Thanks Emma for this meme :)
1. What time did you get up this morning?... 8.30am because I had an orthodontist appt. That's very early for me though, it's usually 10am ish.
2. What is your favourite TV show?... That's hard. Doctor Who, Absolutely Fabulous, The Vicar of Dibley, Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, Dragon's Den, The Gadget Show, Film 2009, Horizon...
3. Where would you like to live if you could choose anywhere in the world?... London :D
4. What foods do you dislike?... Peanut butter, brussel sprouts, mince, beans and peas. I'm not a fan of chocolate or sweet things either.
5. What kind of vehicle do you drive?... I can't drive, but my mum drives a Ford Fiesta and my dad drives a Toyota Corolla. I love minis :)
6. What are your favourite clothes? Jeans and either a poloneck in winter or a t-shirt in summer. Comfy clothes :D
7. Where would you visit if you had the chance?... Isles of Scilly again to see my family there, Scotland, Japan again but a different area this time - maybe Tokyo, China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, New York, more of America... Loads of places ;)
8. Where would you want to retire?... No idea yet, will have to see more places before I decide.
9. Favourite time of the day?... From 11pm ish because that's when I feel at my best :)
10. Where were you born?... In Hosp H.
11. What is your favourite sport to watch?... Gymnastics.
12. Bird watcher?... Nope, don't have the patience :P
13. Are you a morning or a night person? Night most definitely, I'm nocturnal!
14. Do you have any pets?... Nope, not allowed any while I live at home. I'll have pets when I've got a place of my own though :)
15. Are you a cat or dog person?... I prefer dogs and hope to have one in the future.
16. Are you married?... No, lol!
17. Always wear your seatbelt?... Yes
18. Been in a car accident?... Nope
19. Any pet peeves?... People who are disloyal or rude.
20. Favourite flower?... Hmmm, I don't know. I used to like growing pansies.
21. Favourite ice cream?... I don't really like ice cream, but when I do rarely have it I have vanilla.
22. From whom did you get your last email?... My dietician.
23. Broccoli?... I'll eat it, but I don't really like it.
24. What are you listening to right now?... Just me typing. And I can hear the very noisy family computer buzzing too. It's surprisingly quiet in my house at the moment. I was watching Top Of The Pops: New Year's Eve a little while ago.
25. What is your favourite colour?... Purple
26. Coffee drinker?... Nope, don't like hot drinks. I only really drink milk, apple juice and water.
27. What time did you finish this quiz?... 5.39pm
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Imogen
I think I mentioned Imogen a little while ago on my blog. I met her when I was under Hosp G when I was on TPN and she was on TPN too. After I left Hosp G I kept in touch with Imy every so often via email and then we found each other on Facebook.
Imy began to have a very poor quality of life on TPN and even though she wasn't life threateningly ill, a small bowel trasnplant was suggested. Imy had a lot to think about because animals have always been her life and if she was to have a small bowel transplant then she would have to limit her encounters with animals because of infection risks. But Imy decided to have the transplant because she knew it would likely vastly improve her quality of life. She was listed shortly before Christmas.
When I turned my phone on this morning I discovered a text from Imy that had been sent in the middle of last night. She had been called for her transplant (not at Hosp B, at a different hospital that have recently started doing small bowel transplants) and said she'd be in touch again when it was all over. Imy will probably be in theatre now. I'm thinking of her and her family and really hoping it all goes smoothly. When the worst is over I'm hoping to go and visit Imy in hospital in London. And I'm thinking of the brave donor family too.
Imy began to have a very poor quality of life on TPN and even though she wasn't life threateningly ill, a small bowel trasnplant was suggested. Imy had a lot to think about because animals have always been her life and if she was to have a small bowel transplant then she would have to limit her encounters with animals because of infection risks. But Imy decided to have the transplant because she knew it would likely vastly improve her quality of life. She was listed shortly before Christmas.
When I turned my phone on this morning I discovered a text from Imy that had been sent in the middle of last night. She had been called for her transplant (not at Hosp B, at a different hospital that have recently started doing small bowel transplants) and said she'd be in touch again when it was all over. Imy will probably be in theatre now. I'm thinking of her and her family and really hoping it all goes smoothly. When the worst is over I'm hoping to go and visit Imy in hospital in London. And I'm thinking of the brave donor family too.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Since Christmas update
Christmas left me quite exhausted, so I spent a few days doing very little apart from watching TV and DVDs :) And I've been very nocturnal too :P
So on TV I've watched:
~ Catherine Tate: Nan's Christmas Carol - which I really enjoyed. David Tennant was great and the programme was very funny :)
~ The Gruffalo - which was a good idea, but aimed at children.
~ The Day of the Triffids - this was a remake on the BBC over 2 evenings this week. It was quite good, but I struggled to concentrate through both 90min parts.
~ The Doctor Who episode Blink - I recorded this off the TV a few months ago and rewatched it with my mum today. I loved it, but it really scared mum!
And I've watched 5 Absolutely Fabulous episodes and 3 Black Books episodes on DVD.
On DVD I've watched:
~ My Sister's Keeper - a fantastic film, but not quite as good as the book.
~ Miss Congeniality - one of my favourite films, it always makes me laugh.
~ Sleepy Hollow - a good Tim Burton film.
And I watched a film called Just Like Heaven on TV, which was quite good.
I've bought a few DVDs this week too. I was looking on the Internet to buy a DVD called Stepmom which I rented a few months ago, but liked and wanted to buy. And then I found that it was in this Julia Roberts boxset, so I ended up buying the boxset and am looking forward to that arriving soon :) And I persuaded mum to buy the first series of Gavin and Stacey on DVD because we missed it on TV.
And on Monday I went to Tesco with mum and they had a DVD sale on :D So I bought 4 DVDs in that - Beetlejuice, 27 Dresses and The Snowman for £3 each. And 17 Again for £5. And mum bought Pride and Prejudice.
Dad and Alf went to the cinema earlier this week to see Avatar 3D and they both really enjoyed it. After seeing trailers I didn't fancy it, but Alf has managed to persuade mum that she'll like it, so Alf is hoping to see it again with mum next week. The only film I like the sound of in the cinema at the moment is Where The Wild Things Are. We all want to see that though, so I'm not sure if we'll manage to get it together to go before it disappears from the cinema! :P
I quite fancied going to a carboot sale on Sun, but discovered that our local ones are not on again til the middle of Feb :(
iTunes are currently doing a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway. Some of their free downloads so far haven't appealed to me, but I've downloaded 2 music videos. My new laptop is very whizzy (post on it coming soon), but unfortunately our Internet connection isn't so great - the 2 music videos I downloaded took 45mins and 1hour to download!
As well as getting out to Tesco on Sun, yesterday I went round to the post office to post off some parcels for mum (a DVD return to Amazon because Chris had already been given the Eddie Izzard DVD my mum bought him for Christmas and the socks she knitted for dad's favourite nurse at Hosp B). I had to queue for 20mins at our village post office! Hmph! And then when it was my turn I was told that I had to fill out a customs form because the Amazon return was going to their warehouse in Jersey! Got it done eventually though.
Yesterday mum also took me to Hosp H to have my bloods repeated, but luckily the more experienced phlebotomist was there as well as the new one, so she took my blood. I was a bit nervous about them losing my blood results though! Apparently Hosp B always phone Hosp H for my blood results, so I don't know why we thought that my results were faxed through. As far as I know, Hosp B haven't got my latest blood results yet, but unexpectedly this morning I received an email from my GP with my latest blood results attached. And all but 2 of my LFTs are within the normal range :D And one of the results that is marked as high is only just out of the normal range (it's 21 instead of being between 5 and 20). Yay!
I took my Tac blood at home this morning via a fingerprick. I should have done it yesterday, but mum was at work yesterday morning, so I attempted to do it myself as I couldn't leave it too late to take my Tac. Me and mum usually do it as a team and yesterday I discovered when trying to do it on my own that I needed 3 hands! So I gave up and we did it together this morning. Hopefully my Tac level will be ok today after my Tac dose has been changed, fingers crossed. We went to the post office to post that off to Hosp B and I also posted off a letter and a birthday parcel to my AYME buddy, Kate. While we were out we also called in at the GP surgery to collect some of my overnight feed and some high calorie drinks.
Yesterday while me and mum were at Hosp H, we also went to visit my nan. She was very cheerful and looked brighter than she had when we saw her before. She's still waiting for the results of some of her heart tests and is also still waiting to see the cardiologist. She's having loads of tests and scans done in the meantime though, they seem to be being very thorough, which is good :)
Yesterday morning I received a letter in the post from Hosp B saying that my consultant had requested for me to have 2 heart tests, so I had an appointment for them. That was a surprise, I don't have any heart problems, so why does my consultant want me to have heart tests? And why do I have to travel to BCH between clinics for them, can't they wait til my next clinic? Why weren't they done when I was in hospital 2 weeks ago? Hosp B is in a city which is about an hour and a half drive away, so I was not impressed with being given a 4.15pm appt on a Fri aft, how ridiculous! So I've rung Liver Direct at Hosp B and have left a message on the answermachine querying the tests. Hopefully they'll reply soon. If I do need them and if my consultant wants me to have them before my next clinic, then I'll have to change the appt. As well as it being a silly time, my mum works on Fri nights, so I wouldn't be able to get there.
I mentioned in a previous post that I had hurt my arm when I slipped over on the ice on Christmas Eve and although it was very sore for a couple of days it's completely better now :)
Today I was supposed to be going to see Lizzy and her family, but we had to cancel it because Lizzy has a tummy bug. We're hoping to go in a couple of weeks instead, but I'm a bit disappointed.
I was invited to a sixth form meet-up for New Year, but it's an overnight thing, so I'm not going to be able to attend it. I'm not too bothered though. Catherine, my closest friend from sixth form, is going to come round to see me next Thur evening before she goes back to uni, so I'm looking forward to that :)
There's no more news on M yet. The latest from Jess' Facebook page is that she's still in ITU, ventilated and sedated, but that's to be expected at this stage and she's stable. This article was in the Mirror today.
On Mon morning I had a very scary nosebleed. Before my transplant when my liver was failing I used to have profuse nosebleeds that would usually end up with me being admitted to hospital because they just wouldn't stop. And I'd need blood transfusions because I'd lose so much blood. Since my transplant I'd only had tiny nosebleeds until Mon. So when I had a big one on Monday it did scare me as it brought back so many horrible memories. Luckily it did stop, but it took about an hour to do so. I also had another one on Tuesday, but it was very small that time.
On Mon night I should have been on enteral feed, but the nostril that bled is the one I put my NG tube in. So I couldn't risk putting it in that one as it would likely start my nosebleed again. I tried to put it in the other nostril, but that was so unbearably painful (I'm not sure why though), I had to take it straight out again. So I missed my enteral feed on Mon night, but drank more than usual to make sure I didn't get dehydrated. That was tricky though because I'd swallowed lots of blood which made me feel very nauseus. And because of that I only had half a high calorie drink on Mon, instead of a whole one. So last week I only had 2 nights of enteral feed and missed half a high calorie drink, so I wasn't surprised when my weight on Tue morn was down by 0.5kg to 50.0kg. I emailed my dietician about that (and also asked for some advice on excluding foods from my diet to try to find out what is causing my tummy pains) and am waiting for a reply.
Yesterday I managed a whole high calorie drink as usual and then put my NG tube in with no problem in the evening, so had enteral feed overnight last night. Out of interest I weighed myself again this morning and my weight was 51.0kg. So I think my weight really depends on when I weigh myself!
Watching so many DVDs and so much TV this week has really got me thinking that I ought to find a hobby or something more productive to do with my time. So I posted on the AYME forums yesterday evening asking for suggestions. I got quite a few responses with loads of ideas. So I feel really inspired now and am going to enjoy trying some things out over the next few weeks :) Last night on someone's suggestion I downloaded Windows Movie Maker and am going to have a play about with that because my camera also takes videos too. Last night I made a slideshow with it using some photos I already had on my laptop.
I have loads of medical appts coming up over the next few weeks. Tomorrow I have an orthodontist appt at Hosp A where my braces will be fixed and my wires will be tightened, which will probably leave my mouth quite sore for a few days. Then next week I have a Pathways To Work interview in town on Wed (about seeing whether or not I can do a bit of work at the moment) and then my dreaded ESA medical appt in the city on the Fri, eeek! :( On Mon 11th I have a physio appt at Hosp A to see if physio might be able to help my ME. And Fri 14th is my current appt for my heart scans at Hosp B, but if I need them then I wont be keeping that date. Mon 18th I have a hygeinist appt at Hosp A. And depending on what Hosp B think of my latest blood results and what my Tac level comes back as, then I may need more blood tests over the next few weeks. Phew!
So on TV I've watched:
~ Catherine Tate: Nan's Christmas Carol - which I really enjoyed. David Tennant was great and the programme was very funny :)
~ The Gruffalo - which was a good idea, but aimed at children.
~ The Day of the Triffids - this was a remake on the BBC over 2 evenings this week. It was quite good, but I struggled to concentrate through both 90min parts.
~ The Doctor Who episode Blink - I recorded this off the TV a few months ago and rewatched it with my mum today. I loved it, but it really scared mum!
And I've watched 5 Absolutely Fabulous episodes and 3 Black Books episodes on DVD.
On DVD I've watched:
~ My Sister's Keeper - a fantastic film, but not quite as good as the book.
~ Miss Congeniality - one of my favourite films, it always makes me laugh.
~ Sleepy Hollow - a good Tim Burton film.
And I watched a film called Just Like Heaven on TV, which was quite good.
I've bought a few DVDs this week too. I was looking on the Internet to buy a DVD called Stepmom which I rented a few months ago, but liked and wanted to buy. And then I found that it was in this Julia Roberts boxset, so I ended up buying the boxset and am looking forward to that arriving soon :) And I persuaded mum to buy the first series of Gavin and Stacey on DVD because we missed it on TV.
And on Monday I went to Tesco with mum and they had a DVD sale on :D So I bought 4 DVDs in that - Beetlejuice, 27 Dresses and The Snowman for £3 each. And 17 Again for £5. And mum bought Pride and Prejudice.
Dad and Alf went to the cinema earlier this week to see Avatar 3D and they both really enjoyed it. After seeing trailers I didn't fancy it, but Alf has managed to persuade mum that she'll like it, so Alf is hoping to see it again with mum next week. The only film I like the sound of in the cinema at the moment is Where The Wild Things Are. We all want to see that though, so I'm not sure if we'll manage to get it together to go before it disappears from the cinema! :P
I quite fancied going to a carboot sale on Sun, but discovered that our local ones are not on again til the middle of Feb :(
iTunes are currently doing a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway. Some of their free downloads so far haven't appealed to me, but I've downloaded 2 music videos. My new laptop is very whizzy (post on it coming soon), but unfortunately our Internet connection isn't so great - the 2 music videos I downloaded took 45mins and 1hour to download!
As well as getting out to Tesco on Sun, yesterday I went round to the post office to post off some parcels for mum (a DVD return to Amazon because Chris had already been given the Eddie Izzard DVD my mum bought him for Christmas and the socks she knitted for dad's favourite nurse at Hosp B). I had to queue for 20mins at our village post office! Hmph! And then when it was my turn I was told that I had to fill out a customs form because the Amazon return was going to their warehouse in Jersey! Got it done eventually though.
Yesterday mum also took me to Hosp H to have my bloods repeated, but luckily the more experienced phlebotomist was there as well as the new one, so she took my blood. I was a bit nervous about them losing my blood results though! Apparently Hosp B always phone Hosp H for my blood results, so I don't know why we thought that my results were faxed through. As far as I know, Hosp B haven't got my latest blood results yet, but unexpectedly this morning I received an email from my GP with my latest blood results attached. And all but 2 of my LFTs are within the normal range :D And one of the results that is marked as high is only just out of the normal range (it's 21 instead of being between 5 and 20). Yay!
I took my Tac blood at home this morning via a fingerprick. I should have done it yesterday, but mum was at work yesterday morning, so I attempted to do it myself as I couldn't leave it too late to take my Tac. Me and mum usually do it as a team and yesterday I discovered when trying to do it on my own that I needed 3 hands! So I gave up and we did it together this morning. Hopefully my Tac level will be ok today after my Tac dose has been changed, fingers crossed. We went to the post office to post that off to Hosp B and I also posted off a letter and a birthday parcel to my AYME buddy, Kate. While we were out we also called in at the GP surgery to collect some of my overnight feed and some high calorie drinks.
Yesterday while me and mum were at Hosp H, we also went to visit my nan. She was very cheerful and looked brighter than she had when we saw her before. She's still waiting for the results of some of her heart tests and is also still waiting to see the cardiologist. She's having loads of tests and scans done in the meantime though, they seem to be being very thorough, which is good :)
Yesterday morning I received a letter in the post from Hosp B saying that my consultant had requested for me to have 2 heart tests, so I had an appointment for them. That was a surprise, I don't have any heart problems, so why does my consultant want me to have heart tests? And why do I have to travel to BCH between clinics for them, can't they wait til my next clinic? Why weren't they done when I was in hospital 2 weeks ago? Hosp B is in a city which is about an hour and a half drive away, so I was not impressed with being given a 4.15pm appt on a Fri aft, how ridiculous! So I've rung Liver Direct at Hosp B and have left a message on the answermachine querying the tests. Hopefully they'll reply soon. If I do need them and if my consultant wants me to have them before my next clinic, then I'll have to change the appt. As well as it being a silly time, my mum works on Fri nights, so I wouldn't be able to get there.
I mentioned in a previous post that I had hurt my arm when I slipped over on the ice on Christmas Eve and although it was very sore for a couple of days it's completely better now :)
Today I was supposed to be going to see Lizzy and her family, but we had to cancel it because Lizzy has a tummy bug. We're hoping to go in a couple of weeks instead, but I'm a bit disappointed.
I was invited to a sixth form meet-up for New Year, but it's an overnight thing, so I'm not going to be able to attend it. I'm not too bothered though. Catherine, my closest friend from sixth form, is going to come round to see me next Thur evening before she goes back to uni, so I'm looking forward to that :)
There's no more news on M yet. The latest from Jess' Facebook page is that she's still in ITU, ventilated and sedated, but that's to be expected at this stage and she's stable. This article was in the Mirror today.
On Mon morning I had a very scary nosebleed. Before my transplant when my liver was failing I used to have profuse nosebleeds that would usually end up with me being admitted to hospital because they just wouldn't stop. And I'd need blood transfusions because I'd lose so much blood. Since my transplant I'd only had tiny nosebleeds until Mon. So when I had a big one on Monday it did scare me as it brought back so many horrible memories. Luckily it did stop, but it took about an hour to do so. I also had another one on Tuesday, but it was very small that time.
On Mon night I should have been on enteral feed, but the nostril that bled is the one I put my NG tube in. So I couldn't risk putting it in that one as it would likely start my nosebleed again. I tried to put it in the other nostril, but that was so unbearably painful (I'm not sure why though), I had to take it straight out again. So I missed my enteral feed on Mon night, but drank more than usual to make sure I didn't get dehydrated. That was tricky though because I'd swallowed lots of blood which made me feel very nauseus. And because of that I only had half a high calorie drink on Mon, instead of a whole one. So last week I only had 2 nights of enteral feed and missed half a high calorie drink, so I wasn't surprised when my weight on Tue morn was down by 0.5kg to 50.0kg. I emailed my dietician about that (and also asked for some advice on excluding foods from my diet to try to find out what is causing my tummy pains) and am waiting for a reply.
Yesterday I managed a whole high calorie drink as usual and then put my NG tube in with no problem in the evening, so had enteral feed overnight last night. Out of interest I weighed myself again this morning and my weight was 51.0kg. So I think my weight really depends on when I weigh myself!
Watching so many DVDs and so much TV this week has really got me thinking that I ought to find a hobby or something more productive to do with my time. So I posted on the AYME forums yesterday evening asking for suggestions. I got quite a few responses with loads of ideas. So I feel really inspired now and am going to enjoy trying some things out over the next few weeks :) Last night on someone's suggestion I downloaded Windows Movie Maker and am going to have a play about with that because my camera also takes videos too. Last night I made a slideshow with it using some photos I already had on my laptop.
I have loads of medical appts coming up over the next few weeks. Tomorrow I have an orthodontist appt at Hosp A where my braces will be fixed and my wires will be tightened, which will probably leave my mouth quite sore for a few days. Then next week I have a Pathways To Work interview in town on Wed (about seeing whether or not I can do a bit of work at the moment) and then my dreaded ESA medical appt in the city on the Fri, eeek! :( On Mon 11th I have a physio appt at Hosp A to see if physio might be able to help my ME. And Fri 14th is my current appt for my heart scans at Hosp B, but if I need them then I wont be keeping that date. Mon 18th I have a hygeinist appt at Hosp A. And depending on what Hosp B think of my latest blood results and what my Tac level comes back as, then I may need more blood tests over the next few weeks. Phew!
2009 Meme
Thanks Posh Totty for this meme :)
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? ... Managed for 6 months without artificial feeds. And I went away with school for 10 days without any artificial feeds and without my parents :D
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? .... I don't think I made any this year. I'm not sure I'll make any resolutions for next year, but I do have hopes that you can see on this blog post.
3. How will you be spending New Year's Eve? ... I will be spending the afternoon at the orthodontist :( I was invited to a sixth form meet-up that night, but am not well enough to go so will probably spend the night at home watching TV.
4. Did anyone close to you die? ... No
5. What countries did you visit? ... Japan :D
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? ... More energy
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? ... That's a hard question, I really don't know about a specific date, but my memories of Japan will stay with me.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? ... Completing my International Baccalaureate Certificates :)
9. What was your biggest failure? ... At the time dropping maths at school seemed like a failure, but looking back on it dropping a subject was the only way I could keep going at school while I was ill. And I'm really disappointed that I wasn't photographed for the Gifts of Life photography exhibition, but that was out of my control.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? ... Yup, ME. But that was ongoing from 2008.
11. What was the best thing you bought? ... A sofa and bigger TV (with an inbuilt DVD player) for my bedroom. And my new laptop :D
12. Where did most of your money go? ... DVDs
13. What song will always remind you of 2009? ... I'm not sure about specific songs, but I've enjoyed discovering some fantastic albums this year including 'Funhouse' by Pink, 'It's Not Me It's You' by Lily Allen 'Hands' by Little Boots, 'Taylor Swift' and 'Fearless' by Taylor Swift, 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much' by Mika, 'Turn It Up' by Pixie Lott and 'Overcome' by Alexandra Burke.
14. What do you wish you'd done more of? ... I know I should have rested more to stop my ME getting worse, but I can't just do nothing.
15. What do you wish you'd done less of? .... I know I shouldn't have overdone it so much, which lead to my ME getting worse. But what would I have missed out on then?
16. What was your favourite TV program? ... I rediscovered Absolutely Fabulous on DVD. And Ashes to Ashes series 2 was great.
17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? ... Don't think so.
18. What was the best book you read? ... I've not been able to read novels this year because of my poor concentration and memory :(
19. What was your greatest musical discovery? ... Taylor Swift, Little Boots and Pixie Lott.
20. What was your favourite film of this year? ... At the cinema - The Proposal, My Sister's Keeper. The Hangover and Up 3D I think. And of course, how could I forget Coraline! :D I've watched loads of DVDs too, but can't remember specifics. Recently I've really enjoyed watching Memoirs of a Geisha and Girl Interrupted though.
21. What did you do on your birthday? ... Claire came round so I spent the day with her and my family watching DVDs, playing games and Dad cooked tea on a BBQ. I also took Claire to meet my nan for the first time.
22. What kept you sane? ... My family and friends
23. Who did you miss? ... I often miss my best friend Lizzy because she lives 80 miles away so I'm not able to see her as often as I'd like to.
24. Who was the best new person you met? ... I can't just name one, but I've met some amazing people though the online ME communities I've joined.
25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009: ... ME is frustrating, but it's not the end of the world. It won't kill me and I will get better, I just don't know when, so need to try to be more patient til then.
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? ... Managed for 6 months without artificial feeds. And I went away with school for 10 days without any artificial feeds and without my parents :D
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? .... I don't think I made any this year. I'm not sure I'll make any resolutions for next year, but I do have hopes that you can see on this blog post.
3. How will you be spending New Year's Eve? ... I will be spending the afternoon at the orthodontist :( I was invited to a sixth form meet-up that night, but am not well enough to go so will probably spend the night at home watching TV.
4. Did anyone close to you die? ... No
5. What countries did you visit? ... Japan :D
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? ... More energy
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? ... That's a hard question, I really don't know about a specific date, but my memories of Japan will stay with me.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? ... Completing my International Baccalaureate Certificates :)
9. What was your biggest failure? ... At the time dropping maths at school seemed like a failure, but looking back on it dropping a subject was the only way I could keep going at school while I was ill. And I'm really disappointed that I wasn't photographed for the Gifts of Life photography exhibition, but that was out of my control.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? ... Yup, ME. But that was ongoing from 2008.
11. What was the best thing you bought? ... A sofa and bigger TV (with an inbuilt DVD player) for my bedroom. And my new laptop :D
12. Where did most of your money go? ... DVDs
13. What song will always remind you of 2009? ... I'm not sure about specific songs, but I've enjoyed discovering some fantastic albums this year including 'Funhouse' by Pink, 'It's Not Me It's You' by Lily Allen 'Hands' by Little Boots, 'Taylor Swift' and 'Fearless' by Taylor Swift, 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much' by Mika, 'Turn It Up' by Pixie Lott and 'Overcome' by Alexandra Burke.
14. What do you wish you'd done more of? ... I know I should have rested more to stop my ME getting worse, but I can't just do nothing.
15. What do you wish you'd done less of? .... I know I shouldn't have overdone it so much, which lead to my ME getting worse. But what would I have missed out on then?
16. What was your favourite TV program? ... I rediscovered Absolutely Fabulous on DVD. And Ashes to Ashes series 2 was great.
17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? ... Don't think so.
18. What was the best book you read? ... I've not been able to read novels this year because of my poor concentration and memory :(
19. What was your greatest musical discovery? ... Taylor Swift, Little Boots and Pixie Lott.
20. What was your favourite film of this year? ... At the cinema - The Proposal, My Sister's Keeper. The Hangover and Up 3D I think. And of course, how could I forget Coraline! :D I've watched loads of DVDs too, but can't remember specifics. Recently I've really enjoyed watching Memoirs of a Geisha and Girl Interrupted though.
21. What did you do on your birthday? ... Claire came round so I spent the day with her and my family watching DVDs, playing games and Dad cooked tea on a BBQ. I also took Claire to meet my nan for the first time.
22. What kept you sane? ... My family and friends
23. Who did you miss? ... I often miss my best friend Lizzy because she lives 80 miles away so I'm not able to see her as often as I'd like to.
24. Who was the best new person you met? ... I can't just name one, but I've met some amazing people though the online ME communities I've joined.
25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009: ... ME is frustrating, but it's not the end of the world. It won't kill me and I will get better, I just don't know when, so need to try to be more patient til then.
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Looking back at 2009 and forward to 2010
I've been thinking for a long time about what to put in this post as I wanted to make it really meaningful, but I can't think of anything meaningful to write. I thought that an easier option would be to write about what has happened to me this year and what I hope will happen next year, but my memory is awful :P After a bit of thinking I came up with some thoughts though.
This year:
~ My post transplant health has continued to improve
~ My eating has become more 'normal' and I managed 6 months with no artificial feeds at all
~ My tummy pains have become worse and more frequent, but I don't know why
~ I've had my 3rd transplant anniversary
~ My ME has become worse
~ I finally received a diagnosis of ME in August after being ill for 13 months
~ I joined AYME and Foggy Friends for support with my ME
~ I attended my first AYME meet-up
~ I went on an amazing trip to Japan in Feb
~ I completed my sixth form course and gained 5 International Baccalaureate Certificates
~ I cleaned and decluttered my bedroom and gave it a make-over
~ I promoted organ donation through the events National Transplant Week, Donor Day 2009 and the Save Jess campaign and also just generally without special occassions. I also spoke about organ donation to a large group of health professionals.
~ I attempted to attend the British Transplant Games 2009, but came home early because I wasn't feeling well
~ I've had just one planned hospital admission
~ I've got braces
~ I've stayed with my best friend Lizzy and her family twice
~ I began to write a blog and gained 7 followers
~ I've attended many concerts
Next year I hope:
~ My post transplant health will remain stable
~ I'll be able to come off enteral feeds for good
~ The cause of my tummy pains will be found and my tummy pains will be able to be controlled
~ My ME health will remain stable or improve
~ I will continue to promote organ donation. My friend Claire is a teacher and so I am hoping to give a talk to a group of teenagers about organ donation in the new year.
~ I will continue to write my blog regularly
~ I'll find a more productive way to spend my time than watching too many DVDs, lol
~ I'll start consistently spending less than my income
~ I will have a postive outcome from my ESA medical assessment and so will be granted the ESA benefit
~ To attend more concerts (including The Noisettes and Mika in Feb)
~ To attend more AYME meet-ups
~ To try to be less shy around new people
~ To possibly attend the transplant camp in the USA that I didn't manage to attend this year because of my health. That will depend on my health next summer though.
I also hope that my Nan's health improves so she can soon be discharged from hospital and get back home. And I hope that the health of all my family, friends and contacts in the ME and transplant communities will improve or at least stay stable. I hope that raising awareness of organ donation really will make a difference and hopefully stop 3 people dying in the UK each day while waiting for transplants.
And finally I'd just like to say thank you to my donor and her family for giving me the gift of life so I can look back on the year just gone and look forward to the year to come.
This year:
~ My post transplant health has continued to improve
~ My eating has become more 'normal' and I managed 6 months with no artificial feeds at all
~ My tummy pains have become worse and more frequent, but I don't know why
~ I've had my 3rd transplant anniversary
~ My ME has become worse
~ I finally received a diagnosis of ME in August after being ill for 13 months
~ I joined AYME and Foggy Friends for support with my ME
~ I attended my first AYME meet-up
~ I went on an amazing trip to Japan in Feb
~ I completed my sixth form course and gained 5 International Baccalaureate Certificates
~ I cleaned and decluttered my bedroom and gave it a make-over
~ I promoted organ donation through the events National Transplant Week, Donor Day 2009 and the Save Jess campaign and also just generally without special occassions. I also spoke about organ donation to a large group of health professionals.
~ I attempted to attend the British Transplant Games 2009, but came home early because I wasn't feeling well
~ I've had just one planned hospital admission
~ I've got braces
~ I've stayed with my best friend Lizzy and her family twice
~ I began to write a blog and gained 7 followers
~ I've attended many concerts
Next year I hope:
~ My post transplant health will remain stable
~ I'll be able to come off enteral feeds for good
~ The cause of my tummy pains will be found and my tummy pains will be able to be controlled
~ My ME health will remain stable or improve
~ I will continue to promote organ donation. My friend Claire is a teacher and so I am hoping to give a talk to a group of teenagers about organ donation in the new year.
~ I will continue to write my blog regularly
~ I'll find a more productive way to spend my time than watching too many DVDs, lol
~ I'll start consistently spending less than my income
~ I will have a postive outcome from my ESA medical assessment and so will be granted the ESA benefit
~ To attend more concerts (including The Noisettes and Mika in Feb)
~ To attend more AYME meet-ups
~ To try to be less shy around new people
~ To possibly attend the transplant camp in the USA that I didn't manage to attend this year because of my health. That will depend on my health next summer though.
I also hope that my Nan's health improves so she can soon be discharged from hospital and get back home. And I hope that the health of all my family, friends and contacts in the ME and transplant communities will improve or at least stay stable. I hope that raising awareness of organ donation really will make a difference and hopefully stop 3 people dying in the UK each day while waiting for transplants.
And finally I'd just like to say thank you to my donor and her family for giving me the gift of life so I can look back on the year just gone and look forward to the year to come.
Monday, 28 December 2009
Opening lines in 2009
Thanks to Emma for this meme idea :) Here are the first lines of my blog from each month over the past year.
January - I've never written a blog before, but after following several blogs I've been inspired to start one of my own.
February - As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I went to see 'Seven Pounds' at the cinema last weekend, but didn't think it was very well put together.
March - I had a great relaxing weekend.
April - Tuesday 7th April is Donor Day.
May - After my last post I had a few more bad days, where I continued to feel exhausted and very fed up.
June - After I wrote my last blog update I went out to babysit for H.
July - This year National Transplant Week runs from today (5th July) til next Saturday (12th July).
August - My plan of avoiding rice to help my tummy aches hasn't worked.
September - On Sunday I felt exhausted after a busy afternoon the day before at the family get together.
October - Last Saturday I went to a local safari park with my mum, dad and Alf.
November - I've been quite tired since my last blog update, but that might be a result of going out to the concert on Thursday.
December - I think the biggest news since my last update is that my ESA medical assessment was cancelled at the last minute this morning by them, not me!
January - I've never written a blog before, but after following several blogs I've been inspired to start one of my own.
February - As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I went to see 'Seven Pounds' at the cinema last weekend, but didn't think it was very well put together.
March - I had a great relaxing weekend.
April - Tuesday 7th April is Donor Day.
May - After my last post I had a few more bad days, where I continued to feel exhausted and very fed up.
June - After I wrote my last blog update I went out to babysit for H.
July - This year National Transplant Week runs from today (5th July) til next Saturday (12th July).
August - My plan of avoiding rice to help my tummy aches hasn't worked.
September - On Sunday I felt exhausted after a busy afternoon the day before at the family get together.
October - Last Saturday I went to a local safari park with my mum, dad and Alf.
November - I've been quite tired since my last blog update, but that might be a result of going out to the concert on Thursday.
December - I think the biggest news since my last update is that my ESA medical assessment was cancelled at the last minute this morning by them, not me!
Yay!
After becoming so ill yesterday, Jess received her transplant last night after 4 years on the waiting list! The latest news this morning is that she's in ICU. Fingers crossed she has a smooth recovery. Updates on Jess' progress will be posted on her Facebook group here. Jess' life has been saved thanks to a very generous stranger. You can give the gift of life here.
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Updates on M and Jess
I know I've already posted once today (my Christmas update), but after hearing some news this afternoon I felt I needed to make another post.
Firstly I heard that M, the little girl I know who is in hospital with rejection, is currently very ill. After I last heard from her mum her indications of rejection increased, so the last anti-rejection drug she took (the last one left for them to try) was restarted. She had problems with fluid retention again and last night she began having fits. She had to be ventilated and sedated and is now in Intensive Care. A scan has showed swelling on her brain, but it's not yet known why. I'm very worried about her.
And then I heard an update on Jess. I've mentioned Jess in previous blogs before. Save Jess-tival was set up in her name because 20 year old Jess has been waiting for a lung transplant for 4 years. She's been in and out of hospital a lot recently and spent Christmas day there. I don't know much detail, but today she took a turn for the worse. I'm not close enough to her to contact her at the moment, but mutual friends are keeping me updated. Jess will die unless she receives a double lung transplant very very very soon. Please sign up here and talk to your friends and family about organ donation. Thanks.
Firstly I heard that M, the little girl I know who is in hospital with rejection, is currently very ill. After I last heard from her mum her indications of rejection increased, so the last anti-rejection drug she took (the last one left for them to try) was restarted. She had problems with fluid retention again and last night she began having fits. She had to be ventilated and sedated and is now in Intensive Care. A scan has showed swelling on her brain, but it's not yet known why. I'm very worried about her.
And then I heard an update on Jess. I've mentioned Jess in previous blogs before. Save Jess-tival was set up in her name because 20 year old Jess has been waiting for a lung transplant for 4 years. She's been in and out of hospital a lot recently and spent Christmas day there. I don't know much detail, but today she took a turn for the worse. I'm not close enough to her to contact her at the moment, but mutual friends are keeping me updated. Jess will die unless she receives a double lung transplant very very very soon. Please sign up here and talk to your friends and family about organ donation. Thanks.
Christmas Day
I had a lovely Christmas day :D I woke up very early for me at 8am. However nothing happened for a couple of hours because Alf was still in bed. Dad eventually tempted him out of bed just before 10am by bribing him with duck egg on toast!
After Alf and my parents had had breakfast we all opened the presents from under the tree.
I bought Alf 3 DVDs (Ice Age 1 & 2 and Big Fish), I bought Mum 2 CDs (both by Wet Wet Wet) and 2 DVDs (one containing Wet Wet Wet videos and a Peter Kay one) and I bought Dad a Bottom DVD. I bought Chris a book about the strangest pubs in Britain and I bought Sophie some bath things and a phone sock. I bought my Nan a 'For My Nan' calendar, a novel and an Alan Titchmarsh book about Christmas. And I bought presents for some friends, my AYME buddy Kate and 3 Secret Santas.
From my parents I received 2 DVDs (Be Kind Rewind and Mary Poppins) which were both cleverly disguised so I hadn't worked out that they were DVDs, 2 pairs of multicoloured stripey socks, a book about the best comedy films, some shortbread, some money (which I'm going to put towards a new coat or a pair of boots) and this lovely jewellery.
From Alf I received a 2010 ferret calendar. And from Chris and Sophie I received some blue nail varnish and this jewellery.
I received some money from Chris' nan. And my cousin Tam bought me this bracelet.
Lizzy gave me 2 DVDs (My Sister's Keeper and Miracle on 34th Street). And Claire, who had already paid for me to have my new laptop in purple, wrapped up purple for me - a purple notepad and pen and personalised poem :) And I've got a few more presents to come from friends in the post or when I see them.
And from 3 Secret Santas (one from Lucy's AYME meet up, one from the Foggy Friends Secret Santa and one from the AYME Secret Santa) I received The X Factor Annual 2010 (which I opened at the meet-up last weekend), a mini FM radio, a small heart shaped jewellery box, a small notepad, a Tigger cuddly toy, 3 pop CDs and this bracelet and necklace set.
My parents and Alf were all happy with their presents. Dad got an assortment of things including some fishing stuff and some DVDs. Mum was very happy with some knitting things such as nice yarns and needles. Alf's biggest present was a bike, but he also got some sweets and other presents including this very cool lava lamp.
After we'd all opened our presents, me and mum relaxed, Alf went back to bed and Dad cooked Christmas lunch. Christmas lunch was yummy - we did have a traditional Christmas meal, but had chicken instead of turkey. It was the first year I'd really participated in the Christmas meal and I ate 'normally' :D After lunch we relaxed a bit more and watched the Top of the Pops Christmas special.
Then we went to visit my nan in hospital. We were all quite relieved that my aunt had already been and gone :P We stayed for about an hour and a half. The 4 patients who were still on the ward for Christmas had all been moved into one bay together, so it was quite social! Nan was in good spirits and we were all laughing and joking :D It didn't bring back any memories for me of spending Christmas in hospital in the past, which I think is because it was a different hospital, different ward, different circumstances... Here are two photos I took of my parents and my nan, I've included them both because I can't decide which is best:
When we got back home, we all relaxed for a bit and I surfed the Internet. Then as a family we watched Doctor Who (which we'd recorded while we were visiting nan), which we all really enjoyed. And after that we watched the very funny Royle Family Christmas special :) We recorded Catherine Tate: Nan's Christmas Special to watch another time and had also recorded The Gruffalo earlier in the day.
I had sandwiches for a very late tea and put the day's photos (from mum's camera and my phone) onto my laptop. Then I went on the Internet and chatted to my cousin Tam on Facebook chat. I went to bed at 12.30am.
Here are some more photos from the day :)
Christmas tree (with flash on):
Christmas tree (with no flash):
One of mum's knitted Christmas tree decorations:
The chest of drawers looking Christmassy:
Dad posing with some Christmas cards strung up behind him:
Sorry I'm not on any photos, I was the photographer. And Alf is quite camera shy.
After Alf and my parents had had breakfast we all opened the presents from under the tree.I bought Alf 3 DVDs (Ice Age 1 & 2 and Big Fish), I bought Mum 2 CDs (both by Wet Wet Wet) and 2 DVDs (one containing Wet Wet Wet videos and a Peter Kay one) and I bought Dad a Bottom DVD. I bought Chris a book about the strangest pubs in Britain and I bought Sophie some bath things and a phone sock. I bought my Nan a 'For My Nan' calendar, a novel and an Alan Titchmarsh book about Christmas. And I bought presents for some friends, my AYME buddy Kate and 3 Secret Santas.
From my parents I received 2 DVDs (Be Kind Rewind and Mary Poppins) which were both cleverly disguised so I hadn't worked out that they were DVDs, 2 pairs of multicoloured stripey socks, a book about the best comedy films, some shortbread, some money (which I'm going to put towards a new coat or a pair of boots) and this lovely jewellery.
From Alf I received a 2010 ferret calendar. And from Chris and Sophie I received some blue nail varnish and this jewellery.
I received some money from Chris' nan. And my cousin Tam bought me this bracelet.
Lizzy gave me 2 DVDs (My Sister's Keeper and Miracle on 34th Street). And Claire, who had already paid for me to have my new laptop in purple, wrapped up purple for me - a purple notepad and pen and personalised poem :) And I've got a few more presents to come from friends in the post or when I see them.
And from 3 Secret Santas (one from Lucy's AYME meet up, one from the Foggy Friends Secret Santa and one from the AYME Secret Santa) I received The X Factor Annual 2010 (which I opened at the meet-up last weekend), a mini FM radio, a small heart shaped jewellery box, a small notepad, a Tigger cuddly toy, 3 pop CDs and this bracelet and necklace set.
My parents and Alf were all happy with their presents. Dad got an assortment of things including some fishing stuff and some DVDs. Mum was very happy with some knitting things such as nice yarns and needles. Alf's biggest present was a bike, but he also got some sweets and other presents including this very cool lava lamp.
After we'd all opened our presents, me and mum relaxed, Alf went back to bed and Dad cooked Christmas lunch. Christmas lunch was yummy - we did have a traditional Christmas meal, but had chicken instead of turkey. It was the first year I'd really participated in the Christmas meal and I ate 'normally' :D After lunch we relaxed a bit more and watched the Top of the Pops Christmas special.
Then we went to visit my nan in hospital. We were all quite relieved that my aunt had already been and gone :P We stayed for about an hour and a half. The 4 patients who were still on the ward for Christmas had all been moved into one bay together, so it was quite social! Nan was in good spirits and we were all laughing and joking :D It didn't bring back any memories for me of spending Christmas in hospital in the past, which I think is because it was a different hospital, different ward, different circumstances... Here are two photos I took of my parents and my nan, I've included them both because I can't decide which is best:
When we got back home, we all relaxed for a bit and I surfed the Internet. Then as a family we watched Doctor Who (which we'd recorded while we were visiting nan), which we all really enjoyed. And after that we watched the very funny Royle Family Christmas special :) We recorded Catherine Tate: Nan's Christmas Special to watch another time and had also recorded The Gruffalo earlier in the day.
I had sandwiches for a very late tea and put the day's photos (from mum's camera and my phone) onto my laptop. Then I went on the Internet and chatted to my cousin Tam on Facebook chat. I went to bed at 12.30am.
Here are some more photos from the day :)
Christmas tree (with flash on):
Christmas tree (with no flash):
One of mum's knitted Christmas tree decorations:
The chest of drawers looking Christmassy:
Dad posing with some Christmas cards strung up behind him:
Sorry I'm not on any photos, I was the photographer. And Alf is quite camera shy.
Saturday, 26 December 2009
Update - pre-Christmas
Sorry for not updating my blog for a while. Rather than doing one long update, this update will be pre-Christmas (Sun 20th - Thur 24th). Then I'll write an update about Christmas Day and then get myself up to date with an update from Christmas day onwards. Hopefully it should be easier for you to read that way :)
Last Sun I went to my first AYME meet-up at Lucy's house. When I joined AYME I asked to be put in contact with my regional contact (RC) to hear about local meet-ups etc. I was told that there isn't a RC for my county, but Lucy was my nearest RC in a neighbouring county. She seemed really nice and we got chatting via email. Lucy then told me that she was organising a Christmas AYME meet-up and asked if I'd like to attend. So that was where I went on Sun.
Mum and dad gave me a lift to a town about 20 miles away and then I caught a direct train from there to Lucy's town (which took about 40mins). I was collected at the station by Lucy and her dad. Some of the people at the meet-up were a bit odd, but most of them were really nice and I tried not to be too shy, so chatted to a few people and got on quite well with one girl in particular. There were loads of new people there though (Lucy, her parents and her sister and then 8 other ME sufferers) so it was quite overwhelming. Most of the others are either too old for AYME now or don't really use it. We also did a Secret Santa. I gave one of my mum's knitted cupcakes, but I don't think that the girl I gave it to liked it. I received The X Factor Annual 2010, which I wouldn't have bought myself, but it was good to flick through. So I had a nice but tiring day - I was out the house for 8 hours in total though the meet-up was only for 4 hours. My train back was cancelled, but luckily I only had to wait 30mins for the next one. And I froze on the train journeys, brrrr.
During the car journey home that evening, I listened to the chart show on Radio 1. I was very disappointed that RATM were number one :( What a rubbish song! Never mind, hopefully Joe will be number one on Sunday.
I was exhausted on Sun evening, so when I got home I watched The Gremlins on DVD with my family. What an odd film!
I had a very busy day on Monday. I got up earlier than usual as I needed bloods taking at Hosp H (because my liver function tests were raised when checked during my stay at Hosp B). I couldn't believe the length of the queue when we got there though, there must have been 15 people waiting to see just 1 phlebotomist! So me and mum turned round and went home, planning to return later. I couldn't leave it any later to take my morning dose of Tacrolimus (one of my immunosuppressants), so I took some blood to test the level of that at home via a fingerprick and posted it off to Hosp B to process it, so I could then take my Tac.
The post came very late that day, but we got some Christmas cards and I got 2 Christmas parcels (from Lizzy and my cousin Tam). While we had lunch we watched The Snowman on DVD :) I love watching that as it's so Christmassy. I did notice though that when the little boy gets dressed, he doesn't put any underpants on! :P
On Mon afternoon we went to the local garden centre to buy some lights for our Christmas tree. Then we headed back to the hospital for my blood test and this time there was no queue at all! Apparently the phlebotomist I usually see has retired, so instead there was a new phlebotomist and a more experienced phlebotomist supervising her. They were rather iffy with me though. I'd not met either of them before, so told them how the lab usually fax my blood results through to Hosp B. I was told that the lab wont fax results! But they've been faxing mine to Hosp B for 3 years :P And then I told the new phlebotomist that the veins in my elbows were rubbish, but she asked to look anyway. Then she saw that they really were rubbish and got cold feet so the more experienced phlebotomist took my blood. I'm not sure what will happen when I return next as I got the impression that the new phlebotomist will soon be doing it on her own! Then I had to hold the cotton wool on to stop the bleeding, but they'd left the torniquet on my arm, which surely couldn't have been helping, so I undid it myself (I know how to after all these years of blood tests) and they looked so shocked! :P Hehe.
While we were at the hospital we called in to visit my nan, who was in good spirits :) We also bumped into my aunt (dad's sister) there, who can be quite overpowering and stayed for a lot longer than she originally said she would. Never mind. My aunt had celebrated Christmas day early with her family (as both of her children wouldn't be with her on the 25th), so she thought that on Fri to prevent my nan feeling guilty about not managing to get presents organised yet we should treat the day as her birthday, not Christmas. I understand that my aunt had already had her Christmas, but we wanted Fri to be Christmas for us. And my aunt was also trying to organise us all to visit nan on Christmas day, as she wanted us all to be there together. We wanted to go at a different time to her though. It all worked out ok in the end though :)
On Mon evening Claire came round. We had a yummy tea (pigeon) and then played on my Wii together :) After that me, mum and Claire decorated our Christmas tree together which was fun. It was snowing at the time, so we opened the living room curtains so we could watch the snow falling outside. It settled too and stayed for a few days :)
Here are a few photos of the snow out of the back windows of our house:
And here is a photo of the snow out of the front of our house after it had started to melt a bit:
We sang Christmas songs while decorating the tree - well mum and Claire did and I laughed at them :P Our tree looks a bit tackier than usual, but I like it. I'll post a photo of it on my Christmas update post.
On Tue I weighed myself and my weight was down a little, by 0.3kg, to 50.5kg. I emailed my dietician about my weight and she replied that evening. The plan now is for me to stay on 3 nights of feed per week until my weight reaches 51kg and then we'll try stopping the feed completely! :D I also enquired about trying some different high calorie drinks as I'm not getting on very well with the Fortisips and so my dietician has arranged for me to have some different samples of high calorie drinks and puddings delivered in the new year.
I didn't feel too well on Tue, in fact I've been feeling quite up and down this week. I suspect that is because I've been quite busy though. My tummy pains have still been bad, so I need to contact my consultant about that. And I've been getting headaches most days too :( They're not too severe, but they are annoying.
I discovered that Diana Vickers, my favourite from the X Factor 2008, will be touring in March, but after looking into it I realised that the venues she will be performing at only have standing tickets available. So I didn't buy any, but am hoping that if her album does well when it's released then she might perform at some bigger venues with seating, fingers crossed.
I watched some programmes on our hard disc recorder to try and free up some more space. I watched Jonathan Ross who was interviewing Rihanna (who seemed lovely) and Hugh Grant (who just seemed really cocky and arrogant). I also watched a programme about Pixie Lott and her music called Pixie Lott Takes Off. And on Tue I also watched a couple of DVDs. Shrek The Halls made me feel Christmassy and I finished watching the Tim Burton film I'd started called Ed Wood.
Then I went out in the snow (brrrr) to do some errands. I posted a rental DVD back, bought some parsnips from someone's house round the corner and delivered a Christmas present to a neighbour. And we also put all of the Christmas presents under the tree :)
We had all planned to go out to the cinema on Tue evening (me and mum to see Nativity and dad and Alf to see Avatar 3D), but that didn't go to plan. I didn't feel up to going out, so me and mum decided to stay in and watch Love Actually instead. So the boys set off to the cinema, but soon came home again because Avatar 3D was completely booked up! So instead of watching Love Actually with mum, together with my parents I watched Blackadder's Christmas Carol on DVD and a TV programme called The Funny Side of Christmas. And I got to bed quite early for me - about 11.30pm I think.
On Wed morn I slept through my 9.30am alarm and got up at 10.20am. I felt very sleepy though and continued to feel sleepy throughout the day. While I was still in bed that morning my mum went out and did a Tesco shop. And she got home before I got up!
Claire popped back round to deliver our homemade cards which she'd forgotten to bring on Mon. And she also lent me her 2 Wiimotes because she was going away for Christmas, so wouldn't be using them, but I quite fancied trying out 4 player on New Super Mario Bros Wii :) That afternoon me and Alf played on my Wii together again, which was good fun.
Hosp B rang me because they hadn't received any blood results from Hosp H (so they obviously hadn't faxed them through!) and when they'd rung the lab to chase them up, the lab claimed to know nothing about them! So I confirmed that I had had my bloods taken on Mon and the liver nurse I spoke to said she'd try again to get hold of the results. Later on Wed the liver nurse rang back and said she'd got hold of the blood results, phew! I was told that my LFTs were a bit lower than they had been, but were still high. And the level of my immunosuppressant, Tac, in my blood was low. That was a surprise because my Tac level had been stable for so long. I don't know why the level of that might have dropped, as I'd not missed a dose, but that could account for my high LFTs. So I was told to double my Tac dose (which seems a bit drastic to me as I suspect that might send my Tac level high above my target level) and have my bloods repeated on Tue.
Mum and Alf went to visit nan in hospital and while they were out I watched Jack Frost at home. I thought it was quite good, but am not sure if I'd watch it again. We had spare ribs for tea, which caused me some problems due to my lack of experience with eating. I assumed that everything but the bones were edible, but then I was told to avoid the gristle which completely threw me - I had no idea how to tell what gristle was, so how could I avoid it? And if I got some in my mouth by accident, my skills with my mouth and tongue aren't developed enough to easily eat the rest of my mouthful and just spit the gristle out. So my parents very kindly went through the meat on my plate for me and took the gristle out. And then to top it all off at the end of the meal I discovered that my braces had broken! What a day for that to happen - of all the days in the year, why Christmas Eve eve?! So I decided to ring the orthodontist for advice the next day.
After tea with my family I watched my favourite Christmas film - The Greatest Store In The World. That made us all feel very Christmassy :D Then we watched some Christmas music videos on the music channels before I went to bed at 11.20pm.
On Thur (Christmas Eve) I got up at 9am, which is very unusual for me! I felt tired and had tummy pains that day though. I phoned the orthodontist about my broken braces and they said that as long as they're not causing me any pain or discomfort, which they weren't then, then it'd be fine to wait to have them fixed at my next scheduled appt on Dec 31st :) Since then I've been having problems with them though. The problem is that the wire has popped out of one of the brackets, but now the wire is a bit further out than usual, so when I slept on that side the wire sliced my cheek. Owwww! I'm seeing if I can protect it with orthodontic wax, as due to a busy few days next week I wont be able to get to the orthodontist any earlier than Thur.
I did a jigsaw with mum that morning and then Chris and Sophie came round as it was Chris' 30th birthday. It was nice to see them and I also enjoyed winding Chris' up about how old he was! :P
When they left, me and mum went on a walk round the village to call in at the library and to get the Independent newspaper (which was sold out in the first 2 shops we tried, but then we got a copy in the third and final shop in the village). All the snow had frozen and turned into ice, so it was very slippery underfoot. And I slipped on the ice and fell over. I grazed one knee slightly, but didn't get any cuts thanks to my many layers of clothing protecting me. I think I've hurt a tendon in my right forearm though, from putting my hands out to save myself, because it's been quite painful over the last couple of days. Hopefully it'll feel better soon.
When we got back home it was a lovely surprise to find that Dad had got home from work early :) Dad and Alf popped out to Tesco to look for some cheap turkeys for Christmas dinner, but they didn't find any. So they bought a chicken for Christmas dinner instead and got a very cheap whole salmon, which we ate some of for tea (with baked sweet potato and sweet and sour sauce - yum!). And mum, dad and Alf had some champagne with peach juice for tea, but I didn't like the taste of the champagne at all - yuk! So instead I just had the peach juice, which I liked the taste of.
After tea I played on my Wii with dad and Alf which was hilarious! :D Then I helped dad to sort out one of his Christmas presents for mum - a digital photo frame keyring. In secret we charged it up and loaded some photos onto it.
Before going to bed we watched Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas, which wasn't as Christmassy as I expected, and a great QI with David Tennant on it :) And then I went to bed at 11.30pm. I woke about 3 times during the night though.
Last Sun I went to my first AYME meet-up at Lucy's house. When I joined AYME I asked to be put in contact with my regional contact (RC) to hear about local meet-ups etc. I was told that there isn't a RC for my county, but Lucy was my nearest RC in a neighbouring county. She seemed really nice and we got chatting via email. Lucy then told me that she was organising a Christmas AYME meet-up and asked if I'd like to attend. So that was where I went on Sun.
Mum and dad gave me a lift to a town about 20 miles away and then I caught a direct train from there to Lucy's town (which took about 40mins). I was collected at the station by Lucy and her dad. Some of the people at the meet-up were a bit odd, but most of them were really nice and I tried not to be too shy, so chatted to a few people and got on quite well with one girl in particular. There were loads of new people there though (Lucy, her parents and her sister and then 8 other ME sufferers) so it was quite overwhelming. Most of the others are either too old for AYME now or don't really use it. We also did a Secret Santa. I gave one of my mum's knitted cupcakes, but I don't think that the girl I gave it to liked it. I received The X Factor Annual 2010, which I wouldn't have bought myself, but it was good to flick through. So I had a nice but tiring day - I was out the house for 8 hours in total though the meet-up was only for 4 hours. My train back was cancelled, but luckily I only had to wait 30mins for the next one. And I froze on the train journeys, brrrr.
During the car journey home that evening, I listened to the chart show on Radio 1. I was very disappointed that RATM were number one :( What a rubbish song! Never mind, hopefully Joe will be number one on Sunday.
I was exhausted on Sun evening, so when I got home I watched The Gremlins on DVD with my family. What an odd film!
I had a very busy day on Monday. I got up earlier than usual as I needed bloods taking at Hosp H (because my liver function tests were raised when checked during my stay at Hosp B). I couldn't believe the length of the queue when we got there though, there must have been 15 people waiting to see just 1 phlebotomist! So me and mum turned round and went home, planning to return later. I couldn't leave it any later to take my morning dose of Tacrolimus (one of my immunosuppressants), so I took some blood to test the level of that at home via a fingerprick and posted it off to Hosp B to process it, so I could then take my Tac.
The post came very late that day, but we got some Christmas cards and I got 2 Christmas parcels (from Lizzy and my cousin Tam). While we had lunch we watched The Snowman on DVD :) I love watching that as it's so Christmassy. I did notice though that when the little boy gets dressed, he doesn't put any underpants on! :P
On Mon afternoon we went to the local garden centre to buy some lights for our Christmas tree. Then we headed back to the hospital for my blood test and this time there was no queue at all! Apparently the phlebotomist I usually see has retired, so instead there was a new phlebotomist and a more experienced phlebotomist supervising her. They were rather iffy with me though. I'd not met either of them before, so told them how the lab usually fax my blood results through to Hosp B. I was told that the lab wont fax results! But they've been faxing mine to Hosp B for 3 years :P And then I told the new phlebotomist that the veins in my elbows were rubbish, but she asked to look anyway. Then she saw that they really were rubbish and got cold feet so the more experienced phlebotomist took my blood. I'm not sure what will happen when I return next as I got the impression that the new phlebotomist will soon be doing it on her own! Then I had to hold the cotton wool on to stop the bleeding, but they'd left the torniquet on my arm, which surely couldn't have been helping, so I undid it myself (I know how to after all these years of blood tests) and they looked so shocked! :P Hehe.
While we were at the hospital we called in to visit my nan, who was in good spirits :) We also bumped into my aunt (dad's sister) there, who can be quite overpowering and stayed for a lot longer than she originally said she would. Never mind. My aunt had celebrated Christmas day early with her family (as both of her children wouldn't be with her on the 25th), so she thought that on Fri to prevent my nan feeling guilty about not managing to get presents organised yet we should treat the day as her birthday, not Christmas. I understand that my aunt had already had her Christmas, but we wanted Fri to be Christmas for us. And my aunt was also trying to organise us all to visit nan on Christmas day, as she wanted us all to be there together. We wanted to go at a different time to her though. It all worked out ok in the end though :)
On Mon evening Claire came round. We had a yummy tea (pigeon) and then played on my Wii together :) After that me, mum and Claire decorated our Christmas tree together which was fun. It was snowing at the time, so we opened the living room curtains so we could watch the snow falling outside. It settled too and stayed for a few days :)
Here are a few photos of the snow out of the back windows of our house:
And here is a photo of the snow out of the front of our house after it had started to melt a bit:
We sang Christmas songs while decorating the tree - well mum and Claire did and I laughed at them :P Our tree looks a bit tackier than usual, but I like it. I'll post a photo of it on my Christmas update post.
On Tue I weighed myself and my weight was down a little, by 0.3kg, to 50.5kg. I emailed my dietician about my weight and she replied that evening. The plan now is for me to stay on 3 nights of feed per week until my weight reaches 51kg and then we'll try stopping the feed completely! :D I also enquired about trying some different high calorie drinks as I'm not getting on very well with the Fortisips and so my dietician has arranged for me to have some different samples of high calorie drinks and puddings delivered in the new year.
I didn't feel too well on Tue, in fact I've been feeling quite up and down this week. I suspect that is because I've been quite busy though. My tummy pains have still been bad, so I need to contact my consultant about that. And I've been getting headaches most days too :( They're not too severe, but they are annoying.
I discovered that Diana Vickers, my favourite from the X Factor 2008, will be touring in March, but after looking into it I realised that the venues she will be performing at only have standing tickets available. So I didn't buy any, but am hoping that if her album does well when it's released then she might perform at some bigger venues with seating, fingers crossed.
I watched some programmes on our hard disc recorder to try and free up some more space. I watched Jonathan Ross who was interviewing Rihanna (who seemed lovely) and Hugh Grant (who just seemed really cocky and arrogant). I also watched a programme about Pixie Lott and her music called Pixie Lott Takes Off. And on Tue I also watched a couple of DVDs. Shrek The Halls made me feel Christmassy and I finished watching the Tim Burton film I'd started called Ed Wood.
Then I went out in the snow (brrrr) to do some errands. I posted a rental DVD back, bought some parsnips from someone's house round the corner and delivered a Christmas present to a neighbour. And we also put all of the Christmas presents under the tree :)
We had all planned to go out to the cinema on Tue evening (me and mum to see Nativity and dad and Alf to see Avatar 3D), but that didn't go to plan. I didn't feel up to going out, so me and mum decided to stay in and watch Love Actually instead. So the boys set off to the cinema, but soon came home again because Avatar 3D was completely booked up! So instead of watching Love Actually with mum, together with my parents I watched Blackadder's Christmas Carol on DVD and a TV programme called The Funny Side of Christmas. And I got to bed quite early for me - about 11.30pm I think.
On Wed morn I slept through my 9.30am alarm and got up at 10.20am. I felt very sleepy though and continued to feel sleepy throughout the day. While I was still in bed that morning my mum went out and did a Tesco shop. And she got home before I got up!
Claire popped back round to deliver our homemade cards which she'd forgotten to bring on Mon. And she also lent me her 2 Wiimotes because she was going away for Christmas, so wouldn't be using them, but I quite fancied trying out 4 player on New Super Mario Bros Wii :) That afternoon me and Alf played on my Wii together again, which was good fun.
Hosp B rang me because they hadn't received any blood results from Hosp H (so they obviously hadn't faxed them through!) and when they'd rung the lab to chase them up, the lab claimed to know nothing about them! So I confirmed that I had had my bloods taken on Mon and the liver nurse I spoke to said she'd try again to get hold of the results. Later on Wed the liver nurse rang back and said she'd got hold of the blood results, phew! I was told that my LFTs were a bit lower than they had been, but were still high. And the level of my immunosuppressant, Tac, in my blood was low. That was a surprise because my Tac level had been stable for so long. I don't know why the level of that might have dropped, as I'd not missed a dose, but that could account for my high LFTs. So I was told to double my Tac dose (which seems a bit drastic to me as I suspect that might send my Tac level high above my target level) and have my bloods repeated on Tue.
Mum and Alf went to visit nan in hospital and while they were out I watched Jack Frost at home. I thought it was quite good, but am not sure if I'd watch it again. We had spare ribs for tea, which caused me some problems due to my lack of experience with eating. I assumed that everything but the bones were edible, but then I was told to avoid the gristle which completely threw me - I had no idea how to tell what gristle was, so how could I avoid it? And if I got some in my mouth by accident, my skills with my mouth and tongue aren't developed enough to easily eat the rest of my mouthful and just spit the gristle out. So my parents very kindly went through the meat on my plate for me and took the gristle out. And then to top it all off at the end of the meal I discovered that my braces had broken! What a day for that to happen - of all the days in the year, why Christmas Eve eve?! So I decided to ring the orthodontist for advice the next day.
After tea with my family I watched my favourite Christmas film - The Greatest Store In The World. That made us all feel very Christmassy :D Then we watched some Christmas music videos on the music channels before I went to bed at 11.20pm.
On Thur (Christmas Eve) I got up at 9am, which is very unusual for me! I felt tired and had tummy pains that day though. I phoned the orthodontist about my broken braces and they said that as long as they're not causing me any pain or discomfort, which they weren't then, then it'd be fine to wait to have them fixed at my next scheduled appt on Dec 31st :) Since then I've been having problems with them though. The problem is that the wire has popped out of one of the brackets, but now the wire is a bit further out than usual, so when I slept on that side the wire sliced my cheek. Owwww! I'm seeing if I can protect it with orthodontic wax, as due to a busy few days next week I wont be able to get to the orthodontist any earlier than Thur.
I did a jigsaw with mum that morning and then Chris and Sophie came round as it was Chris' 30th birthday. It was nice to see them and I also enjoyed winding Chris' up about how old he was! :P
When they left, me and mum went on a walk round the village to call in at the library and to get the Independent newspaper (which was sold out in the first 2 shops we tried, but then we got a copy in the third and final shop in the village). All the snow had frozen and turned into ice, so it was very slippery underfoot. And I slipped on the ice and fell over. I grazed one knee slightly, but didn't get any cuts thanks to my many layers of clothing protecting me. I think I've hurt a tendon in my right forearm though, from putting my hands out to save myself, because it's been quite painful over the last couple of days. Hopefully it'll feel better soon.
When we got back home it was a lovely surprise to find that Dad had got home from work early :) Dad and Alf popped out to Tesco to look for some cheap turkeys for Christmas dinner, but they didn't find any. So they bought a chicken for Christmas dinner instead and got a very cheap whole salmon, which we ate some of for tea (with baked sweet potato and sweet and sour sauce - yum!). And mum, dad and Alf had some champagne with peach juice for tea, but I didn't like the taste of the champagne at all - yuk! So instead I just had the peach juice, which I liked the taste of.
After tea I played on my Wii with dad and Alf which was hilarious! :D Then I helped dad to sort out one of his Christmas presents for mum - a digital photo frame keyring. In secret we charged it up and loaded some photos onto it.
Before going to bed we watched Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas, which wasn't as Christmassy as I expected, and a great QI with David Tennant on it :) And then I went to bed at 11.30pm. I woke about 3 times during the night though.
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Happy Christmas
I was planning to write a long overdue update today, but Dad has come home from work early, so I'm going to spend some time with my family rather than updating my blog because it's Christmas Eve. So I'll get my blog all up to date after Christmas. I don't need to go to the orthodontist today, mending my braces can wait til my next appt on Dec 31st :)
Happy Christmas everyone, I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow :D
I'm thinking of those desperately waiting for their transplants, such as Jess, and transplant recipients who are only able to celebrate this Christmas because they've received their gifts of life in time. Thinking of my donor family over Christmas as well as all the other donor families.
Happy Christmas everyone, I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow :D
I'm thinking of those desperately waiting for their transplants, such as Jess, and transplant recipients who are only able to celebrate this Christmas because they've received their gifts of life in time. Thinking of my donor family over Christmas as well as all the other donor families.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Christmas Meme
I've stolen this from Emma's blog (numbers 1 to 10) and have added a few extras to it :)
1. Favorite holiday destination?
2. Any family traditions?
3. Favorite ornament or decoration?
4. What are you doing for the holidays?
5. Are you a late or early Christmas shopper?
6. Who usually cooks holiday dinners?
7. Have you ever gone Christmas caroling?
8. Do you live where it snows?
1. Favorite holiday destination?
We always celebrate Christmas and New Year at home with just us (me, my parents, my younger brother and sometimes my older brother) and my nan. We'll have to take Christmas to her in hospital this year though.
2. Any family traditions?
We usually put our Christmas tree and decorations up on Dec 13th (as that was my grandma's birthday), but were late this year because I was in hospital on the 13th. Last year dad went to Tesco late on Christmas Eve and got some real bargains (including a few turkeys for 10% of their original price), so he's going to do that again this year. My older brother's birthday is on Christmas Eve. I watch a film called The Greatest Store In The World every year just before Christmas (watched it this evening) :)
3. Favorite ornament or decoration?
We only really have a Christmas tree, which we decorate with lights, baubles, bells and also mini knitted jumpers, hats and mittens this year - you can tell my mum is obsessed with knitting! :P We never ever put tinsel on our Christmas tree. Then we also have something that I can't remember the name of :P It sits on our kitchen windowsill and is wooden and in a triangle shape and it holds 9 tealights.
4. What are you doing for the holidays?
This year my older brother Chris and his girlfriend Sophie are planning to come round to see us tomorrow (Christmas Eve) morning because it'll be Chris' 30th birthday! I also plan to watch Love Actually tomorrow :) And I may also have to make a trip to the orthodontist at Hosp A in the city because my braces broke this evening, but I'm hoping they'll say to leave it til after Christmas. On Christmas Day we'll just have a lazy morning and then sometime in the afternoon we'll take Christmas to my nan in hospital. Then we'll come home and watch Doctor Who and maybe some other Christmas TV :D
5. Are you a late or early Christmas shopper?
Early, as I like to be organised. It also means that I can be smug when everyone else is doing their last minute panicking :P
6. Who usually cooks holiday dinners?
Mum, but we don't have traditional Christmas dinner, just a meal which we'll all enjoy :)
7. Have you ever gone Christmas caroling?
I remember going carol singing round the village with my best friend when I was much younger, but remember going back home when we went past my house because it was past my bedtime and I was exhausted! I used to love being in school Christmas plays when I was at primary school and had a lead role when I was in year 6 :D
8. Do you live where it snows?
It doesn't often snow here and when it does it doesn't usually settle. I do remember in February 2007 I was admitted to Hosp B unexpectedly after my blood results were abnormal at my first outpatient clinic after my transplant. Dad stayed in with me and mum went home in the car, promising to return the next day on the train with some overnight things for me as I'd not got anything with me. Then heavy snow fell and mum couldn't get to us as all the trains were cancelled and roads were treacherous! We've had some snow this year, but I don't think it'll stay til Christmas.
9. Three things that makes you happiest at Christmas?
Being with my family and being cosy and warm. Hmm, what else? Oh yes, good Christmas TV :D9. Three things that makes you happiest at Christmas?
10. What do you want most for Christmas?
I would most like for all those currently waiting for organ transplants (such as Jess who is in hospital at the moment and may be in ITU over Christmas) to receive their gifts of life ASAP. You can sign up here. I would like the doctors to find out what is wrong with my nan and then fix it so she can get home again. And I would like all my family and friends (including those in the transplant and ME communities) to have good/better health. I'd like my post transplant health to remain stable, my ME to not get any worse and my tummy pains to get better.
Present-wise there's nothing I particularly want or have asked for, so whatever I get will be lovely :)
11. What are your favourite Christmas films?
The Greatest Store In The World, Love Actually, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, The Snowman and Elf :D
12. What are your favourite Christmas songs?
My ultimate favourite is Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. But I also like Last Christmas by Wham, Merry Christmas Everyone by Shakin Stevens and Step Into Christmas by Elton John.
13. What is your least favourite Christmas song?
I can't stand All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey!
I would most like for all those currently waiting for organ transplants (such as Jess who is in hospital at the moment and may be in ITU over Christmas) to receive their gifts of life ASAP. You can sign up here. I would like the doctors to find out what is wrong with my nan and then fix it so she can get home again. And I would like all my family and friends (including those in the transplant and ME communities) to have good/better health. I'd like my post transplant health to remain stable, my ME to not get any worse and my tummy pains to get better.
Present-wise there's nothing I particularly want or have asked for, so whatever I get will be lovely :)
11. What are your favourite Christmas films?
The Greatest Store In The World, Love Actually, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, The Snowman and Elf :D
12. What are your favourite Christmas songs?
My ultimate favourite is Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. But I also like Last Christmas by Wham, Merry Christmas Everyone by Shakin Stevens and Step Into Christmas by Elton John.
13. What is your least favourite Christmas song?
I can't stand All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey!
Saturday, 19 December 2009
Getting ready for Christmas :)
I've had an up and down week this week. On Tues afternoon after I returned from Hosp B I felt awful. I was just completely exhausted :( Wed and Thur I felt better and more like myself, just more tired than usual. And I had a few tummy aches too. Yesterday I had bad stomach pains. And today I had bad stomach pains again and felt rotten :( I think the downs are just an ME thing, but seem worse than normal this week because I've been in hospital. The tummy pains are a worry though, as they'd been loads better since I stopped eating rice, but have now got worse again despite me still not eating rice. I guess it might just be an after effect of my scopes, so I'll give it time and see how it goes.
I've still not heard from my dietician about my weight, but hopefully she'll be in touch on Tue when she returns from annual leave. Apparently my consultant is now back after being off sick, so I need to email him soon to see if the scopes found a cause for my tummy aches and to ask about the biospy and kidney test results. I received an update on M from her mum yesterday. They've stopped the anti-rejection drug that she was reacting too, so after a few days without that she's feeling a bit better in herself. The rejection still isn't under control though, but there's one more drug they can try. I really hope it works and that M doesn't react to it, otherwise she'll urgently need a second transplant :(
On Wednesday I rang up the ESA people because they hadn't rung me in response to my letter. When I was asked why I couldn't make the 23rd I fibbed and said I had a medical appointment. Then I was offered that afternoon or the following morning, both of which I turned down because they were just too short notice and I was still recovering from my hospital stay. So my ESA medical assessment has now been rescheduled to Jan 8th, so I can now forget about it til after Christmas :) Before I completed the phone call I was warned that people are only allowed one cancellation, so I need to try my hardest to keep that appointment. Hmph, I wouldn't be rescheduling if they'd not cancelled my original appointment! And what a silly rule when they're dealing with people with illnesses and disabilities! I hate making phone calls and felt awful while making that one and for a while afterwards, but I was glad I'd got it done :)
My nan is still in hospital. She's been spiking temperatures so the doctors suspect that she probably has an infection, but they don't know where. And some of the scans and tests have shown up some small problems with her heart so she's been referred to a cardiologist for some more tests :( She's still in good spirits though :) Not sure yet if she'll be out for Christmas or not though. My parents say it doesn't matter if she's still in hospital because we'll just take Christmas to her. But I'm really hoping that she'll be out and well enough to come to us for Christmas because I spent Christmas 2006 in Hosp B after my transplant and am worried that being in hospital with my nan on Christmas day will bring back memories that I'd rather forget :(
Dad finally got us a Christmas tree this morning! :D He bought one that was too tall to fit in our living room though so had to chop the bottom off to make it shorter. Because he chopped off the widest branches at the bottom it has ended up a really odd shape with the widest part about half way up the tree rather than at the bottom! Hehe :P We put it up and then got the Christmas box down from the loft. But our best Christmas tree lights have broken! We've got some alternative lights, but they are just short strings of lights, so we need 4 to cover the tree, and each has a battery pack attached rather than running off the mains. So mum and dad haven't decided yet whether we're going to buy some more before Christmas or whether to use the 4 small sets this year and get the new ones in the sales after Christmas. Hopefully it'll get sorted and decorated soon. Our living room is the only room we decorate but it already looks quite Christmassy with presents piled on the chest of drawers and all the cards we've received strung up around the walls :)
A couple of days ago I spent a whole afternoon wrapping all my Christmas presents. It was tiring, but I was very pleased when I'd finished.
The snow we had a couple of days ago has made it feel more Christmassy which is nice. It's ridiculously cold though. I like looking at the snow, but not going out in it! I had to cancel my physio appointment yesterday because we couldn't get there because of the snow, so that's been rescheduled to the second week of Jan. More snow is forecast tonight, but I hope it's not too heavy because if I feel up to it tomorrow I'm hoping to go and visit a friend, L, who I've met through AYME, and some of her friends for her Christmas get-together. She lives a little way away though, so to get there 'll need a lift from my parents to a local city and then I'll have to get the train to her town. She'll pick me up from the station.
A few days ago I wrote another one of my regular letters to Kate, my AYME buddy. With the letter I also enclosed some bracelets that L (the girl who I'm meeting tomorrow) had made and sent me. I've also linked up with Kate on Facebook, so it's nice to be able to chat that way too when she's feeling up to it :)
This evening Chris and Sophie popped round to see us for the first time in a while. They only live in a local town, but Chris' car broke a little while ago so he's not had transport for a couple of months. He bought himself a new car from eBay though, so is mobile again for now -until it breaks! :P It was nice to see them, but they couldn't stay long because Chris was on his way to a gig with his band in the village. They're going to come and see us on Christmas Eve (Chris' 30th birthday!) and Boxing Day, but Chris is working for some of Christmas Day (so he can have his birthday off work) and then they'll spend the rest of Christmas Day with Sophie's family.
I've downloaded Joe McElderry's version of The Climb and am really hoping that he is Christmas number 1 tomorrow. The whole campaign to get Rage Against The Machine to number 1 to spite Simon Cowell is annoying me. Both Joe and Rage Against The Machine are signed to Sony BMG records, so Simon Cowell won't care which of them is Christmas number 1 this year. I think that there should definitely be more competition in the charts, but why aren't people buying Rihanna's song or Lady Gaga's song? Why aren't people just buying the music that they like rather than a song to try to spite Simon Cowell? How silly!
Since I got home from Hosp B I've watched the following on TV:
I've still not heard from my dietician about my weight, but hopefully she'll be in touch on Tue when she returns from annual leave. Apparently my consultant is now back after being off sick, so I need to email him soon to see if the scopes found a cause for my tummy aches and to ask about the biospy and kidney test results. I received an update on M from her mum yesterday. They've stopped the anti-rejection drug that she was reacting too, so after a few days without that she's feeling a bit better in herself. The rejection still isn't under control though, but there's one more drug they can try. I really hope it works and that M doesn't react to it, otherwise she'll urgently need a second transplant :(
On Wednesday I rang up the ESA people because they hadn't rung me in response to my letter. When I was asked why I couldn't make the 23rd I fibbed and said I had a medical appointment. Then I was offered that afternoon or the following morning, both of which I turned down because they were just too short notice and I was still recovering from my hospital stay. So my ESA medical assessment has now been rescheduled to Jan 8th, so I can now forget about it til after Christmas :) Before I completed the phone call I was warned that people are only allowed one cancellation, so I need to try my hardest to keep that appointment. Hmph, I wouldn't be rescheduling if they'd not cancelled my original appointment! And what a silly rule when they're dealing with people with illnesses and disabilities! I hate making phone calls and felt awful while making that one and for a while afterwards, but I was glad I'd got it done :)
My nan is still in hospital. She's been spiking temperatures so the doctors suspect that she probably has an infection, but they don't know where. And some of the scans and tests have shown up some small problems with her heart so she's been referred to a cardiologist for some more tests :( She's still in good spirits though :) Not sure yet if she'll be out for Christmas or not though. My parents say it doesn't matter if she's still in hospital because we'll just take Christmas to her. But I'm really hoping that she'll be out and well enough to come to us for Christmas because I spent Christmas 2006 in Hosp B after my transplant and am worried that being in hospital with my nan on Christmas day will bring back memories that I'd rather forget :(
Dad finally got us a Christmas tree this morning! :D He bought one that was too tall to fit in our living room though so had to chop the bottom off to make it shorter. Because he chopped off the widest branches at the bottom it has ended up a really odd shape with the widest part about half way up the tree rather than at the bottom! Hehe :P We put it up and then got the Christmas box down from the loft. But our best Christmas tree lights have broken! We've got some alternative lights, but they are just short strings of lights, so we need 4 to cover the tree, and each has a battery pack attached rather than running off the mains. So mum and dad haven't decided yet whether we're going to buy some more before Christmas or whether to use the 4 small sets this year and get the new ones in the sales after Christmas. Hopefully it'll get sorted and decorated soon. Our living room is the only room we decorate but it already looks quite Christmassy with presents piled on the chest of drawers and all the cards we've received strung up around the walls :)
A couple of days ago I spent a whole afternoon wrapping all my Christmas presents. It was tiring, but I was very pleased when I'd finished.
The snow we had a couple of days ago has made it feel more Christmassy which is nice. It's ridiculously cold though. I like looking at the snow, but not going out in it! I had to cancel my physio appointment yesterday because we couldn't get there because of the snow, so that's been rescheduled to the second week of Jan. More snow is forecast tonight, but I hope it's not too heavy because if I feel up to it tomorrow I'm hoping to go and visit a friend, L, who I've met through AYME, and some of her friends for her Christmas get-together. She lives a little way away though, so to get there 'll need a lift from my parents to a local city and then I'll have to get the train to her town. She'll pick me up from the station.
A few days ago I wrote another one of my regular letters to Kate, my AYME buddy. With the letter I also enclosed some bracelets that L (the girl who I'm meeting tomorrow) had made and sent me. I've also linked up with Kate on Facebook, so it's nice to be able to chat that way too when she's feeling up to it :)
This evening Chris and Sophie popped round to see us for the first time in a while. They only live in a local town, but Chris' car broke a little while ago so he's not had transport for a couple of months. He bought himself a new car from eBay though, so is mobile again for now -until it breaks! :P It was nice to see them, but they couldn't stay long because Chris was on his way to a gig with his band in the village. They're going to come and see us on Christmas Eve (Chris' 30th birthday!) and Boxing Day, but Chris is working for some of Christmas Day (so he can have his birthday off work) and then they'll spend the rest of Christmas Day with Sophie's family.
I've downloaded Joe McElderry's version of The Climb and am really hoping that he is Christmas number 1 tomorrow. The whole campaign to get Rage Against The Machine to number 1 to spite Simon Cowell is annoying me. Both Joe and Rage Against The Machine are signed to Sony BMG records, so Simon Cowell won't care which of them is Christmas number 1 this year. I think that there should definitely be more competition in the charts, but why aren't people buying Rihanna's song or Lady Gaga's song? Why aren't people just buying the music that they like rather than a song to try to spite Simon Cowell? How silly!
Since I got home from Hosp B I've watched the following on TV:
- Celebrity Eggheads - with old Blue Peter Presenters
- The Royal Variety Performance - some of which I loved (such as Mika, Alexandra Burke and the fantastic ventriloquist) and some of which I wasn't so keen on (such as Miley Cyrus)
- Dr Who themed Never Mind The Buzzcocks - which was fantastic, Catherine Tate was hilarious! :D
- The Restaurant - I couldn't believe the result of that! How could a couple including a chef who couldn't cook win?!
- Paul O'Grady - I skimmed through to watch Alexandra Burke's performance and interview
- Film 2009
- Mencap's Little Noise Sessions 2009 - I finished watching the first one and skimmed through the second.
- QI
- GMTV - I skimmed through to show mum Michael Buble's performance and interview
- Supernanny
- Wife Swap
- The Xtra Factor: Winner's Story '09 - I thought it was too repetitive
Friday, 18 December 2009
My transplant MOT, 13th - 15th Dec
On Sunday I headed to Hospital B with my dad. We had to be on the the transplant ward by midday, so left home at 10.30am. We tried to check into the hotel first, but were told that our room wouldn't be ready til about 2pm, so we headed to the ward. Me and dad put bets on how long it would take me to be seen - we arrived there at midday we both expected a 2 to 3 hour wait. But we were pleasantly surprised as I was seen really quickly :) I had bloods taken, but decided to just have a butterfly for that and have a cannula put in the following day, so I didn't have to sleep with a cannula that night. And I saw a registrar to sign the consent form for my endoscopy and colonoscopy the next day. While we were on the ward I caught up with my favourite nurse, J, who I'd not seen since I was last on the ward in July 2008! It was lovely to have a quick chat to her (she was very busy) and I found out she's now engaged! And I saw M and her parents. I saw them each day while we were in and M is very ill at the moment with rejection :(
Me and dad checked into the hotel about 2.30pm, but our family room wasn't ready, so we opted for a twin room that was ready instead. But when we got to the twin room it wasn't ready, so we moved rooms again and then could get settled. We had a lazy afternoon/evening in our room. I watched a very odd DVD called Paprika and listened to my iPod for a bit, but was then very disappointed to discover that the wireless Internet wasn't free, but cost £10 for 24 hours! What a rip-off! But dad volunteered to pay for me to access the Internet for 24 hours - I think he must have got fed up of me complaining that I was bored! :P So I spent the rest of the evening surfing the Internet and watching the X Factor final and the Xtra Factor :D I went to bed at about 11pm I think. I had a really disturbed night though, I woke up too many times to count.
On Mon morning I had to get up at 7am(!) and was on the medical day unit (MDU) for 8am. I was a bit nervous about being on there as I've only been on the MDU once or twice before and don't know it nearly as well as the transplant ward, but a lovely nurse from the transplant ward had moved to MDU in Sept so she was on me, it was lovely to see a familiar face :) I was told I'd be 4th on the theatre list as apparently the older you are the better you can cope with the starvation. I felt really sick and dizzy which was probably because I'd not been allowed to eat anything since Fri! I didn't feel up to doing much, but watched a Doctor Who episode on my iPod to pass some time. I ended up 3rd on the theatre list and went for my scopes about midday. I recovered quickly afterwards but had a sore throat for a couple of days from the endoscopy and felt light-headed for a few hours from the anaesthetic. I did have tummy ache that afternoon, but it went after a little while. I've had tummy ache again for the last few days, but I'm hoping that'll be better soon. I saw a registrar briefly after my scopes and he said everything looked normal :) I'm still waiting on the biospy results though.
At 3pm we were discharged from MDU and went back to our hotel room. I persuaded my dad to take me out to eat at a Japanese restaurant (Yo Sushi) that for my first meal since Fri. I love Japanese food, so that was great :D I ate loads (more than I'd usually eat) - even more than dad and that's saying something! Then we wandered round the shops for a bit before heading back to the hotel where we watched a bit of TV (An Island Parish and The Gadget Show) before going to bed at 9.30pm! And I slept much better that night than the previous night :)
On Tuesday morning I had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. My dad had a fry up, but I just had some toast, some mini croissants and a glass of milk. I was on MDU for 8.30am. I had a test called a Chromium EDTA test to test how well my kidneys were working because one of the immunosuppressants I take can damage my kidneys, so they need to be monitored. The test consisted of having some radioactive stuff put into my veins and then the levels of it in my blood were tested after 1, 2 and 3 hours. The Chromium test went ok, but would have been better if my cannulas had worked! I have rubbish veins in my arms, so only the ones in my hands are usable. I needed the Chromium put in on one hand and then the 3 sets of bloods taken from the other hand. The cannula I'd had put in for going to theatre the previous day was still in, but wouldn't bleed back! So they put the Chromium in that (it was icy cold though!). With some difficulty a doctor then put a cannula in my other hand (which doesn't have as good veins) and we eventually managed to get the blood back from that cannula, but not without difficulty - we eventually resorted to taking the extension part off and just letting it drip into the blood bottle each time! But we got there :)
While I was in radiology to receive the Chromium in my cannula, I bumped into my surgeons in the corridor. One of them did my transplant surgery and the other has done my subsequent surgery. So it was lovely to have a quick chat with them and let them see how well I'm doing :)
And between the hourly blood tests I watched some Wallace and Gromit episodes on my iPod and went back up to the transplant ward a couple of times to see more familiar nurses and to see M's mum again. Dad was very happy to see his favourite nurse (who he likes to flirt with) and even ended up on the floor drawing round one of her stockinged feet so mum can knit her some socks! :P
I didn't get to see my consultant on Tuesday like I'd expected, which I later discovered was because he is off sick, so I'll have to email him with all my questions - did the scopes show a reason for my tummy pains (which are better now I'm not eating rice, but not completely better)? When will I get the biospy results back? When will I get the results of my kidney test back? And can I have a tattoo?
My dietician is on annual leave so I saw a different one while I was in hospital instead, but that wasn't very helpful because she doesn't know me like my normal dietician does. So I emailed my normal dietician on Wed from home and asked about some alternative high calorie drinks (and whether I can try one I used to have again) because I'm not getting on with the Fortisip drinks very well. I also emailed her my weight which I took on Wed this week instead of Tue because I was still away on Tue. I was so surprised to find that I'd not lost any weight over the week, despite not eating for 3 days and missing 3 of my 4 high calorie drinks! :D I suspect my dietician will be happy for me to drop my overnight feeds to just 2 nights a week, but I'll stay with 3 nights a week til I hear from her :)
We left the hospital at 1.15pm and got home just before 3pm on Tue. It was lovely to get home but I felt very rough on Tue aft which I suspect was probably due to a mixture of things including going without food for so long, having a GA the previous day and just being in hospital. My throat was also sore from the endoscopy and one of my hands was very bruised from one of my misbehaving cannulas! I felt better in myself on Wed, but have been very tired since getting home, which is why this update is a bit late, sorry.
I heard from Hospital B on Wed. My LFTs (liver function tests) are a little bit higher than normal (not too raised, but just out of the normal bracket), so I need my bloods repeated again at our local hospital on Mon - my poor veins! I'm a bit nervous because I don't think my LFTs have been high since my transplant before and it can be an indication of rejection or infection. But I'm wondering if it might be related to me not having eaten anything for a while when the bloods were taken or it might just be one of those things. Fingers crossed they'll be better on Mon.
Me and dad checked into the hotel about 2.30pm, but our family room wasn't ready, so we opted for a twin room that was ready instead. But when we got to the twin room it wasn't ready, so we moved rooms again and then could get settled. We had a lazy afternoon/evening in our room. I watched a very odd DVD called Paprika and listened to my iPod for a bit, but was then very disappointed to discover that the wireless Internet wasn't free, but cost £10 for 24 hours! What a rip-off! But dad volunteered to pay for me to access the Internet for 24 hours - I think he must have got fed up of me complaining that I was bored! :P So I spent the rest of the evening surfing the Internet and watching the X Factor final and the Xtra Factor :D I went to bed at about 11pm I think. I had a really disturbed night though, I woke up too many times to count.
On Mon morning I had to get up at 7am(!) and was on the medical day unit (MDU) for 8am. I was a bit nervous about being on there as I've only been on the MDU once or twice before and don't know it nearly as well as the transplant ward, but a lovely nurse from the transplant ward had moved to MDU in Sept so she was on me, it was lovely to see a familiar face :) I was told I'd be 4th on the theatre list as apparently the older you are the better you can cope with the starvation. I felt really sick and dizzy which was probably because I'd not been allowed to eat anything since Fri! I didn't feel up to doing much, but watched a Doctor Who episode on my iPod to pass some time. I ended up 3rd on the theatre list and went for my scopes about midday. I recovered quickly afterwards but had a sore throat for a couple of days from the endoscopy and felt light-headed for a few hours from the anaesthetic. I did have tummy ache that afternoon, but it went after a little while. I've had tummy ache again for the last few days, but I'm hoping that'll be better soon. I saw a registrar briefly after my scopes and he said everything looked normal :) I'm still waiting on the biospy results though.
At 3pm we were discharged from MDU and went back to our hotel room. I persuaded my dad to take me out to eat at a Japanese restaurant (Yo Sushi) that for my first meal since Fri. I love Japanese food, so that was great :D I ate loads (more than I'd usually eat) - even more than dad and that's saying something! Then we wandered round the shops for a bit before heading back to the hotel where we watched a bit of TV (An Island Parish and The Gadget Show) before going to bed at 9.30pm! And I slept much better that night than the previous night :)
On Tuesday morning I had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. My dad had a fry up, but I just had some toast, some mini croissants and a glass of milk. I was on MDU for 8.30am. I had a test called a Chromium EDTA test to test how well my kidneys were working because one of the immunosuppressants I take can damage my kidneys, so they need to be monitored. The test consisted of having some radioactive stuff put into my veins and then the levels of it in my blood were tested after 1, 2 and 3 hours. The Chromium test went ok, but would have been better if my cannulas had worked! I have rubbish veins in my arms, so only the ones in my hands are usable. I needed the Chromium put in on one hand and then the 3 sets of bloods taken from the other hand. The cannula I'd had put in for going to theatre the previous day was still in, but wouldn't bleed back! So they put the Chromium in that (it was icy cold though!). With some difficulty a doctor then put a cannula in my other hand (which doesn't have as good veins) and we eventually managed to get the blood back from that cannula, but not without difficulty - we eventually resorted to taking the extension part off and just letting it drip into the blood bottle each time! But we got there :)
While I was in radiology to receive the Chromium in my cannula, I bumped into my surgeons in the corridor. One of them did my transplant surgery and the other has done my subsequent surgery. So it was lovely to have a quick chat with them and let them see how well I'm doing :)
And between the hourly blood tests I watched some Wallace and Gromit episodes on my iPod and went back up to the transplant ward a couple of times to see more familiar nurses and to see M's mum again. Dad was very happy to see his favourite nurse (who he likes to flirt with) and even ended up on the floor drawing round one of her stockinged feet so mum can knit her some socks! :P
I didn't get to see my consultant on Tuesday like I'd expected, which I later discovered was because he is off sick, so I'll have to email him with all my questions - did the scopes show a reason for my tummy pains (which are better now I'm not eating rice, but not completely better)? When will I get the biospy results back? When will I get the results of my kidney test back? And can I have a tattoo?
My dietician is on annual leave so I saw a different one while I was in hospital instead, but that wasn't very helpful because she doesn't know me like my normal dietician does. So I emailed my normal dietician on Wed from home and asked about some alternative high calorie drinks (and whether I can try one I used to have again) because I'm not getting on with the Fortisip drinks very well. I also emailed her my weight which I took on Wed this week instead of Tue because I was still away on Tue. I was so surprised to find that I'd not lost any weight over the week, despite not eating for 3 days and missing 3 of my 4 high calorie drinks! :D I suspect my dietician will be happy for me to drop my overnight feeds to just 2 nights a week, but I'll stay with 3 nights a week til I hear from her :)
We left the hospital at 1.15pm and got home just before 3pm on Tue. It was lovely to get home but I felt very rough on Tue aft which I suspect was probably due to a mixture of things including going without food for so long, having a GA the previous day and just being in hospital. My throat was also sore from the endoscopy and one of my hands was very bruised from one of my misbehaving cannulas! I felt better in myself on Wed, but have been very tired since getting home, which is why this update is a bit late, sorry.
I heard from Hospital B on Wed. My LFTs (liver function tests) are a little bit higher than normal (not too raised, but just out of the normal bracket), so I need my bloods repeated again at our local hospital on Mon - my poor veins! I'm a bit nervous because I don't think my LFTs have been high since my transplant before and it can be an indication of rejection or infection. But I'm wondering if it might be related to me not having eaten anything for a while when the bloods were taken or it might just be one of those things. Fingers crossed they'll be better on Mon.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
X Factor result
I'm so happy that Joe won The X Factor! :D I voted for him once. I think he's got a great personality, his performances were always consistent and he's got a brilliant voice so I'm very happy at that result :D I got a bit bored during some of the programme though because of all the musical fillers, why didn't they just get the finalists to sing a few more songs each?!
Saturday, 12 December 2009
Overdue update
Sorry it's been a while since my last update. I was surprised that my last update hasn't had any comments yet. I don't mind people not commenting, but if a post doesn't get any comments then it makes me wonder whether anyone has read it or not. So if you missed my last blog update, please have a look here. Thanks.
My sleep hasn't been very good this week as I'm still very nocturnal. I've been going to sleep between midnight and 1am, but have been struggling to get up before 10/10.30am most days. Usually I sleep well through the night and when I wake I get back to sleep very quickly, but on Mon night/Tue morn I was awake for about an hour in the early morning, which is very unusual for me. And I had a very rude awakening early Thur morn when I woke to discover one of the caps had come open on my NG tube so the feed that was supposed to be going into me was actually being pumped all over me and my bed!!
My tummy aches haven't been too bad at all this week, so I suspect rice may have been one of the triggers. But I am still getting them a bit.
On Tue my weight was up 0.9kg to 50.7kg, yay! :D We're not reducing my feeds again yet though as I might lose some weight over the next few days with my hospital admission, so we'll wait to see how my weight goes.
I'm going into Hosp B tomorrow til Tue for routine tests. Dad will be staying with me, which I'm a bit nervous about because I'm not sure that he understands my ME (I think he often thinks that I'm just being lazy). I'll be staying in the hotel at night and will be on the transplant ward on Sun, but on the medical day unit (MDU) on Mon and Tue. The hotel has free wireless broadband in the rooms, so I'm hoping to take my laptop with me and access the Internet on it in the evenings if I get chance. I have to be on the transplant ward for midday tomorrow for bloods. I can't remember if I mentioned this in a recent blog or not, but a little girl called M who had her transplant shortly after mine and was in for her assessment when I had my transplant is currently very ill with severe rejection in Hosp B. I think she's 4 and she'd been doing fantastically until about 3 weeks ago when she suddenly became very ill. So her and her mum are currently on the transplant ward in Hosp B. So I'm hoping to see them on Sun, but I do wish it was under better circumstances. Get well soon M.
Then Sun aft/eve we'll go to the hotel where I'll watch the X Factor final :D Tue I've got to be on the MDU for 8am (eeek!) for my scopes (endoscopy and colonoscopy) which I'll be having under GA. The scopes are to check the health of my transplanted bowel and to see if a cause can be found for my tummy pains. I've had loads (50+) anaesthetics before with no problems, but I'm a bit nervous about this one because my last one may have triggered my ME and I know sometimes GAs can cause the health of people with ME to decline. Then Tue I will be having a kidney test because my immunosuppressant (Tacrolimus) can damage the kidneys, so my kidneys just need to be monitored. And after that I'll be allowed home :D
I made a list of what I needed to pack for my hospital stay, so the actual packing was easy :) And I had some worries and concerns, but after talking them through with mum yesterday I now feel better about them.
On Tue I tried again to reschedule my ESA medical assessment, but again I couldn't get through on the phone. So that day I wrote and posted a letter to them asking them to phone me to reschedule it because I couldn't get through to them on the phone. I'm still waiting to hear, but if they don't phone mum while I'm away in hospital, then I'll try them again when I get home.
On Thur I heard that an old friend, I, from Hosp G had just gone on the transplant list. She isn't life threateningly ill, but has a very poor quality of life at the moment on TPN. So she's opted for a small bowel transplant to hopefully improve her quality of life. I think I mentioned a while ago that she was really struggling with the decision because animals are her life and they are a risk after transplant. She wont be having her transplant at Hosp B or Hosp A though, she'll be having it at a different hospital which has only just started doing small bowel transplants.
On Tue morn my new laptop was delivered, so I spent most of the day playing with it and I love it :D However I think my new laptop deserves a post of it's own, so I'll try to write that post soon :) Mum's friend Jilly came for lunch on Tue, so I had a break from my new laptop then to join them for lunch. And Tue eve I rang Lizzy for a chat and hopefully we'll be able to see her and her family between Christmas and New Year :D
On Wed aft me and mum went to visit nan in hospital. All her scans so far have come back clear, so she's waiting for yet more tests and scans. She's in good spirits though and has relatives visiting her every day :) Then there was an infection on the ward, so I've not visited my nan again since just in case I was to pick something up before I went into hospital. The infection has cleared up now though so if she's still in hospital next week I'll start visiting her again. No-one knows yet how long she'll be in for. And then Wed eve Claire came round which was lovely. And we had loads of fun and laughs playing on New Super Mario Bros Wii together :D
On Thur I arranged for an old friend to come round yesterday aft. But she's not very reliable so I wasn't really surprised when she cancelled at midday yesterday. So yesterday aft me and mum went into town instead :) I bought another Christmas present for nan (a calendar titled 'For My Nan' which contains sentimental verses - she'll love it), a birthday present for Lizzy's birthday in March and 2 DVDs for myself at bargain prices from a charity shop :D
Today I've not been doing much, but I had great fun playing on New Super Mario Bros Wii with my dad earlier :D He kept telling me he had no idea what was going on though :P
Tonight I've had a great TV night :D First I watched Cheryl Cole's Night In which was quite good :) I think Cheryl Cole's new single, 3 Words, is awful though! :P Then I watched The X Factor. I'm really pleased that Joe got through as he's my favourite, but I'm disappointed that Stacey went out as I really liked her. I think she should have got through instead of Olly. I hope Joe wins tomorrow, fingers crossed. And now I'm watching The Xtra Factor :)
On TV this week I 've also watched Mika at Mencap's Little Noise Sessions, Alesha Dixon: Who's You Daddy?, Film 2009, Kidnapped by the Kids and The Restaurant. I can't believe how this series of The Restaurant is going. There are now 2 couples left in the competition and the final will be on Thur. The chef in one of the couples can't cook! And in the other couple the chef serves cold food and the front of house is really rude! There weren't many decent couples in it to start with, but they've all gone out leaving 2 rubbish couples in the final.
I've watched a couple of DVDs this week. I watched S Club Carnival which brought back loads of memories as they were my favourite group when I was younger and I even saw them live in 1999! And I watched a disappointing film called Scrooged and an amazing film that I'd highly recommend called Girl Interrupted.
I watched a Vicar of Dibley episode from my boxset and have been waiting for the next series of Absolutely Fabulous from the library. I ordered it just over a week ago and it was on the shelf in a library in my county, so I don't know why I've not received it yet. I'm a bit disappointed because I was going to take it into hospital with me, but never mind. I'll take some Vicar of Dibley episodes with me instead as well as a film or two.
Pixie Lott's Turn It Up CD arrived on Fri, so I've put that on my iPod now so I can listen to it while I'm in hospital :) My favourite songs from it are currently Band Aid, Turn It Up and Here We Go Again. I currently really like Alexandra Burke's Overcome album on Spotify and her next single - Broken Heels.
I mentioned before that I'd been attempting to read a children's book called Coraline, but was struggling with it because of my poor concentration and memory. I gave up on it and sent it back to the library last night. I have flicked through and read little bits of a really interesting book about Tim Burton's films though :)
In the post on Tue I received my official International Baccalaureate certificate :D This week we've also received quite a few Christmas cards and this morning I received a parcel containing my Foggy Friends Secret Santa present :D
When I get home from hospital next week we'll be putting our Christmas decorations up. Yay! :D Then hopefully I'll start feeling more Christmassy :)
My friend Holly C (whose blogs you can read here and here) is a brilliant photographer and she has just set up an online shop to sell some of her work which you can have a look at here.
My sleep hasn't been very good this week as I'm still very nocturnal. I've been going to sleep between midnight and 1am, but have been struggling to get up before 10/10.30am most days. Usually I sleep well through the night and when I wake I get back to sleep very quickly, but on Mon night/Tue morn I was awake for about an hour in the early morning, which is very unusual for me. And I had a very rude awakening early Thur morn when I woke to discover one of the caps had come open on my NG tube so the feed that was supposed to be going into me was actually being pumped all over me and my bed!!
My tummy aches haven't been too bad at all this week, so I suspect rice may have been one of the triggers. But I am still getting them a bit.
On Tue my weight was up 0.9kg to 50.7kg, yay! :D We're not reducing my feeds again yet though as I might lose some weight over the next few days with my hospital admission, so we'll wait to see how my weight goes.
I'm going into Hosp B tomorrow til Tue for routine tests. Dad will be staying with me, which I'm a bit nervous about because I'm not sure that he understands my ME (I think he often thinks that I'm just being lazy). I'll be staying in the hotel at night and will be on the transplant ward on Sun, but on the medical day unit (MDU) on Mon and Tue. The hotel has free wireless broadband in the rooms, so I'm hoping to take my laptop with me and access the Internet on it in the evenings if I get chance. I have to be on the transplant ward for midday tomorrow for bloods. I can't remember if I mentioned this in a recent blog or not, but a little girl called M who had her transplant shortly after mine and was in for her assessment when I had my transplant is currently very ill with severe rejection in Hosp B. I think she's 4 and she'd been doing fantastically until about 3 weeks ago when she suddenly became very ill. So her and her mum are currently on the transplant ward in Hosp B. So I'm hoping to see them on Sun, but I do wish it was under better circumstances. Get well soon M.
Then Sun aft/eve we'll go to the hotel where I'll watch the X Factor final :D Tue I've got to be on the MDU for 8am (eeek!) for my scopes (endoscopy and colonoscopy) which I'll be having under GA. The scopes are to check the health of my transplanted bowel and to see if a cause can be found for my tummy pains. I've had loads (50+) anaesthetics before with no problems, but I'm a bit nervous about this one because my last one may have triggered my ME and I know sometimes GAs can cause the health of people with ME to decline. Then Tue I will be having a kidney test because my immunosuppressant (Tacrolimus) can damage the kidneys, so my kidneys just need to be monitored. And after that I'll be allowed home :D
I made a list of what I needed to pack for my hospital stay, so the actual packing was easy :) And I had some worries and concerns, but after talking them through with mum yesterday I now feel better about them.
On Tue I tried again to reschedule my ESA medical assessment, but again I couldn't get through on the phone. So that day I wrote and posted a letter to them asking them to phone me to reschedule it because I couldn't get through to them on the phone. I'm still waiting to hear, but if they don't phone mum while I'm away in hospital, then I'll try them again when I get home.
On Thur I heard that an old friend, I, from Hosp G had just gone on the transplant list. She isn't life threateningly ill, but has a very poor quality of life at the moment on TPN. So she's opted for a small bowel transplant to hopefully improve her quality of life. I think I mentioned a while ago that she was really struggling with the decision because animals are her life and they are a risk after transplant. She wont be having her transplant at Hosp B or Hosp A though, she'll be having it at a different hospital which has only just started doing small bowel transplants.
On Tue morn my new laptop was delivered, so I spent most of the day playing with it and I love it :D However I think my new laptop deserves a post of it's own, so I'll try to write that post soon :) Mum's friend Jilly came for lunch on Tue, so I had a break from my new laptop then to join them for lunch. And Tue eve I rang Lizzy for a chat and hopefully we'll be able to see her and her family between Christmas and New Year :D
On Wed aft me and mum went to visit nan in hospital. All her scans so far have come back clear, so she's waiting for yet more tests and scans. She's in good spirits though and has relatives visiting her every day :) Then there was an infection on the ward, so I've not visited my nan again since just in case I was to pick something up before I went into hospital. The infection has cleared up now though so if she's still in hospital next week I'll start visiting her again. No-one knows yet how long she'll be in for. And then Wed eve Claire came round which was lovely. And we had loads of fun and laughs playing on New Super Mario Bros Wii together :D
On Thur I arranged for an old friend to come round yesterday aft. But she's not very reliable so I wasn't really surprised when she cancelled at midday yesterday. So yesterday aft me and mum went into town instead :) I bought another Christmas present for nan (a calendar titled 'For My Nan' which contains sentimental verses - she'll love it), a birthday present for Lizzy's birthday in March and 2 DVDs for myself at bargain prices from a charity shop :D
Today I've not been doing much, but I had great fun playing on New Super Mario Bros Wii with my dad earlier :D He kept telling me he had no idea what was going on though :P
Tonight I've had a great TV night :D First I watched Cheryl Cole's Night In which was quite good :) I think Cheryl Cole's new single, 3 Words, is awful though! :P Then I watched The X Factor. I'm really pleased that Joe got through as he's my favourite, but I'm disappointed that Stacey went out as I really liked her. I think she should have got through instead of Olly. I hope Joe wins tomorrow, fingers crossed. And now I'm watching The Xtra Factor :)
On TV this week I 've also watched Mika at Mencap's Little Noise Sessions, Alesha Dixon: Who's You Daddy?, Film 2009, Kidnapped by the Kids and The Restaurant. I can't believe how this series of The Restaurant is going. There are now 2 couples left in the competition and the final will be on Thur. The chef in one of the couples can't cook! And in the other couple the chef serves cold food and the front of house is really rude! There weren't many decent couples in it to start with, but they've all gone out leaving 2 rubbish couples in the final.
I've watched a couple of DVDs this week. I watched S Club Carnival which brought back loads of memories as they were my favourite group when I was younger and I even saw them live in 1999! And I watched a disappointing film called Scrooged and an amazing film that I'd highly recommend called Girl Interrupted.
I watched a Vicar of Dibley episode from my boxset and have been waiting for the next series of Absolutely Fabulous from the library. I ordered it just over a week ago and it was on the shelf in a library in my county, so I don't know why I've not received it yet. I'm a bit disappointed because I was going to take it into hospital with me, but never mind. I'll take some Vicar of Dibley episodes with me instead as well as a film or two.
Pixie Lott's Turn It Up CD arrived on Fri, so I've put that on my iPod now so I can listen to it while I'm in hospital :) My favourite songs from it are currently Band Aid, Turn It Up and Here We Go Again. I currently really like Alexandra Burke's Overcome album on Spotify and her next single - Broken Heels.
I mentioned before that I'd been attempting to read a children's book called Coraline, but was struggling with it because of my poor concentration and memory. I gave up on it and sent it back to the library last night. I have flicked through and read little bits of a really interesting book about Tim Burton's films though :)
In the post on Tue I received my official International Baccalaureate certificate :D This week we've also received quite a few Christmas cards and this morning I received a parcel containing my Foggy Friends Secret Santa present :D
When I get home from hospital next week we'll be putting our Christmas decorations up. Yay! :D Then hopefully I'll start feeling more Christmassy :)
My friend Holly C (whose blogs you can read here and here) is a brilliant photographer and she has just set up an online shop to sell some of her work which you can have a look at here.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Getting organised for Christmas and nan
My sleep pattern is very messed up again :( Since my last update I've fallen asleep at 2am, 2am, 3am and 1am. And in the mornings I've got up between 10am and 11.30am. I'm really struggling to get up in the mornings and so am missing most of each morning as a result :( Usually the only reason I eventually get up is because I need to take my morning tablets! And so I just seem to be exhausted at the mo. But my tummy aches seem a bit better without eating rice :)
On Thur we had a new tumble dryer delivered. Mum is very happy that she can now dry clothes in the winter as our old tumble dryer broke ages ago! And Thur was also dad's 60th birthday! We had a nice evening when he got back in from work and mum cooked him fish soup for a birthday tea. Me and Alf had pasta though as we didn't fancy the fish soup :P Dad liked his presents - a Neil Young DVD from me, a Leonard Cohen CD and an IOU for swimming trunks from mum, some figs from Alf, a hamper from neighbours, some money from nan and a fishing gadget thing from himself!
Fri was a busy day. In the morning I took some blood at home with a fingerprick to test the level of Tacolimus (my immunosupressant) in my blood and then posted that off to Hosp B for them to process. While I was at the post office, mum went to the surgery to sort out some of my prescriptions. Then we went to Hosp H for my regular bloods, so Hosp B can have the results before I go in. There was quite a long wait, but I saw a nice phlebotomist who got the blood easily. And she remembered me from a while ago, but I didn't remember her!
Next we headed to Tesco and ate our sandwiches in the car in the car park. And then I helped mum with a huge (2 hour) Tesco shop! I bought a nice purple fleece and a Dr Who DVD boxset. Before heading home we had drinks in the cafe :)
On Sat I finished writing all my Christmas cards (63 in total I think) and also wrapped and parcelled up 6 gifts to post (including 2 Secret Santas for the online AYME forums I use).
I also had a look at some reviews for my new laptop on the Internet. I probably ought to have done that before I bought it! :P The reviews were mostly positive apart from the laptop having poor battery life (just over 2 hours), although it will still be better than current battery life (under 2 hours). Apparently it has good speakers, doesn't overheat (so wont burn me when sitting with it on my knee), a good keyboard, a good monitor, is fast... Sounds good :)
Yesterday Claire came round in the afternoon/evening. We had a nice time despite me not feeling too well and Claire having a bad hangover, lol! :P Alf had some homework from college that involved drawing a diagram of a fish and its insides and labelling it, so Claire (who is artistic) drew a very nice fish called Freda for him :)
Today I discovered that my new laptop will be delivered tomorrow morning! I'm so excited :D I think the most exciting thing might be being able to turn my new laptop on with an 'on' button as the 'on' button snapped and fell out of my old laptop a couple of years ago! Today I've backed up all my files onto my external hard drive ready to transfer to my new laptop tomorrow. I'm going to give my old laptop to Alf and he's looking forward to taking it apart to see if there is anything good inside it that he can add to his computer! My new laptop will be delivered between 8am and 1pm tomorrow :D Because mum is going out to work at 9.30am I'll have to get up by then, which might be a challenge! :P But it'll be worth it as I'm sure I'll enjoy playing with my new laptop tomorrow :D
At the end of last week I received a letter through the post with a new date for my ESA medical assessment - Dec 23rd!!! That's too close to Christmas for my liking, I don't want to be worrying about how it went over Christmas. I tried to phone up to reschedule it today but every time I tried I got an engaged tone, grrrr. So I'll try again tomorrow. I also received a new physio appt through the post (as I didn't manage to make my previous one) for Dec 18th.
This afternoon I went to the post office to post most of my Christmas cards (just over 40 I think) and the 6 parcels I'd prepared. Sending them all second class cost me over £21!! I also put some Christmas cards in the box for the scouts to deliver around the village, topped up my phone and bought the Christmas Radio Times :)
This afternoon me and mum also visited my nan in hospital. Since she had the fall where she broke her wrist and bumped her head a few weeks ago she's been having funny spells where she feels nauseus and dizzy and gets a pain in her head. She didn't mention them to her doctor. But she had a bad one yesterday morning, so dad took her to Hospital H to get checked out. She spent most of yesterday in the assessment unit having various tests and dad stayed with her for most of the day. Then last night she was given a bed on a different ward and told she'd need to be admitted for a few days for some scans. So me and mum visited her this afternoon. She was ok in herself, just a bit fed up with being in hospital. Me and mum cheered her up though. And then as she left she was going for a CT scan of her brain. Dad then visited her this evening when she was more cheerful :) She'll hopefully be having a heart scan at some point tomorrow, so hopefully we'll know a bit more soon. Dad's brother will visit her tomorrow afternoon and his sister will visit her tomorrow evening. There was a very funny conversation between mum and dad and dad's brother on the phone this evening when dad phoned to tell his brother about nan. Dad's brother works with wood so is going to make mum some giant knitting needles! My family are mad! :P
This evening I had my second swine flu jab. Apparently it shouldn't be as sore this time because it's my second one, fingers crossed. I'm going to take some Paracetamol before bed though just in case.
My village's Christmas lights were turned on last week. There was no occassion made of the switching on this year (we usually have a funfair in the high street before the switch on) and I just noticed that they'd been turned on when I walked to the post box one evening last week. They look nice though and definitely make me feel more Christmassy :) Some people in our street have horrible lights and flashing things up though! We will be putting our tree and decorations up when I get back from my annual tests at Hosp B (13th to 15th) :)
I got my first Christmas card at the end of last week (and still my only one so far) and surprisingly it was from my AYME buddy. She also included a letter which was lovely as I'd not expected her to respond to my letters :) And a bit embarrassingly her name is actually Kate, not Katie as I'd been told :P
I'm hoping to attend an AYME Christmas meet-up on the afternoon of Dec 20th. I thought I'd have to get the train into London and then the train out again, but dad has volunteered to drive me to a train station a little bit further away from us and then I can get a direct train to the meet-up. I've been chatting to the girl who is organising it and the rest of the people attending don't use the AYME forums, so I'm not going to know them. I think most of them will be a bit older than me too. But if I feel well enough I think I'm going to be brave and go along to meet some new people :)
I've been thinking recently that I'd like to have a tattoo. I've been looking at designs on the Internet and quite like the idea of a butterfly or a Japanese character. I'm not sure though and have been having second thoughts because Claire has had one and regrets it. I'm also not sure what Dr G (my Hosp B) consultant would say. I suspect he'd say no because it's a risk and he doesn't like his patients taking risks - for example, I'm not allowed a pet. A friend of mine who has also had a transplant and is under the same consultant has a tattoo though, but I'm not sure if she asked permission or not. Hmmmm. It's something I'll have a think about and I might ask my consultant's opinion on it when I see him next week.
I've watched quite a lot of TV again :P I watched:
I've listened to an assortment on Spotify - The Noisettes, Michael Buble, Alicia Keys... And after listening to Pixie Lott more I've bought her album at last so I can have it on my iPod when I go into hospital :D
On Thur we had a new tumble dryer delivered. Mum is very happy that she can now dry clothes in the winter as our old tumble dryer broke ages ago! And Thur was also dad's 60th birthday! We had a nice evening when he got back in from work and mum cooked him fish soup for a birthday tea. Me and Alf had pasta though as we didn't fancy the fish soup :P Dad liked his presents - a Neil Young DVD from me, a Leonard Cohen CD and an IOU for swimming trunks from mum, some figs from Alf, a hamper from neighbours, some money from nan and a fishing gadget thing from himself!
Fri was a busy day. In the morning I took some blood at home with a fingerprick to test the level of Tacolimus (my immunosupressant) in my blood and then posted that off to Hosp B for them to process. While I was at the post office, mum went to the surgery to sort out some of my prescriptions. Then we went to Hosp H for my regular bloods, so Hosp B can have the results before I go in. There was quite a long wait, but I saw a nice phlebotomist who got the blood easily. And she remembered me from a while ago, but I didn't remember her!
Next we headed to Tesco and ate our sandwiches in the car in the car park. And then I helped mum with a huge (2 hour) Tesco shop! I bought a nice purple fleece and a Dr Who DVD boxset. Before heading home we had drinks in the cafe :)
On Sat I finished writing all my Christmas cards (63 in total I think) and also wrapped and parcelled up 6 gifts to post (including 2 Secret Santas for the online AYME forums I use).
I also had a look at some reviews for my new laptop on the Internet. I probably ought to have done that before I bought it! :P The reviews were mostly positive apart from the laptop having poor battery life (just over 2 hours), although it will still be better than current battery life (under 2 hours). Apparently it has good speakers, doesn't overheat (so wont burn me when sitting with it on my knee), a good keyboard, a good monitor, is fast... Sounds good :)
Yesterday Claire came round in the afternoon/evening. We had a nice time despite me not feeling too well and Claire having a bad hangover, lol! :P Alf had some homework from college that involved drawing a diagram of a fish and its insides and labelling it, so Claire (who is artistic) drew a very nice fish called Freda for him :)
Today I discovered that my new laptop will be delivered tomorrow morning! I'm so excited :D I think the most exciting thing might be being able to turn my new laptop on with an 'on' button as the 'on' button snapped and fell out of my old laptop a couple of years ago! Today I've backed up all my files onto my external hard drive ready to transfer to my new laptop tomorrow. I'm going to give my old laptop to Alf and he's looking forward to taking it apart to see if there is anything good inside it that he can add to his computer! My new laptop will be delivered between 8am and 1pm tomorrow :D Because mum is going out to work at 9.30am I'll have to get up by then, which might be a challenge! :P But it'll be worth it as I'm sure I'll enjoy playing with my new laptop tomorrow :D
At the end of last week I received a letter through the post with a new date for my ESA medical assessment - Dec 23rd!!! That's too close to Christmas for my liking, I don't want to be worrying about how it went over Christmas. I tried to phone up to reschedule it today but every time I tried I got an engaged tone, grrrr. So I'll try again tomorrow. I also received a new physio appt through the post (as I didn't manage to make my previous one) for Dec 18th.
This afternoon I went to the post office to post most of my Christmas cards (just over 40 I think) and the 6 parcels I'd prepared. Sending them all second class cost me over £21!! I also put some Christmas cards in the box for the scouts to deliver around the village, topped up my phone and bought the Christmas Radio Times :)
This afternoon me and mum also visited my nan in hospital. Since she had the fall where she broke her wrist and bumped her head a few weeks ago she's been having funny spells where she feels nauseus and dizzy and gets a pain in her head. She didn't mention them to her doctor. But she had a bad one yesterday morning, so dad took her to Hospital H to get checked out. She spent most of yesterday in the assessment unit having various tests and dad stayed with her for most of the day. Then last night she was given a bed on a different ward and told she'd need to be admitted for a few days for some scans. So me and mum visited her this afternoon. She was ok in herself, just a bit fed up with being in hospital. Me and mum cheered her up though. And then as she left she was going for a CT scan of her brain. Dad then visited her this evening when she was more cheerful :) She'll hopefully be having a heart scan at some point tomorrow, so hopefully we'll know a bit more soon. Dad's brother will visit her tomorrow afternoon and his sister will visit her tomorrow evening. There was a very funny conversation between mum and dad and dad's brother on the phone this evening when dad phoned to tell his brother about nan. Dad's brother works with wood so is going to make mum some giant knitting needles! My family are mad! :P
This evening I had my second swine flu jab. Apparently it shouldn't be as sore this time because it's my second one, fingers crossed. I'm going to take some Paracetamol before bed though just in case.
My village's Christmas lights were turned on last week. There was no occassion made of the switching on this year (we usually have a funfair in the high street before the switch on) and I just noticed that they'd been turned on when I walked to the post box one evening last week. They look nice though and definitely make me feel more Christmassy :) Some people in our street have horrible lights and flashing things up though! We will be putting our tree and decorations up when I get back from my annual tests at Hosp B (13th to 15th) :)
I got my first Christmas card at the end of last week (and still my only one so far) and surprisingly it was from my AYME buddy. She also included a letter which was lovely as I'd not expected her to respond to my letters :) And a bit embarrassingly her name is actually Kate, not Katie as I'd been told :P
I'm hoping to attend an AYME Christmas meet-up on the afternoon of Dec 20th. I thought I'd have to get the train into London and then the train out again, but dad has volunteered to drive me to a train station a little bit further away from us and then I can get a direct train to the meet-up. I've been chatting to the girl who is organising it and the rest of the people attending don't use the AYME forums, so I'm not going to know them. I think most of them will be a bit older than me too. But if I feel well enough I think I'm going to be brave and go along to meet some new people :)
I've been thinking recently that I'd like to have a tattoo. I've been looking at designs on the Internet and quite like the idea of a butterfly or a Japanese character. I'm not sure though and have been having second thoughts because Claire has had one and regrets it. I'm also not sure what Dr G (my Hosp B) consultant would say. I suspect he'd say no because it's a risk and he doesn't like his patients taking risks - for example, I'm not allowed a pet. A friend of mine who has also had a transplant and is under the same consultant has a tattoo though, but I'm not sure if she asked permission or not. Hmmmm. It's something I'll have a think about and I might ask my consultant's opinion on it when I see him next week.
I've watched quite a lot of TV again :P I watched:
- The Restaurant - I was surprised no-one was eliminated, seems like a bit of a cop out to me! I was flicking through next week's Radio Times and it says who makes the final of The Restaurant! I don't think that's fair to publish that when the semi-final still hasn't been shown on TV. So now I know who'll go out this week! :(
- Never Mind the Buzzcocks - I enjoyed this because it was X Factor themed - Dermot was the host and Aston (from JLS) was one of the guests :D I wasn't so happy with one of the teams saying Pink was rubbish though :(
- Have I Got News For You - I don't usually understand this programme, but tried to watch this episode because Jo Brand was on it. I didn't understand it though and so didn't watch it all.
- X Factor and X Factor Results - Yay at the results! Just what I wanted :D Glad Danyl has gone, as he annoyed me and I didn't like his performance of my favourite Michael Jackson song (Man In The Mirror) on Sat. I thought Stacey and Joe were the best on Sat. I hope Joe wins, Stacey comes second and Olly comes third :) If anyone reading this is a fan of Joe, like me, you can download the audio files of his X Factor performances here - I've put them on my iPod :) I thought Lady Gaga's performance was definitely a talking point of Sun's programme. She is very weird! And Janet Jackson's performance was poor - her miming was awful and it was just dull!
- Xtra Factor - I started watching this on Sat and Sun, but my concentration didn't last.
- Something for the Weekend - It had Pixie Lott on it and I like her :)
- Alan Titchmarch - The Radio Times said it would have Pixie Lott on but it didn't :( I did enjoy watching Ed Byrne (who I saw live at Save Jess-tival) and June Whitfield (who I've seen in Absolutely Fabulous) being interviewed on it though :)
- Gadget Show - I'm still trying to watch this each week, but it just doesn't keep my concentration any more.
- QI - Tonight's episode about animals beginning with the letter 'G' was very funny :)
I've listened to an assortment on Spotify - The Noisettes, Michael Buble, Alicia Keys... And after listening to Pixie Lott more I've bought her album at last so I can have it on my iPod when I go into hospital :D
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