“A Sequence of Events" June 2015

   

At the end of my six months’ overseas travel, I returned to Sydney in March to be faced with a series of incidents, which happened one after another.  It had not been easy, and I would like to relate how I went thru the processes, and what do I gain from them.

Pantry Moths

On my return home, I found that our WHOLE house was invaded and inhabited by pantry moths.  All foods, containers, corners, and shelves in the pantry were FULL of moths, larvae, webs, cocoons and eggs!!!!  It took me a whole week to empty and clean and disinfect the pantry; then thinking that it’  s all over; I found more moths and larvae on the ceilings, corners of the walls, door jambs; in fact, they were EVERYWHERE  - in the Living Room, Dining Room, and even in the master bedroom upstairs! What gave me a real horror was that they were also breeding inside my CD and DVD cases.  I actually had to open every case to wipe them away.  (Pls see  photos)

Every night I would use a torch to inspect the ceilings and, despite my constant effort for several weeks, there were still more moths and larvae.  During those days, I was sooooooo nervous that I could not sleep. Whenever I saw something flying I was uptight and paranoid.  It’s like a never ending battle.  Fighting so hard drained away every ounce of my my energy and I fell sick for several weeks. With my continual efforts I am happy to say that our house is now ‘MOTHS FREE’.

Lesson

The lesson I have learned is ‘DON’T over buy or over stock on foods’ (which I had a habit of doing), and ‘DON’T keep anything that I have not used for a couple of years’, as they will definitely are sources of troubles.

Blessing

As I was becoming sick and desperate, my god (Buddha) son, William, came to help me almost every day, giving me moth lures, helping me check and clean.  Because of all the efforts, I am now enjoying a clean, tidy and sparkling home!  

Blocked toilet

The day before my sister came to visit me in April, the guest toilet was blocked.  I hurriedly found a nearby plumber from the yellow pages who spent over an hour (in pouring rain) looking for the main drain outlet outside our house, charged me $150 but with no success.  I began to chant for someone good and found another plumber on the internet.  He came on the same day, took less than 30 minutes, found the outside outlet in heavy rain, cleared the blockage and charged me only $80.

Water Leak

Not long after the toilet was fixed ,  one day we found my sister’s guestroom carpet and walls saturated with water.  I had to use all my towels to soak up water, and used an iron (which was damaged after) to iron dry the carpet.  Upon inspection, I found that the main source of leakage was rain water coming from a window which could not be closed properly.  I used tapes to secure the windows that night and very quickly found a good window repairer who came in and did an overhaul of all my windows, at a very reasonable price.  Later I had to hire a carpet cleaner to clean the carpet.

Broken roof and gutter

Because of water leak, I found a roof repairer to check on my roof.  He came and told me that my whole roof is disintegrating and needs major overhaul.  Also a few of our gutters are broken and have holes on them which need replacing.  So …..   more problems ………..

Blessing

Despite all of the above, and in addition to having to replace a broken range hood, broken door bell (both needed very skilled tradesmen), I was soooo lucky to be able to come across good people with very good prices.  Also last year I was planning on repainting the whole house inside out this April, but because of the moths, I decided to postpone.  This was the best decision because if I had done with the painting  and then found out problems with the roof, gutters, etc and have to paint them again, it will be a waste of money and effort.  Therefore these problems came in time and became  blessings. 

Fever 

Originally my sister Yvonne was planning to visit me in March, but due to work she changed her schedule to April.  Again this was the best arrangement cause if she came in March,  she would be battling with the moths also and I would not have time nor energy to care for her.  We had booked a 9 day trip to Adelaide starting on May 15, with two nights on a River Murray cruise.

The morning of May 13, I woke up and found my neck swollen with a big lump, and its very painful.  The pain also went up to my ears.  Initially I thought it was flu and normally I would use herbal medicine to cure.  However due to our imminent departure on the 15^th,  I wanted to make sure that it was nothing serious, so I immediately went to see a family doctor.

He checked and found I had very high fever.  He suggested I start on antibiotics and should cancel my trip on 15^th.  Also he gave me a script for an ultrasound of my thyroid when my fever subsides.

My sister and my son also suggested that we cancel the trip, but somehow inside myself I was hoping that the antibiotics would work, and in which case, I should be OK in a couple of days. I chanted for a quick recovery.

On the second day, I started to feel much better, and on the third day, the pain and fever was gone and we flew to Adelaide as scheduled.  That same night we even went to Hogs Breath for a good yummy piece of steak. 

Lesson

I think a lot of my sickness is due to stress (caused the moths), I have to learn to take things easy and do things step by step.  Also it is important for us to know WHEN TO DO THE RIGHT THING AT THE RIGHT TIME, i.e. seeing the family doctor in time to be cured of the sickness.

Blessing

Despite the initial symptoms and discomfort, the pain and fever were gone in two days and I could enjoy our trip to Adelaide. What a great blessing indeed!

Tooth

 I had a broken tooth In March .  Since my husband has retired and he was in Hong Kong, I decided to ask his good friend and a top dental surgeon, Terry,  in Adelaide to help me.  On the second day of our arrival in Adelaide, April 16^th, I drove to his surgery.  After examination, he suggested I have an extraction because this tooth had a failed root canal.

Terry had done all implants in my mouth and I fully trusted him.  After several injections, the tooth was extracted, he also gave me two fillings and I came off with a numb face and lips.

Foot and lips

After my dental treatment I drove to a nearby store to buy a pair of thick track pants for the cruise because the weather could be cold.  After parking my car alongside the road opposite the store, as I was half way getting out of the car my left foot was trapped by the GPS wire!  When tried to force my left leg out I almost fell onto the road, trying to avoid falling out into the streets with the cars coming towards me, I fell sideways.

When I tried to stand up, there was a horrible sharp pain on my left foot and I could not walk!  It was with great difficulty that I went back to the hotel room and lied in bed.  At that time I was also very hungry so I tried to eat (slowly) a pc of sandwich which my sister gave me, because my face and mouth was still very numb, I didn’t realize that I was actually chewing on my lips .

There you go, I had a swollen face, swollen and bruised lips and a very painful foot!  My sister and my family felt very bad seeing my condition and wondered if we should go back to Sydney for treatment.  For some reason, I had the confidence that I would be OK, (last year when I was travelling alone in Poland in a remote village, I hurt my back and could not walk, sit nor stand.  I lied on the sofa and kept chanting and the next day I was 80% ok and could go back to Krakow on a bus) so I put chinese medicated oil and pads on my painful foot, and wrap it up with the special bandage which my sister bought me.

The next day I rested in the hotel until 5 pm and then drove 2 hrs to the port to board the cruise.

Upon arrival, it was still a bit painful to walk so I just hopped.  Despite of all these happenings, my spirit was not affected and I enjoyed the cruise very much: the food, the scenery, the serenity…….. (See photos)

Having a good rest on the cruise, my foot was feeling miles better!

On return to Sydney I went to have an Xray of the foot and was shocked to see a huge fracture on the bone!!! (See photo). I consulted a good friend who is a Orthopaedic Surgeon and he said that it will heal and I don’t have to worry.  I continued to rest at home, using the medicated ointment, and chanting everyday to recover quickly.  I am happy to say that I am now 90% recovered .

Lesson

The lessons I learned here are: first I used to brush my teeth only twice a day, now I have to start brushing my teeth after every meal, because my husband is retired, and after Terry also retires, I don’t know yet of any good dentist who can help me.

Second, I am a very impatient and careless person, i.e. the GPS wire was dangling and I was trapped without realizing, ending in the mishap.  Now I take extreme care getting in and out of cars, and try to do things slowly.

The blessing

Although I suffered because the above, I was very thankful.

1.      I thank the gohonzon that my broken tooth came in time so I could fix up all problems before Terry retires (by the way Terry said I had to redo a crown and a bridge)

2.    I thank the gohonzon that despite the serious fracture of my bone, I was still able to drive, to travel and enjoy my trip, and I am healing very fast.

Thyroid

Last week I had an ultrasound of my thyroid glands, as earlier suggested by the doctor.  The xrays show that I have six nodules on my thyroid.  The doctor said I need to have a biopsy since one of the nodules was more than 2 cm in size. The biopsy involves putting a needle into my neck and taking tissues out from my thyroid glands for pathology tests.

I was brave enough to go for the biopsy alone, although I was a bit nervous.  The procedure was not too bad.  However when waiting for the results, which took about two days, I began to be a bit restless.  I chanted and chanted to the gohonzon and said:  I have gone through enough hardships in life, now I want to enjoy life and contribute to kosen rufu without wasting time on fighting illness.  I also chanted for the nodules to disappear.  Two days seemed a long time to pass.  When I went to the doctor again, he put on a straight face and said : ‘well do you want the good news or the bad news?’

I stared at him, not knowing how to respond.  Then I said:’ no news is good news,’ but he asked again: ‘do you want the good news or the bad news???’

I was forced to say: ‘the good news!’  He said: ‘the good news is that the test results are normal, it is a degenerating (dying) cyst, and… there is no bad news!’

What a relief! He then went on to tell me that initially when he saw the xray, he was quite concerned because of the size and the irregular shape of the nodule, that’s why he asked for a biopsy.  Now he said he is very happy to see the good results, but suggested that I will have another ultrasound in one year’s time.

The interesting thing was: before I left, he said: ‘go and enjoy life!’  This was exactly what I said and chanted to the Gohonzon. I chanted for the nodule to disappear and it is degenerating, I chanted to enjoy life and the doctor said I should go and enjoy life.  How mystic!

Inspiration

The reason why I related all incidents to you is to let you know that, as human, we have to face moments which would create some kind of hardships to us.  However with our chanting of Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo, efforts in kosen rufu and our trust in the Gohonzon, we will be able to go through them, with help from all around us, and gain a lot of benefits as a result.  I remember long time ago, a senior SGI member said: ‘I am always happy, because I trust the Gohonzon.  I believe that everything that comes to me will turn out to be a benefit.’ And it is true!                                                  

Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo!