The start of a new year ....

Its been a mad few weeks here in Damo World, New Job (at the same place), spanking Taos' arse online (so to speak), Leah being "wired up", family crappy internet connection problems, I don't know where to begin.....

So I'll begin with Leah

Leah has been to the Glenfield hostpital this afternoon for some tests on her heart, nothing major, just ECGs and scans.

Long story short, but SWMBO (Mummy) suffers from a heart condition known as Long QT, long story short, each heartbeat consitsts of P, Q, R, S and T intervals, (the beep you hear on heart monitoring machine). SWMBOs the time between her Q and T is longer than normal. Long QT Syndrome. The problem with this condition is that it's hard to detect but can kill people instantly, as well as being trigger by sound, sleep or noise, once it is detected however, it can be "treated" with Beta Blocker tablets or by fitting a implantable defibrilator.

Although quite rare, Long QT is gainng a lot of news recently. Marc-Vivien Foe who collapsed while playing football was said to have died from Long QT, and more recently Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, another footballer has been rumoured to have had the same condition, which tragically, he also died while playing football.
I digress

As this condition is hereditary, SWMBOs mother, grandmother, 2 great-aunts, cousin and uncle have all been diagnosed with it and sadly her sister died 10 years ago from what was later attribued to Long QT. All those diagnosed are now under consultant care and genetic testing at the Glenfield hospital. We took Leah to have some tests today, this consisted of having an ultrasound type test to look at he heart chambers followed by an ECG. The ECG showed a Q-T interva of 405 which they stated is very low and not even borderline, although this sounds like good news, Long QT doesn't really show up until a child reaches 10ish years old.

The final test heas Leah wearing a 24 hour ECG, 3 pads are taped to her body and a reader is hid.... in her nappy, this will take her heart readings over a 24 hour period which will then be analysed further.Let's just hope she has my genes...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Santa Baby on her trustee sleigh

The 2 SWMBOs

It only took 3 hours to open Leahs presents

Where's Leah?

My Water Babies

I finally had the chance to see Leah doing her water babies session this week, Waterbabies teach babies to swim in a fun way, and boy Leah had fun, she even swam underwater.

I swear I'm having the maternity leave next time and SWMBO can go back to work after 2 weeks off.

My 2 SWMBOs

Mothers group (+1 father)

Happy swimmer

Leah has learned to close her eyes when mummy says"Ready, 1,2,3, Go"

Tenerife -

As Peter Kay said, we've booked it, packed it and now we're 'Kin Off

Yes, the day is finally here, we are going on our "summer" holiday, 12 days in wonderful Tenerife for I think what is my 5th time and SWMBOs 12th.

This time will be slightly different however, as we are taking our little Leah I'm going to do some proper sightseeing, so rather than Tramps, Linekers, Valentinos, Yates, Harleys etc, it would be nice to see some proper Tenerife stuff. for this I have found a nice site - Secret Tenerife which is aimed at "discovering the real nature of this beautiful, sub-tropical Canary Island".

Don't get me wrong, as soon as we've put Leah to bed with the babysitters grandparents, we'll be hitting Tramps, Linekers, Valentinos, Yates, Harleys etc just found a pub called "Bikini-G's" so will have to try that out, (don't worry, I'll get photos).

In the meantime I have my ipod, book and PDA so I won't bwhile topping up my tan, I just hope the weather stays good for us.

See y'all soon.....

Web Links
tenerife-uncovered - secret-tenerife - tenerifeonline

A Bargain Expensive Holiday

The countdown is almost over, we are a few days away from our long awaited holiday. Fortunately SWMBOs' mother (affectionately known as Monster-in-Law) has timeshares meaning we can use these whenever they are free... So we're off to Tenerife for sun, sand, sangria and more sun

Unfortunately - the In-Laws are coming with us
Fortunately - We now have babysitters.
Normally we save hundreds of pounds using Monsters' timeshare, however with Leah now here, this saving has disapperaed and instead, replaced with "Expense"

As we all know, baggage handlers enjoy throwing luggage as far as possible, so to save our £400 "travel system" that Monster bought for us, we have bought a "cheap" buggy at just £70.

Babies cots in apartments are less than appealing so we have bought one to take with us.
The sun in Tenerife is bloody hot se we have bought a "shade a babe" and a beach tent.
For playing around the pool, we have bought a play nest

There, I think thats it...

Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to get away and am really excited at taking our baby on her first holiday, it also helps "limit" our luggage, as babies don't get extra allowance for luggage we need to travel lighter. Normally I take a few pairs of shoes, shorts, etc. as well as my gadgets (camera, camcorder, laptop, ipod etc), and SWMBO - hairdryer (it has a cold setting apparently), straighteners, crimpers, curling tongs, shower, bath, sink, spare sink - in one case, and clothes in the other, we are both normally at the 20Kg limit EACH ... there and a bit more back (with the alcohol).

Our only real worry is what type of water to use when making up Leahs' milk, Leah is still being breastfed but sometimes has a top-up when necessary, as you can't use the water in Tenerife, and most people advise if you must use mineral water, then only use Evian. The best option is to use spring water, so we'll spend some time looking for spring water (as soon as know how to say it in Spanish). DJs Dylan and Darren, if you're reading this, let me know as you might still be over there .

* I do really love my Mother-in-Law - couldn't eat a whole one though

Pulling my Finger Out

I have 3 things I really need to do*

1. Re-do my website
2. Sort out Photos of Leah
3. Create a Leah DVD from my Camcorder


1. Redo my Site
I stupidly decided to re-design my website, I say stupidly as rather than do the redesign then upload and replace the current version, I took the site down with a "Coming Soon" message. After a few months, the site is still coming soon, I am intending on using a template site to base it on, with tabbed tops that link to photos, family, gadgets and other stuff. I have yet to find the template to use but will ned to get it done very soon.

2. Sort out Photos of Leah
I have thousands of photos of Leah, I want to pick the best 100 and create a photo album from birth.

3. Create a DVDI now have lots of footage which I intend on creating a DVD from, the trouble with home movies however is the 100 hours of footage you start with ends up being 5 minutes of decent film. I have a HD (Hard Drive) Camera so the transfer to my PC will be easy, I intend on using Sony Vegas to capture the footage, something like Adobe Premier for editing and maybe After Effects for any special effects, titles etc.

I guess it all boils down to a: being arsed and b: having the inspiration/creative flair to do so, Unlike Taoski, I'm far from creative, getting my ideas from t'internet bores the hell out of me.

Therefore

• My website is will be a very basic, quick loading site
• Leahs Photo Album is fairly straightforward, I have messed around ith Photoshop and created some half-decent photos
• The DVD will be a "pre-release" therefore not have any special effects

Any ideas greatly welcomed.


* I actually have about 33 things to do but SWMBO doesn't read my blog so the other 30 "house things" can go on hold.

Poor SWMBO

The time has come for SWMBO to sell her car, her dream car, the car that got her through 4 years of her Mad-wifery course, the car she never thought she would own, her beloved 206cc has gone onto eBay for sale

If you, or anyone you know is looking for one of these , let them (and me) know.
(Pictures link to the eBay listing).

I'm Home

I managed to escape at 8.00 last night and it's great to be home.

First thing I did was grab my little girl and give her a massive hug, (my daughter that is, not SWMBO).

My knee still hurts like a bitch although being at home makes me feel better, I have been referred to a Private Healthcare Company (Healthcare-at-Home) who will continue the IV antibiotic treatments 4 times a day, as well as check my blood pressure, temperature, CRP and anything else they need to monitor. This will continue for 3 weeks followed by 2 weeks of oral IV.

Its wierd having a nurse come to your house, they have a ton of kit with them which they use to turn your living room into a hospital room.

It's definately better than spending the next 3 weeks in a hospital, that's for sure. Also it means my hospital diary can now stop and I can get back to blogging more interesting things.

SWMBO is so happy to have me back*, she now has the priviledge of looking after me and Leah.


*Lie

Day 10 - Good and Bad News

The consultant came to see me this morning, he is happy with my recovery as long as my CRP continues to drop. He actually mentioned going home (for the first time), to continue my treatment, and this may even be as soon as Sunday or Monday. I will need to have the PICC line put in which I had decided on anyway. I should hopefully be starting my physio in the next couple of days.

My CRP results came back - 96 - Yesssss !!!!!

The RMO (Resident Medical Officer - Doctor that Lives onsite) came to discuss the PICC line insertion, it involves a local anaethetic then a little cut where they put a tube in, followed by the line itself, he mentioned this will either be in my groin, my chest or my neck (CHEST PLEASE). These lines can stay in for up to 90 days although they prefer 30 days, either way they should really only need to put one of these in, my veins are saved...

So far the day went well, I even managed a shower - Took ages but I didn't care, I AM RECOVERING !!!

As my veins are now well and truly shot, I had to have one of my antibiotics via an injection (in my arse) this worried me, Gentamicin has to be given slowly by IV, otherwise you can go deaf and it's irreversible - but this is not the case via injection as the muscles soak it up, but also means it's not as effective.

The anaesthatist came to see me at 5.30pm, he explained it goes in via the top of the arm (phew) and I will be going down within the next 30 minutes.

I went down to theatre at 6.00pm got prepped and the anaesthatist started....

Then comes the bad news

... 2 hours and 14 attempts later, he stopped, he had tried every vein he could find using an ultrasound machine but they were all thrombosed (blocked), he was unable to thread the tube through therefore unable to put the PICC Line in.

What is it with me, I had a tiny chance of getting the staphylococcus infection in the first place, then the "easy" procedure of getting a PICC Line is not possible. Apparently being part afro-carribean means my sink and veins are thicker than normal, (great for the aging process, shit for venal work) :-(

I am now waiting until tomorrow for a radiologist to put the line in via a different method. Whoever had their fingers crossed for me before, please do it for me tomorrow,

My arms are killing and full of little cuts, and still I'm having to have the IV antibiotics via a cannula which is red, sore, swollen and hurts like mad.

But Daddy will be home to see Leah and SWMBO - whatever it takes.....

Daddy's coming home

Day 9
WOW - 9 Days...

Good news - my CRP has dropped again to 123, I thought I'd be a lot happier than I was about this result...

I am starting to get very down now, I am beginning feel the world is just passing me by as I lie here, Leah had one of her first giggles yesterday and daddy missed it.

I also had some shooting/stabbing pains in my knee but was reassured by SWMBO that these are my wounds healing (muscles & nerves trying to re-attach etc)

I have decided I need to stay positive though, I am scheduled to have a physio session tomorrow which will also mark the second part of my "road to recovery" (the first being getting rid of the infection itself).

COME ON !!!!

Intermission Time

Enough of my knee, Mummy, SWMBO and Monster (and now Leah) ;-), I have found a great welcome home present.

Image courtesy of digiuk.com

This might just have everything I need in a photo frame:

• 7" Widescreen (800 * 480)
• Vista and XP Compatible
• 4 in Memory Card Slot (
• Integrated Memory (64Mb)
• Slide Show
• MP3 playback
  
• Moving Picture playback
• Wi-Fi for streaming pictures
• USB port (but can I plug in my 4Gb USB stick?)
  
• Movie playback in MPEG1, MPEG4 and DivX format

Released in September at all some good geek shops for around £150.

Birmingham - 21 April 2007 - Picasa Pics

I finally made it to the Meet up with my ex-colleagues from Royal Mail IT

SWMBO being 2 weeks away from having Baby Byrne meant that I couldn't stay long, couldn't drink too much and was on phone alert for the whole time.

I got there around 3.15 to find the usual riff-raff of Mr Maloney, Mr Tope, Monster Masterson and the Bigfoot Cookie. - See cookies "version" ----> Here























































I was greeted with "YOU FAT BASTARD" by Gaz "Machinist" Tope, had my age guessed as 39 by a young looking 62 year old Sean.

What a Welcome back - It was great

We exchanged stories of working together, all but one of us moving on different things.

It was only 3.15pm and Tope was already pissed, unfortunately I had missed Wendy (Hello Wendoi), who came and went. Taoski couldn't make it due to a last minute change of plan, Garstang failed to turn up or let Cookie know (let down) so it was left to us few.

After a few jugs of London Pride or something disgustingly resembling Ale, (I had Grolsch)
it began to get messy, Sean drifted in and out of sleep and Cookie got completely wasted, even the phone call from his Boss where he started out being as sober as a judge to attempt the "I'm not pished" voice, later to develop into a slur at which he confessed to being "complety and utterly wan*ered".

He also managed to send a text to his wife explained that he was "bollocksed" his daughter read the text and now knows a new word.

6.00 pm - Mid Drinking food break - Lamb & Mint burger (cookie) and Salmon & something pie (me) filled the void created by beer
6.30 pm - Tope sloped, remembered he had kids and they needed to put the kids to bed.
7.00 pm - Cookie crumbled - decided he could take no more and called up lil' bruv (whos massive) to come g"get big bruv out of trouble" - Lil bruv couldnt come so didnt have a car. Cookie decided to get a taxi - He was a mess.
7.15pm - Byrne crashed - Had to catch the 7.30 train back to reality.
Alan probably carried on (and is still probably drinking now)

Lovely SWMBO picked me up from the station, so i rewarded her by ordering a pizza (well she had 2 slices).

Drifted in and out of sleep while she watched greasy joseph technicolour is the word dreamcoat or something.

What a brilliant day - Can't wait till the next one !!!

I do still miss the guys I worked with in Brum, we really were a good team, although we worked to the rule of 15 minutes work every 4 hours, in the 15 minutes we actually did 4 hours work.

That was the last "session" for me for a week or so as I am now officially on alcohol leave pending our arrival, although with Sisters birthday (25th April), Mossys 30th (26 April) and Bossmans 40th (28 April), it's very inconvenient.

Hormonal 38 week pregnant woman will always win though...

Bless