A New Journey

Kia Ora,
Thanks for taking the time to share in a journey that has been many years in the making about some health issues I have been facing.

Why am I doing this? I have the staff of Matarau School(especially Kevin Trewhella), my Church Family and a remarkable group of people who have supported me through Give-a-little. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Maybe this is a way of saying Thankyou and I will commit to this!

I need to also thank my lovely wife who has been on this journey for the 8 years. Jo is a nurse by trade and is possibly the worlds leading expert in me. She has spent an incredible amount researching all my little issues. Jo is incredibly excited by this next chapter

So where do I start? This type of writing about my personal situation is not really something I like doing... its opening up the hidden life I work through every day, presenting the best I can on the outside but feeling rotten on the inside. the worst question I get is "How are you?" Hmmm do I lie or not? My favourite answer is " Same old, just a typical day" Not lying:)
I love life, my God, my family and people, people, people... For me I am most happy when I am serving or helping others...it just feel right:)
For the last 8 years. and especially the last 3, my health has become an issue which has hindered me a little bit in enjoying all the above.
Some of my symptoms are...

1. A nasty little tumour(benign) that keeps coming back... operated on 3 times.
2. Eyesight that is very sensitive to bright light.
3. A couple of serious hospitalisations that involved infections that gave the kidneys a couple of scares.
4. A bit of sleep Apnea? - My wife says I sometimes stop breathing for 10-20 seconds
5. My Pituitary gland is not functioning that much... so I'm missing out on chemicals like cortisol, thyroxine and testoserone. I use pills and injections to replace.
6. A little bit of hypertension:)
7. Headaches... for the last 3 years, I can't tell you I have ever had a day without them... they average between a 7-10 in intensity... I have learnt to live with these to the best of my ability.
8. Lacking in sleep...3-4 hours on average... I just wake up a lot from the headaches!
9. Vomiting, the headaches make me nauseous and vomiting follows. Proudly my wife has taught me that men can can vomit quietly. Nights are the worse. I can vomit anywhere between 1-4 times a night and a couple more times through the day.
10. Stomach issues - vomit, diarrhea, soreness, pain... never really explored this properly.
11. There are probably others:)

Surprisingly enough I take a lot of pills, replacement, nausea, diarrhea. For 8 years... a lot of pills and to be quite honest I'm not getting much better.

Just maybe... I need to try something different!