Insane Coincidence

Something really crazy happened yesterday.  I’m seeing a specialist here in Niagara and he will be performing a surgery on me (hopefully soon).  There is another specialist in Niagara (completely different field) with the same name.  A hospital called me yesterday and left a message on my voicemail, stating the name of my surgery and that I would be having my pre-op appointment on July 2, with the surgery on the 16th.  Wow, that was quick!  She said what wing of the hospital it was in.  I was surprised it was in Hamilton, but I knew my doctor was having a hard time getting time in the operating room at the new St. Catharines hospital, so figured he found Hamilton to be more accommodating.  I phoned the booking nurse back and verified the dates and times.  I was about to hang up and then decided to mention the wing at the hospital.  She said it was the same place where I had the consultation with my doctor.  Huh?  I said I’ve never had an appointment there and she asked if I just saw him at his Niagara office.  I said yes.  She said my doctor referred me to another doctor for the actual surgery.  This totally threw me.  I asked why it was in Hamilton and she said it was due to my heart arrythmia.  Huh???  I said I didn’t know I had that issue.  She said my doctor discussed it with me during our last appointment – last Friday.  I said I hadn’t seen him in about a month.  She said “What?”  I also said “What??”  She said she was going to look into things and call me back.  It was soon after I hung up that I clued in.  A woman with the same name as me, was having surgery with the same name as the one I’m going to have, but in a totally different part of the body, her specialist has the same name as mine and we live in the same city!  Holy cow!  Seriously, what are the odds of that?  If I didn’t ask the booking nurse about the wing at the hospital, I would have showed up for my pre-op appointment next week.  Now I can see why there are issues with people getting wrongly diagnosed or even having the wrong surgery.  Glad we got it resolved though.

Had a great day at work.  I’m really enjoying my new position.  Also, we had a great lunch n learn session with two detectives from the Niagara Regional Police.  I’m so glad I attended.

Back at home, the girls greeted me briefly then decided to chill.

Mya and Pinky:

Boo:

And as usual, Abby is too googly to actually “chill”:

I have tomorrow off (compressed).  I’m supposed to take someone up for a flight and aerobatics.  Not sure if the weather is going to work for us.  Paws crossed!

Today’s symptoms: Felt really yucky today.  I slept in almost an extra hour because I was just feeling so bad.  I didn’t want to take too much time off though with starting the new position.  Tons of MS aches and pains today plus a killer headache.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 6/26/2013 5:51 PM

Decent Weekend

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I was asked to be a guest speaker at the Women in Aviation conference in Mississauga this weekend.  I was really looking forward to it.  I heard they always have a great turn out.  Mike and I arrived just after 1:00.  I presented at 3:00.  Neither of us likes to run at the last minute, which is quite nice!  We listened to the last part of one presentation, then stayed for another one.  We were in a large room upstairs in the hotel.  At 2:45, Mike and I were led downstairs to the room where I would give my talk.  I’m not sure if it was the fact that I was presenting concurrently with another presenter, it was the last presentation of the day or people just weren’t interested.  Only about ten people came to my session.  Needless to say, the turn out was quite disappointing.  On a bright note, the folks who attended seemed very interested during the whole presentation.  They were very attentive and I received quite a few laughs.  Go figure, I was silly at points.  Most came up to speak with me and/or take one of my cards at the end of the talk, which was really nice.  I’m glad I was able to present, despite the small crowd.

The weather has been fairly poopy this week.  I have an aerobatic flight booked with someone on Thursday, but they’re calling for thunderstorms.  Guess we’ll wait and see!

I got one of those neat Cat’s Meow toys, as seen on TV.  My four little freaks love it!!!

Speaking of freaks, Mike just sent me a pic of one of his cats:

I love little cross-eyed Sammy!

I started a new position at work this week and so far I totally love it.  I think I really needed this – needed a change.  I’m actually really looking forward to going to work each day again!

Not too much else to report right now.  Stay tuned!

Today’s symptoms:  Felt really yucky today as I had my Tysabri infusion yesterday.  The administration went much better this month with only two IV pokes rather than the four (plus three more for blood work) last month.  Ugh!!!  Here’s a pic after poke seven:

During the third IV, the needle came out of the vein and the fluid pooled under my skin, thus the warm pack on my right arm.
The symptoms I experience after the infusion get better day by day and usually only last for about four days total.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 6/25/2013 8:17 PM

Big Day Tomorrow

I had a short day at work (compressed) which was quite convenient since I had a flight this afternoon.  It was our annual golf tournament for work, which I typically fly over and take aerial shots.  I left work at 11:30 and headed to the airport.  Perfect day for it weather-wise.The Electra was landing before I took off:

 

 

It took me less than ten minutes to fly there.  I didn’t get the greatest shots, but I tried:

I was able to see a few coworkers waving at me, so of course, I dipped my wings in return.

Back at the airport, I passed this beauty:

Nice flight.  I had an equally nice flight on Wednesday.  I flew Mike and I into a monthly fly-in event at a local private strip:

It was a great turn out both plane-wise and people-wise:

We had a really nice time with good conversation and good noms.  The owner walked me out to my plane and I told him I was going to leave and try not to do any aerobatics.  His response was “Why?”  Enough said.  Did a few maneuvers over the field followed by a low and over.  Total blast!

Two small items to mention:  There were a few fireworks just outside my apartment last night:

And two: Mya was really cute while I was laying on the couch today:

I have an exciting day tomorrow.  Mike and I are going to Mississauga where I will be giving a presentation at the Women in Aviation conference.  I’m really looking forward to it.  I’ve given this presentation about six or seven times now.  The last time was for the Air Cadets in Port Colborne.  I hope I get at least a few people attending my presentation!

Today’s symptoms:  Not long after my flight, my headache hit pretty hard again.  Still not sure how much of it is caused my my sinus infection and how much is MS related.  The fatigue has really kicked in now too. 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 6/21/2013 5:50 PM

Quite a Surprise

Mike and I went to the MS Society volunteer appreciation night on Thursday.  I went a couple years ago as well.  A couple of friends from work who also have volunteered for different MS events also attended.  We had a great meal of roast chicken and various salads, followed by some really great cake.  I was totally shocked with what happened next.  They mentioned the volunteer of the year award.  The MC mentioned how this person has raised over $15,000 over the last few years through the Walks for MS, attends all three walks each year (Kinda wondering how they did that since they are all over Niagara and start at the same time), they volunteer for the golf tournament, then she mentioned “she recently won the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal.”  Ok, now I’m starting to get just a tad freaked out.  I fly over all three walks every year plus do a little air show for the golf tourney.  I couldn’t believe it when she mentioned my name.  I had no clue at all that I was receiving the award.  As I walked up to the stage, still in shock, I turned to the crowd and said “If I knew I was getting this, I would have dressed a little nicer!”

I gave a quick off the cuff speech and returned to the table.  My friends were so awesome and happy for me.

What a nice evening!

Saturday was another great day.  I flew Mike and I to Lindsay (North East of Toronto) for a fly-in AND to buy their amazing butter tarts.  Just after we took off, we got a request from one of the folks in the control tower to kindly bring her a butter tart.  Clearly this airport is known for this awesome treat.  We also planned on bringing some back for friends and family.  Sure hope they’d have enough.

It was a nice flight there.  We passed a few planes on the way, including a few taking off from Toronto Island:

We were told by the tower to climb from 2000 to 2500 feet in order to allow another plane to pass below us:

Soon after, he said we could go back down to 2000 feet, then passed us off to the Buttonville tower.  She then told us to climb to 2500 feet.  Roller coaster!  Mind you, since Mike likes to do funky maneuvers (including aerobatics), I made the climb and descent quite enjoyable!

Within an hour, we were almost at Lindsay Airport.  We followed another plane in until we got to the circuit:

Then we arrived:

The guy taking off in the shot made me a little nervous.  I called I was on final, then he said he was going to take position on the runway to take off.  Hello!  I was pretty sure I was going to have to do a go-around.  He took off in time though.

We parked Vyctor in line with the other cute planes:

Our mission – acquire the buttertarts!  On the way to the restaurant, we passed the Harvard that had flights for sale:

And a Tiger Moth:

We registered, then I ran back to Vyctor to put this lovely sign on his propeller:

In the restaurant, I asked if there was a limit to how many butter tarts we could buy.  She said no.  I asked for two dozen.  She loaded up the containers and there were only two left in the display case.  Mike and I thought they looked kinda sad in there so we bought them too.  Yum!!!

We sat and ate ours.  Donkay had some too:

I must admit, they are the best butter tarts I’ve ever had.  The woman in the restaurant said people fly in from all over (even Pennsylvania) to get their tarts.

After eating, we walked around and looked at some of the classic cars on display:

We met up with a member from our Recreational Aircraft Association group.  He was there with a brother, who built a couple airplanes.

After touring around, we headed back to Vyctor to leave:

Taxiing out:

Heading back through Toronto, Mike shrieked with glee as we flew over our favourite store:

It was pretty cool to see the Edge Walkers up on the CN Tower:

I did the Edge Walk last year:

It was fun, just wish I had got a rush.

Anyway, it was a nice flight back to St. Catharines:

Perfect day!

Today was a bit of a different story.  I’ve been dealing with a sinus infection for a few weeks now.  My GP gave me meds for it on Friday.  It was more than tolerable (pain-wise) on Saturday.  However, I’m not sure if it was the change of pressure or what, but the pain was horrific today.  I was supposed to go to Mike’s place for a Father’s Day lunch, but I wasn’t able to go.  I’ve been vegging all day, with the curtains closed and the volume on the TV low.  I’m sure it will be at least a bit better tomorrow though.

Today’s symptoms:  My fatigue level wasn’t the greatest and I had quite a few MS aches and pains in my forearms.  The sinus headache was severe – really hoping I can sleep tonight.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 6/16/2013 9:40 PM

Camping at The Pinery

Mike and I had an awesome weekend – it was our camping trip at the Pinery Provincial Park.  We left the apartment just after 8:00 on Friday morning.  It was a nice three hour drive to the park.  As soon as we got there, we set up his parent’s massive tent:

Notice the huge-o air mattress – very comfy!

The weather forecast wasn’t too promising, so we took advantage of every dry moment.  Our first stop was a walk to the lake:

When we got back to the site, we pulled out our ball gloves and played some catch.  We didn’t play in the clearest area, so it wasn’t really a huge surprise when I tossed the ball into a tree and it stuck.  No way I was going to leave it there:

Just as I climbed back down, the rain started.  We ran back to the tent for some munchies and a few rounds of UNO!  Due to the rain, we weren’t able to use the stove or start a campfire.  This was my first dinner of the camping trip:

We went to the Schoolhouse Restaurant in Grand Bend.  Very good!

The next day, we played catch, frisbee and badminton.  Then we went for an almost two hour nature walk.  We passed this cute smiling tree stump:

We also stopped at an observation deck and that’s where I met Frank.  He was a cute little dude.  Here he is getting a butt rub:

Continuing on with our walk, we ended up at the visitor centre.  There were a few turtles in tanks.  This fella was having some noms:

It started raining again that afternoon so we weren’t able to cook dinner again.  Oh darn, back to the Schoolhouse!

Mike had the above BBQ sloppy-joe and I had the same thing as the night before.  Great food!

It was really sad to have to leave on Sunday.  We started taking down the tent soon after we got up in the morning.  Perfect timing – it started pouring as we got the last item in the car.  We were going to stay at the site until checkout time at 2:00, but that wasn’t going to happen with the rainage.  Back home we went.  We passed this truck on the way and I thought of my little mother:

Kinda sad to have to go into work today.  Really wish we were still camping.  The best part of being home though is seeing my kittahs.  Boo and Mya greeted me when I got home today:

Today’s symptoms: Quite tired but to be expected.  I still can’t believe how great my energy level was during the camping trip!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 6/3/2013 6:57 PM