I fancy doing this myself over the summer or maybe setting a modified one for the children. There must be a kid-friendly version online...next research!
Monday 27 May 2013
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Well...that could have gone better.
My evening:
* The neurologist denies any link between Topamax and kidney stones despite it being disseminated through the medical information on the leaflet in the medication box. But was kind enough to refer me for an ultrasound.
* I have a kidney stone. I knew it. I've been aching for days It's only 3.6mm. My last one was 1.8cm.
* The first hospital pharmacy don't have my prescription. But Scientific pharmacy in al Khoud should do and will honour my insurance.
* Finally found it but it is shut as its prayer time. Wait 20 minutes. They don't have it. Badr al Samaa do and should honour my insurance.
* Starting to get twitchy now. My battery is very low. GPS and 3G is not working. I get lost. Majorly lost. Never been to Maballeh. At least it was the right end of town.
* Strangely and bizarrely and somehow will never know how, I pop out next to the road that leads to Badr al Samaa, so I make my way there.
* The Pharmacy assistant looks at my forms. Talks to his colleague. I need a doctor's stamp and a hospital stamp actually on the insurance form. I've been in and out of hospital these last few months and in and out of pharmacies and have never been asked for a stamp on that form.
* For the first time in my adult life, as far as I can remember, I make a scene. I raise my voice. I shout. I recount my whole evening to the poor assistant (although at that moment in time he is not poor in my eyes; he is doing this on purpose to tease this expat woman and wind me up). I snatch the form from his hand, wordless, and storm from the pharmacy. I even manage to slam the door open on my way out. I am seething. I am sobbing.
* At least I am not lost now but I still sob all the way home. Angry and embarrassed.
* I manage to calm myself down. I am concerned that I may not get the medication for some time, I don't want to be off it, for it to come out of my system and for me to have to go through the struggle of getting used to it again.
Next morning:
* Form stamped by Starcare.
* Enough time to get to Badr al Samaa before work. And chances are the staff last night won't be on shift.
* Two lovely ladies are behind the counter. Yes. I can avoid further embarrassment.
* I have to get get my file number from the front desk before she can do anything. Oh FFS.
* But I manage to avoid the queues and nip to the billing man and he kindly helps me.
* Back to the pharmacy. A voice on my left.."So you went back to the hospital last night then to get the stamp?" O. M. G. At least it's just one of the staff from last night.
* No, of course it's not. This is me you're reading about. I walk in and number one who spoke to me goes and joins his two colleagues behind the counter so all three of them are standing there. I apologise profusely and I'm not sure but the one I spoke to last night either does not speak a lot of English or he really is pissed off with me.
* The lady gives me my prescription and I'm done. I give a final big apologetic smile as I leave and he stands up and returns it.
I think I'm OK now. Really, was all that necessary....?
Mantra for last night should have been 'This too shall pass'.
Much like my kidney stone, I hope.
* The neurologist denies any link between Topamax and kidney stones despite it being disseminated through the medical information on the leaflet in the medication box. But was kind enough to refer me for an ultrasound.
* I have a kidney stone. I knew it. I've been aching for days It's only 3.6mm. My last one was 1.8cm.
* The first hospital pharmacy don't have my prescription. But Scientific pharmacy in al Khoud should do and will honour my insurance.
* Finally found it but it is shut as its prayer time. Wait 20 minutes. They don't have it. Badr al Samaa do and should honour my insurance.
* Starting to get twitchy now. My battery is very low. GPS and 3G is not working. I get lost. Majorly lost. Never been to Maballeh. At least it was the right end of town.
* Strangely and bizarrely and somehow will never know how, I pop out next to the road that leads to Badr al Samaa, so I make my way there.
* The Pharmacy assistant looks at my forms. Talks to his colleague. I need a doctor's stamp and a hospital stamp actually on the insurance form. I've been in and out of hospital these last few months and in and out of pharmacies and have never been asked for a stamp on that form.
* For the first time in my adult life, as far as I can remember, I make a scene. I raise my voice. I shout. I recount my whole evening to the poor assistant (although at that moment in time he is not poor in my eyes; he is doing this on purpose to tease this expat woman and wind me up). I snatch the form from his hand, wordless, and storm from the pharmacy. I even manage to slam the door open on my way out. I am seething. I am sobbing.
* At least I am not lost now but I still sob all the way home. Angry and embarrassed.
* I manage to calm myself down. I am concerned that I may not get the medication for some time, I don't want to be off it, for it to come out of my system and for me to have to go through the struggle of getting used to it again.
Next morning:
* Form stamped by Starcare.
* Enough time to get to Badr al Samaa before work. And chances are the staff last night won't be on shift.
* Two lovely ladies are behind the counter. Yes. I can avoid further embarrassment.
* I have to get get my file number from the front desk before she can do anything. Oh FFS.
* But I manage to avoid the queues and nip to the billing man and he kindly helps me.
* Back to the pharmacy. A voice on my left.."So you went back to the hospital last night then to get the stamp?" O. M. G. At least it's just one of the staff from last night.
* No, of course it's not. This is me you're reading about. I walk in and number one who spoke to me goes and joins his two colleagues behind the counter so all three of them are standing there. I apologise profusely and I'm not sure but the one I spoke to last night either does not speak a lot of English or he really is pissed off with me.
* The lady gives me my prescription and I'm done. I give a final big apologetic smile as I leave and he stands up and returns it.
I think I'm OK now. Really, was all that necessary....?
Mantra for last night should have been 'This too shall pass'.
Much like my kidney stone, I hope.
Monday 20 May 2013
Topomax and me...the update.
It's been 30 days now of 50mg dosage at night.
I had to read about the drug online after I left the doctor as he told me very, very little about it.
I've stopped reading about people's horror stories online, of how they feel psychotic, of their hallucinations, or how they woke up not remembering where they were, or how their hair was coming out in clumps, of how their goddamn diet soft drink tasted awful (of how many people was this an important health factor??) F*ck....
I've realised that these people are probably on a much higher dose and maybe have been put straight on to that dosage rather than being 'titrated' up. My new word....! Titration: noun, incremental increase in drug dosage to a level that provides the optimal therapeutic effect (Mosby’s Dental dictionary, 2nd edition. 2008 Elsevier. From medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com
Within the first two weeks I was ready to come off them. I felt so uncomfortable. Extreme pins and needles in my toes and fingers (which I still get. Extreme, I mean, numbness lasting half an hour…it’s hilarious). I felt completely out of it and I think the first day, I went into work, saw one of the teachers about my son, giggled inanely for a bit and told her I thought I was stoned. Luckily she just giggled back at me. (It’s that kinda school). I felt dazed and unable to focus on words on a page. I like reading stories to the class if it can introduce the art topic in some way. So this was a nightmare. I almost resorted to giving them all a colouring-in sheet, put my head under the desk in the rubbish bin and be done with it.
Being the good patient that I am (but mostly having the bossy but logical husband that I have) I had to see the month through. And I am glad I have. The overriding feeling is that my head fog has started to clear. I had become aware that I was in a subtle but gradually worsening dizzy fog for the last two or three years or so. I wake up less tired and I have more energy through the day as a result. I feel like some electrical pathway has been cleared in my brain, subtle but enough to feel different. Insomnia was a reported issue but actually I feel I sleep ok and maybe that’s why I’m less tired rather than any electrical impulse is being changed.
BUT having said that, I went to a GP before I was put on Topomax, regarding my dizziness and she linked it with migraines. I had never heard of this link so I did my research and it’s all over the internet, I’ve had migraines since a teenager and I had never read of this. I wonder if this is my body changing and my migraines are coming out in different ways now. Have I been suffering with migraines these last few years in this way as well as the classic way and have not treated it? So, therefore, it feels she could have had a point and Topomax has helped.
My only concern is that I have a history of kidney stones. Which the doctor failed to ask check about (I actually have little faith in him tbh…so my review with him this pm should be interesting. Let’s see if he sniggers at my questions today…last chance and then I’m off to the other hospital). Topomax is more likely to bring about kidney stones…wonder what his response will be. But overall, it’s changed me. Although I am dopey as anything and the memory certainly is affected.
I had to read about the drug online after I left the doctor as he told me very, very little about it.
I've stopped reading about people's horror stories online, of how they feel psychotic, of their hallucinations, or how they woke up not remembering where they were, or how their hair was coming out in clumps, of how their goddamn diet soft drink tasted awful (of how many people was this an important health factor??) F*ck....
I've realised that these people are probably on a much higher dose and maybe have been put straight on to that dosage rather than being 'titrated' up. My new word....! Titration: noun, incremental increase in drug dosage to a level that provides the optimal therapeutic effect (Mosby’s Dental dictionary, 2nd edition. 2008 Elsevier. From medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com
Within the first two weeks I was ready to come off them. I felt so uncomfortable. Extreme pins and needles in my toes and fingers (which I still get. Extreme, I mean, numbness lasting half an hour…it’s hilarious). I felt completely out of it and I think the first day, I went into work, saw one of the teachers about my son, giggled inanely for a bit and told her I thought I was stoned. Luckily she just giggled back at me. (It’s that kinda school). I felt dazed and unable to focus on words on a page. I like reading stories to the class if it can introduce the art topic in some way. So this was a nightmare. I almost resorted to giving them all a colouring-in sheet, put my head under the desk in the rubbish bin and be done with it.
Being the good patient that I am (but mostly having the bossy but logical husband that I have) I had to see the month through. And I am glad I have. The overriding feeling is that my head fog has started to clear. I had become aware that I was in a subtle but gradually worsening dizzy fog for the last two or three years or so. I wake up less tired and I have more energy through the day as a result. I feel like some electrical pathway has been cleared in my brain, subtle but enough to feel different. Insomnia was a reported issue but actually I feel I sleep ok and maybe that’s why I’m less tired rather than any electrical impulse is being changed.
BUT having said that, I went to a GP before I was put on Topomax, regarding my dizziness and she linked it with migraines. I had never heard of this link so I did my research and it’s all over the internet, I’ve had migraines since a teenager and I had never read of this. I wonder if this is my body changing and my migraines are coming out in different ways now. Have I been suffering with migraines these last few years in this way as well as the classic way and have not treated it? So, therefore, it feels she could have had a point and Topomax has helped.
My only concern is that I have a history of kidney stones. Which the doctor failed to ask check about (I actually have little faith in him tbh…so my review with him this pm should be interesting. Let’s see if he sniggers at my questions today…last chance and then I’m off to the other hospital). Topomax is more likely to bring about kidney stones…wonder what his response will be. But overall, it’s changed me. Although I am dopey as anything and the memory certainly is affected.
Sunday 5 May 2013
Can't resist the weather...
This week has been rather disrupted by Mother Nature. Although I do think our head had a direct line to Mrs. Nature as we never had a day off school!
The thing about working in Oman, well, one of the many things (there are many, good and bad!) is that everything is, understandably set up for working in warm, dry weather. When the April showers hit...they hit. Often with detrimental and fatal results due to poor preparation, education and understanding.
Me, going on major Health and Safety melt-down with the rain being forced through the gaps and holes in the windows, cascading down the wall to the electrical sockets, containing and mopping up the flood water in each room, plugging the inch gap under the kitchen door, is nothing compared to the search and rescue efforts in the wadis or the many other natural disasters worldwide. Reality check, girls and boys. (Hubby was in Texas this week, 'working'. Probably locked in the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders' locker room after his stadium tour I expect). The huge storm that hit was everso slightly reminiscent of the Phoenix DRIU (Damage Repair Instructional Unit) based at HMS Excellent, where we trained for damage repair (!) at sea.
The thing about working in Oman, well, one of the many things (there are many, good and bad!) is that everything is, understandably set up for working in warm, dry weather. When the April showers hit...they hit. Often with detrimental and fatal results due to poor preparation, education and understanding.
Me, going on major Health and Safety melt-down with the rain being forced through the gaps and holes in the windows, cascading down the wall to the electrical sockets, containing and mopping up the flood water in each room, plugging the inch gap under the kitchen door, is nothing compared to the search and rescue efforts in the wadis or the many other natural disasters worldwide. Reality check, girls and boys. (Hubby was in Texas this week, 'working'. Probably locked in the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders' locker room after his stadium tour I expect). The huge storm that hit was everso slightly reminiscent of the Phoenix DRIU (Damage Repair Instructional Unit) based at HMS Excellent, where we trained for damage repair (!) at sea.
 |
| Me the other stormy night. Wooden wedges, mallet , headtorch an' all! |
Saturday 4 May 2013
Art Lesson of the Week
This
week's lesson was a good one for a few reasons.
Year 3: City of Fratsia, sketching, oil pastel and wash.
One: they learnt something new. Always good. Today was perspective and 3D work.
Two: they practised other sketching skills.
Three: they needed to delve into their imaginations to start with.
Four: it also required a bit of 'drawing what you see' whilst in that imagination. Always a tricky one, especially with the younger ones who have this ability to transpose any object regardless of what angle they view it from, to front on and draw it thus.
It was the lovely
and mystical city of Fratsia that was the class topic and we just followed it
in art but creating our own cities (imagination) of Fratsia. We read the book, 'Sanji and The Baker'
(by Robin Tzannes and Korky Paul) and
studied the city drawings and perspective (new word). We loved how the
buildings towered off to the side and rose up the hill. We also loved the
colour and medium that Paul had used. We thought about what we
would see if we looked straight at a house? What would we see if we were
sitting down on a seat in the street looking to the house to our right?
(Observational drawing)
We worked with our basic sketching skills to plan our city and think about how the buildings we have created from our imagination would look like from an angle. This was a challenge for most of them. But once they saw what they were looking at and applied it to theirs, it flowed and clicked :-) We then worked with oil pastels and built up this beautiful city like Korky Paul did. Some chalk pastels slipped into the oil pastel box inadvertently so that became a lesson in itself as they were finding out the difference between chalks and oils, in feel, effect, the residue it makes. This was great fun, coming up with adjectives to tell the difference.
I encouraged them to use the oil pastels as we were finishing up with a wash of the colour of their choice (out of red, orange or blue). So they learned they can end with a wash, not just begin with one. I wanted them to see what happens when watery paint touches wax or oil. Those that used chalk in places had a lesson too. they predicted and observed what happened when they ran their final wash over. It did create an awesome sandstormy effect for some! Lovely! I download some of their pics soonish.
In hindsight, I would probably work on laying down more prep work for perspective and focus on observational drawing for a little while...outside of the classroom, drawing the school buildings from different angles. This could be brought in as a follow-up in perspective in year 4.
Year 3: City of Fratsia, sketching, oil pastel and wash.
One: they learnt something new. Always good. Today was perspective and 3D work.
Two: they practised other sketching skills.
Three: they needed to delve into their imaginations to start with.
Four: it also required a bit of 'drawing what you see' whilst in that imagination. Always a tricky one, especially with the younger ones who have this ability to transpose any object regardless of what angle they view it from, to front on and draw it thus.
It was the lovely
and mystical city of Fratsia that was the class topic and we just followed it
in art but creating our own cities (imagination) of Fratsia. We read the book, 'Sanji and The Baker'
(by Robin Tzannes and Korky Paul) and
studied the city drawings and perspective (new word). We loved how the
buildings towered off to the side and rose up the hill. We also loved the
colour and medium that Paul had used. We thought about what we
would see if we looked straight at a house? What would we see if we were
sitting down on a seat in the street looking to the house to our right?
(Observational drawing)
We worked with our basic sketching skills to plan our city and think about how the buildings we have created from our imagination would look like from an angle. This was a challenge for most of them. But once they saw what they were looking at and applied it to theirs, it flowed and clicked :-) We then worked with oil pastels and built up this beautiful city like Korky Paul did. Some chalk pastels slipped into the oil pastel box inadvertently so that became a lesson in itself as they were finding out the difference between chalks and oils, in feel, effect, the residue it makes. This was great fun, coming up with adjectives to tell the difference.
I encouraged them to use the oil pastels as we were finishing up with a wash of the colour of their choice (out of red, orange or blue). So they learned they can end with a wash, not just begin with one. I wanted them to see what happens when watery paint touches wax or oil. Those that used chalk in places had a lesson too. they predicted and observed what happened when they ran their final wash over. It did create an awesome sandstormy effect for some! Lovely! I download some of their pics soonish.
In hindsight, I would probably work on laying down more prep work for perspective and focus on observational drawing for a little while...outside of the classroom, drawing the school buildings from different angles. This could be brought in as a follow-up in perspective in year 4.
Wednesday 1 May 2013
Artist of the Month - May
I had a few artists on my list I was going to choose from but actually I've chosen Georgia Keefe off the top of my head this month.
The reasons being are that a) I just keep hearing her name these last few weeks b) she appears in many primary art lessons on the internet and c) I want to find out why as I thought she renowned for provocative and erotic art.
So she is a popular topic for many art lessons in the primary school as I discovered. She hasn't featured in mine yet, no real reason. Well, maybe because of c) above!
Yet I had in my mind that her art was thought to be erotic, provocative, representing genitalia…how can we introduce children with this in my mind!? I was completely wrong…and if these monthly artists bios, not matter how brief, are to serve any purpose, it’d be to educate me! And that’ll do…
But then I have just raved about James Rizzi to Year 4 last term and he was a pothead! BUT he was a wonderfully lovely, charitable, genuine man so external impressions of the art or the artist should not matter when teaching. It's all too easy to let prejudices, bias and social expectations override a good piece of art. Just be. Just enjoy it for what it is. Year 4 did and had some bloomin' good fun making bowls with James Rizzi style art on!
Lesson plans or activities I have found (mainly on my beloved Pinterest) would use a Georgia O'Keeffe painting as a stimulus for a 3D paper flower sculpture for instance..Others have had their class inspired by her to produce work in oil pastels or watercolours. I remember my son made one in Year 1 (he is year 2 now) which I have still to get framed.
| From www.vam.ac.uk: Georgia O'Keeffe, photography by Alfred Stieglitz, 1918, palladium print processed with mercury. Museum no. E.886-2003. Gift of the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation, © The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation |
She was part of the abstract movement; her bleached skulls are famous enough but she is mostly known for her captivating floral paintings, the ones that could conjure up erotic undertones for some. Her early work was something different altogether. She began her career with clear, concise paintings of cities and buildings. Then in the 1920s would move on to the flowing close-ups of flowers we know her more for. I have just got lost in the pictures I have found on Pinterest, they are stunning. It's easy to get lost in the fluidity of them, they are truly ethereal.
Through my research I did find a website highlighting a scientific study finding that fertile women found her paintings sexier at certain times of the month. I would never have even considered to think that! What a great study! Anyway, it’s been done. Here is the report at livescience.com.
Did she vocalise an intent for her art to look like vaginas? Did she, like Picasso, not actually say a word and just want the viewer to see what they wanted to and come to their own conclusion? According to my '50 Modern Artists you Should Know' book in which she features, she was much like Picasso in this respect;
"These greatly magnified, open calyxes of orchids, lilies , or calls often arouse erotic associations, though O'Keeffe dismissed this interpretation of them. Rather, she said her aim was to simplify shapes so as to bring out the true essence of things".
She brought almost a photographic quality to her painting, a macro detail perhaps. Which would maybe reflect the very new field of photo optics in the 1920s.
"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else."
Another new and lovely discovery. Another inspiring artist.
Incidentally, I’m currently loving my biography on Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera , very well written.
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