cancer on my cervix. Which is not as bad as cancer, no where near as bad as cancer. But definitely worst than no pre-cancer. My non-science brain can't really answer anymore than that, seeing as that I stopped taking science after grade 10. But regardless of my level of understanding, tomorrow to fix this pre-cancer, they will take a laser to my cervix and remove the two pre-cancerous layers that exist. Of course during this whole procedure I will be put out in an OR, because otherwise I just see this whole thing as torture, but apparently people do have this done awake (masochists?).  And after this procedure, which I hope is not that painful but I can't see how it won't be, I'll be pre-cancer free.

So understandably I've been a little nervous, a little stressed. Logically I know this is a super common, uncomplicated surgery. In and out in thirty minutes, go home that day, happens all the time. But still the emotional part of me, the one I like to pretend doesn't exist, has been not sleeping well, mostly because they're taking a laser to my downstairs. Also because I'm planning the beginning of the school year from half way around the world. But I'll be fine.

I'll be here a couple more weeks, until it's safe for me to fly out. Until then there'll be rest, movies and maybe an attempt at early packing.... who are we kidding, that's gonna happen the night before.

Canada Day Weekend

On the Canada Day long weekend I went to Niagara to celebrate and catch up with some great friends. We looked at art, went shopping, ate a lot, went on wine tour and danced up a storm. 

Sad Bank Account, But Exciting News!

So over the year I've been able to save up some money. Well as of yesterday much of that has diapered for very good reasons. leaving me not broke, but my bank accounts look a little less flashy.

Purchase #1: A New Laptop.
I am now the proud owner of a Macbook once again. For those of you who have been following the blog regularly, you know that my laptop was stolen at the end of Christmas break in the Hong Kong airport. So now I have a new one, which is very exciting because my old laptop that was left over from university was about to explode at any moment.

Purchase #2: My Student Loan.
Ok, so it not really a purchase but more of a 'here have all your money back' thing. But I am now debt free, and will remain that way (hopefully) until i manage to accumulate enough money to buy a property and then sign my life away in the form of a mortgage.  Wahoo!

I'm Still Alive!

So I've been a little absent lately. My last post may have been a month ago. I want you to know that I'm not dead, but busy, then vacation, where I've accomplished very little. My days have been made productive by simply doing one hour of work, like sweeping the floors, or making a batch of muffins, -but never on the same day. Speaking of which today I made Raspberry White Chocolate muffins. Productivity complete. 

So let's rewind a bit and catch you up. School ended. There were final projects and exams and report card writing. Then there was the packing up of my class, and trying to figure out the best plan of action to ensure that mould didn't grow from ever surface of my house. And within that I was also required to attend prom, which was a little strange. So once the house was prepped for the rainy season, and the classroom was finally clean for once, the final reports handed in I peaced out to Hong Kong for a few days. 

Teachers at Prom

Pictures are limited because the one day I grabbed the camera without a memory card and the next day the battery died. But Hong Kong was fun, I enjoyed being in a city where there was order. Granted not all of HK is organized, but most of it has signs everywhere, with determined people on their way, with no real interested in what it is that you're doing or who you are. I missed that. Fillippino friendliness is great but sometimes you just don't want to deal with other people. 

So while there I went to Victoria peak, which was nice, but nothing overly special, I did enjoy the walking path at the top of the mountain which kinda gave you views around the whole city/island. I bought some very expensive ice cream because I'm horrible with exchange rates and then went to Cat Street, which as antiques and art galleries. The next day I went and saw more art and did some (ok, a lot) of shopping. Then that night I set out on a dumplings quest. 

I had asked the guy at the hotel of a good place for dumplings. He sent me o a basement restaurant two blocks over. Upon entering I was unsure if I was in the right place. It reminded me of the Hoito, which for those of you who are unfamiliar with Thunder Bay "fine dinning", means it looked like a soup kitchen with out the buffet line. The only difference between this whole in the ground and the Hoito, was there that it was practically empty. In the corner table sat three teenaged boys and another table kitty-coned to them sat an elderly couple. The rest of the space was empty. I sat down and the waitress didn't speak english. I was all ready with my pad of paper to draw out what I wanted when she went into the back and after a while final emerged hold a special menu which had been translated into english. I ordered veggie-pork dumplings and steamed spring roles. The food was greasy but good. The "owner/manager?" came over to means gave me a thumbs up and smiles. To which i did the same back. This was the most China experience of my HK trip. 

The best part of the whole trip was the fact that I stayed in a really nice hotel . Which I ten got bummed up to a superior deluxe room, which meant I then got to take the fancy exclusive elevator, eat at the nice resturant for breakfast and have an amazing view of the city. Plus there was giant fluffy robes. Always my favourite thing.

View of the Harbour from my hotel room.

The boardwalk just outside of my hotel. The women here use umbrella to shield themselves from the sun. 

Going up to Victoria Peak on an old trolly car

In the distance in the harbour you can see a yellow dot, that's actually a gaint rubber duck. Its an art instalation by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman that's traveling the world. I saw it up close, but that was the day with no memory card...

At Victoria Peak

Path around the peak

  

Dusk & night view from the hotel. 

  

Then I flew home. And sense then there's been a lot of relaxing. And wearing unseasonal clothing, because I now believe that when it below 25 degrees, summer clothing should stay in the closet. 

Packing

Things I rock at: Procrastination
Things I hate: Packing

This means that 12 hours before my flight I still have to put actual things inside my suitcase. I thought that giving me a full weekend to pack would have resulted in me being a little better this time. I should have known better.

Next stop Hong Kong, then Canada! See you there!