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reflecting on treatment four years on.

reflecting on treatment four years on. #kissgoodbyetoMS #lemtrada #multiplesclerosis #MSwarrior

Today is a special day for me. On this day in 2016 and 2017, I left Bearhands and my babies to head to Brisbane to have treatment for MS. For those two years I had a form of chemo that wiped out my immune system in the hope that I’d get a break from MS. 

I’d spent the weeks prior making careful lists for my In Laws about what sandwiches the girls preferred on their lunches, which days were…

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Day 55 of Distanced Ed

Our last Monday of home learning! I’d have skipped out to the school room save for my bung knee!

The Little Sister logged onto her zoom and joined her class in greeting their teacher “Gooood Mooooor-ning Mister Cooooooo-per, and Godddddd blessssss yoooou!”

\In another this-Monday-is-better-than-last-Monday, I remembered bin day. It says a lot about me as a person, that in a time when you can…

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Day 54 of Distanced Ed

Woke before everyone. Was quietly typing on my laptop, when my nephew peered around the corner. I asked him if he needed a cuddle and he folded himself onto my lap (a much better fit than my own girls) and we whispered about what the day might hold. He told me about his mates at kindy and his new teacher and what they do during the day. When the girls woke up David migrated to them. Baby Emmett…

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Day 53 of Distanced Ed

Woke early with the kids, who were excited to have the whole day together in front of them. Bearhands and I lay in bed talking about how long our girls seemed to be in cots and nappies and then suddenly they weren’t. When we got up, we had early morning snuggles with Emmett and watched the sun gradually cover the valley. (There’s something seriously sexy about watching your husband snuggle babies.

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Day 52 of Distanced Ed

How does the harvester always know when we’re in a hurry? The girls did their first lessons in the office while Bearhands waged battle against the glitchy harvester. The girls had finished their school work by the time Bearhands declared defeat – the window for us to inspect a truck we’d arranged to see was closing.

Made it to Wacol with minutes to spare and immediately knew the truck was too…

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Day 51 of Distanced Ed

The Little Sister and I had a large difference of opinion before breakfast, but when we headed out to the school room, she settled down and finished her writing task without too much fuss. Afterwards she would write me a little love note and slip it under my keyboard.

We turned Bearhands’ PT into PE, then headed back to the school room to try to get ahead of school work we’ll miss tomorrow when…

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Day 50 of Distanced Ed

Every morning the Little Sister rides her bike out to the dam and back. Every morning she asks me to join her. This morning I did. It rained overnight and the track was heavy going, we raced there and back. No prizes for guessing the winner.

Made breakfast and set about marshalling the kids through their morning routine. I was concentrating on measuring the yeast for a loaf of bread, when the…

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Day 49 of Distanced Ed

Quick note: yesterday a friend messaged and said how much the girls seem to be enjoying Distanced Ed. This is NOT the case. They hate isolation and wish, more than anything, that they could join the every increasing number of classmates at school.

The photos I share are mostly the high points of our day but there are plenty of low points. We have our fair share of tears, anguish and arguments.

S…

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Day 48 of Distanced Ed

After a fun weekend, Monday morning received the welcome it deserved. No one wanted to go to school, including the Principal. I told the girls they had to wear uniform tops, but could wear whatever they wanted on their bottom halves. When we headed out to the school room, the Little Sister sooked and whinged about her writing assessment but eventually knuckled down and gotit done.

She and I went…

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Day 47 of Distanced Ed

Woke early and was laying awake when I saw the Little Sister stir. I lifted the covers and offered her normal spot for a cuddle, but instead she walked to Bearhands’ side of the bed and whispered something in his ear. I heard him reply “maybe wait five minutes until it’s light” but she couldn’t be dissuaded.

Moments later I heard movement in the kitchen and the Big Sister delivered a cup of…

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Day 46 of Distanced Ed

Family trip to Morayfield to do some Mother’s Day shopping. Baulked at the number of cars in the carpark at BCF, so the girls and I sat in the car while Bearhands went inside.

Bearhands headed off to golf at lunchtime and the girls and I had a slow afternoon. Tried to have a sleep, was thwarted by Max who barked like he was the first canine to ever discover birds. In the early evening we headed…

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Day 45 of Distanced Ed

Woke and dressed in blue for May 8 – the day for remembering Australian teen Dolly Everett.

High drama in the school room when the internet continually dropped out while the Little Sister’s teacher described how to undertake the maths test. She was borderline meltdown by the time we received her teacher’s reply email explaining the process. The maths test was an non-event by comparison, although…

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Day 43 of Distanced Ed

Realised at 2am that Bearhands wasn’t beside me, got up to investigate and found him asleep on the couch watching reruns of vintage golf. Neither of us was ready when his alarm went off early. He set about showering as loudly as physically possible and making such a mess of the floor that I did an impression of Torvill on my way to the toot.

The Big Sister’s mood continues. At breakfast she…

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Day 42 of Distanced Ed

No one was pumped to head back to school after the long weekend. The Little Sister struggled to concentrate on her story writing. The Big Sister saved her attitude for her offline teacher and was perfectly perky in her online appearances.

I got stuck into work in-between cajoling my students to complete their work. A check of my inbox revealed that the short cruise I had booked for June (upgraded…

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Day 41 of Distanced Ed

Public holiday here in Queensland, which doesn’t mean much when you’re a farmer. Pulled a pair of jeans on and decided that Maccas probably did me a solid by short-delivering my burger yesterday.

Bearhands and I harvested grass at our home farm in the morning. We were on our last pallets when a friend text me a screen shot of news that Queensland schools would be returning it’s youngest and most…

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Day 40 of Distanced Ed

Woke early, packed up and headed home before breakfast. Encountered a mob of wild horses on the forestry track and thought again that Bearhands had been right about not driving home last night; only one of them seemed to be teaching her foal road sense.

Returned to the farm and packed away the van. Received three messages from the Big Sister while I guided Bearhands into the parking spot a mere…

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Day 39 of Distanced Ed

Opened my eyes and immediately remembered we have three days off school!

Made a coffee and discovered that when I’m not a schoolmarm I’m a forklift driver. Grabbed an apple and got in the cab. Bearhands and I worked until smoko, when the girls received a home donut delivery as a reward for their maths challenge.

At lunchtime we loaded the caravan and drove to our friends’ farm. They’d said we…