Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Night before hospital: have something special to share :)

I wasn't going to make a post today but I was on the Sky news website ( very rare for me) and I came across an article about Douglas H "Wheels" Wheelock- an American astronaut who has spent the past 5 months on the International Space Station. He has also been generous enough to entertain everyone on Twitter with dozens of stunning photographs he has taken from space. Take a look:


The United Kingdom at night- I can actually see where my beloved London is. Aurora Borealis in the distance.


Part of the Space Station and Aurora Borealis


The Isle of Juan de Nova off the coast of Africa- looks like a hat :)


Japan at night

If you are on twitter you can follow Douglas here

What always strikes me about photo's from outer space is just how incredibly small and insignificant we all are. From up where Douglas is you cannot see the poverty that millions of people face every day, you cannot see the the wars or any of our transgressions. All you can see is beauty. Space is a majestic mystery to me and it reminds me that there is something far bigger and complex than our minds are capable of understanding. If you read Douglas's tweets it is clear that he is a man who's life has been changed by witnessing something magnificent and beyond the scope of the human imagination or understanding.

We have to leave at 7am tomorrow to be at the hospital at 8am, hopefully the wait won't be to long so I can just get it over ( again they work on a first come, first serve basis). All day I have been preparing by drinking lots of water and resting as much as I can. I am proud that I resisted the urge to take tranquilizers for my nerves- I can't keep relying on that stuff.  But the consequence of that is that I have been eating everything in sight. It's not like I haven't done this before- this is my 5th lumbar puncture. But it sure as hell doesn't get any better and I haven't had one on a while. Besides...who wants a 7- inch needle shoved into their spine?. This may sound stupid but it has been really great having my wabbits. For some reason hugging something soft, fluffy and warm soothes an anxious heart.

I was thinking I probably won't find out if I need brain surgery until my next appointment- just what I need more suspense, it's like my very own Grey's Anatomy

Wish me luck folks:)

x

5 comments:

  1. Hi Marlow,

    Thanks for coming- the pictures are beautiful aren't they? I just checked out your blog quickly and it's absolutely stunning!!. I can't wait to go through all the photo's!

    Thanks!

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  2. Beautiful post Steph...I also feel that looking at the bigger picture and realising how insignificant we really are is actually comforting when I am sweating the small stuff.

    Good luck for your lumbar puncture- be strong! I will be thinking of you xxx

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  3. Thanks Roxy, I'm waiting to be admitted right now. It's so crowded I'm wondering if I'll ever get out of here!. These pics are stunning and they actually made me feel better as soon as I saw them

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  4. Hi Stephi -

    I'm catching up on your blog and therefore know you already had your appointment - so I'm interested to read next how it went... I hope it went well - and I guess I'll soon find out.

    Thank you for sharing those AMAZING pictures!! I especially love your take on it... as it is SO true - if only more people would stop and think like that - we don't need to go in outer space in order to understand this...

    Great post!
    Christine :)

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  5. Hey Christine,

    I always love pictures like this- it reminds me that there is something bigger than all of us. The astronaut that took these wrote the most beautiful poetic tweets to go with them- you can tell that his life has been changed by what he has been observed.

    Yep by now you would have found out how my date with Mr Pointy went:)

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