Happy Birthday Mika, all the happiness, health & success in the world!!!!!!!!!!!
Some of you might have noticed my absence, missing the Russian Nats & recent team event. The thing is I’ve been unwell since Christmas, recovering now and finally decided to share my story with you.
I was not feeling well for some days before Christmas and even went to my GP for a check-up but didn’t get an appointment for a blood test until after Xmas, the health services being even a bigger disaster then usual now due to Covid 19. That nearly cost me my life. On the morning of Christmas Day I spoke briefly to my mother who was to be my eyes & ears for the day watching the men’s long for me on the Russian TV (I had a problem with the internet connection), and I was to ring her back in a couple of hours to learn the results. I started cooking a very late breakfast, was a little nervous about Mika but no more than usual and in general looking forward very much to the day. Suddenly I had a terrible lightness in my head and a sort of convulsions radiating all over my body, I barely managed to turn off the water before both my hands went into some horrific paroxysm, my eyes started blinking uncontrollably and my right leg went numb, I was convinced that I was having a stroke and was terrified. I was alone at home, no one was due to visit me for at least two days (thanks to Covid again!), and with both hands paralysed, I could not unlock the front door, could not use the phone, nor take a tablet, do anything really, it lasted for 4 hours during which my phone kept ringing, I knew it was my mother going out of her mind some thousands miles away. She knew how much I was looking forward to learning how Mika skated , it was totally incomprehensible that I would not answer the phone. By the end of my ordeal the pain in my hands which remained locked up all that time was such that I knew I would pass out soon. I decided to try to answer the phone when it’d ring again and tell my mother that I had a problem with my phone and would ring her again in a couple of days. It was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done both physically ( to add to the difficulty my mobile was left on charger on the very low table) and mentally (as I was convinced it would be my last conversation with my mother). My mother accepted my explanation without questioning (too many people making phone calls on Xmas day taking advantage of free international calls – a gift from Vodafone), and went on excitedly:
- Don’t’ you want to know how Mika skated?!! He took gold!
My exhausted brain barely reacted to this wonderful news with : oh good for you Mika but I won’t be watching you skate again…
He got 193 points, 30 points better than the second guy!
193? Wow, he must have done something really great I thought and all of the sudden, despite all the horror of my situation some wave of happiness flashed through my mind… and suddenly my hands unlocked, the fit was over…
As turned out it was not a stroke, but a seizure caused by the extremely low level of calcium in my body. The doctors said that I was lucky to make it, and expressed some doubts as to how I could get out of the seizure without medical intervention. To my own GP I explained that my mother gave to me some good news over the phone and that brought me back, by incredulous look on his face I realised that it was even more of a miracle than I thought it to be, he went silent for a bit and then asked: could you tell me please what actually it was your mother said to you? It was my turn to go quiet, ha ha, but after some hesitation I told him the truth and I now suspect he thinks me a mad fanatic & lunatic!
I am terribly sorry for such a long post and indeed for too much information, but I want you to know that I owe my life to Mika… I wish I could let him know that.
On the more cheerful subject the White Crow was on BBC one evening and by chance I caught it and recorded and have watched it a dozen times since, some very good acting, casting and even flashbacks which I normally hate make total sense here. It gave me even the greater appreciation of Mika’s program. I’d recommend watching the film if you hadn’t done so yet.
Now looking forward to the Challenge Cup, I was hoping he would compete somewhere before the Worlds!
... And he showed he was able to put aside a not very pleasant experience the first day with the jump competiton to carry on...
I am not 100% yet there have been some complications but I am getting there, albeit slowly, the calcium levels are close to normal, but vitamin D level is still very low. And basically the whole thing was pretty much of my own doing. Because of hay fever I spend most of summer indoors, but normally try to get a bit of tan in August when pollen decreases. This past summer I didn't do even that, watching too much of CNN & Sky News and such (blame Covid 19 again!)
