Floppy lettuce syndrome

What a cracking time I’ve had! I’m back in the driving seat and I’m as relaxed as a bit of salad leaf that’s been drenched, all loloppy and wilted.

My two hour journey to Nottinghamshire was actually four because instead of doing the direct route I decided to go to the town centre (where I’ve met up with good buddy’s before) and then go from there to my mate’s house. Less stressful than doing a completely new route I thought. Arrived a bit stiff, partly because my bones hadn’t been in the driving seat for that long for ages and partly because I was a tad apprehensive about the whole going out alone thingy.

Got to the spa, into swimsuit and robe, slung my towel over my shoulder and proceeded to the food place for coffee where we were informed we were VIP’s today….good stuff. Next on the agenda was the sauna, from then on it was robe off, into very nice smelling, steamy, warm themed room followed by sensory shower of varying sprinkleness and temperature. There were six different rooms and showers to do and a Roman type spa pool to languish in whenever one felt like it and it was heated, I mean proper heat. Then we had a foot spa followed by lunch in the conservatory, now I really loved lounging around in a robe and barefoot all day, there was something soooooooo lazy and indulgent about wiggling my toes on marble while eating a delicious meal and contemplating the next luxury, which we decided was a lie down on the sunbeds in the zen garden because the sun had come out.

After lie down and much nattering (there hadn’t been a pause since arriving) we did the second floor, starting with a ‘wake up’ lemon scented iced facecloth thrown round our faces. On this floor we started with the waterbeds, I couldn’t stay still, it was brilliant squishing around, I was like a small hyperactive child until I saw that other people were quietly reading their books….time to move on. We dragged some massive bean bags out on the veranda overlooking another exotic garden then because the sun was back.

Next was a back, neck and shoulder massage and a facial, they’re only little these young girls who do them, but by heck they are very strong. Anna said ‘you have knots’ and proceeded to unknot them, I’m no wimp when it comes to a bit of pain but man it was excrutiating and nice alternately. By now it was time for coffee and massive wedge of cake, still in robe and bare feet.

We rounded off with a walk round the village, I can’t begin to describe the amount of interesting things going on in and around the forest setting and I was desperate to get on and play in any one of the wooden constructions that were designed for kids but looked so interesting, however rain, or rather monsoon like conditions didn’t allow for it and we decided to head home with wine and crusty bread.

I got the chance to meet Lorraines eldest son Dan, who’s having IV’s in hospital an hour away from home, what a charming young man he is, such a character, he played me all the music he had on his phone and tried to bluetooth me some but my daft phone wouldn’t work right, then we discussed ‘cars’ he’s passionate about them super duper one’s. Back at the ranch we were supposed to be having a wine/voddy night with much silly hat stuff on msn, however, as Nigel had set up my bed (bless him) I crashed big style….oooops.

This morning I met Joey properly, yesterday he wasn’t at all sure about me but I’d been around for a while now and he must have thought I was ok, I got a big kiss before playschool so I can’t be that scary. Dan text me to ask if I’d slept ok on his mattress and I had, like a brick. After a quick visit to Lorraines mum and dads (beautiful garden they have) we headed off to pick Joe up from playschool, we had our 65 roses t shirts on so as soon as we got back Joey dived upstairs and put his on too and he was so smiley, all three of us in the same kit….brilliant.

I can’t begin to say how much I’ve enjoyed myself, its been a huge boost to my confidence to be driving a long way again and kids!!! I love em, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have arranged anything if it had been left up to me, so cheers chuck, you really are very special.

Memorable time, had to get it all down before voddy.

The Automobile

I HATE CARS!!!!!!!!

Go on, plan a long journey they say, then I’ll go all arsey and instead of getting stuff ready for the trip I’ll make you run round like something possessed until the very last minute, just to make damn sure you need that stress relief pamper day.

Well, not one, but both our car’s decided to test me today, I’ve beaten one of them and I only had to sit on a comfy leather couch for 3 hours while numerous blokes came in and out shaking their heads saying ‘wont budge this one' Our Mikes seat had got stuck in the furthest back position and my legs couldn’t reach the pedals, it took 3 huge men 3 hours to finally get it shifted, and what was stuck in the runner ..£1.63’s worth of very bent and squashed copper and a couple of boiled sweets.

I’m going now, to sort out the other monster, its developed a puncture and the rear view mirror fell on my knee…I’ll win this one, no bloody car is going to beat me.

I hope everyone’s having a pleasant day, take care y’all.

Beware..deep blog

Fulfiling an arrangement made previous to saying goodbye to Chris is something I could chose to do or not to do, after all, why put myself in a situation which would almost certainly make me sad. I’ve been pondering this one for a while now, but decided earlier this week that it was something I wanted to do.

Chris and I had made it a plan to visit the church that my friend Wendy went to, mainly because we both had faith but our usual church just didn’t do it for us, it lacked an uplifting feeling and the fish and chips on the way home was always more satisfying than the service. So this morning I put Chris’s earing in, stuffed his hat in my bag, put the last pic taken of the two of us in my pocket and went along to the service. It was a nice place to be, no protocol to follow, sit, stand ,wander, clap, mutter or zombify yourself, it was all acceptable and if anyone caught my eye it was met with a huge smile. Hugs were freely given without any embarrassment and I was invited to join everyone on the next ladies breakfast, where the men cook and we eat, now anyone who knows me well will know that if any food thing is on the go, I’ll be first in the queue. Apparently the man’s brekky was last week, so I managed to miss that one.

I have to say that I haven’t been able to pray since Chris left us, because to pray you have to think deep and thinking deep is too painful so I just avoid it, but while staying in the bungalow in Manchester for those six weeks praying was what kept me on an even keel and I missed it, so today was sad, but it was also very good, if you know what I mean.

Ok so enough heavy, this afternoon John Mike and I resembled the trotters, we cadged a van off my cousin and did mega moving of furniture, it didn’t go exactly to plan and the fridge freezer nearly ended up on the M53 due to dodgy knots, I however got home safe and sound with much bedroom furniture cos I was in the girl guides and when I tie it, its going nowhere.

Much love and hugs.
Sue x

Happy anniversary us

Flippin heck, we've been married for 32 years, how loooong is that then. I was 18 when this photo was taken so John must have been erm...20. What a cracking day it was, the sun used to be out in June in them days, we'd have been rowing to the church if it was now.

Our honeymoon was a week in Glasgow and we went on a bike.....brilliant. Do we have any plans for today? Yep, British gas are coming to service the central heating and John's varnishing his den if it stops raining long enough.

Mens dens

Now then, my hubby never ever spends money, its not that he’s a tight fisted git or anything, he just doesn’t care where his money goes. In fact he doesn’t even know how much he earns or what the outgoings are and never bats an eyelid when I tell him we have nothing in the bank, like I did last year when he went shopping on a Saturday and came back with a house. Well he didn’t bring the house back with him, it followed on later after they made the massive concrete slab in the garden for it so sit on. John’s wendy house is a mens den, they love em don’t they, he always promised the lads he was going to build them a tree house, I defy anyone to find a tree big enough for this thing to nestle in.

Although I was told there were to be no women allowed in there except by special invitation, I could pick the décor, not because he’s kind though but because he couldn’t be bothered going shopping twice in one year. I ordered a sofa bed from argos as he’s intending to camp out regularly, anyway it said it was wine but when it came it was a definite pink which made me chuckle…hehe pink couch in man den. I suggested a bit of something to cover the windows and he panicked and sacked me on the spot. So lets recap, he has a big digital telly and a sofa bed and he reckons once he gets a fridge in there its complete, I still cant have a key though unless its to go in there and clean up.

We’re still doing ok, well I think we are, its never going to be easy and just talking about the cabin makes me cry, Chris was well pleased when John bought it and he had many plans for nights with the lads down there, no girls of course…yeah right.

P.S. John's turn for silly hat.

Due to weather conditions being similar to November I’m unable to give you a gardening update on this blog, I apologise for that as I know it’s the main reason why people read it. I did however carry on mowing yesterday to see what it was like to do it in a torrential downpour, it was ok, a bit of an anti-climax really, I had expected it to move me. Number 8 has been knocked off the list though, so it wasn’t a total waste of time.

I caught up with a very very old friend today, we did lunch at my favourite garden centre, favourite because it does a mean gammon and I also wanted to pick up a miniature Lemon scented Cyprus. I’ve known Wendy since I was about five years old, we lived in the same avenue, worked together when we left school, got married the same time and holidayed together a few times. We might not see each other for a few years, but when we meet, we pick up right were we left off, dead comfy that is. Strangely enough we bumped into one another in Asda on a few occasions when I was out and about with Chris after he had his transplant and she’d got to know him quite well. We talked a lot about him today and it was really quite emotional for me as I was having a ‘weak alert’ day due to his hat falling out of the veg rack when I was looking for an onion.

I’ve decided I’m not going to run the Hydro this year, I’m walking instead, so I can have a good old natter at everyone on the way round, it has nothing at all to do with the fact that I’ve lost interest in training, I prefer to swim at the moment or float and that wont get me fit enough to run a 5k. I’m doing a horse on this one ( horse story on a previous blog) and changing my mind, because I can…..anyone can. Excitement is creeping in about the forthcoming Hyde Park get together now, I can’t wait to see everyone again and have a picnic, not forgetting the extra little fund raiser that involves Andy putting himself into the hands of a group of crazy women, we already have a few idea’s, but haven’t told him exactly what its going to be as we like to wind him up a bit first

I have a whole day’s pampering coming up thanks to my good buddy, lots of food, massage, bubbly tub, Greek something, Japanese something, Indian and Turkish somethings and loads more, that’ll make a good blog and will also make me drive a long way again……brilliant.

I’m going now because the rain has stopped and I should be out there, so I can write about muck ‘n’ stuff next time.

Before I go, I’ve been reading E & J’s blogs and they’ve been talking about their old school books and the comments in them from teachers, from what I remember the one most commonly seen in mine was ‘Susan is erratic’ which I just looked up and it means unpredictable…..good!!, I never ever want to be predicable

Take care all, love to you and yours.
Sue x

I’m on a blog roll, so prepare to be inundated with blogness for a while..its ok, waffle is allowed.

Now then, I’ve had some wonderful pressies over the last couple of months, because people are lovely and very thoughtful. I’ve had flowers, plants, choccies, charms, wine, pamper myself equiptment and a spade…..yep, a spade, not just any old spade though, oh no! my friend next door gave me a border spade. It does what it says on the label, it digs borders, all you have to do is stand straight, aim and stab the floor, bingo!!! you have another border, I’m mightily impressed by this tool and am in danger of going border crazy, my latest one is mainly red and white, although the plants are a wee bit small at the mo so you may not be able to appreciate the fact that they are in honour of our fab footy team.

I went to see my mum on Sunday, all went well until I recognised my hubby’s workplace, which I’d passed just 10 minutes ago…Ahah, I’d done the full roundabout thing and fought to get in the right lane to go back home, but I’d missed out the visit to me mother. I got there eventually and as I was saying bye I winked at her and said, I’ll probably be back in a minute chuck.

Wonder what I’ll get up to tomorrow.

Take care all
Sue x

Stoooopid hat pic of the week this week has to go to Pam, our Mike’s lovely fiancé, bless her, she’s a star. We had a cracking day yesterday getting together with her family and friends to watch her chuck herself out of a plane 10,000 feet up, how brave is that eh!!!! She also raised £750 for the cf trust, I can only just get in a plane, there’s absolutely no chance that I could then fling myself back out of it….much respect to Pam and also my buddy Lorraine for their fearlessness

I cried all the way home because our Chris had so been looking forward to watching her do the jump, its ok though, crying is allowed, we were all going out for a Chinese that night so I knew I’d be smiley again when huge amounts of food appeared in front of me…and I was. The meal was fab, we had a good laugh and a respectable amount of voddy was polished off. The round up of the day was an hour down the garden chewing the fat over what a good day it had been……brilliant.

Love to all
Sue x

P.S. After seeing Pam do it I’ve added it to my list ‘try it and see’ and all that, bugger it I’ll give it a go.

I’ve managed to do 30 lengths of the super duper swish pool for the last few days and I floated a whole length, I always wondered if I could float a whole length, an I can, bless our Mike for paying a years membership for me, in order to ‘get me outa the house’. This has been a brilliant confidence booster, as recently, much to my surprise, I haven’t felt very brave when mixing with the general public, its quite alien to me to feel vulnerable and imagine people are looking at me, thinking…eh up!!! Somats up with her. Of course they aren’t, as they have only one thing on their mind, ‘do I need eggs’ or ‘who’s birthday is it now’ and ‘that cow on till five needs a slap’ but if I’m not perplexed about the general public’s determination to stare at me, then its OMG, will I see something which upsets me and lose the plot in the aisle in Sainsbury’s. I’ve seen people being brought a chair and a glass of water and yes…..I’ve also taken a sly glance, so would rather like to avoid Mr & Mrs News of the World catching me next to the mushrooms looking pale.

Anyway, its been a good day today, after my mega swim and shower I came home and had brekkie on the veranda of the cabin (the cabin will be another blog), then I spent hours making a border for my night scented stock, such a heavenly smell that stuff has. The kitten from hell who Chris called Rodney has to be everywhere at all times so she helped me to get a fine till to the soil as it resembled a litter tray, I had to cover up and put a stoooopid hat on in the end, but fear it was a bit late, as by now my skin had started to be bubbly, not to worry though it will be a nice golden brown in a couple of days.

The secret garden is coming on a treat: see pic below.



Take care all, love to you and yours, and to the person I upset, if you're reading this, I'm sorry......cabbaged head thingy, thanks for your wise words.

Sue x

Stooopid hat pic for Lorraine and Shadow.

This grief thing is very harsh and unrelenting so I’ve sat myself down and asked, what can I do to make damn sure I have some lightness in my life right now and I came up with, why not blog about what’s made me smile. So, here goes.

Barry and Chris telling me they’ve sponsored a raggy old moggie called Lenny in Chris’s name.

The text conversation with Mike.

Mike – How r u doin 2day mum?
Me - I’m doing ok babe, what about you?
Mike – I’m ok, im glad ur ok, I hope that’s the truth mother.
Me - It’s the truth son x

Spending last night with my sis and cousin in the hot tub outside in the rain, wearing stoooopid hats and eating copious amounts of Indian takeaway.

The secret timetable that my family and friends have on the go which produces bods out of nowhere ensuring I'm kept amused.

Teaching my friend how to use her pc, I just love enthusiasm.

Texts and emails that talk about the weather, food and the universe etc…

That’s made me smile just typing them.

Take care all.
Sue x

Its sodding me off now that I can't get the paragraphing right, so its staying as it is.

I managed to stay on my feet yesterday, which is a first for me as I usually faint on such occasions. As soon as we walked into the chapel I got my ‘calm’ this has been a truly amazing thing that’s clicked in numerous times over the past two months and it enabled me to take in every minute of Chris’s service, one that he had planned down to the last detail.

I was also a very proud mum yesterday, the amount of people who came and the wonderful things they said about Chris were a tribute to him and said what we have always known, that he was a ‘top bloke’. The messages for his friends and family which were written in his diary and to be read out were inspiring to say the least and lots of people remarked that it had made them stop and think and hopefully get out there and enjoy every day.

A nice touch back at the pub was twenty four white helium balloons which everybody wrote a message on then we released, it was a mesmerising moment with crowds of us standing in the road staring at the sky until all but one balloon disappeared into the clouds, I like to think that one stayed there a little bit longer to let us all know that he was watching…….at this point he’d say….ok, ok shut it now mother, so I will.

Eric got everyone in floods as did ‘we are soldiers’ previously arranged by Chris.

Take care all
Sue x

Just a quick blog to let everyone know we’re ok, all that needs to be done is done and I’ve been told tomorrow is a chill day for me, however I’ve secretly written a list which makes sure I’m on the go until at least teatime. I managed to get 2 hours gardening in today, it was a tonic and charged my batteries. Doing something you enjoy is a must, even though you think it’s the last thing you can be arsed doing…..just do it, because it seems to release those hormones that are in very short supply just now.

Once again a huge thank you to everybody for the messages and cards, I’m much overwhelmed.

Take care
Sue x

Yesterday wasn’t the best I’ve had so far, due to much red tape in Manchester things were made harder than they already are for a family who have lost someone close to them. We could have done without it, but rules are rules and I don’t stand a chance of changing them alone, note to myself once my head is on the right way again, write a letter to voice my opinion on their procedure.

I’m totally amazed at the amount of messages, cards, flowers, visitors etc.. that have been pouring in for Chris, the things people are saying and the sheer numbers that have asked if they can come to the funeral is mind boggling, I know he was liked but never imagined just how far that spread.

John was in Chris’s room yesterday looking for something and decided to pick up his diary, for some reason he flicked to the back and found an entry which was a change of music for the beginning of his service, so its back to the printers pronto this morning, little git keeping me on my toes as usual.

Once again, many thanks for all the lovely cards and messages they really do make a huge difference.

Take care all.
Sue xxx

We’re all ok, working as a team and getting there. There’s so much to do and my control freak personality means I insist on doing everything myself, mind you that’s a good thing as it keeps me mega busy with little time to sit and think.

I took some time out yesterday to go sit in Chris’s room and while pondering I spotted his diary, he’d always said to me, you can read this after I’m gone you know. Now, I’m finding I only do things when I feel strong enough, and I reckoned I was, it turned out to be a positive move because by the time I’d read two pages I was laughing my head off, what a brilliant thing to be able to do at such a time, it didn’t surprise me one bit that he could continue to make me laugh because that’s Chris.

I’ve been reading the comments on my blog, the forum and email I’ve received, but struggle a bit at the moment to sit down and focus so thought a quick update on here would be a good move.

I’m basically a control freak and have to have a master plan for everything, so at the moment here its, if you’re struggling shout, text or ring saying “weak alert” this is the red button and will be answered immediately.

We miss our Chris like hell, but he decided when enough was enough and when that time came believe it or not he had a smirky smile on his face. The team at Wythenshawe are awsome but they had no chance as Chris has always had his own agenda and did things his way. We’d already discussed his arrangements for the public goodbye and he chose Tears in heaven by Eric Clapton because he said “that’ll get em all cryin”……bloody typical.

Thank you everyone for all the lovely messages of support for us you’ll never ever know how much its helped us, you’re stars all of you.

Take care
Sue, John & Mike xxx

Nite x

We had to say goodbye to Chris last night, God bless you and keep you safe until we meet again, we’re going to miss you so much. Nothing in this life will ever hurt us more than this.

Nite babe x

Ok, I sang at him yesterday, now I’m not saying that’s what did it, but there was a tiny improvement. I gave him my rendition of “wake me up when September ends” then told him straight, if you think you’re lying stinking in this bed till the end of September, you’re not……..NO CHANCE!! He’s still asleep at the mo and can’t tell me to shut it so today I might sing Grace Kelly, that’s a nice lively one.

I spent a night in my own bed, the first for over 5 weeks, this is also good. In the afternoon I mowed over a big cable in the garden which wiped out the electricity in the house and nearly fried me fish in the pond, this is not so good.

Well Chris is still here and still holding his own despite many efforts by the bacterial and viral gremlins to get shut of him. There isn’t much more to tell you really, he did start to progress for a couple of days, then we were called in at 4am on Saturday morning as the doctors were concerned. Since then he’s been asleep again and stable, but he has a new fight on his hands as we’re more or less back to square one the doctor said.

Its hard to put into words what I’ve seen Chris go through in the last 5 weeks and I have to admit to wondering whether, if he was able, he would tell us all to leave him in peace. I don’t think he would because when he is awake he’s the smiliest patient on the unit and virtually every member of staff puts their head in to see him because they reckon he’s special, I cant argue with that. He’s fought to get through whatever’s come along so far, please keep praying he wins this one.

I’m home with John and Mike for the day and am about to get my scruffy kit on and do some gardening while John prepares us a feast on the barbeque, its lovely to be here, but not quite right, if you know what I mean.

Thanks again people for all the lovely messages and continuing support, I so miss all my buddy’s. Chris hasn't been able to read his messages from the forum yet but I have read the cards out to him and Ive printed the messages out ready for when he's a bit more with it.

Take care all.
Sue x

Just a very quick update as it’s a flying visit. I’m sorry for lack of news about Chris but its absolutely impossible at the moment to give any clear picture of a definite path. Many thanks to my good buddy for updating you all on her blog, however even since the last update the situation has changed yet again.

Chris had a good day yesterday, unfortunately there were several blips in the night and a big blip this morning, so he’s now sedated again and fairly stable.

Thanks a million for the continued support everybody when there’s anything more definite to tell you I’ll be sure to blog.

Sue x

A very stable night was yesterday mornings report, which I imagine is one up from stable I think, unstable being one down I imagine, or maybe there’s a nearly unstable before that…..who knows where the stableness chart starts and finishes.
Sorry if this seems flippant at such a time but it was an actual conversation that took place between me, Mike and his mate last night and it was a good tension reliever as it became more and more ridiculous.

I obviously wouldn’t be blogging in this manner if things weren’t a wee bit better and they are, just a tad mind you, its tiny steps at the moment but tiny is massive to us here.

He no longer sends his sats and blood pressure through the floor when they so much as look at him let alone comb his hair and they can turn him on his side without the panic button on the ward being pressed, infection markers are down to 19 and he’s only on 65-70% oxygen through the vent. This was yesterday.

This morning they reduced the sedation and also the amount of support he was receiving from the vent, so he is now doing a lot more breathing on his own and managing raise his eyebrows now and then, he also grinned about 4 times or had wind. The doctor came to speak to me this afternoon and said he’d had massive pneumonia but we were no longer fighting that as it had practically gone, what he has now is something called Adult Lung Shock Syndrome, that might or might not be the correct name but its close. Apparently Chris’s lungs have gone into shock and we’re not out of the woods yet he said.

I have an outfit ready for when he wakes up properly, it’s a grey head of hair a wrinckly mask and no finger nails and I didn’t even have to go out and buy it.

As always the team here are brilliant, the people who have prayed and sent many messages are something money could never buy and very stable is good for now.

Many thanks everyone.
Sue x

So this is what my house looks like!

I’m home for a few hours so thought I’d do a quick update. 12 days on Chris’s condition has continued to be worrying to say the least, things change few hourly rather than daily and each day there is at least one crisis. I’m in awe of the team, as they tackle everything that comes along and get him stable again time after time. They still don’t know for sure what they’re fighting and he’s now being treated for infection, (bacterial and viral), inflammation, rejection and a brand new infection this morning which sent his infection markers back up to 130 from 30 yesterday. He’s still fully sedated and on the ventilator through a tracheostomy with oxygen at 100%, however there has been an improvement in his heart rate and sats today and they’ve managed to stop him throwing random breaths in here and there so the ventilator can do its job and he can rest.

Massive thanks to all who have sent messages through many channels and also for all the prayers, you’re stars all of you. Rest assured you will all be among the first to hear when things start to look up.

Keep praying people.
Sue x

Just a very quick blog to let people know whats going on. Chris was transferred to ICU on Thursday as they felt he needed one to one care and possibly more help with his breathing than the ward could provide. Since then he’s been on c-pap with oxygen at 100%, once or twice they’ve tried to take him off it but he’s got into a bit of difficulty and has had to be put back on. They suspect that he has a virus rather than a bacterial infection which makes it much more diffucult to treat, loads of rest is the best treatment so his body can fight the infection, unfortunately one can’t just click one’s fingers and sleep when feeling very poorly and anxious. Last night there was a big improvement and he was able to cope with just a normal oxygen mask for a couple of hours and even ate some tea, however he had a rough night so was put back on c-pap at 100% and remains on it now. Because he had very little rest last night I’m afraid we’re back to square one today and they’ve requested he dosen’t have visitors until this evening, including me and John. Things can change from one minute to the next and I wont be blogging very often as I’m staying in a bungalow at the hospital but I’ll try to let you know through Andy or Lorraine.

Whatever your faith please say a prayer for his recovery.

Chris say’s he feels a bit better today, which is good. However his blood gases have dropped again and sats are lower so he’s on oxygen continually for the time being, he’s having two units of blood tonight presumably because he’s anaemic, I don’t know for sure as there were no doctors around for me to ask. When I was leaving tonight I saw the transplant sister and voiced my concern about his breathing, she said he’s fighting a major infection, I asked how do you know its infection rather than rejection, she said rejection usually looks like cloudy patches on the xray, ‘did you see his xray’ she said. I had and agreed with her that it looked very like his xrays before transplant, so hopefully it is just infection which should show signs of improvement as the iv’s kick in. They’re not going to do a bronch until he’s a bit better and stronger.

Despite being a bit under the weather him and Mike managed to wind me up tonight, it was all to do with CHEESE, there was a question in the latest edition of ‘Nuts’

How many cheeses does the U.K. produce.?

I was allowed as many guesses as I wanted but got fed up after 20 and pleaded for the answer, as by now it was imperative that I had this information. Mike ripped the answer out of the page and said because I was impatient I would now never know how many cheeses were produced by the U.K. So if any avid readers of Nuts read this will you please trawl through your copy and put me out of my misery….Thank You.

And Goodnight.

Monday morning Chris seemed a bit better but as the day wore on he became lethargic and complained of a stiff neck and flu like symptoms, so he rang Wythenshawe. He explained that he hadn’t been to clinic for about 4-5 weeks as his last appointment was cancelled when they’d taken him in to have his wires sorted, he’d ended up coming back home because he had a slight cold and they didn’t want to risk a general, but no further appointment for clinic was made at that time. Because of the wires being in a sticky out position he hasn’t been able to do his blows properly, so he didn’t know whether the low reading he got on Monday was a true one or not.

On Tuesday morning it was a mission to get him to Manchester, he was obviously a very unwell bod, even with his parka on with the hood up and the heater blasting out on full he was shivering so much that his back sort of went into spasm. We had to pull off the motorway for him to be sick and that made him colder, so he shivered more.

He was admitted as he has a nasty chest infection blood pressure is low he’s dehydrated and sats are down, he’s on oxygen as his blood gases aren’t brilliant and his blows are down to 54 from about 90. Because they don’t know what the infection is until all results are back he’s on iv’s for psuedo, aspergillis and cmv virus. Once the results are back they’ll be able to target the infection and hopefully we’ll see an improvement over the next 48 hours. The doc’s have tried to reassure him its not unusual to get an infection in the first twelve months after transplant, but he’s extremely anxious at the moment because of what happened with our James, I can’t imagine how hard that must be for him to deal with.

He’s never allowed his friends to visit him when in hospital and poorly, they usually have to wait until he’s a bit better but last night his best mate insisted on going up which was a good move as he had him laughing his head off within minutes of arriving. I was told I could go and I should send his mates in future because I’m no good at it any more, to which I replied, I’ve been doing it for 24 years and the novelty has worn off now, cheeky git.

More Sun

I worship the sun, it’s a god and I hold it in the highest regard, great big yellow shiny ball in the sky pleeeeeeez stay out forever.

I increased everything at the gym this morning, went for more reps on the weight things rather than upping the weight and jogged faster rather than longer on the treadmill, no idea if that’s the way to go so must check it out with them that know. I’m applying for a job down there, its in the bar in the restaurant, the good bit is, if you work there you get your membership free and also get to nominate someone else for free membership, now at over £600 a year per person that’s a dam good perk…so if I get it Chris can join me and Mike in our manic quest to be fitter than is humanly possible. I’m rather hoping for one on reception to come up, not that I’m a snob and the bar is below me but I really shouldn’t be placed too close to voddy for too long and anyway they get a much snazzier uniform on reception.

We have a very exhausted Chris here today who’s running a temp and totally whacked out. After returning from his holiday on Saturday he only paused for half an hour, then went shopping, then paused for half an hour, then went clubbing, then was brought home by car by a bouncer, who must have been a very very nice man to do such a deed. He’d had a dramatic hypo in the club and no hypo-stop gel with him, which is the only thing that works quickly enough for Chris, after pouring much coke down his neck which just kept him from fitting he decided he should head home. So after only one pint and a whiff of a dance, like Cinderella he was whisked away, fortunately after some gel and lucozade his sugar’s rose and he went to bed Mike said. The after effects are an exhausted son with a temp, but I wont comment about doing too much, I wont even incline my head or raise my eyebrows because I’ve learned to shut up now, I just come on here and write it, works a treat.

Still can’t think of that song…arghhhhhhh.

Sun Swim Song Son

Hasn’t the weather been absolutely brilliant today eh!!

I did 26 lengths non stop this morning at 9am…life’s good.

Something is driving me insane though, I can’t remember the name of a song, in the video the singer (not unlike the one on the Halifax advert) is walking through a train carriage, then he’s on a platform and there’s lots of people either walking along or on the escalator, I’ve asked everyone I know and nobody can remember it……help.

Chris got back, stayed half an hour and went shopping not seen him since, judging by the 93 photo’s he took he had a brill time and walked loads..all uphill naturally because Wales is.

The title of this blog looks like it should be a tongue twister but its not, I said it fast 10 times and it was still right.....fascinating!

A lot of nothing

Time for a blog methinks, nothing of note has happened here apart from our Mike’s results which are, he doesn’t have cf, its asthma and an allergy to dust, so I now have to clean his room, It’ll be a long job and protective clothing will be a must for health and safety reasons in fact I may be wise to have a safety rope attached as well just to be sure I have a means of escape.

The garage saga goes on, the first bit went quick but hubby found a crack in the only wall that had been left standing and which they decided WAS safe to build off. So progress since then has been snail like while they have a million looks and discuss how best to proceed. This is how its looked for 2 weeks, the cat’s are having a ball diving in and out of the holes where the windows and door should be, glad it makes someone happy, actually I couldn’t really care less how long it takes to rebuild it, things like that don’t bother me in the least, I just don’t care but the men are impatient and pace up and down and go in and out sighing and shaking their heads because it’s a den in their eyes and that’s another blog for another time.



I am still loving the gym and am progressing marvellously, you have to say that to yourself loads, its called positive thinking or maybe brainwashing. I can do 8 minutes on the treadmill of intermittent training which is alternating 2 mins on very fast walk (6.0) and 2 mins on a bit of a jog (7.2) , I can also stay on the ball while lifting very very small dumbbells and I now don’t feel faint after I’ve done the Versa Climber, which is the most wicked machine in the world. I also think I need to up the weights on the other machines now as its become easy. Pat on the back for me and a gold star because I never had this much commitment before.

Work on my secret garden has been halted for now but I have found someone with a digger who’s dad is mates with the farmer so bringing it through the back field wont be a problem he says. It was actually Chris who found him its one of his mates who was present at a wee party that took place at our house while we were away in York. As well as digging up muck and making the ground flat so I have a nice canvas to work on in my secret garden this chap is doing us a patio outside the back door apparently, it was arranged by Chris on the night of the party and all we have to do is pay the £1,060, how thoughtful is my son eh!!!!

Mike came home from work and wanted me to do a number 3 all over his head as he’s fed up with his hair, I’ve never clippered hair before and tried to get out of it, but remembering the title of my blog ‘Try it and see’ I did it and it looks brill. You can do this forever now he said, saves me a fiver a time, sling it on the housekeeping why don’t ya I said but he just laughed…loudly.

Chris is back tomorrow, I've missed the little git, we were honoured with a phone call last night and it sounds like he's having a brilliant time, done loads of walking and hardly seen the local......yeah right.

Good

Mike doesn't have cf, this is good news.

Overstretched

Yesterday at the “stretch” class, deemed essential if you’re intending to run a race, she said, now while sitting on your left leg bring your right leg across your knee, stretch your right arm up, then down over your shoulder now bring your left arm round your back clasp your right hand and PUSH your right forearm towards your back. I’m sure that was the one that’s rendered me incapable of doing any slight movement today without a kind of Uhhhh or Ahhh, and my backs not happy the bottom of it feels like I have a toothache in there.

Moan over, no sympathy expected as its self inflicted and all me own fault.

Anyway I thought a swim might be a good idea this morning as the thinking today is keep it moving, don’t lie up or you’ll stiffen…more. I went to dig out the cozzi, its been about 2 years since I had any swimming gear on and I wasn’t happy with what the lying toad of a mirror had to say. So! off to bloody shops to purchase new cozzi, I was going swimming no matter what, eventually I found a suitable thing in Next, they call it a tankini I think and it has an inbuilt wonderbra to make us with nowt feel in proportion.

2nd moan over, again no sympathy expected as losing weight is a side effect of going to the gym again self inflicted.

The boys are still 10 steps ahead of me in the winding up game, I did my ironing yesterday while being drawn on, clipped round the head with a newspaper and all kinds of bits and pieces being stuffed into the arms legs and pockets of items being ironed, I tried to keep cool but lost it in a major strop when my best pink jumper was dragged off the ironing board and flung on the floor for the third time.

I don’t see an awful lot of Chris nowdays but I was parked at our local shops today when a fist hit my bonnet, yep it was he, walking round, as I thought to speak to me he opened the door wide and shouted “I’ve been shopping” I started to ask when he might be appearing home but he’d already gone leaving the door wide open…bugger you, starve then.

3rd moan over, no sympathy here either, as they say its my own fault “ I borned em”

Deep Blog

Is it wrong not to want to watch tv programs such as The News or Comic Relief? I haven’t sat down to watch television for a very long time, I did tonight and I’m sorry but I won’t be doing it again any time soon. I know there’s lots of misery in the world and I wish there wasn’t, but for me and this is a totally personal point of view, for me to watch it all is destructive, I care and it makes me miserable to see it, a miserable me does nothing for my family or friends, so I don’t watch any more Is that selfish?
I can’t solve the problems of the world, I can be an ostrich and remain a positive person who will always see the good in people before I notice any faults they might have. I can make a difference in my small world, I know I can, so that’s what I concentrate on.

Does that make me a selfish person?

One Nil to them

I had to blog tonight because its all mish mashin around in my head, the boys are winding me up loads, I mean loads, they seem to have got together and decided it was time I entered a secure place and be spoon fed whilst in a straight jacket. Our Mike drove us to the gym last night, I say us as his mate was also on board, when we left he headed in a different direction and pulled into a place well known as dodgy, now I’m not saying anything else about this building other than beyond the car park its very very secure. He pulled in, turned to his mate in the back and said, right get the window down and for god’s sake be quick this time, he then said to me ‘mother say nothing about what you see..right , its whats known as a..by then I was rigid and speechless and white, they must have felt sorry for me at this point and burst out laughing, I was just turning the car round, don’t panic…it was too late, I already had.

Chris has been the most irritating little toe rag on the planet today, he’s bored he has loads of energy and it has to go somewhere, I don’t ever remember him being so bloody annoying even before he got really poorly, he say’s he’s never actually felt this good before so couldnt be bothered, when I reach for my purse to pay for something its anyone's guess what my hand will end up in, he was somewhere today in Next but I couldnt find him, just heard a 'mum' every now and then. The cats downright refuse to eat anything labelled cat food as he opens a tin of tuna every morning and invites all three of them to join him. My nerves are frazzled and I know there’s more lined up for tomorrow as he bought me a pressy today, it was James Morrisons new album ‘Undiscovered’ when he handed it to me he said be warned mother, you owe me now, for the rest of the week I can terrorise you.

I used to be one step ahead, I’m going to have to do something to prove I still am. Watch this space!!!

Overdoin it

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m an a person with an addictive personality, I can’t do things in moderation, I do it, I like it, then I love it and have to do it loads. Even after being warned by many people that I shouldn’t overdo it I’m now at the gym every single day, I missed Sunday I think and it mithered the life out of me. I’m hooked, cant wait to get my feet on the treadmill with my music banging out, in fact I’m not truly happy until the sweats rolling off me and I can’t steady my legs. It’s the same as when I decided to read something other than the usual historical romance drivel that I always stick to, If I find myself sitting nowdays you can guarantee I’ll have a book in my hand. I finished one on Sunday night…a weird one but I quite enjoyed it, then got a text from a friend on Monday who mentioned she was reading a bizarre one, well I had to have it didn’t I and seeing as though I was only 200 yards away from the ‘try before you buy’ bookshop and had a £20 voucher in my bag I went and got it.

I’m so addicted to everything I even got my vision finished in between.. Nice isn’t it. Your not allowed to see inside though because its secret.

To be honest I’ve decided I need a bobcat, or rather I quite fancy operating one so I’m convincing the men its not a problem that we can’t get it through the gate, I’ll go have a word with the farmer who owns the back field, I’m sure he’ll let me drive it through there and we can lift one of the fence panels out and drive it in…voilà !!!

Sunday

My reluctance to get out of bed this morning told me I’d done too much yesterday, but by eck I enjoyed it. I moved all the wood 80% of which was buried in deep slimey mud, got all my lovely chunks of sandstone together in a pile for rockery feature in secret garden, also rolled many slabs of very nice erm…..stone thingies which I’m sure will come in handy for something, no snails were harmed in all of this as I picked them off one by one and put them safely in a new home where they would reside in comfort until I planted my organic veg , when they could lesuirely come out and scoff the lot. Looking at it this morning it dosen’t appear to look much different but I know I grafted and that’s fine. I also did the gym as I have every day now for 12 days, then collapsed into bed mega early and when I woke this morning my body said ‘NO’, so I stayed there.

Today would have been slow, John got called into work as they had major problems, Mike had a lads night last night so I knew he wouldn’t surface until late afternoon, what I didn’t bargain for was a Chris who came home early last night so would be up and full of the joys in a how much can I annoy me mam mode. So I got him a Mr men cake kit to keep him amused, however he managed to balls it up by adding the icing mix into the cake mix so they oozed all over the baking tray, he thought it was brill. As he’s intending to move out as soon as possible he then wanted a cookery lesson and insisted on making the Yorkshire puds, stuffing and gravy, it was hard work but I look on it as an investment in his eventual flight from the nest which I’m sure will happen very soon as he's applied for a job..fingers crossed.

The vision

Stroling down the garden today, as you do once the weather has become a bit more clement I spotted a patch of ground and had a vision. I’ve always had this dream to create a secret garden, somewhere very quiet and private where you can unwind, maybe take a book or just enjoy the nature going on around you. Some moving water might be nice, just a small thing though no thrashing rapid type features, in fact nothing in this vision is big or noisy, its peaceful and tranquil. I’m there now in fact and I can even smell the scent from the flowers I’ve planted to attract wildlife and feel the warmth of the sun on my face.

Hmmmm…back to reality now, it looks like this at the moment, so first of all a big clear up and a skip on the drive, I’m very excited as I love working in the garden especially when I have a project., however I won’t rabbit on about it too much on here as I’m sure there’ll be a gardening forum where many anoraks get together and be passionate about muck and stuff.



Chris may or may not give me a hand, it all depends how busy he is, though his creative side is more than a little interested. He’s off again on the 20th of March for a week this time I think, in a cottage at Lake Vernwy to do some serious fishing in between visits to the local.

Him & Me

York’s nice and The Dales are if you know where you are.

Been travelling this weekend but with a slight difference, had hubby on board too as it was his birthday and I couldn’t very well sod off without him now could I. We made our escape around 1pm on Saturday headed North and ended up in York, that was the smooth bit. They say opposites attract, well it doesn’t come much more opposite that me and John :

He keeps to the speed limit-- I dont

He’d pay £85 for posh hotel-- I'd do B&B at the Edinburgh Arms

He’d pay £45 for a meal in posh hotel -- I'd eat practically anywhere

He’d watch the rugby in the lounge -- I wouldnt, but did

He’d watch the footy after meal -- I wouldnt, but did

He’d drive for 4hrs without a break -- I wouldn’t, but did

After leaving York Sunday morning we headed for The Yorkshire Dales and spent 3 hours being lost, we must have passed the same hill at Yockenthwaite-on The Wold (doing about 27½ mph) 20 times and each time it was MY fault because I had the dam map book. There were some lovely places to stop for coffee and cake but they were driven past at a now terrifying speed of 37½ mph, by now my tongue had swollen to twice its size due to great thirst so He pulled into the services on the M6……I was grateful so I never moaned that the carrot and corriander soup was freezin and the croutons were soggy.

Deciding not to spend another night somewhere strange we headed home earlier than planned to find a party had taken place in our absence.

That’s all for now!!!

Read the book and seen the film.

Hmmm…. emotions back to the forefront here today as we got to see the filming channel 4 had done. Considering they’d filmed for 21 days pretty much every day at some point, it only came out to about 15-20 minutes. Having said that we all thought it was pretty well put together and covered the main details that they wanted to convey to the public, which was transplant and organ donation.

The subject of the film was multi organ donation, and they wanted to follow all organs, eyes, tissue etc..donated from one person. When you see it for real on film its mindblowing, this is a real person/ family deciding to give many people the chance of a new life/ sight/ skin/ etc….how brave of that family to do that at a time when they must be so distraught.

We also learned today that there were problems in theatre with Chris, I don’t imagine that’s unusual but its unnereving to see it after the event and in a way its good that we didn’t know at the time.

We’ve all had a natter and its been interesting to hear all our points of view, for instance I didn’t know that Chris had predicted how John (hubby) me and Mike (brother) would feel, he was spot on though, on the night he was waiting to hear if the op was going ahead he said that I would probably be upset, his dad would be quiet and his brother would be making us all laugh.

The program isn’t going to be on tv until December, they want to film 20 transplants and put it out to coinside with the 40th anniversary of the first transplant and they did say that Chris’s was a great one to film as he was so positive.

I still get up every morning and think its unreal.

To the family/donor that gave our Chris a new life, thank you so much for your decision to donate.

Funny walk

I had my coffee delivered to my bed yesterday morning by a wide awake son. After spending half of Monday catching up due to his weekend away Chris was up at the crack of dawn and raring to go, as I was showing no signs of wanting to move myself he brought me coffee, fed the cats and got his neb on. This is a major turn around as I can’t remember a time when he’d been up before me and nobody ever feeds the moggies unless I’m away from home. I’d been to the gym again the night before and everything felt like a lead weight so was tempted to turn over again but he hollered up the stairs GET UP you lazy git.. so I did. Couldn’t get in the shower though as he beat me to that as well.

Chris got a phone call from Wythenshawe around midday to tell him to come in before 4pm, this was to sort out the wires in his chest. Normally they don’t cause a problem but the one’s on the front of his chest at the bottom of his rib cage had decided to move around and were causing him some discomfort when coughing or sneezing, he’s also unable to do his blows properly and that’s an important part of monitoring his progress. Anyway he told me I couldn’t go with him (love it) and off he went, but returned a couple of hours later as they said they weren’t happy to give him a general because he had a slight cold. This turned out to be a good move because this morning he’s not too good and the cold seems to have got worse so he’s gone back to bed.

I’ve been to the gym again this morning, note I’m now calling it the gym not the torture chamber, if I ever start referring to it as ‘the club’ please give me a reminder to get real. I’m a bit bothered about one of the floor exercises I’m supposed to do for balance and couldn’t bring myself to do it this morning. I was telling our Mike about it last night and he was horrified, said he’d never seen anyone else doing it down there before and I better not let it be known I’m his mother if I carry on doing it. Do you ever remember how Basil Fawlty used to do the stoooopid german type walk, well its that one, I have to go from one end of the gym to the other sort of lunging, naturally because my balance is so rubbish I’m all over the place anyway. Mike reckons they’ve thought to themselves lets get this one on that Basil walk and they’re all p*****g themselves laughing in the staff room…..so I didn’t do it this morning. I also clocked some poor guy in the ear when I rolled off me ball. All good stuff, its really quite addictive. Am I boring you?

The bad, the good and erm.....

Well I finally got my rear into gear and went to the torture chamber tonight. I'd love to say I feel invigorated and I might...in a few days when everything stops trembling. As the one and only time I'd put in an appearance was at the induction a few weeks ago, naturally I had forgotten which particular intrument of torture does what to which bit and how to set the thing up. Not wanting to look a complete wally I pretended I knew exactly what I was doing, stuck my earphones in and did the treadmill and bike hoping that some official looking slave driver would show up before I finished. One did and he was very patient bless him. I ended up doing only three quarters of my program because I forgot to look at the back of the sheet which was good really because had I seen it and tried to do it all I'm pretty sure I would now be on ward 34

And them balls, what are they all about eh!! balance is not my thing, I cant do it, I CANNOT DO IT. Try as I might I always end up slithering to the floor. I'll just swim tomorrow I'm good at that.

*********

Number whatever it is has been knocked off the list thanks to my neice going on holiday for a week and throwing her car keys in my direction.

I've had this little toy to play with for a week only downside is you cant fit shopping bags anywhere so they're all looking a bit thin in my house at the moment.

*********

Quick update on Chris, he had his peg removed on Thursday as his weight has continued to climb despite becoming vegetarian a week ago, in fact he's probably eaten better since becoming veggie than he did before. The peg going was a big landmark for him as he's always hated it with a vengence. He's away this weekend with some friends in a log cabin in Snowdonia and out of range I presume by the lack of text....all good.

Phew!!!

Well I finally got Chris's transplant blog finished and posted on the cf forum, its been a mission finding all the bits and pieces I scribbled on but its done. Still not sure whether it was appropriate to put on the forum but Chris and I felt it was a positive and the feedback from the people I asked to preview it was good so I did it. In a way its a closeure for me, its been a rollacoaster ride for a few years now and the forum has been a godsend but I feel its time to move on. Thank you to everyone who helped me out since I joined in 2004, its been a very special time in my life.

I'll be keeping me blog going and no doubt will post a game now and then on the forum.

Take care everyone.
Sue xxx

OMG How easy was that!!

Ignore this blog, I stumbled across something I'd been wondering about while I was rounding up Chris's blog.

Here's a little chocolate number I threw together while standing on my head, hands tied behind my back and blindfolded. Thats number 8 off the list.....hah!

Drive time

My feet have become itchy again so I'm gone till Sunday, unless they have internet access in Whitley Bay. Take care all, have a good weekend.

The Iron

Becoming domesticated again wormed its way onto my 1-10 list but has been removed because I was furious today......furious.
I thought I'd buy a new iron as the one i occasionally use is blackened and I can only iron dark clothes safely. Our Chris is a lover of white tops and most of them have random black speckles with scratchy marks where I've tried to pick it off, so much so that he now forbids me to iron any of his clothes.

I headed off to Argos, my mission...to purchase an iron and win back my sons approval. Go get your Argos catalogue out and look how many irons are in it. I'll tell you how many 76...seventy six of them, get a grip Argos its an iron you plug it in it gets hot and you plonk it on a piece of clothing which then goes smooth instead of crinkly. For crying out loud why do I have the tedious task of reading about seventy six irons just so I know Ive purchased the right one. Im not doing it! you are not turning me into someone who gives a dam how this hated piece of equiptment sprays mist out of the little holes. I shut my eyes, stabbed the first page and bought the one it landed on.

Mike went for another lung function test today and its gone down a bit as has his weight. Only one more test now then back to the doctor for some answers I hope.

Chris continues to do fabulously he's off for 4 days in a log cabin in Snowdonia soon with his mates and today he went to the job centre to browse. I still can't get my head round the fact that he can do practically anything he wants to, and does.

Oh yeah I had my induction at the gym today. When asked what my goal was I said I wanted to run a 5k in September, tighten a few things up and increase a bit here and there. No problem she said. My program is a grueller and I have very jelly legs so there's a loooooong way to go but Gilly did it so I can too.

Coffee, cake and much chin wagging on the horizon soon as a get together is on the cards with my forum buddies......magic.

Note to me: This was the 31st of Jan but couldnt log in to blogger as keyboard was being a pain.

Its the little things in life...

I’ve had a very excellent day so far today and its all thanks to a 3½" x 1½" pink toy.

As I now have much more time to myself I have to think very hard for excuses as to why I haven’t done any boooooring housework. I realised today that I’d used them all up and I’d have to give in and get stuck in. Then I spotted my Christmas present which everybody but me had had a go of, mainly because I’d not got round to having a fiddle with it as yet.

One of the men had kindly put a Suzie playlist on it so I stuck the phones in my ears and dragged the hoover out.
Well…..! How brilliant are these little blighters eh!I had a good old boogie with Robbie while hovering, The Eagles saw the dusting at a leisurely pace and I kind of reggae mopped to UB40.

Onto the exercise bike and I was back at the Snow Patrol concert…..magic
There’s a very real danger I could become domesticated.

Hang on…..who invented the ipod, was it a man? Is this some clever move to make women clean their houses.

Bob The Builder

They were dragging their feet, as insurance companies do so I told them the garage was inching towards the house and would very soon be in my kitchen....cue...much action today. I had three large vehicles here in no time and five men, all rugged and a bit dirty. Had to get my supervisor head on though, you know the one its the customer from hell routine, well they were jumping on the roof and squashing things that weren't flat yet. Their biggest challenge was to capture the adopted kitten, they took 8 poloroid photo's (didnt think they still existed) of the broken garage and she was in every single shot. She joined them while they bounced on the roof to collapse the last bit, she hung off their belts and pockets and chewed their laces while they bashed the brickwork. In the end the man in charge bundled her under his arm and asked me to please shove her in a cupboard or something for their safety. I made them a brew and we chewed the fat about the windy day, they had only had one other incident like ours, it was on Angelsey and theirs ended up in a field. Good bunch, coming back tomorrow, so I nipped out there tonight and moved everything that is still not flat before it is.

Know any good builder's?

My garage is very broken!



I was sitting quietly reading my book, the wind gusted and it fell down about 3 ft away from me.....just like that, scared the hell outa me. I rang hubby at work to tell him and he laughed, in fact I've never ever heard my very conservative hubby laugh so heartily in all his life. I hung up, couldnt see the funny side of it at that point, most people I've told have laughed.....IT WAS SCARY....NOT FUNNY!!!









He he he...........

Cats and hats 2

The kitten from hell who's owners were very wise to lose it is on borrowed time here, I love cats, I've always been a cat lover but this devil incarnate is really pushing the boundries. Is it possible for cats to have hyperactivity? Hell no, its not just a cat with neverending energy, its plain wicked and a scrounger. I feed it the very best 'As good as it looks' Felix which cost's an arm and a leg, grateful.....is she heck as like! She prefers rubber or aneeeeeething thats lying on the worktops, be it a spud, a saline neb top or dried erb's. It smashed every single gold bauble on the christmas tree and ate the legs of the chicken I purchased in Notts at 'Hawkins bazaare'. My two older cats now live in mortal terror and have to carefully plan their route to food bowl and quick escape.

She has to be everywhere, all the time and I was soooo tempted to seal the bag when packing away my christmas dec's!

She's going on ebay tomorrow.

Update on Chris, his lung function is now 90% and chest x-ray is clear except for an area of fluid on the bottom right hand side of his chest wall where they had a bit of a job getting the old lung out, the doc says it can take up to 12 months for that to disperse. Chris can't feel it and it certainly hasn't affected his lung function, so he's not worrying about it. His weight continues to improve so the peg/button is coming out early in Feb. If he hadn't had a slight cold he could have knocked off more meds and nebs but just to be on the safe side they stay in case the cold gets on his chest. His re-hab is going great, the physio say's its no use doing any more walking on the treadmill as he's up to normal now, so onto power walking, jogging and weights.

His turn for silly hat, pic taken early morning.....scary.

Fantastic News

I'm so pleased to write tonight that Emily has had her call and is in theatre right now. My thoughts and prayers go to her, all her family and friends and to the family who made the gift of a new life possible. Words can't describe how grateful we all are for Chris's new start and we wish Emily all the very best for a speedy recovery and a brand new life.

http://livelifethengivelife.co.uk

Number 5 and update.

I consulted my 1-10 list of things to do before I die this weekend and decided I'd do No.5, mainly because the weather is foul and 1-4 would be much nicer done in the sun. This one was going to be easy peasy, my list isn't meant to be difficult, but some are a wee bit challenging and others are just there because I've been meaning to do them for years, like No.5.

5) For goodness sake broaden your literary knowledge!

In other words read something I wouldn't normally choose. My list is colour coded and green is intellectual by the way. So, I was sitting on the wicker couch in the kitchen (me and John live in the kitchen) mumbling about whether to go to the 'Try before you buy and sit dead comfy while you do shop' to select a suitable book when John produced one and said "this is a good book, I think you'll enjoy it"

I managed to stick with it through the hunting of the river cows (hippo's) skipping the most gory bits, I completely ignored the crocodile bit and thought it looked promising. However, the reason why the orator became a eunuch was to prove too much and I flung it. Its fiction dear....fiction, well call it what you like but I want to read a nice book not one that gives me palpitations and an overwhelming desire to hunt down the Pharaoh and.......tell him off. So its off to Borders tomorrow, not to buy a romantic novel though or I'll not be able to knock No 5 off the list.



Mike had his appt with the cf consultant, he had a lung function test, chest x-ray, and they took bloods for genetic testing, it felt a bit strange going through the motions with No 1 son, the nurse came out and called me in (momentary panic) after 15 minutes because the consultant knows me well and decided it would be easier if he explained everything to me too, saves Mike the 20 questions which he wouldn't remember the answer to. He doesn't think Mike has cf but because he has lowish lung function and taking into account the family history he's sending him for a more in depth lung function test, a lung scan and something they now do at Alder Hey instead of a sweat test which involves cream in the nose and electrodes.



Chris is continuing to enjoy his new life and had an amazing Christmas and New Year, its absolutely brilliant to see and I'm still a bit lost for words sometimes, he's due back at clinic on Friday so will update in more detail after that.

http://livelifethengivelife.co.uk

Ahem...

I've tried to update a few times in the last couple of weeks but never really had anything different to say, even after giving myself a slap. However *slaps* come in lots of different shapes and guises and they can say the same things you have said to yourself hundreds of times, but in a different way, thereby convincing you that you haven't really lost it and need carting off.

Some very valued friends who have more than enough on their own plates have been absolute gems and for that I'll be eternally grateful, others have stuck with me even though I've been the most booooooring company....bless y'all. However, the email I received the day before yesterday from Richard(Softie) really did make an impact, so much so that I wanted to put part of it on my blog, its made me smiley again and that's worth blogging about.

"I can imagine that your body has been running on high-octane stress hormones and adrenalin for years, and all of a sudden, as things improve and start to look really hopeful those hormones are drying up and you are going cold turkey, and the diesel fuel of day-to-day Get up, Wash, Cook is a poor substitute. So your blood pressure has come down, your muscles gone all limp, and nothing you do in a day is life-savingly important any more.

Imagine a wall, which had started to sag and bulge. That's Chris' health. It needed a lot of work to shore it up, and as things got worse so the timbers needed to keep it from falling got heavier and heavier. And you were those baulks of timber! And now the wall has been jerked upright by a miracle, and all those heavy baulks of timber have nothing to lean against and have fallen flat! That's how you might be feeling right now. And they are HEAVY timbers, it's going to take a while to pick them up and prop them upright on their own. And they will always tend to lean towards the wall for no good reason, just out of habit, and in danger of falling flat again any time there is nothing to prop up"

It makes a lot of sense, I rather like the bit about the hormones because its physical and I can deal with physical much easier than mental. So....enough's enough, I know why it happened and it has to go, pronto.

Thanks to all who understood and helped, it was a weird few weeks and I'm well on me way back to smiley suz now....Happy New Year to one and all.

Note to me..posted 31st Dec.

I think I need a *slap*

What's my problem?
I'll tell you what it is, I have nothing in particular to stress over at the moment so I'm considering adopting a child or two, preferably one's that are hard work. Why? when I should be the happiest person in the world have I suddenly become a miz, I don't want to tour the country, I don't want to laugh and joke and would you believe it....I'm not hungry.

I've been made redundant from my position as carer which is brilliant as it means Chris is on top form but I'm floundering a bit, not too sure what to do next, I think they call it a transition period, whatever its called I don't think much of it and will be glad when I move into definite next stage and get back to smiley suz. I remember reading on the cf forum some time back about a person who'd had a transplant and things went slightly pear shaped with their mum afterwards, unfortunately I cant find the thread because of the forum crash. Things are fine as regards my relationship with Chris but we don't seem to be doing much laughing in this house at the moment and its me not them. I even found myself saying to the lads this morning, I know I'm a bit of a pain in the arse at the moment but its temporary....honest. Naturally being lads they simply looked at me with raised eyebrows and stayed silent, probably the best move really.

I wasn't going to blog this episode but now I have its freed my mind off a bit and I'm going for a drive accompanied by very loud music, usually does the trick. Oh yeah and that kitten from hell that adopted us I am beginning to understand why somebody might have wanted to lose it. I love it to bits but she's dead naughty.

Mams and Dads

I've been spending some time making paper chains at my mums, arranged by our Chris without my knowledge, because he says I should see my mum more and do stuff with her. Him and Mike love their nan and think my sister, brother and I were so lucky to have her for a mum, I think thats great, but it was slightly different having her for a mum than it is for them being her grandchildren. I remember being chased down the road and getting clipped round the ear all the way back, then up the stairs and into my room where I remained without any tea..regularly.

I cant imagine what my parents reaction would be if when they were driving me somewhere I gave them a dead leg because we passed a tractor and they gave me one when we passed a gas van, one of Chris's made up games where I definitley come off worse because we live in a little village that has at least three farms. Neither do I think I'd have got away with singing "she's tall she's thin she's ugly as sin, its me mum, its me mum" or todays version "she's big she's fat, she wears a stupid hat etc..... I regularly get the lid of a yoghurt or straw from calshake shake wiped on my arm if I'm not quick enough to get away and yesterday I lost a sprout fight hands down.

Anyway, the subject of my blog today seems to be around families or rather parents, my dad was a fantastic person and its a shame my lads never got to spend more time with him, it would have been his birthday today so Happy Birthday Dad, Chris reckons if you'd stuck around longer he would have well beat you in the big fish stakes.

Ha ha ha I'm having a mare of a day

I remember saying in a previous post, if the all the best laid plans have to change..so what.
Now I have to practice what I preach and smile or hum loudly as my plans mess up, its hard, but up to now I'm winning...just.

As I had today completley to myself the plan was to spend some quality time with my sister, starting with a bite to eat then a wander round the shops, maybe make a start on some christmas shopping , as to date I haven't even purchased a christmas card, let alone any pressy's. However, sometime in the night our front door decided to rattle and bang, I heard one of the boy's getting up to see to it so went back to sleep confident they would sort it out. This morning I got up at the ridiculous hour of 5-30 to run John to work so that I could have our car for the fab day I had planned and what greeted me at the front door but a massive barracade, there was a big old tv, four boxes of ensure plus ,the old physio bed, a suitcase and numerous other boxes. Obviously these were meant to keep the door shut, but it wasn't and the wind and rain were howling through the hall, it was freezing.
While trying to secure the door I nearly de-capitated the adopted kitten, dressed and dashed to local supermarket before Chris went out for the day and caused no end of chaos at the till because the price on the shelf was different to the till, I was that desparate to get away I said I'd pay full price but no she was having non of it and called the manager, twenty minutes I was at that till for.

Cutting it short, I'm going nowhere today as window man can't come to fix the door until in the morning, just hope its early as I have an appt that I've been trying to get to since early August. I'm going in the attic now, to get the christmas tree down if I dont log on in the next couple of days will someone tell my family where I went. Thank you.

Apologies for lots of swearing in last blog, not very lady-like I'm told...

Quick Blog

This sat nav thing has come up a few times this last week and so far I've resisted the temptation to buy one, its been mentioned very un-subtley that I might like one for christmas as I tour the country a fair bit and purposefully get lost. I'm not totally against these gadgets but they sort of take the challenge out of getting somewhere you've never been before and they're so monotone. I've heard them and usually feel like saying "shut it you", why dont they give a loud round of applause when you get to your destination or say 'well done you'.
Imagine if they made them in a dominatrix style TURN F*****G RIGHT YOU STUPID B*****D OR YOU'VE HAD IT, now that would appeal to me, I'd buy one tomorrow. Even the subserviant....Erm, I think it might be a right at the next roundabout, If I'm wrong I'll clean your shoes for a week and you can smash me to bits, be a bit more interesting wouldn't it.

Chris went to clinic today, they are extremely pleased with his progress, his lung function is now nearly 80%, the doc said he could knock two more pills off the list and the peg can come out in Feb providing the weight gain continues, his appointments have gone to monthly instead of fortnightly and he jogged on the treadmill for the first time. How brilliant is that. One of the most amazing things for me to see is his total enthusiasm for life, he gets up with a grin and go's to bed with major plans for tomorrow....priceless.

I wrote this last night but it wouldn't publish, so just telling myself its the 6th, not the 5th.