The perfect storm

The October Monday public holiday 2001 won't be one that I'll want to reminisce about. There won't be holiday snaps in the album with smiling, happy faces.


Have you ever had one of those days, when all the forces of nature come together to create the perfect storm? A day so crap you thought it couldn't really exist? I'm sure you have. For me, that was yesterday.

The storm began to brew on Sunday, when I suddenly discovered I was out of one of my blood pressure medications. I was due to finish it up on Monday anyhow, so I decided a day early wouldn't make any difference. By late Sunday I had a headache brewing, Sunday night Demon D decided to partay.

Monday morning came, my headache was beginning to build and I was tired and cranky. Skip had to go to work, so it was like a normal old Monday morning. As the weather wasn't great, I decided the girls and I would make a cake and they could decorate it however foully they would like - pink and purple icing, millions of sprinkles. That killed about half an hour.

The headache grew and grew. I started to feel really unwell. I felt so agitated and the headache made me think my head would explode. I thought I might have to make a trip to the hospital. Instead I called the doctor (who had given me his mobile number and said to call him if I was worried), when I told him I stopped that tablet, he said "Well, that was stupid. What do you expect me to do over the phone?" I don't think he appreciated his public holiday golf game or yacht trip being interrupted some how. He told me to take some of my other tablets and we'd sort it out on Tuesday.

My mum appeared at the door and took one look at me and said: "Get some rest, I'll take the girls to the park" Bless her.

I lay down but could not sleep. I ended up looking on Dr Google about the tablet I'd stopped. It said: "Do not stop suddenly. It could cause: nervousness (tick), agitation (tick), headache (tick), severe or life-threatening hypertension or even fatal stroke (Oh. Awesome)."

By the afternoon, I felt better and the end of the day was in sight. Skip would be home soon, the girls would be in bed with D following soon after and I could call it a day. Oh how wrong I was.

My mum went home with me assuring her I'd be fine, it would be smooth sailing for the rest of the day. Skip called shortly after saying he'd have to stay on at work for a few more hours and was I OK? I assured him I was fine and the kids would all be fed and in bed and it would all be honky dory.

Then little D decided he didn't want to sleep, just I was doing the dinner. Then he decided he was going to scream. And scream he did for the next three hours, which went really well with my headache. I bathed the girls and he screamed. The girls dressed themselves and he screamed. I told them they'd be no story tonight and they screamed. Goosey tried to sing him to sleep and then got angry when it didn't work and said over and over: "It's really worse having a baby. Let's get rid of him."

Finally the girls went to sleep and D stopped screaming. Though he wouldn't sleep. He just lay in my arms and stared, eyes wide open. Skip came home to find me sitting on the lounge crying. He jumped into action and helped me. Finally at 10pm, D went to sleep. I half-expected him to scream the night away. Thankfully he didn't.

I don't think Skip got much sleep as he was worried and kept checking I was OK.

Surprise, surprise the old blood pressure was high today. So back on the tablets I go. High ho. High ho.

Yes, I should really take my health a little more seriously. Like I said I would in my last post. I come from a long line of people who utter 'Oh it's just a flesh wound"about their health issues. Seems I've inherited that gene too.

Anyhoo, today is a new day.