Regular readers: I’m sorry this one has taken so long to appear. The website was broken and I was having trouble fixing it. I’m not sure why it is working now, but, on with the story…
It was maybe 8pm by the time we got word that Andrew Hodge was on his way. The team of doctors and nurses that were now constantly surrounding Trenna started moving her bed to the lifts to take her to … Read the rest ... “Trenna’s Heart Valve Replacement – Part 2”
By Greg
I thought some readers of this site may find this story interesting. In it I tell you about Trenna’s surgery to have her aortic heart valve and ascending aorta replaced. I intended it to be a stand alone story, but it turns out the memories of those times are still pretty clear in my mind, and a lot happened, so, here is Part 1 of what has turned out to be a two part story of medical success … Read the rest ... “Trenna’s Heart Valve Replacement – Part 1”
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”
By Greg
My four-part series on The Earliest Days of Trenna AND Greg received a lot of positive feedback, so I thought I would follow it up with the tale of how we got engaged and then married. Well, actually it didn’t really get much feedback, but I liked it, so wanted to tell the rest of the story.
You can also read a little about it in the post The Newlywed Diary.
There are tales to tell in … Read the rest ... “Engagement and Wedding”
Intro and extra clarifications by Greg, the rest by Tren
As I’ve said previously … In Trenna’s iPad she has written summaries of each year. As you will see from what she has written she has gleaned the information retrospectively from a wide range of sources.
As I reproduce them on this site I’ll take the opportunity to clarify and expand on some of the stories. Trenna wrote these summaries (and there … Read the rest ... “1989”
In Trenna’s iPad she has written summaries of each year. As you will see from what she has written she has gleaned the information retrospectively from a wide range of sources.
As I reproduce them on this site I’ll take the opportunity to clarify and expand on some of the stories. Trenna wrote these summaries (and there are many of them) to help her and I recall our many experiences. It was probably … Read the rest ... “1988”
Poems by a Teenage Trenna
This series starts HERE.
He held her hand, Oh so tight He came to visit her every night Alone they were, in a world of machines She was really ill, had something wrong with her genes When he kissed her, his tears wet her cheek She was dying, she was terribly weak As near he could, he lay close to her But each movement she made,… Read the rest ... “Angsty Teenage Poetry #3”
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”
PLEASE READ THIS FIRST – THIS POST IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE
The following historical information is for interest only. It should in no way be thought of as medical advice applicable to any other individual. Medical science has moved on, and no two people have the exact same medical circumstances. I hope you find the information interesting, To see the “Introduction” to this series of posts, please click here.
Common abbreviations used by Trenna in this … Read the rest ... “Medical Records – Cardiology No. 6”
By Greg
This website has now been live for six months so I thought it about time to make some comments about how it has been going, how it has evolved, and what I hope for the future.
I would greatly appreciate constructive feedback, either by commenting on this post, below, or by using the Contact Greg form.
Around the time I was starting the website I was enjoying a … Read the rest ... “Six Months of TrennaMahney.com”
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”
GM: Today is Wednesday the 20th of June 2018. Trenna Mahney will be speaking.
Tren, we’ve talked a bit about your time at Girls’ Friendly Society in Adelaide Terrace? It sounds like an interesting period to do a bit more discussion.
[GM: phone call interrupts us]
I think we should look a bit more at this time at Girls’ Friendly Society. The sort of things you did. If we get … Read the rest ... “The 23rd Kitchen Tape”
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”
PLEASE READ THIS FIRST – THIS POST IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE
The following historical information is for interest only. It should in no way be thought of as medical advice applicable to any other individual. Medical science has moved on, and no two people have the exact same medical circumstances. I hope you find the information interesting, To see the “Introduction” to this series of posts, please click here.
Common abbreviations used by Trenna … Read the rest ... “Medical Records – Cardiology No. 4”
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”
GM: OK. Today is Saturday, the 12th of May. We are with Trenna Mahney, talking about her memories of her childhood, at this stage.
Tren, there were a number of things we were just talking about before we started recording. They were things that happened mainly at your primary school.
Would you like to tell us some of those things?
THM: Before Helen came I was a pretty meke, … Read the rest ... “The Kitchen Tapes No. 14”
PLEASE READ THIS FIRST – THIS POST IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE
The following historical information is for interest only. It should in no way be thought of as medical advice applicable to any other individual. Medical science has moved on, and no two people have the exact same medical circumstances. I hope you find the information interesting, To see the “Introduction” to this series of posts, please click here.
Common abbreviations used by Trenna in this series:
AF – Atrial … Read the rest ... “Medical Records – Cardiology No. 3”