Tales of the travels, trials and triumphs as we explore Australia in a converted bus

Motorhome Travels - December 2009

03/12/2009

Ready for her date with
the surgeons ,
Auckland, NZ

So ... here we are sitting in Auckland Hospital. It's 6:55am and we are waiting on the call for Tracey to go into surgery. 42 years ago today Tracey presented herself to the world at a hospital not far from here, lets hope that today is call for the same celebration. This is probably not how we would like to mark her birthday, but we are happy that in a few hours the hard part will all be over.

The last few days have been a whirlwind of scans, tests and meetings with members of the surgical team - in less than an hour from now it will all come together.

The operation is expected to take 3 - 4 hours and in typical "Nurse Tracey" fashion she has asked that the camera footage be recorded so she can watch it later (not something I will be joining her on the couch with popcorn to enjoy).

Update 12:45 NZ time

Just had confirmation from one of the surgical team that the operation went well and Tracey will be out of theatre in about 15 minutes.

Update 4th Dec 5pm NZ Time
The surgical team are happy with how things went. Tracey is looking and feeling a bit better - she is able to sit up, eat a little and even give a few orders :-)
All going well she may be able to leave intensive care and get onto a normal ward tomorrow.

Many thanks to everybody who emailed kind thoughts and good wishes - we both really appreciate your kind words.

We have a few more hurdles to jump, but so far, so good!

Update 5th Dec - 11:40am NZ Time
While Tracey had an unsettled night with quite a lot of pain, she is feeling a little better this morning. No news yet on when she might be able to leave the intensive care unit.

08/12/2009

Takapuna evening ,
Auckland, NZ

While Tracey is in Auckland hospital, I am living with Tracey's parents in their motorhome (motorhoming must be in the blood). The motorhome is parked at a camp on Takapuna Beach. This is a nice place to be and the view out of the window is an ever changing vista. This photo shows part of an amazing rainbow that framed the dormant volcano and prominent Auckland landmark - Rangitoto.

Well the good news is that Tracey has made considerable progress in the last few days and was yesterday moved out of intensive care. She was very pleased to be shifted from the ICU where the almost constant activity and high level of care makes sleep difficult. We met with the surgeon yesterday who expressed satisfaction with progress in this stage of treatment. It is likely that there will be a three or four week recovery period before the next stage of treatment begins.

I guess this means that we will be here in New Zealand for at least the next few months.

Update 11 December
Tracey was discharged from hospital late last evening. She is still quite weak (even for a girl :-) and is still suffering from extremely painful headaches. She is however feeling a little better each day and is very pleased to be allowed out of hospital.

Apart from having regular blood tests, very little else will happen until the new year when the next stage of her treatment will begin. Unfortunately the entire tumour could not be removed in surgery and further treatment will be required.

Right now, we are just glad that she is feeling a bit better and is able to spend time with family while she recuperates from the surgery.

18/12/2009

Tivoli in NZ , Auckland, NZ

Yesterday Tracey had her eyes tested and the really great news is that she has regained most of the sight that she lost due to the tumour. Even better, her headaches are becoming less frequent and less severe. We have an appointment with the endocrinologist on Monday and we expecting to know more about the next stage of treatment after this. It is likely that there will be a 2 month wait for everything to heal and return to normal before any more will be done.

We had our poor Burmese cat, Tivoli shipped over from Perth to us here in Auckland. She was very pleased to see us and has not been more than 3cm from my heels since arriving. I hope she settles down and returns to normal soon, her constant attention seeking is driving us crazy.

Merry Christmas everyone - thanks for reading our blog this year and supporting Hobohome. We both hope to be back in the bus soon and writing about far more interesting stuff - like discovering Australia in a motorhome!

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