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:

• 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
  

And on DVD I've watched one episode of Absolutely Fabulous and half of a Tim Burton film called Ed Wood, which I hope to finish watching tomorrow :)