Up The Farway Tree

Only 15 sleeps until Christmas...

I spent the weekend putting up the Christmas decorations and making a Christmas CD, which I have been playing continuously since its completion ( I may or may not be listening to it at the moment). Seb has shown very little interest in the Christmas tree this year, and in fact, he took a wee huff while we were decorating it and went off to the kitchen to sulk. I think he is annoyed because it is blocking his view from the living room window. He has however taken some interest in the nativity scene, and I doubt very much it is due to religious reasons. I left him sleeping peacefully in his basket this morning when I went to get dressed, and when I returned he was still in the basket sound asleep. I was sitting in the living room for a few minutes when I first noticed a candle on the coffee table had moved slightly. On surveying the room for further evidence, I find that the nativity scene (which was sitting on a side table) had been raided. The hay from the stable was all over the sofa and all the figures scattered around the table. At first I couldn't locate baby Jesus and feared the worst, but fortunately he had just rolled under the sofa. I am just so relieved that he hadn't eaten or chewed any of the figures, as my mum got them as a child (this makes them really quite old, but I won't say how old) so it would have been a disaster. I will now have to make sure he is not left unattended in the living room again, even if he does appear to be sound asleep.

I forgot to mention in my last blog about the talk I gave at a conference recently. I was asked to help out by one of the CF trust's expert patient advisers, as she was unable to meet the commitment and was looking for a replacement speaker. The conference was about Palliative care, where this is taken to mean any care that is non-curative. Traditionally palliative care has been concerned with end of life care specifically and commonly in relation to cancer. However, it has become clear in recent years that palliative care is required at many stages of an illness, and that as well as cancer, it also applies to most chronic illnesses. I had to talk about my experiences as a patient, and based on this, what I would need and want from services. The CF team can be used as an example of a team who often deliver palliative care, as most of the treatments in CF (especially in the later stages) are to relieve symptoms and are not curative in nature. I was able to use the CF team, as well as all the other services involved in my care, as a basis to my talk. I had to speak for around 15-20minutes, and I feel that I did manage to get a few important messages across in that time. The attendees found it helpful to hear things from a patients perspective also, and the feedback after the event was apparently very positive. It's all good experience in the art of public speaking and presentation skills, which will be useful for my work in future.

I am starting some IV antibiotics tomorrow. I am not feeling too bad, but my chest was definitely on the downward slope and I was anxious about leaving things any nearer to Christmas and ending up unwell over the festive season. Hopefully this will give me a wee boost, and I can relax and enjoy all the festivities. I have had a reasonable break from IV's so I am not too upset about going back on them, although I'm not looking forward to having to get up early to make up the morning dose. I'm sure the 2 weeks will fly in though, and I finish the course on Christmas eve, which leaves me free for all the present opening on Christmas morning! Only 15 more sleeps...