The last week seems to have flown by, and I’m
not quite sure how I’m already writing another Sunday Snippets. I’ve only got a
couple of weeks left at Uni before Easter, so things are getting pretty manic
with deadlines all approaching. At the moment I feel a bit like I’m trying to
spin a whole host of plates – when I feel like I’m getting on top of one thing,
I suddenly realise there’s something else that needs to be done too. But I’m
getting there slowly (I hope!) I’ve been having a lot of problems with severe
nausea again this week, which isn’t much fun. It’s something I have suffered
with for years, but sometimes it’s bearable and other times (like now!) it’s
just incredibly overwhelming. So that’s been making things a bit more of a
challenge, but I keep plodding on.
Last Sunday was quite a nice day – in the
morning I got to catch up with one of my closest friends, Sarah. We first met
at preschool, and then her family moved in across the road from me. From day
one we were pretty much inseparable, spending every spare minute together doing
all sorts of things including marathon sessions on her Nintendo 64 and various
arts and crafts. I was a bridesmaid at her wedding and although she has now
moved to live with her husband in West Sussex, we still chat via text most
days. So it was lovely when she told me she was coming back to see her parents
at the weekend, and we arranged to get together on Sunday morning. We had a big
catch-up and it was so nice to just be able to chat face-to-face. When I came
home I spent some time working on my blog. I then curled up on the sofa to
watch Finding Nemo (is anyone else ridiculously excited about Finding Dory
coming out in July?!) and filled in the forms I was sent to reapply for my
driving license. We actually got some post as well, which is very unusual, but
I was happy because it was my new heat pack. I’m having a lot of problems with
my neck – ever since my seizure it has been a lot more painful, so I’m hoping this
will provide some relief.
On Monday morning I went to have my hair cut,
which I always enjoy, but I could barely keep my eyes open and kept having
dizzy spells, so that spoilt it a bit. Afterwards, I popped to the newsagent
next door to get a passport photo for my driving license forms. These photos
must be the most unflattering photos
in existence! I came home and spent a few hours working on my Uni essay, which
I’m slowly making progress on. In the afternoon I had an appointment with my
GP. My iron levels have gone up a tiny bit, but they’re still very low so I’m
back on the iron tablets at a higher dose in the hope it will help. She said
it’s likely I will have to take them on a long-term basis, so that’s another
medication to add to my ever-growing list! We also chatted about a few other
things and she started me on another new medication as well. I then had an
appointment for an ECG, as the last one didn’t work. They couldn’t get a
reading again, so called my GP in, but she didn’t understand why it was only
giving half a reading. It had been working fine all day and both the nurse and
my GP said they’d never seen a reading like it! So I was sent away again and
told I would get a phone call once my GP had spoken to the other doctors in the
practice. I was writing some birthday cards during this afternoon and found
this pretty ‘happy times’ lettering on the back of one of them, which I thought
fitted in quite well with my happy photo theme.
I had an early start on Tuesday with another
physio appointment. This time he showed me how to use a TENS machine, as
they’re lending me one to try out for a few weeks. I wasn’t sure I’d like it,
but the setting he used on me felt OK so I’m hoping it might give me a bit of a
relief from the pain. I then spent a couple of hours working on my essay for
Uni, and finally managed to get the plan finished and submitted. My Mum then
took me to the hospital to see my mental health care co-ordinator. We ended up
chatting for nearly an hour and a half, but I just feel that nothing I say is
taken very seriously any more. I just get the feeling that because I’ve been
unwell for so long, they start to lose interest a bit and think I should be
able to cope by now, but that’s really not the case. If anything, it seems to
get harder the longer it goes on. I did get a little bit irritated by something
she said, which is a shame because up until now she seems to have been quite
understanding. I told her how much I was struggling with eating disorder
related things, and her response was “but you’re not losing weight are you?” It
just upset me because how are we meant to get the general public to understand
that eating disorders aren’t all about being underweight when even
professionals don’t get it? Anyway, after that I had a long chat with my Mum on
the way home, which helped a bit. I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up
on Gogglebox and checking my blog emails. Alfie was fast asleep on the other
sofa and looked so cute and peaceful.
On Wednesday I had a completely free day, which
is pretty rare and so was very nice and much needed! I had a bit of a lie-in
and woke up to torrential rain and wind, which put my plans for the day out of
the window. I had planned to take some outfit photos outside for a Uni project
and my blog, but it wasn’t going to happen. But I really needed to get at least
one photo for Uni, so I did my make-up (I need to master doing my eyebrows, as
it’s something I don’t currently do but I think it would make a difference) and
my Dad took some snaps of me inside. I wasn’t that happy with them, but I had
to work with what I had. I then filmed a doggy themed video for my YouTube
channel (twice, because I forgot to switch the microphone on the first time!),
before collapsing on the sofa and falling asleep. I really wanted to film a
second video and get some editing done, but had completely run out of energy.
So in the end I curled up on the sofa and wrote a few penpal letters.
Thursday is my full day at Uni, so quite a
contrast to my chilled out Wednesday. In the morning I spent quite a long time
working on an article about the EU referendum for the newspaper we are all
putting together. At lunch, I went to Costa (not Starbucks this time!) with a
few friends, which was a nice break from being in the classroom and we all had
a good chat. Then in the afternoon we worked on the layout of the newspaper and
tried to start working out a page order. I drew this very rough little plan for
the fashion spread I’m doing with my friend, Nina. As you can probably tell,
I’m not an artist! It was really good to get home, as I was completely
shattered by the end of the day. I fell asleep on the sofa for a while and then
just spent the evening chilling out and watching YouTube videos.
I managed to have quite a relaxed day on
Friday, which was lovely after my busy Thursday. I had a pretty quiet morning,
which was nice, and then late morning my Dad drove me over to Uni so I could
meet up with my learning mentor. We went through all the work I still have left
to do, and talked through anything I was worried about, which is always really
helpful. I didn’t have an afternoon lecture like I usually do, so while we were
over that way my Dad and I went to the disability equipment shop, as I’d had a
phone call to say the electric wheelchair had come in. I had a bit of a play
with it and it seems pretty good. The only problem is it’s really heavy to
lift, even if they separate it into smaller parts, which means it’s unlikely I
will be able to go out on my own in my car and use the chair. So we’re going to
do a bit more research to see if there’s anything else out there that might be
easier for me to lift. We then headed over to my brother, David’s, flat on our
way home, had a peek at his new sofa and then he came home with us. In the
afternoon I managed to get a blog post up and almost finished editing a video
for my YouTube. I then had another appointment at the doctors for an ECG, and
this time we just about managed to get a reading – third time lucky! I know my
photos are a bit dog heavy this week, but I couldn’t resist taking a picture of
Alfie cuddled up with his teddy!
Yesterday was really lovely, as for once, I
decided to try and put thoughts of Uni work out of my head. I had a nice lie-in
and leisurely breakfast, which I think is what weekends should be all about. I
chilled out with the dogs for a bit and chatted to my Mum, and she then took me
down to Waitrose so I could pick up some crusty bread for lunch. After chilling
out a bit more in front of The Simpsons, my friend Becky arrived. I introduced
her to the dogs, and we played with them for a while. After a yummy lunch, we
settled down on the sofa to watch ‘In her shoes’ – an afternoon of chick flicks
is always good! We also chatted away and treated ourselves to a Mini Eggs cake,
which was yummy. Unfortunately, after Becky left I felt really unwell, probably
because I’d tried to eat things I shouldn’t, so that wasn’t much fun. It’s
difficult because there are so many things I’ve been told not to eat, but even
if I just eat what I’m meant to, I still feel unwell, so sometimes I just lose
my motivation to follow the strict diet I’ve been advised to stick to. Plus the
fact I just want to have a life and enjoy food like everyone else does. Trying
to recover from an eating disorder and having gastroparesis is proving rather
difficult to say the least. I had a quiet evening enjoying a soak in the bath
and curling up on the sofa with some YouTube videos.
If you haven’t read my blog before, I just
wanted to let you know that I have a second blog, which mainly focuses on my
health in more depth than I talk about it here. It’s largely for friends and
family to follow and keep up with what’s going on, but if it’s something you
would be interested in reading as well, you are more than welcome to follow me
over there. I’ve actually changed the name from Unicorns and Floral Crowns to
‘Zebra Crossing’ and you can find it by clicking here. I’ve also finally managed to update it, so there’s actually
something for you to read now! And I’m hoping to keep updating it more
regularly from now on. I’m also trying to post on Snapchat a bit more, so if
you fancy following me, my username is Jennycole44.
What have you been up to this week? I always
enjoy hearing about your news and adventures!
