#and on craft days when i dont want to knit or crochet ill just do nothing instead of drawing

[typheus]

Since forcing myself to only knit/crochet every other day I haven't had any pain in my arms or hands and no longer feel the urge to keep working past the point of it hurting

I've gotten more or less the same amount of work done in my projects cause I can work on them longer on the days I do knit/crochet and ive gotten more art done on the off days then before 👍

Whodve thought being in constant unnecessary pain was so bad for you 😐

[caszscountrycraftsblog]

For those of you who do not know me I thought Id write a little about myself. I have been fighting cancer for nearly 10 years now, I used to run a local charcoal chicken shop in town but had to resign from that instantly when I found out I had an aggressive Mouth & Oesophagus Cancer in July, 2009.

I was operated on 24 hours after that diagnose and didn't return home for another 4 months only to have another week home and than travel down to Melbourne for Radiation therapy treatment, I came home 3 months later and I was told to expect to die within a four year time period so my hopes weren't exactly high back then and I was told to make the best of what time I had left with my family, partner & children.

My life has never been been the same since that day and to everyone's surprise including myself I have survived this long. I developed necrosis in October, 2015 from having to much radiation therapy which meant I had radiation poisoning and by the time my condition was diagnosed again it was pretty serious. My left side of my jaw had four break in it my chin 2 and the right side of my jaw had completely disintegrated. So major surgery again and once again I had to put my life on hold again and another 3 month stay in hospital and 18 months recovering from the surgery.

I am still having surgeries done to have my lower face , mouth and pallet reconstitution I now need due to the fact the surgery Id initially had done to give me time was done by learner and hadn't been done correctly. I have also been un tongue tied as he had sewed the underneath of my tongue on backwards after they cut it in half so am slowly regaining some of my speech and eating and although they will never be the same again i'm alive and have some function, my weight fluctuates to much but to be honest Im just happy to be alive for whatever time I have left on this earth with those I love and who are in my life now.

I lost a lot of friends and even a few family members during my struggle to live not because I was dying but more the fact they didn't know how to cope to with it or had to much going on there own lives to fit me in. I've had a total of 34 operations now so far and have another 2 Im about to face early next year in 2019, I see my plastic surgeon again next week for more news on that one. 

I dont have a survivor status yet again as I lost that in 2015 & have another 2 years to on that one before I call myself a survivor again but I already consider myself there as one especially as Im still alive 9 years later & nearly 10 years on my diagnosis. At times I get a little depressed and yes feel sorry for myself mainly because I was no longer earning an income’as I've worked all my life and having buried and lost a lot of family during this time with the age Im now at and is to be expected but it still hurts and no mater how long time goes you miss those you bury.

From all of this struggle I have crochet and knitted, especially with spending so much time in hospital and at home it gave me something to do taking my mind off a lot of it all including the pain. Home time has also meant a heck of a lot of therapy for speech, lymphodema therapy and physiotherapy. i have learnt to walk on a leg with the back none missing from lower right leg so instead of 2 bones in that leg I have only 1 as that was what they used to make a new jaw for me. 

   A new technique devised by the 6 surgeons who flew in to work on me from through out the world that was to be 24 hour surgery but they pulled me out at 18 hours due to blood flow difficulties and not finished which is why I cant be fully finished now. My cheek was reconstructed from  muscle in my shoulder and ive had numerous skin grafts so far one more to go again yet though early in 2019. Those scar I wear with pride to be honest and being a part of new techniques being the guinea pig has been both exciting & frighting.

From all this pain, death, travel to hospitals and my interest with wool growing I've gone from crochet & knitting to dying wool and am now learning to spin wool. Something I hope to earn an income from for the rest of my living life. I didn't initially choose wool as an income but more for therapy but from that gift of life and living, my friends & family Casz’s Country crafts was born and I am slowly putting my business together on line through Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and of course Tumbler.

Casz’s Country Craft’s is slowly growing with support from all of you online. I now have a blog called Wednesday’s Pattern Pick’s where after a lot of internet searching I find free patterns to post which you are able to download free in PDF format, there is also  no  subscription for this as Im unable to do it every week but will do it as often as I can on a Wednesday so it’s there for everyone to access on a Thursday.

I am producing a quarterly newsletter which has interesting facts and articles about wool in it, free patterns again which are not published on the website & coupons for you to use throughout a 10 week time period repeatedly. So you have time to save and budget for what you would like to buy. The Newsletter is every 3 months and the only time it is not published is when I have surgery & recovery time.

I have bamboo needles for sale, hand dyed dk yarn atm that has dyed by me that is a superwash plus some imported yarns from italy & germany, I also sell crochet & knitting Accessories, Needles and notions plus a few patterns for you to all access and from 2019 I hope to Knit Pro needles in stock for you all directly from here in Victoria Australia.

I do hope though that my store will succeed with over time and support by the online community and that over time my health will improve more and I can enjoy life more after hospitals and operations.

The same cancer killed my father at 59 which is how old I am, my grandfather died at 42 from  a brain tumour and I lost my other grandparents, nan and pop with only my mother and 1 aunt still surviving so not a lot of family remaining now, my mum says shes going to live to 106 I believe her as my grandmother was 99. The women in my family have had to be strong and inspirational and adaptive for there times so its no wonder I've plodded along with my life, my 4 children now live with the threat of cancer which saddens me immensely, i do hope they have long, happy and prosperous lives though.

So out of cancer A Woollen Fibre Business has been born & due to what I've gone through new surgeries & techniques have been developed with me being the guinea pig, lol. However 4 other patients who normally to wouldn't be helped are now receiving help due to the new techniques and my surgeon has trained 6 other doctors from various hospitals. So for that I am grateful that some good has come out of this horrible disease.

I’d love for you to have a look at my website store, maybe join our Facebook page or Follow our Instagram sites or Pintrest Site to see what Im up to plus of course follow my journey as it you the online reader that i need to follow me and who also buy’s from me plus of course share my posts to get the word out about my business, as at the moment I can't afford to pay for advertising. 

Which everyone keeps telling Im probably going to fail with not doing paid advertising as they dont believe in the power of you the reader or me the fighter the person trying to rise out of hospitals, death and cancer. I do though believe in the internet the power of the reader the power of the reader and that I can in fact make an income running a small business from home with illness, major disabilities and survive all of this coming our of it with both my Cancer survivor Status, A life & A income.

So Please Follow My Journey! & my Online store., link is on the words online store and Casz’s Country Craft’s throughout my blog.

Come visit my store at http:caszscountrycrafts.store If you crochet or Knit I am also after garments to sell online in my store for people plus sell our wares at local community markets which I do fortnightly a fee of $10 is taken from the sale price to cover the costs of flyers and advertising that I do plus of course help cover the cost of running of the website, everything else I do at my own costs including packaging, photos & labels, the rest of the money is yours which goes directly into your bank at point of sale. How can I do this I can because I Live EFTPOS Facilities, Pay Pal & E-Square Point of sale payment systems in place plus of course the online store checkout facilities.

Im also after Indi Dyers to add more woollen varieties to my store and farmers who produce clean wool tops for me to buy. Im after Corridale, merino, Angora & Alpaca Fibres to spin together.

I've a lady in Tasmania who makes my notions for me eg; broaches & stitch marker sets, plus a lady in South Australia who makes top whorl spinners for me. So if you'd like to join our team and become a team member please contact me. Join me and my journey in something that I feel is developing into something special!

So if you to work from from home running a small business with something associated crochet & knitting please email me at caszscountrycrafts@gmail.com include a letter and photos there, if you've no photos and just want to make an enquiry you can email info@caszscountrycrafts.store

Im currently updating our postage prices as Australia post have updated the outgoing mail prices again and expanding our postage outside of Australia atm so am about to include Ireland, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada, USA plus of course England and Austral Asia.

So come join us and become a Team member of Casz’s Country Craft’s or Follow us as we put together a Crochet & Knitting Textile Store that I truly believe will develop into something special online! 

” Where Yarn Crochet & Knitting Come Together!”

Carey @ Casz’s Country Craft’s