So this week was a reading week/half-term, and
boy did I need it! On the top of my list was catching up on sleep and getting
some Uni work done. Unfortunately, the week has absolutely flown by – I’m still
exhausted and still have loads to do for Uni! If we could just have another
couple of weeks off I might finally feel on top of things. I’ve tried to keep
some balance over the week; splitting my time between work, rest and
socialising. And overall it’s been a really nice week.
I decided to give myself a nice lie-in last
Sunday morning, and I really needed it! It took me quite a while to get going,
but I managed to write a blog post and edit some photos for another post before
lunch. In the afternoon I carved this Minion pumpkin with my sister, Bekkah. We
had planned on doing a Tigger one but couldn’t find a picture we liked. It took
absolutely ages and I wasn’t as happy with it as I have been in previous years,
but I don’t think it was a bad attempt. I spent the rest of the afternoon
watching YouTube videos and writing penpal letters.
I had planned to get up reasonably early on
Monday morning, as I had so much to do. But despite setting several alarms and
my Mum trying to wake me up, I woke up late. I guess if you can’t sleep in at
half term then when can you?! After a slow start I got my make-up on and filmed
a couple of YouTube videos. The first was a ‘What I got for my birthday,’ which
included this awesome cushion from Nikki McWilliams, and the second was ’73 Questions,’ so I’m looking
forward to getting those edited and uploaded. Over lunch I wrote and uploaded a
blog post I had hoped to get done on Sunday. Then in the afternoon I watched
another episode of The Level and did some of my Uni work. I’ve tried to make a
list of everything I need to get done before Christmas, but the hard bit at the
moment is doing all the research and getting the right interviews.
I didn’t get up as early as I’d planned on
Tuesday morning, but my Mum and I managed to get out of the house at a
reasonable time still. We went over to Festival Place to
do a bit of shopping. Thankfully, because my half term is a week later than the
schools’ is, it was lovely and quiet, which made getting round in a wheelchair
a bit less stressful. We started off in Primark and I treated myself to a few bits (mainly cosy winter jumpers!) We also went
to Boots, WHSmith and Accessorize but mainly
just looked around. Once we’d finished our shopping, I treated my Mum to some
lunch at Costa,
which was nice (although a shame we were a couple of days too early for their
Christmas drinks). I’d been feeling a bit itchy as the morning went on, but it
was getting progressively worse and then my face came up in a bright red rash
and I felt really funny. I think it was another Mast Cell reaction, so we
decided to head home. I spent the rest of the afternoon curled up on the sofa,
itching like crazy!
I didn’t have the greatest night on Tuesday, as
I seemed to spend a lot of it awake and unwell. So getting up on Wednesday
morning was a challenge to say the least. I had counselling first thing, which
I found quite draining. When I got home I ended up falling asleep on the sofa,
which wasn’t quite what I had planned! I met up with my friend, Katrina, for
lunch at Bill’s,
which is fast becoming my favourite restaurant. I went for something completely
Jenny unfriendly, which was probably a daft idea, and the portion was huge so
there was no way I could eat it all. But it was nice to do something ‘normal’
and catch up with Katrina. I spent the afternoon curled up on the sofa trying
to do my Uni work, but I kept nodding off. I’ve been feeling rather overwhelmed
by my Uni work, as I need to get a lot of interviews and am struggling to get
what I need, which is making life quite stressful.
I’m finding it really hard to wake up on time
at the moment and managed to sleep through my alarm again on Thursday morning.
My Dad drove me over to Aldershot for my Recovery College group. It was quite
useful and we talked through strategies for trying to solve problems, which is
always useful. When I got home I dozed on the sofa for a while. My Mum then
took me over to my friend, Katy’s, for a massage. My back is so sore and knotty
at the moment – I wish I could find something to make it a bit better, rather
than just constantly fire fighting the pain. I decided to pop out in the garden
when we got home. I’ve wanted to go for an autumn walk for ages, to see all the
leaves changing colour and to take some photos. But walks aren’t something I
can manage and it’s a struggle to find accessible places. So going in the
garden will have to do for now. I spent the rest of the afternoon writing letters
to some of my penpals. I probably should have been doing Uni work, but I just
needed a break from looking at my laptop screen.
I got to have a bit of a lie-in in Friday
morning, which was nice. My Dad and I drove over to The Royal National
Orthopaedic Hospital Stanmore. It was quite a long drive and the weather wasn’t
great. We had a bit of lunch in the canteen and then went to the rehabilitation
centre for my pre-assessment. It started with a group presentation from a
psychologist, physiotherapist and occupational therapist. I then had to wait
for a while, so got my new book out to read. After about half an hour, an
occupational therapist came to see me and did an individual assessment. It was
really in depth and she asked some pretty hard questions, but I’d expected
that, as it’s such an intensive programme. She was brilliant though and seemed
to really understand my conditions and the journey I’ve been on. She said that
she thought I would be better suited to the hospital programme rather than the
hotel based one, as I could then have 24/7 nursing care. They have a team
meeting next though, to decide for certain if I’m suitable for the programme,
so I’ll have to wait for their decision letter. Our drive back was pretty
horrible, as it was dark, pouring with rain and heavy traffic, but it was good
to get home and rest.
After a bit too much of a lie-in on Saturday
morning (surprise surprise!) I headed across the road, as my best friend,
Sarah, was back for a few days. I don’t get to see her and baby Charlie that
often, so it was lovely to catch up and have baby cuddles. She gave me some
lovely birthday presents and we spent the morning chatting. I had a bit of
lunch over there, and then came back home. I had planned to spend the afternoon
doing Uni work, but I fell asleep on the sofa for a while. I did manage to get
a bit of work done, but got a bit distracted by singing Disney songs with
Bekkah! My brother and sister-in-law, Richard and Lisa, came over, as well as
Rosiie’s boyfriend Callum and her friend Sophie. We all went to watch the
fireworks – my Mum pushed me down to the end of the road and we watched them
from there, while the others went down to the actual display. It was freezing
so I made sure I was wrapped up warm. When we got home we all snuggled round
the fire and had some dinner.
You can check out my YouTube channel here, where I have recently uploaded a few new videos (and hope to
continue doing!)
I’m also trying to post on Snapchat a bit more,
so if you fancy following me, my username is Jennycole44.
If you don’t already, please give me a follow
on Bloglovin here - I would love to reach 800 followers, and do have a little
giveaway planned for when I get there!
What have you been up to this week? I always
enjoy hearing about your news and adventures!
No comments:
Post a Comment