2011.... the start of a new year.. and what a start it has been !

Hello !

You may be wondering why not much has been happening on the clay front.  It is a rather long story so take a coffee and grab a seat.

On Christmas day I became ill with a flu followed by a chest infection combined with an ear and throat infection and terrible migraines.  Not my favourite festive cocktail !
This all lasted about a month and I finally felt ready to take on studying again.

I returned to the college (I am studying event planning while running my own business) and had a week of catching up and getting up to speed again.

On Tuesday 1 February, I came home from college only to find myself having problems putting my foot on the brake pedal in the car.  It was as if my foot was numb and did not want to move.  I eventually managed to move my foot far enough to brake.  Got the car parked (can't remember how I possibly managed that) and tried to get out of the car.  I could not grab the handle.  Then I realised something was really wrong.
My right hand side was not fully cooperating.

I managed to get into the house by mainly using my left foot first and dragging my right one behind.. and by using my left hand to get in the house. 
I called the NHS24 who sent an ambulance.  I was thinking I had a mini-stroke.. but the fact that I was not numb and could still grasp was odd.  After about 20 minutes I was back to normal and could walk and grasp like before.

At the hospital I was treated for a stroke but had a scan scheduled for the next day.  There they saw what caused my symptoms : I had a tumour in my brain.
I was then transferred to a specialist hospital in Glasgow (3 hours drive away) and was told I would be operated the next morning.
It all went so fast that I had no time to really think about the severity of it all.  That was left to my hubby, my son and my mom who were in a slight panic, to say the least.

The tumour was a benign meningioma of about 2 by 3 cm.  It had been growing over many years and had started to irritate my brain... hence the symptoms.

I am donning a new hairdo : very very very short !  But have been told that I look years younger so I guess I will stick to something short in the future.

Overall I am feeling OK.  I need to rest for 3 to 4 months and cannot drive a car for another 6 months but that is OK.  I am alive and greatful to still be here so this will be a small price to pay for getting on with my life.

For now, I am re-thinking my polymer clay courses so I can still do them but without the strain.. and I hope to start making new goodies any time soon.

Have a wonderful spring time,
see you soon,

Chris