Cyclones, Emergency room visits, and Scribble Picnic

Hi friends,

The past ten days have been crazy with Brisbane being battered by the backlash of Cyclone Debbie which had previously caused massive destruction further north of us on Tuesday, March 28th.  It continued to move further down the coastline and, by the time it reached us on Thursday, it had been downgraded from a cyclone.  However, we weren't out of danger.  The severe weather system brought tons of torrential rain which caused flash floods here in Brissie and outlying areas — and right across the New South Wales border.  We were pounded by torrential rains on Thursday and severe winds on Friday, and it was enough to cause a lot of destruction.

If that wasn't enough to deal with, my 81 year old Mum had to be taken to the Emergency Department on Thursday, March 30th...yep...the day of the severe weather crisis in Brisbane. What rotten timing! On that day, schools were closed for the first time since 1974 and businesses were closing by noon so staff could get safely home before the worst of the severe weather was expected to hit. Over 200 roads ended up being closed due to the flash floods. It was an absolute nightmare! Five people died due to the severe flooding. It was heartbreaking! Some areas are still flooded as the water has been slow to recede.

Getting back to Mum, she had suffered double vision for about a week prior and a CT Scan via the Eye ER on the Wednesday showed a possible aneurysm behind her eye.  On Friday, she had to get an angiogram but suffered an embolic shower during the procedure. This means that oxygen was blocked from getting to parts of her brain which controlled the eyes and this caused little mini strokes.  The procedure was stopped immediately when Mum told them she had lost some of her sight. There was about 50% loss of vision in her right eye.

They were able to see that her double vision is caused by a Carotid Cavernous Fistula.

Some of her vision returned by the end of the day and she was allowed to go home on the Saturday...still dealing with double vision as well as 25% vision loss caused from the angiogram. Unfortunately, with all Mum's health issues, they can't do anything more for her.  She is too high a risk because she also has an aortic aneurysm on top of this new issue. All they can do is monitor her condition and will only intervene if a life-threatening emergency arises.

Needless to say, I'm still not in a good head-space right now as I'm quite worried about my Mum. This month marks the two year anniversary of my Dad's passing. I still miss him terribly and I can't bear the thought of losing Mum too.

I wasn't able to participate in Scribble Picnic last Wednesday because I was up at the hospital Eye Emergency department all day with Mum and felt totally exhausted by the time we got home at 8 o'clock that night. This week, I have only managed to produce a pen sketch. I will colour it and add more detail later.

Anywhoo, this week's Scribble Picnic theme is Grandfather Clock.  It made me immediately think of the song we learned in school about a 90 year old man dying and his Grandfather Clock stopping short the moment he passed. Do any of you remember it? I've linked the video below. Not a song you would expect for children but then, some of the old nursery rhymes such as 'Ring Around the Rosy' have a darker meaning. In addition - I actually don't see this song as being dark or not suitable for kids because I believe it teaches them in a nice way that death is a part of the life cycle and not something to fear.


No, my sketch is not an old man but rather a little girl looking up at the Grandfather Clock...could she be wondering why the clock hands have suddenly stopped? Sorry if that creeps anyone out but I can't get the Grandfather Clock song out of my head. Perhaps she is just listening to the chimes?

To see the work of other Scribble Picnic participants for this week, click HERE.
Next week's theme is RABBIT.  To find out how to join in on the fun, click HERE.

Hopefully, things will get back to normal by next week — well as normal as they can be.