byCarmine

So, Tuesday morning I got a call at 8am, asking if I could come in at 10.30am for an appointment with the neurology department, due to a cancellation. As I had been waiting over a year and a half for this appointment I, of course, said yes. Rushed in, got the electric shock treatment by way of a nerve conduction velocity test.  It wasn’t too bad, enough to make you jump though.. and it showed what I knew already (from tests in the UK – but they insisted on redoing them here before they’d look at fixing it), that I had nerve damage just below the elbow. Or what is known as Cubital Tunnel Syndrome.

Usually, upon diagnosis they look at conservative measures of fixing it, by adjusting lifestyle, arm-positions, splints, etc. But given that I’ve had the numb fingers for 4+ years, and it hadn’t yet corrected itself, he said that the likely only option was surgery where they move the nerve to give it more space.

There is a small chance it might not work. And a small chance that it could make it worse. But without it, it could get a lot worse. The really bad thing is it takes my arm out of action for a while, and takes almost a year and a half to fully recover. Probably about 2-3 months before I could type a little with that hand, and 3-6 months before I could type well.

The surgery would likely be done within the next 6 months. Which kind of conflicts with my honours. So, gotta see a GP about that next week and have a bit of a chat.

I have a begillion inbox things I  need to get done.

I still have another 3-4 character applications, 4 player complaints, 3-4 misc requests that need to be actioned. A lot of these take a good couple of hours to investigate, and respond to. I know they need to be done, but I’m finding my motivation is a bit lacking.

Sitting in a computer lab, want to go home and relax  but don’t want to deal with the psychotic whirlwind that is currently my Mum. Every speck of dust or minute bit of fluff, has to be investigated. “Where did it come from?” “When?” “Why?” “Why didn’t you do this and then it wouldn’t of happened?” “I told you to do it this way, and if you had…” Yeah, well you get the picture. Even a smile. A simple smile gets a full inquisition. So I just tend to not. Easier. I know people (family) say I should just stand up and say ‘none of your business’ or ignore her and live my own life.. but they’re not the ones that have to put up with a week of temper tantrums or sulking just because you refuse to heat her plate up for dinner, or lectures that go on and on for daring to cook the peas to anything but mush. And it’s not just me that has to put up with it, but my son too.

It’s March. She was supposed to be moved out by March. She hasn’t even put in the application to secure council housing, the waiting list for which can be up to a year. I suppose, at the very least, in August I can move out myself, when the lease on the house ends. I’d rather stay though, I like the place. And the ironic thing is, if I do move out, Mum cannot afford the place, so she would be forced to at that point too move out.

August seems too far away. Five months. That doesn’t sound so bad. Almost half a year. Meh.

Some research yielded the following from the studylink documentation:

“If you are studying part-time, part-year (less than 32 weeks) and your course has an EFTS value of 0.25 or more, you can only get the compulsory fees part of the Student Loan.”

That’s good news. My tuition fees are still paid. That is a good thing.

Further research yielded:

	Question
	Can I get a loan if I’m studying part-time?
	Answer

If your course is 32 weeks or more and you meet the other conditions, you can get a loan for compulsory fees and course related costs – you can’t get a loan for living costs.

You will be able to claim the same amount for course related costs and compulsory fees as someone studying fulltime.

So. It seems that I’m all good for fees and course related costs. Which… is all I was applying for. Why in hell did I get sent a limited part time study form? When I didn’t need to apply? Why did I get sent a declined letter from student loans saying my loan/course application had been refused?

Today is one of those days where it feels like all the life has been sucked out of me. Uni wasn’t so bad. Usual stuff. But it was from the point that I stepped through the door that everything went wrong. Picked up the mail. Opened a letter and my part-time status for University has been declined, when always previously it has been accepted. Apparently being a solo Mum and sole caregiver for a disabled and semi-psychotic mother isn’t enough to qualify.

So, after an angry phone call with someone in a foreign call centre who didn’t get a damn.. I think I have at least, partially sorted things out. Maybe. And so that the seriousness of this sinks in, if I don’t get it sorted, I can’t study.

So you can imagine. Not a good day. What I would of liked to of been able to do upon coming home is to chill. Do a bit of RP. Escape a little. Maybe a little code.

But the bad day, unfortunately, didn’t end there. We haven’t had complaints for a while. I get 4 in the space of a couple of hours. I admit, not looking forward to handling them. I’d rather be spending my time coding, or role playing, or well, even changing nappies is more appealing.

I think it just comes down to it being ‘one of those days’. I just wished I could of been able to relax and get past it, but.. yeah, not going to happen. 12.13am. Definitely not going to happen before sleep.

I was a pretty lucky girl this Valentines Day.

I got a half dozen roses from a friend – Thanks Kristin.

A single rose from my stalker-friend – You shouldn’t of.

And a really nice video from the boyfriend.

One of the nice things about knowing people from multiple time zones is that it ends up spanning almost 48 hours.