Sunday Snippets - 8th January 2017

This week it’s been back to reality with a bit of a bump. I had to go into hospital for an operation on Friday, which has thrown my plans up in the air quite a bit. So I apologise in advance if blog content is a bit all over the place for the next few weeks (and if this post doesn’t make any sense at all!) as it’s going to take me a while to recover. I’m also meant to be back at Uni next week, and have work experience the week after, but I think I’m just going to have to play it by ear and listen to my body (which, believe me, is easier said than done when your brain wants you to do ‘normal’ person stuff but your body doesn’t quite work like that!)

I needed a good lie-in last Sunday morning after staying up so late on New Year’s Eve. My morning was pretty lazy really, just sorting out my medication for the week ahead, watching TV and organising a few photos. We had our roast at lunchtime, as Rosiie wasn’t working, and David and Emma (my brother and sister-in-law) came over, which was nice. I chatted to them for a bit after lunch and then spent some time writing and uploading a double Sunday Snippets post. I spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in front of the fire watching YouTube videos and opening some of my Christmas presents from friends. I also started planning a Happiness Project, inspired by Gretchen Rubin, which I’d like to try and do this year.

I had a pretty boring day on Monday, but managed to get some things done, which is always good. I got up quite late, so a lot of the morning had already gone – oops! I spent most of the day on the sofa with my laptop doing a piece of Uni work. I knew it was going to take me a while, as I had to collate lots of emails together before I could write my article, but it seemed to take a lot longer than I’d hoped it would. I did watch a bit of TV as well though, which probably didn’t help! I also read through my sister’s essay for college. I was hoping to open the rest of my Christmas presents from friends, but just ran out of time so planned to hopefully do them the following day. I decided to treat myself to a gingerbread treat in the afternoon – these adorable mini cupcakes are from Waitrose and the tea from Bluebird Tea Co is seriously amazing. Especially in my wintery mug from Jilly Jilly Design.

I got up earlier than I’d planned on Tuesday morning, but unfortunately had a pounding headache. I find if I wake up with a headache like that, then it lasts all day, so I didn’t expect to have a very productive day. But actually I did pretty well. I opened the rest of my Christmas presents from my lovely friends, who spoilt me rotten this year. I then spent a while filming my ‘What I got for Christmas’ video. After I’d finished filming, I tidied away a few of my presents. I then spent the rest of the afternoon editing my video and uploading it onto my YouTube channel. It’s got to be the first time I’ve ever managed to film, edit and upload a video all in the same day! I felt pretty shattered by the end of it though and still had my headache, so snuggled on the sofa with a cup of tea in my new Disney Cheshire Cat mug. These English Tea Shop Christmas teas were from my friend Emma, and I’m so excited to try them all!

On Wednesday I had a fairly quiet morning watching This Morning and doing a few odd jobs. My Dad then took me over to Frimley Park Hospital for my pre-op appointment. I saw a nurse first (who recognised me from other pre-op’s) who went through my medication list and various other checks, and then saw another lady (who also recognised me!) to have a load of blood taken. She managed to get it first time, which is unusual for my rubbish veins! I didn’t feel brilliant when I got home, so snuggled under a blanket and watched a programme I’d recorded over Christmas. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing Uni work followed by some paperwork I’d been meaning to sort out since before Christmas. I popped to Waitrose with my Mum, as I needed a couple of essentials. I’ve started feeling very low over the last week – January blues are definitely starting to sink in. In the evening I couldn’t find Freddie anywhere, so went to look for him upstairs (where he’s not meant to be) and found him sitting on the landing in front of the radiator. He refused to come when I called him, and when I went to pick him up he just rolled over and waited for me to rub his tummy. He’s always good at making me laugh.

Thursday was a fairly quiet one, which was just what I needed before my operation on Friday. I did a bit of blog related work on my computer after I was up and dressed. Then I had a reflexology session, which was lovely and relaxing and I got to use my new cat eye mask from the Velvet Ghost Primark range. I was definitely dropping off towards the end! After lunch, I took my little Christmas tree and the rest of my decorations down. Everything looks so bare and dark now. For the rest of the afternoon I watched Friends and wrote a few thank you letters. I was feeling quite nervous about my operation, so tried to keep myself distracted during the evening.

I had to be up very early on Friday so I could have some breakfast before 7am, which wasn’t much fun. I had a pretty quiet morning watching TV and doing some bits on my laptop. My Dad took me over to Frimley Park Hospital and dropped me off in the Day Surgery Unit. After a while I was taken to my bed, got into my gown and was admitted. The Urologist came round to see me, followed by the anaesthetist, who took one look at my file and said, “Right, I think we’ll have to start from the beginning with you!” I was fourth on the list, so had to wait around for a while, which meant I was able to finish my book and doze a bit. I was taken down to theatre around 4pm, feeling quite nervous, but the staff were all lovely and chatted to me to put me at ease. Next thing I remember was waking up in recovery feeling very sore and groggy, as well as feeling boiling hot. I had a temperature and it took me a long time to come round from the anaesthetic and get my observations stable. But once they’d calmed down, they took me back to the ward to recover a bit more. They’d put a catheter back in until things settled down. The lady looking after me on the ward said they’d have to bring me back in to remove it, but then the urology nurse came over and told her I was an expert with catheters and could do it myself! So I’ll keep it in until the pain dies down a bit. They weren’t sure about letting me home, as I was still very wobbly and my temperature wasn’t great, but thankfully I managed to persuade them, as I just wanted to be in my own bed. My Dad brought me home at about 9pm and my Mum helped me get into my pyjamas. I then cuddled my Dad on the sofa for a while before going to bed.

I didn’t have a great night on Friday night – pain kept waking me up and I was feeling very anxious and tearful, which always seems to happen after I’ve had an operation. I woke up very late on Saturday morning still feeling very sore, dizzy and sick. I managed to have a bit of breakfast and then my Mum helped me to get myself dressed. I then curled up on the sofa and fell asleep. My Dad woke me up at 3pm so I could try and get a Fortisip down me, as I’m really struggling to eat, more so than usual. I spent the rest of the afternoon snuggled under a blanket with Freddie watching TV.

You can check out my YouTube channel here, where I have recently uploaded a few new videos (and hope to continue doing!)

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What have you been up to this week? I always enjoy hearing about your news and adventures!

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Sunday Snippets - 10th January 2016

It feels like we’re really back to reality now and Christmas seems a mere memory. In some ways I do like it when things get back to normal, although I hate how dark and empty everything feels now that all the decorations have been taken down. But it is nice to tidy everything up, and my plan for the next month or so is to start a big spring clean and really try to get myself organised!

Last Sunday started with me going to church with my Dad. I haven’t been a regular churchgoer for the last few years, as I’ve found it very difficult to keep my faith when things have been so difficult. But I went a few times around Christmas and enjoyed the atmosphere, seeing old friends and just listening to what was said, so have decided I am going to try and go a bit more often this year. My Dad often helps out at church with the sound or the music, so when he’s not doing that I’m going to hopefully go along with him and just see how things go. I had a fairly productive day doing some blogging, making a photo calendar for my Grandma and opening the rest of my Christmas presents that my friends had kindly sent me.

I also opened up my Good Things Jar from last year and read through all the pieces of paper I had put in it. For anyone that doesn’t know what a Good Things Jar is, it’s basically just a jar that you fill with good things over the course of a year! I went with a different colour paper for each month, which makes it a bit more colourful, but you could put other things in it as well such as cinema tickets, letters or little mementos from things you’ve done. It’s a really nice visual reminder of all the happy things that have happened, and I find it really helpful as I often struggle to remember the good things. I’ve decided that rather than throwing them all away like I did last year, that I’m going to make some sort of scrapbook, which I will then add to each year, as I think it will be a lovely thing to look through when I’m feeling down.

On Monday I started back at Uni – thankfully we were only in for a couple of hours in the morning though, so it was a gentle start! I then came home and decided to film a YouTube video. Yes, you heard it right! I filmed my first video in nine months and can’t wait to get back to doing it properly! I’m just waiting for my Dad to help me install some video editing software (Final Cut Pro for anyone that’s interested) on my Mac, so I can then edit the video and get it uploaded. I’ve missed filming my videos so much, so I’m really hoping I can get back to it properly now. In the afternoon I had to make a few phone calls (mainly for medical things) and my CPN gave me a call to check up on me. We also had to take Jaffa (my cat) to the vets, as I’ve been a bit worried about him recently. Thankfully the vet didn’t think it was anything serious, but we need to keep an eye on him and are giving a ‘Feliway’ a try to see if it can help with his anxiety. I also managed to take my Christmas decorations down in my bedroom and then collapsed on the sofa exhausted!

Tuesday started off quite nicely, but unfortunately went downhill rather quickly. I had a quiet morning and then went to get my hair cut around lunchtime, which I always enjoy. My Dad then picked me up and took me over to the hospital for an appointment with my gastroenterologist. However, when we arrived we were told the appointment had been cancelled by the secretary because she didn’t think I needed to be seen, as I’m having input from the professor in London! That was bad enough, but I hadn’t been informed about any of this, hence why we turned up for the appointment. They went to speak to the consultant, as she was still running a clinic there, and we were told I could either wait to see her at the end of the clinic or rebook (but they didn’t have another appointment for weeks!) We ended up camping out in the waiting room for four hours and were finally seen, by which time I was feeling really unwell. Because the appointment had been cancelled, they didn’t have any of my notes, which made things harder. We talked about the new diet the professor has suggested, but she said changing my diet won’t improve my gastroparesis and that tube feeding may have to be an option if we can’t improve things soon. She’s going to contact a few people and I need to make a few calls to see what we can organise. Thankfully, when I came home I was greeted by these Disney DVDs I’d ordered to add to my collection.

Luckily Wednesday was a bit quieter, so I could relax a bit. A lady came to do some more training with me for my DSA equipment, which I always find quite tiring. I then had to make a few phone calls after Tuesday’s appointment and now have a telephone appointment with the gastro professor at the end of January to discuss what to do next and how to progress with this diet. I then rang Stanmore and found out that the referral letter that was (supposedly) sent to them back in July was never received, so I’ve spent nearly six months assuming I’m on their waiting list when in reality I haven’t been. In retrospect I should have phoned them sooner, but it’s so hard to keep on top of everything when you see ten plus specialists. I spent the rest of the afternoon huddled in a blanket wrapping belated Christmas presents for some of my friends, as I was really crap at getting any sent out in time. While I was sorting through the presents I found these cute Paperchase princess stickers that I picked up in the sales, so I’m looking forward to using them either in my scrapbooking or penpal letters.

Thursday things were well and truly back to reality, as I had my first full day at Uni. I was actually getting really anxious about it the night before, as I’ve been so exhausted recently and my pain has got worse, so I was scared about how ill it would make me feel. But it turned out to be a really fun day, and it was so nice to catch up with some of my friends that I hadn’t seen on Monday. I had a bit of a panic in the morning when I looked at my timetable and saw that we were meant to be in half an hour earlier. After rushing to get there and getting stuck in a flooded road that resembled a river, we were told that the timetable was actually wrong, so I turned out to be early! I was quite happy though, as it meant I didn’t have to stay an extra hour at the end of the day either! The morning was spent talking about our new project, then in the afternoon I had a go at presenting a TV news broadcast, which was so much fun, controlling a camera and helping to direct in the gallery.

On Friday we had another full day at Uni, which was a challenge after having one the day before, but thankfully it’s only happening for two weeks. In the morning we had a timed assessment, which was a bit mind-boggling but I did the best I could. Over lunch I saw my mentor and we had a good catch up, followed by a lecture. On the way home, my Dad and I popped into the chemist to see if their back heat pads were still on offer, but unfortunately they weren’t so I’m going to have a look on Amazon to see what I can find to try. When I got home I opened this sparkle-filled box from Crown and Glory (which I will try and do a separate blog post on if I can get my act together!) then crashed on the sofa with a cup of Christmas tea.

Yesterday was a nice chilled out day, which I really needed after a difficult week. It started with a lie-in, which is something I always look forward to during the week (I probably sound really sad, but when you suffer from chronic fatigue it’s nice to be able to get some sleep!) I then went to see my friend Katy for a back, neck and shoulder massage, which I really needed as pain levels are creeping up as I reduce my Tramadol. I spent a few hours at home snuggled on the sofa with Alfie (our dog) before my friend, Becky, and her boyfriend picked me up. Becky and I went to Costa for a cup of tea and a catch up, which is always nice. Then we had a quick look in Homesense and Outfit, but I was very good and only bought one thing (which I had planned to buy).

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. It’s called Unicorns and Floral Crowns and you can find it by clicking here. I haven’t updated it for a while, but I hope to get into a routine soon. 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!

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Sunday Snippets - 20th December 2015

I’m sitting here watching Toy Story 3, in my Christmas jumper and burning a Yankee Snowflake Cookie candle to try and hide my latest fragrance, eau de deep heat! It’s been another fairly busy (and stressful!) week and I’m really struggling with pain after having to reduce my pain medication by 50%. Not what I need just before Christmas. I’m a little more organised than when I wrote last week – family gifts are almost sorted, but I’ve had to tell my friends that their presents will be late. I’m just trying to concentrate on the fact that Christmas shouldn’t be about all the presents, decorations etc, but about spending time with family and friends.

Last Sunday I somehow managed to get myself to the Christingle service at our church, which is always one of my favourite services. Unfortunately my POTS has really been playing up and I was finding it increasingly difficult to stay upright, but I managed it and that was the main thing. In the afternoon I settled down on the lounge floor to write some of my Christmas cards. I spread them all out on the floor, set up my iPad so I could catch up on some of Zoella’s videos and Alfie came to ‘help’ me by lying on top of the cards!

Monday was a fairly chilled day, which I needed after going out on Sunday. I spent the morning taking some photos for a blog post I’m hoping to get up before Christmas. I then had a session of reflexology, which I find really relaxing (and I’m pretty sure I fell asleep once or twice!) She used mandarin essential oil, which I really loved – it’s such a happy scent and I’m tempted to treat myself to some, but I’m not really sure what to do with it! I spent the afternoon writing more Christmas cards, and this little fella came and snuggled up on my lap.

Tuesday was pretty boring, but I wore these Percy Pig socks and then the Primark reindeer slippers to brighten my day. In the morning I had some more training for my DSA computer equipment, which always really tires me out. The afternoon was spent writing more Christmas cards, but I’m finding it very hard to feel motivated about Christmas at the moment. It all just feels a bit false, but I’m hoping it will get a little easier.

On Wednesday I had a really quiet morning (I got up rather late, so didn’t have much of a morning!) We had a session of Family Therapy in the afternoon, which is always pretty difficult and draining. Thankfully, my friends Helen and Sam, who I went to college with, brightened my evening up. They picked me up and took me to see these amazing Christmas lights. There’s a little box outside the house, which has buttons to press for 4 or 5 different songs. When each song plays there is a light display, and it’s all for charity. It definitely lifted my spirits and made me feel a bit more Christmassy. We then went out for a bit of dinner, and ended up chatting until the restaurant was closing!

On Thursday I ended up waking up a lot later than I planned, but I just seem to be even more exhausted than usual at the moment. I went to have my hair dyed so I’m now looking very festive with my red shiny hair. I then set up camp on the lounge floor again to continue writing my cards and watching Zoella. I’m loving that so many people are doing vlogmas – I think I’m going to have to spend January catching up with them all though! I’m determined that one year I will get round to doing vlogmas, but first I need to update my vlogging camera. My sister went to Pets at Home to buy the dogs some bits for Christmas, and she treated them to a bone each. As you can see, they were very excited by this!

Friday was a day of two extremes. I started with an early hospital appointment with a Dietician, to try and discuss the diet the professor wants me to do. Unfortunately it wasn’t that successful, and she’s suggested I try a completely liquid diet for six weeks to give my digestive system a break. I’m going to have to contact the professor to find out what to do, as I’m getting conflicting advice from different professionals.

My day then got much brighter though when my Dad drove me down to Winchester to catch up with a couple of friends. I met Jenny through an M.E. charity, and then went on to meet Sophie through Jenny! Sophie and I have been trying to meet up with each other since the summer, but life has kept getting in our way, so I was so happy to finally see her, and seeing Jenny was a very happy bonus. We went out to a cute little café for a spot of lunch (and lots of chatting!), which was so lovely. Jenny then went home, and Sophie and I went back to hers. We spent a good hour chatting away before my Dad came to pick me up. I had brought a whole bag of craft bits to do with them, but we ended up chatting too much, which is fine by me! I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions, but I definitely want to aim to catch up with these two more often in 2016.

On Saturday I was meant to get up at about 9am. At 9.45am my Mum came in to ask me if I was getting up – oops! I had a very quick breakfast and then my Mum took me round to our friend’s so I could have a massage. I needed it so much, especially with my back being as painful as it is (I received a letter from my pain consultant to say my scan shows I have advanced degenerative disc disease, as well as a tear/rupture near a disc in my lower back) and it was also good to have some time to completely relax. I ended up falling asleep with Freddie curled up on me when I got home, which was a bit frustrating as I have so much to do! But through the afternoon I managed to get all my cards addressed and all the presents bought for my family and a few friends. The cards are going to arrive late, but I’m just trying to be kind to myself and congratulate myself for actually doing them when it’s the last thing I feel like doing. I’m hoping people won’t mind the fact that I’m so disorganised this year – hopefully receiving presents going into January will help spread out the Christmas cheer and alleviate the January blues. We also decorated the tree in our lounge, and I put these hearts on that I bought after we lost my Gran. I thought it was a nice way to remember the people we no longer have with us.

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. It’s called Unicorns and Floral Crowns and you can find it by clicking here. I haven’t updated it for a while, but I hope to get into a routine soon. 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!

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