September

 This past month turned out to be a lot harder than I had envisioned!

I thought the worst would be going to my doctor to check how my blood sugar was doing. That turned out a lot better than I thought, even though the doctor challenged me to lose weight before my next appointment in December! I'm happy to report that I'm on target for that, having lost 2 kilos this month.  The big problem is the temptation to start baking now that the weather is cooling down! One thing that I am looking forward to is making pots of soup; they are so filling without a lot of calories! 

I didn't get all the jobs I planned to do. Part of the problem was the heat; only in the last week or so has the temperature dropped below 30 °C. Additionally, we've had thunderstorms every week!

I think the thing that broke September for me was Hannah having another seizure! I really hoped that these seizures were a once-in-a-while thing, like once every couple of years! This was the third one in a year. She had the first one last September, then it's possible she had one while she was at her apartment, then this one. It's about 50 minutes from here to where Hannah lives, a very long drive! While we were driving, Hannah had been taken to the hospital and had some tests and an MRI. I was shocked when I saw her. She was white, her lip was split and swollen, and she had drops of blood on her shirt! The first thing she said was "Sorry, Mommy!" When she came round in the ambulance, her first concern was for the students in the class; she was worried that they might be traumatised by seeing her collapse.

We spoke for a long time with the doctor, he recommended a doctor in the larger city. There are very few doctors who specialise in epilepsy. Hannah came home and stayed here until her appointment with the specialist. 

It was nice having Hannah here for a few days! I think she enjoyed playing with the cats. We managed to have a few walks in the neighbourhood, which was nice!

Her appointment with the specialist was good. He really took time to answer Hannah's questions. The conclusion is that she has epilepsy, it's been there and dormant since she was born! The seizures are triggered by fatigue, and that's why they didn't start until she was an adult. As her lifestyle changed, getting busier and more stressful, the seizures were triggered. I wish she didn't have this problem, but I'm glad that it has happened now and not when she was a teenager. There's no way I could have copied back then. She became a teenager just a few years after Hisao had died. I was in such an emotional mess back then, it really would have been too much for me!

She has medicine that she has to take every day. I think it will take a while to get used to it; it makes her sleepy. 

The best part of the month was going to see Les Misérables The World Tour!

It was a lovely day out with Hannah. Just going to the city, getting something at Starbucks, the excitement of the crowd, the anticipation of waiting for the start. 

The actors were incredible! So much power and emotion in every song. I'm really glad we had the chance. Also, it was a chance to relax after all the stress of the previous couple of weeks, for a few hours to put life aside was good!

So October, I'm looking forward to cooler weather, getting the long list of things that need to be done finished. 

We moved in here last December, and the house was a lot colder than I remembered it being, so the next month will be preparing for winter! I think I need to buy a couple more heaters.

Also, from tomorrow, Christopher will start work! Good! I hope he does okay at this job!

And we had a visitor this morning!

Preying Mantis came to visit.

Not a good photo, as I had to zoom in; I can't get close to these things!