By Greg
SPOILER ALERT: There WILL be more…
This month marks two years since I started the TrennaMahney.com website.
I have loved doing it. It has reminded me of so many events, incidents, feelings, from my time with Trenna. The stories Trenna and I have told and the records I have published have allowed me to relive so many experiences.
And it has helped me to reflect on just how lucky we were to find each other and to spend … Read the rest ... “Two Years of Writing About Life, Love and Loss”
By Greg
Being a carer can be like being on a roller coaster, it can be fun, and thrilling, and downright scary. Sometimes it’s all those things at once. And once you are on it it can be very hard to get off. But then again, sometimes you don’t want to get off, you just want it to go on and on as long as possible.
In this Post I will try to pass on some of my experience gained … Read the rest ... “Carer things that worked for Greg – the good, the bad and the ugly”
By Greg
This story took me longer to write than perhaps any other, but it was a tale I wanted to tell.
Trenna’s birthday has recently passed so obviously I started thinking about her. One thing that came to mind was the time she spent with our neighbour Terry, near the end of Terry’s life.
Terry, her husband Neil, and their young son Jason moved into the house on the corner, two doors up from us … Read the rest ... “The Craft Group and Caring for Terry”
The name on the file was “Bronchitis” but it was so much more than that.
Trenna died nearly three years ago and, maybe as a coping mechanism, I have been enjoying telling people of her achievements and of events in her life. She did a lot.
But occasionally I remember something, or I see something that reminds me of what she went through, and how at times it was so, so hard for her.
I recently saw a file on … Read the rest ... “Chronic Illness – The Straws Accumulate”
The first instalment in this series of angsty teenage poetry is HERE.
Friend, is a word you’ll hear or use nearly every day But do you really know the actual meaning of the word Is it to be kind to someone and talk to them? No, a lot more! A friend is someone who is comforting in times of sorrow A person who has always… Read the rest ... “Angsty Teenage Poetry #2”
Trenna loved reading, and she loved writing. She also loved, a lot, but for many years this was very often unrequited.
She tells in the Kitchen Tapes, HERE, of the dozens of love poems and letters she wrote to Murray Malski.
Trenna also kept a notebook during her high school years and wrote poetry in it.
Whilst Trenna was alive I was … Read the rest ... “Angsty Teenage Poetry #1”
By Greg
If this post interests you there have been three others on this topic. All with things that Trenna tried to help her or my life as we coped with her multiple medical conditions.
I don’t think for a moment that every tip or anecdote will be useful, but I certainly am hoping that people living with chronic illness or … Read the rest ... “Marfan and Other Chronic Conditions – Things That Worked for Trenna – Part 4”
Regular readers will know this, but…. although I mention several specific brands in this post I do NOT get any financial or other benefit from them. I name them just to help you understand what I’m talking about.
If you find this post useful or interesting you might want to check out three other posts: Marfan and Other Chronic Conditions – Things That Worked for Trenna; Things That Worked for … Read the rest ... “Marfan Weight Gain”
By Greg
If you find this post useful or interesting you might want to check out two other posts: Marfan and Other Chronic Conditions – Things That Worked for Trenna; and Things That Worked for Trenna -Part 2.
As the name suggests yet another instalment in a series of posts that tell the things Trenna tried in an effort to make … Read the rest ... “Marfan and Other Chronic Conditions – Things That Worked for Trenna – Part 3”
Pain relief and the hope of maintaining some sort of body condition were the two main motives for Trenna doing exercises.
When she was able she would walk and exercise daily, and she was very disciplined at it. In the last two years of her life it was very hard to do much physical exercise at all, and I think she quietly grieved … Read the rest ... “Trenna’s Marfan Exercises”
By Greg then Trenna
This post comes from another document on Trenna’s well organised (of course) iPad.
All I’ve done is cut and paste the original document into the main body of this post. I’ve also inserted a PDF of the original document as it appears on the iPad.
I hope you find it either useful or interesting – or both.
Greg
Consider Heat or Ice.
Heat helps … Read the rest ... “First Aid & Home Remedies”
by Greg
I’m a Justice of the Peace in Western Australia and I volunteer at a signing centre. People come in without an appointment and ask me to witness signatures or to certify various documents.
I’m only rostered on once a month so it isn’t particularly onerous.
The other day, a guy who was probably in his early seventies, came in to ask me to certify some documents for him. He told me straight away that his wife … Read the rest ... “Grief – What I’ve Learnt in the First 18 Months”
By Greg
Recently I was reading a Marfan Syndrome Facebook Group post. The person was asking about people’s different experiences with pain killers. A really important issue for Marfans.
I gave a reply which, among other things mentioned medicinal cannabis (MC). I then got some other questions about our Australian experience.
This post is based on my reply to them.
If you aren’t in the market for MC there is … Read the rest ... “Medicinal Cannabis”
Introduction by Greg and then Trenna’s words, with only a little editing
The inverted commas in the title were in the original document. A “Body Migraine” is a Trennaism. In this case the term she used to describe this set of symptoms.
This is another post that I am including mainly for the benefit of those with musculoskeletal issues. That of course incudes those, like Trenna, with Marfan Syndrome.
Trenna’s words below were on her iPad. It looks like … Read the rest ... ““SCOLIOSIS BODY MIGRAINES” ”
Here is a page Trenna made about two eye problems she encountered.
Everyone is welcome to read the post, but it doesn’t contain any funny or poignant stories. I’m just trying to pass on some information Trenna accumulated in case it is of use to anyone else.
Maybe in the future it has historical benefit as well. Who knows!
In case you are wondering, according to the Mayo Clinic (who Trenna trusted for this sort … Read the rest ... “Blepharitis & Conjunctivitis”
Among the documents on Trenna’s iPad there are two called “Weekly Routine”. One is labelled “2016” and the other “2017”.
It is actually not quite as pernickety as it seems.
In this post I will reproduce both of them. In them Trenna goes into immense detail about times she intends doing things and what looks like a very strict routine.
It is actually not quite as pernickety as it … Read the rest ... “To Feel Able”
I’ve tossed around in my head what to do with Trenna’s extensive medical records.
They mainly comprise the detailed notes she would make at the end of almost all consultations with medical professionals. At first she hand wrote them on A5 pieces of paper (actually hand written on the back of bits of paper that otherwise would have ended in the recycling bin).
Later she recorded them on her … Read the rest ... “Introduction to The Medical Records”
Here is another pearl from Trenna’s iPad. It looks like she started it on 27 April 2016 (at 10:31 am) but then didn’t edit it again until 31 May 2017. (How nerdy is that detail I’ve given you?!)
PLEASE NOTE: It is a 3 page document from the iPad, if your browser is only showing one page you may need to click on the link or the Download button.
As I write this I … Read the rest ... “The Key to Happiness and Fulfilment”
By Greg
This is the second part of this list. For the first part please click here.
I’m already working on part 3 as things we have done in the past pop randomly into my scone.
As you will find out by going through this … Read the rest ... “Things That Worked for Trenna -Part 2”
Looking through Trenna’s iPad I came across the document she wrote to review/record the Black Sabbath concert we went to along with a friend, Adrian. It was the first time I had read this piece since 2016.
It immediately brought back memories of a really fab night. I also found some of the turns of phase pretty entertaining.
I will put her writing below, in the main body of this post but also … Read the rest ... “Moshing With Black Sabbath!”