Mollie is safe!

Hi everyone

Two days ago Rory found a dog tag in the middle of the road. On one side it had a doggie print, and the other side said 'Mollie' and had a phone number. Rory brought it home, and I immediately texted the owners, asking if they'd like the tag back.

It turned out that Mollie was missing. They had been searching for her for days, but not here in Island Bay...in Upper Hutt! That is about 25 miles away. They said that Mollie was like a Houdini dog, so that at first they weren't worried, but for days afterward they had been searching for her everywhere. How in the world did her tag get to Island Bay?

After we called, Mollie's owners sprung into action. They announced Mollie's disappearance over Wellington regional radio, and even put in a letter to the editor of the Dominion Post. We gave them our address and explained where Rory found the tag, and they came out and looked around.

Just a few hours ago I got the great news...Millie has been found! The owners called and were so relieved and thankful. I'll meet them tomorrow when they pick up the tag from my workplace.

I thought you might appreciate the story. These sorts of things rarely have happy endings, so I'm grateful that this one did. I can't wait to hear about Mollie's adventures: where exactly they found her, what she'd been up to (they said she was tired and dirty), and who called her in.

Love
Amy

Some good news

Hi all

In all the choas of the last few days, I didn't mention that there was some good news.

Sheron and Lucy (Rory's mum and sister) are coming to stay...and soon! They will be leaving the UK on 18 February, staying with us for 10 days, and then going to Sydney for another week.

We are so excited to see them.

Love
Amy

We're okay

Hi 

I thought I should write again, since my last blog was upsetting. I was just being honest...this experience hasn't been all flowers and rainbows, and I feel like I should report on the bad as well as the good.

Rory has improved today. After I wrote this blog yesterday, I was able to get Rory to eat some watermelon and toast, and slowly but surely he's gotten better. He hasn't vomited in 24 hours now.

The vomiting also seemed to clear out his esophagus and throat, and his cough has become dry. I'm starting to think that his body was just trying to ged rid of the mucus, since he was taking the cough suppressant and swallowing it all.

So things are looking up, finally. I'm cautious about saying he is out of the woods, since this past week has been like a rollercoaster. I'm also sorry about complaining about Rory...I love his Englishness 99.99% of the time, but he can also be very understated and avoids making a fuss over himself. I was just very stressed out.

Love

Amy

I've had enough

I've had it.

I'm a wreck. I haven't really slept in days, and I'm constantly shaking.

There is nobody here to help Rory but me, and I can't do it. I stayed home from work today because I've worried myself sick, and I hate to leave Rory on his own. He had another bad spasm yesterday evening and then some minor ones in the middle of the night.

So this morning he started vomiting. I had just stepped in the shower, and then he ran in and starting throwing up....and gasping for breath...and throwing up...and making that screeching sound he does when he has a spasm attack. I ran out of the shower and called the ambulance, because they had told us to if he was having an acute spasm.

Rory immediately got angry with me. I tried to call the ambulance off, but they were already on their way. By the time the paramedics got to the house, he was laying in bed, and they checked him out and left. They just told him to drink more water and take more paracetemol.

I don't want to be in charge anymore. Everything I try to do is wrong. Rory makes it clear that I only make things worse. All I want to do is help, but I seem to do the opposite. I wish we had just one single family member here...someone to step in and take over for me, so that Rory stops resenting me and I'm able to take care of myself.

I'm feeling very low.

Our first trip to the hospital

Hi everyone

We didn't have that great of a weekend.

Rory had been ill, but started having laryngeal spasms late last week. Basically it means that his throat constricts and doesn't let much air into his windpipe. The good news is that he'll be okay (it isn't fatal and will eventually resolve itself), but in the meantime I've been a wreck. It turns out that I'm the worst person to have around in a medical emergency...I just cry and panic.

Our first trip to the Urgent Care clinic yielded some steroid anti-inflammatories, but those weren't doing much. Last night (after a trip to the ER and then another trip to the Urgent Care clinic) Rory was prescribed some antibiotics and cough suppressants.

I never knew that I was such a weakling. I was fine when I cut myself at work and needed stiches and a tetanus shot...hell, I even drove myself across town with my one non-bleeding hand. But apparently here, where we are so isolated, and getting help for foreigners seems quite a chore, I only make things worse. When Rory has a spasm attack, I have a panic attack. Every time. Great.

So we'll see how things go and keep everyone posted.

Love
Amy

Finally Friday

Hi everyone

This week seemed so incredibly long after our holiday break. But, good news-we have another three-day weekend ahead of us, just in time!

Rory is still ill, so our tentative plan to do the Tongariro Crossing fell through. It would just put too much pressure on his lungs, and the weather looks crap anyways. We're putting the money toward my birthday weekend (another three-dayer) and considering a trip to Christchurch.

So, in the meantime, we'll stick around Welly. The Terra Cotta Warriors are here (they followed us from London!) and we'll probably go to the beach if it's nice. Otherwise we'll take it easy, because Rory really needs to get well. It has been nearly three weeks, and he hasn't been able to get a doctor's appointment because he isn't a 'resident'.

I don't have much other news. Rory and I are going on a date tonight- probably in Newtown, since we didn't make reservations anywhere. That is one thing about Welly...if you don't book ahead downtown, you might not get a meal.

I'll write again soon. In the meantime, I included two more pictures from the Bay of Islands (and then I'm done, really).

Love,
Amy