Sunday, 4 December 2016

Sunday Snippets - 4th December 2016

How are we already in December?! Please can someone tell me where the last year has gone! I’ve had a very busy week with four medical appointments, all in different places, which has been a challenge. I’m still trying to recover from this cold bug as well – it seems to be hanging around unfortunately. But I’m starting to get into the Christmas spirit (well, I would be if I wasn’t stressing about Uni deadlines!) I do love this time of year though – candles, fairy lights and music…it’s right up my street!



This week I’ve been trying to catch up on the Crown and Glory November Instagram challenge, and I thought I’d share my pictures with you here too. This was my photo for Week 2 – New Fave. I’m loving these gorgeous star clips – they’re perfect for the festive period, or any time you need a bit of sparkle in your life (which, let’s face it, is any time!)



I had a lovely lie-in last Sunday morning. I slept for over 10 hours, which is quite normal for me if I don’t set an alarm. I guess my body needs the rest, which isn’t a surprise considering how shattered I always feel! After sorting out my medications for the week ahead, I spent the morning watching Enchanted and writing a blog post. Watching a Disney film on a Sunday seems to be becoming a bit of a tradition! In the afternoon I curled up on the sofa and watched another episode of The Coroner. I do love a good murder mystery. I then spent the rest of the afternoon doing Uni work. I caught up on my emails, made some additions to my essay and submitted it and then finished my court reports and submitted those. So all in all quite a productive afternoon. My brother, Richard, and sister-in-law, Lisa, came round for dinner, so it was lovely to catch up with them. Freddie decided to snuggle up on my lap with his head on the table after we’d finished. He does like to be part of everything!



Week 3 of the Crown and Glory November Instagram challenge was Sparkle. And what better way to sparkle than with a glittery doughnut and fairy lights!



I had Uni on Monday, so my Dad took me over to Farnham. We were doing about profile writing, so read through an example first. Then we were assigned another class member to write a profile on, only we weren’t allowed to talk to them to ask them any questions. So we had to do some investigating and speak to people who know them, which wasn’t as easy as it sounds! Still, I managed to speak to a couple of people and started to write my profile. I had to leave at lunchtime, so my Dad brought me home and I had my Fortisip. I did a bit of work on my laptop before my Dad and I drove to the hospital for my appointment with my Rheumatologist. Unfortunately, my usual consultant wasn’t there, but I saw her maternity cover, who was very nice. It’s just a bit difficult seeing someone new, as we have to go over my whole history before we can make any progress. There wasn’t really anything they could do for me, but he did mention that I should look into the National Centre for EDS at UCLH. When we got home, we caught up on the previous week’s episode of The Missing. My new blog design went live too, thanks to the lovely Ellie Illustrates and I absolutely love it. I thought it was time for a change, and am really happy with what it looks like, so I hope you all like it too!



Week 4 of the Crown and Glory November Instagram challenge is Cosy. So I snuggled up with The Little Book of Hygge, my reindeer slipper socks, some fairy lights and my custard cream cushion.



We had another news day at Uni on Tuesday, so my Dad drove me over there. Thankfully I’d filmed my footage the week before, so I didn’t have to worry about going out and about in the cold. I spent the morning editing my video together and writing the voiceover. It was quite nice for it to be a bit more relaxed. I didn’t really have a proper lunch break, but did chat to the girls a bit. In the afternoon I wrote a piece to go online. I ended up leaving early, as I was feeling really sick and had awful stomach pains all day. I did get my first Christmas card though, which made me smile.



I had counselling first thing on Wednesday morning, which was good because there’s so much going on in my head at the moment. My Dad brought me home and I rested for a bit. He then drove me over to Frimley Park Hospital. The traffic was really good, which meant we were super early. So we had a cuppa in the cafĂ© before heading up to the clinic. I saw the Neurologist, who asked loads of questions about my migraines. She said she’s happy for me to try the drug my Professor suggested but it’s not what they would use if they were just treating migraines (whereas we’re trying to treat Mast Cell problems too). Ironically I had a really bad headache, so when we got home I went to sleep for a bit. Then I spent the afternoon transcribing an interview in preparation for one of my Uni articles. How cute are these tins of shortbread my Mum picked up in Waitrose.



I had to be up really early on Thursday morning so my Dad and I could head up to London. When we got to Waterloo we got a bit of breakfast in Costa Coffee - I do love their porridge! After breakfast we made our way over to Whitechapel to The Royal London Hospital. I got chatting to a couple of ladies in the waiting room who also have EDS, which was nice, as we all understood each other! I spent a long time talking to the Professor and a Nutritionist who was working with him. We’ve tried so many different things that haven’t helped, which is incredibly disheartening. He wants to try me on a drug called Prucalopride, which speeds up intestinal motility and may also help with my Gastroparesis. They also gave me a list of supplements to add to my already extensive list that I take. The Nutritionist then chatted to me for a bit about diet changes I can try, but she said it’s going to be trial and error. I find it quite hard to feel positive or get my hopes up about new plans, as so much hasn’t helped, but I’ll give it a try and hope for the best. We then got a bus towards Oxford Street and went to John Lewis for a bit of lunch. After we’d refuelled, we had a look at Buster’s virtual garden, which looked like fun, and had a little look at the Christmas shop. We had our way back to Waterloo, seeing lots of beautiful Christmas lights, and got the train home. I was absolutely shattered, so curled up on the sofa with Freddie.



My Friday didn’t get off to a great start unfortunately. My Mum took me down to the Doctors for a blood test and the lady who usually does mine was off ill. So one of the nurses was doing them instead. She tried twice in one arm but didn’t have any luck, so I had to go to a different room to see another nurse. She then tried another two times, both of which were incredibly painful for some reason, and still had no luck. By this point I was felling quite faint and couldn’t stop shaking, so they asked me to come back next week. We had to pop next door to Waitrose so I could pick something up, and I decided to treat myself to these beautiful flowers. When we got home I rested for a bit and did some Uni work. At lunchtime my Dad drove me over to Farnham and I met up with my mentor. She helped to reassure me that I could get everything done by the deadlines and to stop stressing! In the afternoon we had our Law lecture and discussed some pretty sensitive topics. It was good to come home, as I was shattered, so I had a nap on the sofa and watched some trashy TV.



It was nice to have a bit of a lie-in on Saturday morning, as I was absolutely shattered after the last week. My brother popped round so I could film an interview with him about the effects alcohol has on the ambulance service for Uni next week. It was good to get that done and have a story in the bag for Tuesday. I then spent quite a lot of time procrastinating – I found it really hard to motivate myself to get started with the article I’m meant to be writing. Still, in the end I made a start, and I spent the rest of the day writing an article about coping with chronic pain for my portfolio. I actually managed to get it finished and sent to my lecturer for feedback, so I was pretty pleased I’d managed to be so productive! Once I’d finished that, I decided to write a couple of penpal letters and watch some programmes I’d recorded during the week. My Mum got my advent calendar out and has mostly filled the boxes for me, which is very kind of her. Plus, as it was a couple of days late it meant I could open three doors in one day!

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!


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