Up The Farway Tree

Long Time No Blog

I've not been feeling very well recently, hence the large pause in blogging. I thought last week it was just the after effects of my London trip (too much excitement and singing of Mary Poppin's songs all round). However by the end of last week I was feeling really breathless, having lots of chest pain and generally worrying even myself. I hung on until the end of the week, trying various experiments such as attempting to walk to end of road and back to 'evaluate breathlessness'. Sometimes I do the most stupid things. Anyway by the Thursday afternoon I realised that speaking in full sentences was becoming a bit uncomfortable and clearly any disruption to my ability to speak is an emergency situation. I was reviewed on Friday, and it was agreed that the original infection from last month was still lingering on, and had probably only been suppressed by the oral antibiotics (which at least had allowed me to got to the awards). I have now started a different IV combination and stayed in hospital over the weekend to get them started. Thankfully things seem to be moving in the right direction now, and I am feeling much less breathless already. By the end of next week its entirely possible I will be sprinting to the end of the road and back. There is nothing wrong with a little misplaced optimism at times.

A good friend of mine nominated me to receive a gift from the Chloe Janet Ball Trust. This trust was set up in memory of a young lady with CF and their aim is to bring enjoyment to the lives of people with CF. This could be a trip to the theatre, a lovely meal, a night at a hotel - something that will be enjoyable and memorable to the recipient. I was honoured and delighted to be nominated for this and I decided for my gift, to purchase a digital camera so that I could continue with my new found interest in taking photos of the birds in the garden. I felt this was something I could enjoy regardless of health status, and then after my transplant I will be able to venture further afield and maybe one day I will be blogging photos of my world wide travels. Before any of that however I need to learn how to work the damn thing. It has a lot of buttons - I can so far switch it on and pop the flash up, which is a useful start. I was going to read the manual, although my friend Fi kindly informed me that intelligent people do not read the manual, but work it out for themselves. I say intelligent people let their husbands work it out first, and then just ask them.

For those still wondering about the Daily Mail article - join the club. I did email the journalist, but it would appear she is freelance so doesn't know much more than anyone else. She was annoyed the article had not been printed and was going to contact me if it wasn't in last week, to discuss putting it in a different publication. However I have not heard anything, so am assuming it will just disappear into the ether, never to be seen again. Ah well, all that primping and preening for the photo shoot was a was a little pointless, although at least Seb seemed to enjoy himself. If I do hear anything else I will update my blog accordingly. Unless I see the article and the photo is really bad, in which case I will tell no one.