(no subject)

[kiwisue]

Just finished talking to mum, back in NZ, getting the news. God, a slow steamship would have been quicker! A few weeks ago my sister Fiona was kicked unconscious by a colt. Woke up in the paddock with her cheek broken & now has a titanium plate holding everything together. You can't tell it's there, apparently. And Dad may have to get some sort of arterial shunt inserted because his arteries are clogged from decades of smoking, or he may lose a foot. They're waiting for specialist advice.

I should have called earlier - I usually do - but July kinda slid by, with everything that's been happening here. Although I'd have thought you'd let me know about anything significant, OK? *headdesk*

Comments

[ancastar.livejournal.com]

Geez! Your family has had quite an eventful few weeks, haven't they? I'll say a little prayer that things calm down for them and you.

Cut yourself a break for not being in touch. Things happen, and as you mentioned--you always figure something beyond the norm would be shared. They probably just didn't want to worry you.

Didn't work all that well, though, did it? :-)

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

That's the family pattern all right - don't worry anyone. They've done it, and I do it. And it hasn't been a problem for years, because everyone's been as healthy as horses *g* so we've let it run that way (mum even broke her leg a couple of years back and didn't let me know until she was on her feet again). But now, with Mum & Dad both starting to have serious health problems, things are taking a new turn and I do need to make sure I don't let contact slide. We have lots of family in the area, but my sister is the closest to them. It's sober thinking.

[ancastar.livejournal.com]

I have a particular sensitivity to the whole "don't worry her" syndrome as years ago, when I was in grad school, my dad was forceably retired from his job because of ill health. No one told me until I called home to discuss an upcoming visit my parents were planning to make.

I said something like, "I'm sure dad will need to see what his schedule is." My mom basically replied, "Oh honey, your dad doesn't have a schedule. He's retired now."

All I'd known was that my dad was having some tests done. No one had told me what the tests had found or how serious the damage was. Whenever I questioned my parents, I was told that my dad was just making some lifestyle adjustments (quitting smoking, eating better, getting more exercise). I could have killed them.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds so much like my lot!!!! Not that I've been a very communicative daughter - but I've learned to enjoy my good, loving, parents more as time has gone past and now, when I see problems on the horizon, they're trying to keep it to themselves. Grrrr.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

Also, thanks for the prayers - I forgot to mention it before, but I really appreciate it.

[eveningblue.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, that's some news to receive!

I hope your dad and your sister end up okay.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

Gonna ring Fi tomorrow - she's Southland tough, so I figure she's OK. As for dad, it doesn't sound too good, I think I need to make plans.

[agentxpndble.livejournal.com]

OMG, I'm really sorry - Best wishes to both of them. Your poor sister - *ouch*, that must have hurt like HELL.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

My sister and I share the same Scottish Celtic hard-headedness (reinforced by a Maori ancestress about 8 generations back). I have no doubt that she's OK, or I think I would have heard (I bloody well hope). But thanks very much</>for your concern:-)

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Ouch!! All the best for your sister. And I hope your Dad gets sorted out quickly, too. I know how the whole communication across continents goes.. My parents are in Canada, I'm in Turkey, my brother's in Wales and my Aunt and cousins are in Scotland. So we have this let's-see-what-happens-and-tell-everyone-when-we're-fine-again down to a fine art!

Time does get away from us all, especially if we can't just drop by and see how folk are doing. But it makes for interesting phone calls at times, right??!

Take care and hope everyone is doing better.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

So we have this let's-see-what-happens-and-tell-everyone-when-we're-fine-again down to a fine art!

Oh gosh, yes! My sister's fine (and planning an Aussie trip next year!) but I don't think Dad's ever going to be properly OK again. Too much damage over the years. I'll have to keep better tabs - we've never been in each other's pockets, & often let things drift for weeks or even months, but I'd hate myself if I let it go now & something happened.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[andreathelion.livejournal.com]

Ohoh, that's what I call news O_O

All the best to your sister and your dad.

And take care yourself !

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

Thank you Andrea! Appreciate your thoughts.

[mab-browne.livejournal.com]

It's the great kiwi mantra - 'but we didn't want to worry you'...Good thoughts to you and yours.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

*Heh* Thanks. I talked to Fi today & she was telling me how, after it happened, she got herself back to the house, then looked in the mirror & went "that's a little bit serious - think I'd better call an ambulance". The fracture went in a Y shape from her orbital socket on one side and the edge of the jaw where the facial nerve appears on the other, down & across her palate. She still hasn't got normal sensation back, but she probably will, eventually. And she's bringing my niece & nephew to Sydney next year *yay*. Dad is the real worry, but he has to wait until the doctors decide what's the best thing to do.

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

Really sorry to hear this - you seem to be having a basinful of bad news lately. And it's very disconcerting to have family news like this and to know that it was all going on and you didn't even know. But it does become a worry as parents get older, when they are a way away.
Take care and don't beat yourself up - I hope there will be better news about your dad and that your sister really has recovered well. Sending positive vibes and kind thoughts!

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Rosie. I'm not really hopeful that there will be great news with Dad, but maybe I'm just being a pessimist. My sister will be fine (and actually, after I spoke to her today, and she was all matter-of-fact & understated about it all, I was thinking about Larton, and country life, and basically found myself agreeing with your take on it - although it's a different place, there's something a little too familiar about it all!).