I want to start by apologising for not being very
active on my blog, YouTube and social media in the last couple of weeks, and
for not posting last week’s Sunday Snippets. You’ll find out more in this
double bill of my Sunday post, but it’s been a pretty difficult week or so with
my health. I had hoped to post last Sunday, but I just wasn’t well enough and
as much as I gave myself a hard time about it, I knew it was better for me to
just rest and give my body time to heal. So, I hope you will enjoy this double
bill, and hopefully I can gradually get back to posting here and on YouTube
more regularly.
Let me take you back to Sunday 19th March
(which feels like ages ago now!) I got up fairly late and, after I’d had my
breakfast, I sorted out my medication for the week ahead. I got a YouTube video uploading (although it ended up failing in the end) and then wrote and
uploaded my Sunday blog post. I had my lunch and watched a programme I’d
recorded about the Mystery of the Man on the Moor. It was such an interesting
story but so sad that they still don’t know exactly what happened. I spent
quite a while sorting out all my bank statements to send off for my ESA, which
was rather stressful trying to print the right bits off. I then put Family Guy
on in the background and did some Law reading. My Grandma came over for dinner
in the evening, which was nice. I wore my new Mickey Mouse jumper from Primark and tried to take a Snapchat of it, but ended up cutting out the design, so I’m
afraid you’re stuck with my face instead!
On Monday 20th, my Dad drove me over to Uni
first thing and we met my support worker, who was back from Dubai. She kindly
brought me back this Starbucks mug, which was so sweet of her. I’ve wanted to start collecting these location
mugs for ages but never been anywhere to find one, so this can be the start of
my collection. Maybe one day I’ll get to go somewhere exciting to find another
one! In the morning we did a news quiz and then looked through an article.
After that, we had to shoot five shot sequences of each other in the radio
studios and edit them together. I had my Fortisip and chatted to the girls over
lunch. We seemed to be laughing at everything, which was nice. In the afternoon
we were given a fake story about the university pool tables, and we had to film
and edit sequences about that. The funniest part was watching my friend,
Shanae, attempt to play pool – we laughed a hell of a lot! I had a really bad
tummy ache when I got home, so had some peppermint tea in my new mug.
I had a bit of a lie-in on Tuesday 21st,
then finally got my YouTube video uploading again (and it actually worked this
time!) While that was uploading I watched This Morning and did a bit of tidying
in my bedroom. At around lunchtime my friend Kayleigh picked me up and we went
over to the cinema in Farnborough to see Beauty and the Beast. I knew it would
be good, but I didn’t realise how good! It had me laughing in some places and
tearing up in others (why did I cry when they danced to Tale as Old as Time?!)
The music and singing were amazing and as soon as it finished I just wanted to
watch it again! Kayleigh dropped me off at home and I spent the rest of the
afternoon resting on the sofa with Freddie.
I got up fairly late on Wednesday 22nd,
again! I spent the morning editing some photos and downloading videos off my
camera onto my computer. I then wrote part of a blog post, but ran out of time
to finish it. I had my Fortisip and watched an episode of The Coroner. It came
on the news about the terror attack in Westminster, which was just awful. I
immediately contacted my brother, David, who works in London, to check that he
was safe. Thankfully he was at his work (he installs sound systems in theatres
all over London) so wasn’t near the attack, and was able to get home safely. I
felt really shaky though – it’s so close to home and I can’t get my head around
how someone can do that to innocent people. My Mum took me down to Waitrose and
the newsagent so I could get some magazines for my hospital visit on Friday. I
also picked up this Clipper tea for an Easter swap I’m doing. When I got home I rested for a bit, then in
the evening I watched DIY SOS, which had my lovely friend Chloe in it. I felt
so proud of her! Unfortunately, I was also feeling really sick and had a really
bad tummy ache.
I managed to turn my alarm off and oversleep on
Thursday 23rd, which was a bit annoying, as I had things I wanted to
get done. I did have time to finish my blog post though and got that uploaded.
My Mum took me down to the hairdressers around lunchtime and I had my hair
coloured. It was nice to be pampered for a bit and read my book, and it helped
take my mind off going into hospital the following day. When I got home my Dad
had just got back from my Grandma’s with a case full of old photos and letters,
so we spent a while looking through some of those. I’m hoping to use some of
the letters for my university assignment article. These flowers that I ordered
for Mother’s Day had also arrived. They came earlier than I’d expected, as they
were meant to come at the weekend, but my Mum really liked them so I guess it
just spreads it out a bit. I watched some TV and did some admin bits on my
laptop for the rest of the afternoon.
Friday 24th was hospital day, so I was up
super early in the morning, which wasn’t much fun. My Dad drove me over to
Frimley Park Hospital and pushed me up to the Day Surgery Unit. I found out I
was last on the morning list and there weren’t enough beds, so I sat in the
waiting area reading my book until about 9am. I was then taken to my bed, where
I changed into my gown and read a bit more of my book. It turned out they’d had
three cancellations on the list, so I was take to theatre earlier than planned.
I didn’t actually know what they were going to do until I got into theatre, but
I then met my doctor and we discussed the procedure. I was given a heavy
sedation – it felt more like they knocked me out completely, as I had no
awareness of anything. While I was out of it they did injections of local
anaesthetic and steroids in my abdomen and occipital nerves (base of skull).
They also did something called Pulsed Radio Frequency in my occipital nerves,
where they basically burn the nerves to stun them, in the hope they will reset
and pain will decrease. I came round in recovery and when my oxygen levels and
everything were OK, I was taken back up to the ward. I dozed for a bit and had
a cup of tea. The nurse helped me on my feet and to get dressed, and then when
I was well enough my Dad brought me home. I spent all afternoon sleeping. I was
feeling really sore – they tell you that the pain is likely to get a lot worse
before it gets any better. I also had a lot of numbness in my right arm and
side, which worried me a bit. They checked I could feel and move my legs when I
woke up, as the procedure can result in paralysis, but I didn’t think to
mention my arm. I was also very tearful – anaesthetics always make my
depression so much worse.
I didn’t have a great night going into Saturday 25th.
I cried myself to sleep and was feeling very low, scared and lonely. Then I
didn’t sleep well because every time I moved, the pain woke me up. I got up
fairly late and had a bit of breakfast. It then took me ages to get dressed
because I felt really dizzy and breathless, so kept having to rest. I spent the
rest of the morning sleeping on the sofa. My Mum woke me up at around 2pm so I
could have a bit of lunch. My friend, Lilli, popped round for a little chat,
which was a nice distraction. I was pretty shattered after she left, so I
curled up under my blanket and dozed whilst watching Brave and Despicable Me.
This little man was glued to my side all day, but I was trying to keep him away
from my tummy. So he took to lying on my legs instead, which helped me stay
calm. I kept crying throughout the day, so was just trying to get through a few
minutes at a time. My pain was getting worse, so I stayed dosed up on
painkillers, and I struggled to do much with my right hand as it was still very
numb.
Last Sunday I got up pretty late, partly due to the
clocks changing and partly because I was in a lot of pain and exhausted. Eating
my breakfast was a struggle because my nausea and abdominal pain were really
playing up. I spent ages doing my medication for the week ahead – my right arm
and hand were still quite numb, which was making things tricky. I spent the
morning asleep on the sofa. My Mum woke me up at about 2.30pm and I had my
Foritisp and left a message with the specialist pain nurses about my numbness.
I had hoped to write my Sunday blog post, but I just felt too unwell. So I just
curled up under my blanket, dozed and watched bits on TV. My Mum opened her
card and present from me. I felt so bad that I wasn’t able to give her a nice
Mother’s Day, but hoped we could do something when I felt a bit better. Richard
and Lisa came over for dinner and we all chatted, which was nice, but I started
feeling really breathless and dizzy so had to rest.
My lovely Mum bought these beautiful flowers home from
Waitrose for me on Mother’s Day. It definitely should have been the other way
round! But she wanted to cheer me up.
The specialist pain nurse rang me on Monday morning
and said she was concerned about my numbness but unfortunately my consultant
was away so couldn’t see me. So she asked me to try and get an appointment with
my GP or go to A&E. Thankfully my Mum was able to get me an appointment
with my GP in the afternoon, as I really didn’t fancy sitting in A&E so
soon after my surgery. I spent the morning asleep on the sofa again. My Mum
woke me up at about 2pm, so I had my Fortisip and watched a bit of TV. We went
down to see my GP at around 4pm – she did various tests to check my reflexes,
strength and what I could feel. She confirmed that I had weakness and loss of
sensation in my right side, from my cheek to my hip. She then tried to phone
the hospital to speak to a specialist doctor, but couldn’t get through, so sent
me home so I could rest. Her secretary rang me a bit later to tell me my GP had
spoken to a doctor at the hospital. They thought they had probably caught
something when they did my procedure, but unfortunately there was nothing they
could do if that was the case, so I was advised to watch and wait. They said I
should be getting an appointment with my doctor when he gets back, but that I
could ring the hospital if things got worse. The anaesthetic had also made my
POTS go crazy – one minute I was freezing, then I was sweating buckets, and my
heart was constantly racing. This Tea Tourist box came in
the post for me to review though, which made me smile.
My new electric wheelchair was delivered first thing
on Tuesday morning, which was rather exciting. I spent most of the morning
lying on the sofa, watching a bit of TV and feeling generally crap. My heart
was racing, I kept sweating like crazy and I just felt exhausted. At lunchtime
I had my Fortisip and opened a bit of post. My Dad then took me for a little
outing in my new wheelchair. We went behind our house in the woods and back
around our estate a bit. It was crazy, as I haven’t been able to see these
places for longer than I can remember! It was quite hard work with my hand
being numb and it completely wore me out, but it was so amazing to get out and
to move myself independently! I collapsed on the sofa when we got back and
rested for quite a while. I then tried to do a bit of browsing on my laptop, as
I need to keep trying to use my hand in the hope I can strengthen it. I
(perhaps stupidly) decided I wanted to wash my hair, as I hadn’t been able to
do it since coming home from hospital. I used my bath board and had my shower
on the wall, but it was really hard. I ended up sitting there sobbing while I
tried to dry my hair, which wasn’t the greatest way to end the day.
I saw this beautiful blossom on my little wheelchair
trip.
I had a pretty bad night with lots of pain, crying and
not much sleep. But I somehow managed to get up on Wednesday morning and my Mum
took me down to my counseling session. I’d contemplated cancelling it, but I’m
glad I didn’t, as I really needed to talk to someone. It definitely helped to
get things off my chest. I was feeling quite unwell by the end; so fell asleep
on the sofa as soon as I got in. I didn’t wake up until early afternoon, which
wasn’t what I’d planned but I felt wiped out. I also had an awful headache, but
that was expected after my surgery. This boy was sharing a sofa with me and
looked equally sleepy! My Dad and I watched the first episode of Vera from the
new series, and then I did a bit more browsing on my laptop.
I got up quite late on Thursday after another bad
night of crying myself to sleep. I felt very low and really needed some help. I
still felt very wiped out so rested on the sofa, watched TV and dozed a bit. I
let the dogs out in the garden for a few minutes and it was nice to feel the
sun on my face. In the afternoon my Mum took me over to Tesco so I could get
out of the house and pick up a few things. They had Disney DVDs on offer so I
added a couple more to my collection and also picked up some TsumTsum
squishies. It completely wore me out but it was good to get out. I rested for a
while when I got home. My numbness seemed to be getting a tiny bit better,
which is hopefully a good sign, although the right side of my face was very
numb.
I had a bit of a lie in on Friday and then rested for
most of the morning. My Dad took me over to Uni and I met up with my mentor. I
updated her on what’s been going on and we talked through a bit of an action
plan for the next week. My support worker then met me and took me up to my Law
lecture. We went through loads of things that might come up in next week’s
exam. It was pretty intense but very useful. My Dad brought me home and I
crashed out on the sofa for a while – Uni wiped me out! In the evening I
watched some YouTube and tried to relax.
On Saturday morning my Mum, David, Emma and I went
over to Finkley Down Farm in Andover. They pushed me round and we saw lots of cute animals, including
some adorable babies. We were so lucky with the weather, as the sun shone all
morning. At lunchtime we decided to drive to a gastro pub we’d found on Trip
Advisor a few miles away and have a bit of lunch there. It was really pretty in
the middle of the countryside, and just as we got in, the heavens opened. After
lunch, David drove us back home. My Mum and I popped into Waitrose to get a
couple of things, then I crashed out on the sofa and fell asleep. I spent my
evening watching Saturday Night Takeaway, Casualty and All Round to Mrs
Brown’s.
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 we’re so nearly there!
I 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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