The Parent Perspective

I see you’ve found the Creature’s big boot! OK, now look up, look way up!

Well, Hello! Fancy meeting you here! It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?

Actually, I’m a bit surprised that you’ve come back for more! If you have this much time to spend here, then you NEED TO GET A LIFE!

No, not really, the life you have is a gift – so don’t blow it! But, as long as you are here, you might as well enjoy yourselves! Go get a cup of coffee (what else?), kick your shoes off, curl up in the big, comfortable chair, sit back, and read on me buckos!

A lot has happened since we last sipped caffeine together. The three teams are out-and-about and having the times of their lives! From what I’ve heard, the UK kids, on the Canada team, now have a fairly definite idea of what it’s like to be in –30 degree C temperatures with a –50 degree C wind chill! It’s going to be a 'hot time in the old town tonight' when we get to hear all the stories from the team debriefings!

On February 5th (at around 3:30 AM) Danny left. with the 1st group, for the trip to The Gambia! There were 21 in this group. A few less than last year’s, but no less enthusiastic! They all got back very late on the 12th (or, depending on your point of view, very early on the 13th)! [more in Alycia's update]

But during that 1 short week, Alycia managed to put her family, back here in Canada, on pins and needles for a few days! She told us she’d gone to see her Doctor, about feeling some pressure behind her eyes! - OH yeah, I heard those gasps and the ‘Oh No’s! - well, you’re not the only ones! I know the first thing we all thought of was "the tumour"!

We found out later that the Doctor said that some pressure during pregnancy is normal! But to be on the safe side, the Doctor sent her to see and ‘Eye’ Doctor the next day! This Doctor checked her eyes and didn’t find anything. Alycia, being up on her usual sense of humour (?), neglected to mention this too us - what the Doctor had said about some pressure being normal! What the wicked little lady thought of doing was to call Danny in The Gambia, tell him she as in the Doctor’s office and that she was ‘fully dilated’, not mentioning that it was an Eye Doctor’s office and it was her eyes that were dilated! Now Danny, if you’ve just read this and Alycia didn’t tell you, then YOU NEVER READ ABOUT IT HERE!!!

However, being on the safe side again, this Doctor set up a MRI, for Friday the 8th, just to make sure. So, that Friday morning it was into the hospital for the test. In the preliminary explanation of what was going to happen, the staff told Alycia that she had to have a fluid injected into her in order to make it easier to see the results of the MRI. They also assured her that they had never had any problems with the fluid reacting badly with a pregnancy, nor had they heard of any problems - BUT! So they gave Alycia 3 choices: 1) she could have the fluid and have the test; 2) she could wait until she had the baby, then have the MRI; or 3) they could INDUCE LABOUR, she could have the baby that day, and then she could take the MRI! After hard consideration (about ¾ of a second,) Alycia decided on the fluid and the test! The first step was for her to be tested without the fluid, then get the injection, and go back into the machine for the second test! So, she lay down on the test table and into the machine she went! But, for some reason (like maybe being pregnant and having a normal sized baby positioned on top of several internal organs while your on your back) she began to feel nauseous and starting having difficulties breathing! It got to the point that she asked to be taken out of the machine! After sitting up and having a drink of water, she began to feel better. Then the lab staff said it looked like they got everything they needed from the first test and there wasn’t any need to inject the fluid and run the second test!

So, Alycia and her friends (that had taken her to the hospital) decided to celebrate! And how did they do that you ask? Well, they had a rug-cleaning party! Yeah, our little ol-party person wanted to clean the carpets in the house and what better time to do it than when Danny was away and she had some great friends to help! Furthermore, it turns out that a man from the church deals with carpet cleaners and he sent over a machine with an instructor, and the party was on – as a matter fact, it went on for about 3 days!

Just a little tangent here. I’ve been doing this edition off-and-on for a couple of days now and I just took some time to read Alycia’s update! It certainly covered a lot of ground and was a lot more details than I’ve included. Then she BLOWS my hidden identity! Here I was, writing as if no one would know who the Creature was (except for the 50 or 60 that knew before hand), thinking I could get away with saying things that wouldn’t come back to haunt me! But her expose let the gas out of my balloon faster than a plate of warm Heinz Baked Beans (with Real Maple Syrup, a dash of BBQ sauce, a cut-up all-beef wiener, served on a buttered thick-sliced piece of toast) could replace it!

So, here’s a parent’s perspective: AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!

OK, back to the ‘home alone’ week with Alcyia and her tummy! Home alone turned out to be somebody staying with her the entire time until Danny got back from The Gambia, around 1:00 AM Wednesday morning! From then on, there was a full house as more LifeFORCE team members ‘crashed’ with not too much else to do! But Alycia did get her carpets cleaned!

But it didn’t matter, everybody had a great time laughing, sharing and having a supper at the Pakistani family who has taken such a shine to Danny, that they’ve unofficially adopted him into their family – to keep their own 2 sons company! That has made Alycia an unofficial stepdaughter in the family and provided some fabulous and oft times hilarious moments during the past few months!

Then of Monday, the 18th, Alycia went with Danny to the heart specialist for the 2nd opinion! Now, with Alycia’s update, everyone knows the outcome of the visit – much more clearly than I’d have been able to do it! So, thank you kiddo, you saved me some wear and tear on the hunt and peck digits! Then next on the schedule was the delivery of the LifeFORCE team members to their various billets for the upcoming week! While Danny was busy with that, Alycia cleaned up the house. Did she ever make an interesting discovery! In the one bedroom – which they planned on using for the baby – Alycia found water stains and MOULD! Now if you remember my AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH from before, you can imagine Alycia’s reaction to her find! The title of her latest blog – "The End of Life As I’ve known It" certainly applies to more than 1 ending!

Which is a great place to end this edition of "The Other Side of The Blog".

Now, what between Alycia’s update and a ‘Parent’s Perspective’, almost next to everybody will be up-to-date on the happenings in the West Midlands and The Gambia,!
I particularly agree with Alycia’s description of her in-laws – Dave and Ruth DeLong (and their daughter, Becky)! After all, their choice of daughter(sister)-in-law is keeping with the highest standards!

CREATURE COMFORTS: Grandchildren are the grandparent's revenge on their children! After all, insanity is heredity - you get it from your kids!

So, until next time, or the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT, whichever comes first, remember: GOD LOVES YOU!