It's official, I finally became a permanent resident of Canada after a long 7 month wait.
I couldn't be more pleased although the reality still hasn't sunk in yet due to the long wait of not knowing. The last part of the process was an interview at the local immigration office in town with a friendly lady who put us at ease very quickly. She asked me some routine questions and checked my passport then got me to sign some paperwork and it was done, I have the same rights as a Canadian.
The funny thing is the residency lasts for 5 years before you have to renew it but out of those 5 years you only have to reside in Canada for 2 which seems bizarre to me. You would think it would at least be the majority of the 5 but I don't have any intentions to leave just yet due to money and the state of the UK.
Its weird to think that at last I can relax and enjoy the comfort of knowing that I am allowed to stay. I guess I should learn the national anthem now.....OH CANADA......um???
Friday 4 June 2010
Thursday 3 June 2010
The Past 5 Months (not so great)
After Christmas I started to get pain in my jaw but I have wisdom teeth forming so I was used to it. I think I had a mild case of TMJ which is like lock jaw where the joint swells a little making it hard to open your mouth wide at times. Anyway, I started to sleep on my back so I wouldn't sleep on my face at night making things worse. I started to complain about pain in my legs and shoulders which I just put down to sleeping funny.
As time passed (month or so) the pain and stiffness in my legs and arms got worse and I was having trouble getting up out of chairs/bed and walking was even slow at times.
I then started to get pins and needles in my hands and wrists which I thought was just RSI because I am always on a computer or playing xbox.
After 2 months we thought I should see a doctor as things really weren't improving and were clearly getting worse. I was ordered to have some blood tests which revealed I had some issues with inflammatory arthritis. It sounded insane as I am so young but its not unheard of.
With a lot more blood tests and an X-ray on my hands which by now had pretty much swollen and one was nearly unusable I was referred to a Rheumatologist.
I was told it would be a 6-9 month wait, but within 3 months i got a call for an appointment which seemed odd. Last week (now 5 months of suffering) I saw the specialist who confirmed that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) :(
I have it pretty bad, almost in every joint. Its rare in men and usually a lot worse than woman and that's why I was called in so fast after they saw my blood tests. Finally I was being listened to and getting the help I need. Right there and then they drained fluid from both my knees and injected me with a steroid.
If you treat RA aggressively within the first year of it showing up there is a chance of it going into remission for a while before surfacing at older age. Seeing that I am so young they want to try and give some quality of life back before I have to deal with old age. So my treatment will be weekly injections in my arm of a drug, 2 pills of another drug daily, physio and sessions in the pool.
Its going to be intense but by the end of Friday the steroid had already started to work wonders and over the weekend I can now open jars, dress myself and walk up stairs with no problem. I am in the best care now and I am 30lbs lighter as well because all the stress caused me to lose weight.
Its been a shit 5 months but finally I am getting some relief, I am not cured but I am being treated by the right people.
As time passed (month or so) the pain and stiffness in my legs and arms got worse and I was having trouble getting up out of chairs/bed and walking was even slow at times.
I then started to get pins and needles in my hands and wrists which I thought was just RSI because I am always on a computer or playing xbox.
After 2 months we thought I should see a doctor as things really weren't improving and were clearly getting worse. I was ordered to have some blood tests which revealed I had some issues with inflammatory arthritis. It sounded insane as I am so young but its not unheard of.
With a lot more blood tests and an X-ray on my hands which by now had pretty much swollen and one was nearly unusable I was referred to a Rheumatologist.
I was told it would be a 6-9 month wait, but within 3 months i got a call for an appointment which seemed odd. Last week (now 5 months of suffering) I saw the specialist who confirmed that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) :(
I have it pretty bad, almost in every joint. Its rare in men and usually a lot worse than woman and that's why I was called in so fast after they saw my blood tests. Finally I was being listened to and getting the help I need. Right there and then they drained fluid from both my knees and injected me with a steroid.
If you treat RA aggressively within the first year of it showing up there is a chance of it going into remission for a while before surfacing at older age. Seeing that I am so young they want to try and give some quality of life back before I have to deal with old age. So my treatment will be weekly injections in my arm of a drug, 2 pills of another drug daily, physio and sessions in the pool.
Its going to be intense but by the end of Friday the steroid had already started to work wonders and over the weekend I can now open jars, dress myself and walk up stairs with no problem. I am in the best care now and I am 30lbs lighter as well because all the stress caused me to lose weight.
Its been a shit 5 months but finally I am getting some relief, I am not cured but I am being treated by the right people.
Thursday 14 January 2010
Avatar
I saw Avatar last night in Real 3D and it is the first time that I experienced motion sickness from a movie. The action sequences were amazing and you can forgive the predictable story and corny one liners because I found the whole world mesmerizing. I tried to find fault with the effects and was amazed at how realistic the characters of Pandora were, the motion capture was the best I've seen. Many times I was moved by the emotion and situation the people of Pandora went through and these computer generated aliens showed more emotion than most real actors.
The only problem was I found some of the action so fast paced that in 3D my eyes couldn't focus on what was going on. I had this same problem with the recent Transformers movies although not in 3D, I doubt I could have swallowed the mass of spaghetti metal fighting out of the screen and into my face.
When the credits started to roll I stood up and had a moment of disorientation and feeling of sickness. I looked across at my friend and he had grabbed the seat in front because he was off balance, we both laughed and started shuffling for the exit.
I have also read that some people have become depressed and even suicidal after watching Avatar because the world of Pandora was so idyllic in comparison to the world we live in. I can't say that a movie could ever really have that much effect on me and you would have to be suffering from some sort of chemical off balance beforehand
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