Christmas: the re-arrangements and some developments...

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts, emails, text messages and phone calls about our present situation. I have appreciated every comment, every invitation to Christmas lunch, every word of comfort and support. Your kindness is so overwhelming and heartwarming.

Over the past 48 hours there have been a few developments.

Firstly, I have continued to improve. I have finished my antibiotics (yay!) and am eating normal food again (I made Hainanese chicken rice last night - was absolutely delicious). I even had a flat white this morning so I am totally fine and raring to go, courtesy of the caffeine.

I also had a rather interesting phone call from my doctor this morning - it turns out that the second round of test results revealed I had an acute case of salmonella poisoning, not viral gastro as they first thought. It's pretty rare to get salmonella nowadays - this was the first case she has seen in years apparently - but when you get it, it's pretty heinous. It accounts for the extreme pain I was in for a few days there and the fever over the weekend. Just for the record, I'm about 95% sure I know where I picked it up and it wasn't anywhere near my home...

The doctor has given me another script just in case there is a reoccurrence over the Christmas break but she said I should be fine, particularly if I am back eating normal food again and even drinking coffee.

On the home front - we've been overwhelmed by the invitations to share so many of my friends Christmases but have made the decision to stay at home this year. As such, we've been scrambling to try and create an acceptable celebration at home. Mr Kitty's family always celebrate Christmas Eve as the primary holiday and there are specific foods he likes to eat so we've had to try and procure them, or a workable substitute, at very short notice. We've managed to find a nice ham (nothing short of a miracle, actually) and a lovely looking fillet of beef for dinner tonight. We've scrapped the idea of a Christmas pudding and I'm making Not Quite Nigella's Surprise Gift Pavlovas instead.

It's certainly not the same as the celebration we planned, but Mr Kitty and I are happy that we are spending the time with the people who mean the most to us and who, no matter what, won't let us down: each other.

And as for my parents? well, your guess is as good as mine. Since that last incident I haven't heard a word from them. Not an email, no inquiry as to how I am getting on. Given I was so desperately sick you'd think they would at least try and make sure I haven't been readmitted to hospital at the very least... I even sent them an SMS asking them to join us at dinner for Mr Kitty's aunt next week while we are in Melbourne and they haven't even done me the courtesy of responding.

For people in their sixties they certainly are proving to be ridiculously immature and childish. The one thing that I have learned in this whole debacle is that you can only be responsible for your behaviour, not anyone else's. I'll admit that my response when they asked us not to come for Christmas was probably not as good as it could have been - that's natural when your parents reject you and place their own interests ahead of yours, showing no concern for your emotional or physical well being, particularly when you are highly emotional and have been so ill you have to go to hospital.

Their reaction to my illness is now absolutely ludicrous because salmonella is completely non-contagious, unless you happened to eat the same piece of undercooked chicken as I did. They couldn't have caught anything from me, so in the end, their selfishness and desire for self preservation has done nothing but estrange their family. I hope they are happy with their ridiculous hysterical behaviour (which we did point out on Wednesday as part of the process was hysterical and silly), because I have to say this morning we had a bit of a giggle about the whole thing and how dumb they look now. If you can't laugh and all that...

So, we've got the champagne chilling and the pavlovas are cooling in the oven and I am looking forward to a wonderful relaxing few days before we get on the road and spend next week with our friends in Melbourne, eating and drinking and making merry!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas Day. I hope it is filled with merriment, fantastic presents and delicious food. Most of all, I hope you are spending the day with the people who value, love and cherish you.

Kitty xxx