First High Tea

 One of our lovely wedding presents we got from great friends was an afternoon Tea at "The Bailiffscourt". For those of you who are not in the UK it is a part of the Historic Sussex Hotels. So after getting our good news from the Dr's we decided that we would celebrate, by heading to Climping for our treat. It was a beautiful day. Chilly but clear blue skies. We'd spent the day working out way down from Midhurst, stopping for a brief wander round the shops just for fun. Then we headed for the hotel. Ancient building bathed in a beautiful sunset by the sea. What more could you ask for. We headed in to the main hotel and found a place by a wood burner. A serve came by we placed our order. Soon a three tiered plate rack came loaded with lovely treats. Accompanied by tea for me and hot chocolate for Mark. Smoked salmon, ham and cheese, with egg salad finger sandwiches for savory treats. Sweet treats were numerous lemon tart, chocolate cake, raisin loaf, eclair's, a mouse, and then two scones with strawberry preserves and clotted cream. I'm somewhat proud and yet ashamed to say we ate it all! So much for the diet. So yummy! We sat their for over two hours enjoying the treats, the fire and the people watching! It was such fun! Thank you so much to the friends who gave us this treat we truly enjoyed ourselves! For the picture you can tell how much we enjoyed our selves!

Snow!

 Last night it snowed. Big fluffy flakes that slowly drifted down through the night sky. This morning the snow sparkled on everything, we only got about an inch or so but it transformed the world into a white wonder. Thankfully there was not SO much that driving became a nightmare for Mark. I was lucky as it is a rest day for me so I didn't have to worry about train delays and whatnot. I got to stay at home and rest. I went for a walk in the common that is behind our house and it was so nice. A bit nostalgic for the snow in Canada hearing the crunch of the snow under my boot was a welcome home. A friend was testing me and said it must make you miss Canada and I said yes, but this is the way I prefer my snow short stints rather than the months that you get in Canada. By 3pm in the afternoon the snow had melted and the tops of the grass was once again visible. They are calling for more snow tonight, but we will see. The sun is currently peeping out between thick clouds help so no sign of more snow yet....

This week I went to see my Neurologist about all that has been happening. He was very kind and patient and listened to and answered all my questions. This is the low down. He is very confident that what I have is some version of "trigeminal nerve pain syndrome". What this means is that for whatever reason my nerve that is responsible for the left side of my face has decided to act up which for means that I have sinus pain (similar to what you might experience when you have a cold) and continual tingling to the same side of my face. I spent the time in the hospital as they were worried I might have a bigger scarier issue, but I don't. My scans and CSF tests came back a-ok! Hooray!!!! The other thing that he is very confident about is that with a few more months of treatment I should be able to come off the medication, WITHOUT return of symptoms! So good news all around! There are a few things that I need to avoid over the next few months but nothing too terrible. I can travel and do most things that I want to so I can't really complain. I am getting stronger and stronger everyday, but I have to continue to go slowly. If I push too much by doing too much in one day the next day is very uncomfortable for me. Funnily enough the thing I struggle the most with is the tingling...it is like I have a permanent itch that no scratching helps to resolve. a single hair that falls onto my left side of my face can drive me wild! So funny! I am grateful that is the worst of it as some of the things they thought it might be were a lot worse than a itchy face. Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and concerns...we are getting there. By May I should be back to myself! Until then one step at a time.

Whitmoor Common

Back to Work

So today was the first day of my 4 week progressive return to work. Only four hours in the office, but that means I'm actually out and busy for 7 hours. Yup....Hour and a half to get to work one way. Needless to say I was tired on returning home but a bit of a rest on the couch and I'm ok...thankfully I have tomorrow to recover before trying again on Fri. Slowly and surely I will get stronger. I'm very grateful for the sickness policy at work right now!! As I know if I were to return to full time hours right now I would not be successful. Thanks work!

It was good to be back at work and really nice to see everyone again. They have all been REALLY supportive of me while I have been unwell and it is good to be on my way back!

We have an appointment with the Neuro Dr in the foreseeable future which will hopefully give us a few more answers to our million and one questions. Anyways that is the update for now.