Today is Frances Ann's birthday - she would have been 27. Will be thinking of her today and always xx
"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."
Rabindranath Tagore
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Speakers Project and Parties
Emily was staying last weekend as she was running a Speakers Project in Glasgow. This is a Live Life Then Give Life initiative which aims to help people who have had experience of transplant (themselves or relatives/friends) learn skills on how to speak publicly about these experiences. Although I have spoken before, I found it particularly useful for looking at time keeping and condensing the message effectively when given a short time slot. I am not so good at stopping talking haha! Andrew also came along and I think he enjoyed the experience and he was very good at giving his talk - I think it's actually harder for a partner or relative to talk about the experience than it is for the person themselves. There were 2 sessions because you can only about 5-6 per session ideally, as every one has to practice giving a talk. Myself and Victoria went to both session because Emily decided she needed some 'lungs' for the afternoon. I really enjoyed the afternoon as I met a lady who had a heart transplant 10 years ago, a lady who had undergone 2 kidney transplants and also caught up with Catriona, whose son had a small bowel transplant. It was fascinating to hear their stories.
It was also great to catch up with Emily. Seb was delighted to see her again, and as he did the last time she visited, he followed her everywhere! I think he was in love. He did knock her door a few times during the night but was then quite good and just lay outside the door. At one point he heard her coughing though and started crying because he wanted to go into the room!! It's very odd but rather cute :-)
Work has been super busy and I ended up staying late every day, which is not a good habit to start. I think possibly the fact I have had quite a few study days and holidays coming up has also made things busier, as you do end up still trying to fit in the same amount of work. It's not as if patients can choose to not get unwell just because I am going on holiday. Today is a bank holiday so that is giving me a wee rest and then it's a busy week. I am presenting a case at teaching on Wednesday morning and all day Thursday and Friday we are running an organ donor desk for LLTGL at the Freshers Festival. This should be a great opportunity to get people signing up, although I imagine an exhausting couple of days.
At the weekend we have all Andrews friends (also mine of course) coming to stay. I am looking forward to this and it should be a good laugh. I have at least finished decorating so the place is in some kind of order haha.
I am also working hard on getting support for the Halloween Party. I will only have about 10 days once I am back from holiday to get sorted so if people want tickets can you let me know asap, before I go away. I had a meeting down at the union and had another look at the venue - it should be fab with all the decorations. They are going to put some posters up, as are the medical school. We do need more people though so if you are at all interested please get in touch.
Emily was staying last weekend as she was running a Speakers Project in Glasgow. This is a Live Life Then Give Life initiative which aims to help people who have had experience of transplant (themselves or relatives/friends) learn skills on how to speak publicly about these experiences. Although I have spoken before, I found it particularly useful for looking at time keeping and condensing the message effectively when given a short time slot. I am not so good at stopping talking haha! Andrew also came along and I think he enjoyed the experience and he was very good at giving his talk - I think it's actually harder for a partner or relative to talk about the experience than it is for the person themselves. There were 2 sessions because you can only about 5-6 per session ideally, as every one has to practice giving a talk. Myself and Victoria went to both session because Emily decided she needed some 'lungs' for the afternoon. I really enjoyed the afternoon as I met a lady who had a heart transplant 10 years ago, a lady who had undergone 2 kidney transplants and also caught up with Catriona, whose son had a small bowel transplant. It was fascinating to hear their stories.
Deep concentration
It was also great to catch up with Emily. Seb was delighted to see her again, and as he did the last time she visited, he followed her everywhere! I think he was in love. He did knock her door a few times during the night but was then quite good and just lay outside the door. At one point he heard her coughing though and started crying because he wanted to go into the room!! It's very odd but rather cute :-)
Work has been super busy and I ended up staying late every day, which is not a good habit to start. I think possibly the fact I have had quite a few study days and holidays coming up has also made things busier, as you do end up still trying to fit in the same amount of work. It's not as if patients can choose to not get unwell just because I am going on holiday. Today is a bank holiday so that is giving me a wee rest and then it's a busy week. I am presenting a case at teaching on Wednesday morning and all day Thursday and Friday we are running an organ donor desk for LLTGL at the Freshers Festival. This should be a great opportunity to get people signing up, although I imagine an exhausting couple of days.
At the weekend we have all Andrews friends (also mine of course) coming to stay. I am looking forward to this and it should be a good laugh. I have at least finished decorating so the place is in some kind of order haha.
I am also working hard on getting support for the Halloween Party. I will only have about 10 days once I am back from holiday to get sorted so if people want tickets can you let me know asap, before I go away. I had a meeting down at the union and had another look at the venue - it should be fab with all the decorations. They are going to put some posters up, as are the medical school. We do need more people though so if you are at all interested please get in touch.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Anne's 60th
Very busy week so not had time to blog! I am leaving shortly to pick up Emily from the airport, so thought I should do a quick blog before another eventful weekend begins :-)
Last weekend we were down in Hawick for Anne's 60th birthday party. We had it in the village hall and it was a fab night. I think everyone invited was there and we had a mixture of chatting, dancing and a bit of a sing song as well. There was a lovely atmosphere which is always a sign someone has lots of very good friends :-)
I was also at a couple of day conferences this week - one about medical conditions presenting in psychiatry and the other about personality disorder. Both were very interesting and helpful for clinical practice. I really enjoyed the medical one as there is always a little bit of me misses that side of medicine. The only downside to being at these conferences is that I had to work superhard on Monday to get things organised and finished as I wouldn't be back in for the rest of the week. Work is very busy at the moment as they have not filled the vacant staff grade job. I am doing my best to cover things but am starting to feel the pressure now. I will have to be careful about not getting overloaded although it's easier said than done. Just trying to keep a level head and calm approach - I can only do so much.
Exciting news is that we have booked a holiday for beginning of October to Cyprus. I can't wait!!! I haven't taken any annual leave since May so am really looking forward to some relaxation and a last minute top up of sun before winter is upon us. We are going to Paphos although faffed about so long that by the time we booked it we had missed flights, so have to fly into the other airport in Cyprus and transfer. Never mind, it will still be worth it.
This weekend Emily is up because she is running the Speakers Project in Glasgow tomorrow. I am going to the morning session then will help out in the afternoon. The aim is to provide people who have had transplant, are waiting on or are involved in some way (relatives usually) with the skills to speak about organ donation. I think its a really useful project because the people who have experiences transplant really are the best advocates. It will be interesting to hear about other people's stories.
Life is busy but good :-)
Very busy week so not had time to blog! I am leaving shortly to pick up Emily from the airport, so thought I should do a quick blog before another eventful weekend begins :-)
Last weekend we were down in Hawick for Anne's 60th birthday party. We had it in the village hall and it was a fab night. I think everyone invited was there and we had a mixture of chatting, dancing and a bit of a sing song as well. There was a lovely atmosphere which is always a sign someone has lots of very good friends :-)
Fab cake by Lindsay Banks - Sweet as Cakes
Me and Corey
I made little lights for tables
I was also at a couple of day conferences this week - one about medical conditions presenting in psychiatry and the other about personality disorder. Both were very interesting and helpful for clinical practice. I really enjoyed the medical one as there is always a little bit of me misses that side of medicine. The only downside to being at these conferences is that I had to work superhard on Monday to get things organised and finished as I wouldn't be back in for the rest of the week. Work is very busy at the moment as they have not filled the vacant staff grade job. I am doing my best to cover things but am starting to feel the pressure now. I will have to be careful about not getting overloaded although it's easier said than done. Just trying to keep a level head and calm approach - I can only do so much.
Exciting news is that we have booked a holiday for beginning of October to Cyprus. I can't wait!!! I haven't taken any annual leave since May so am really looking forward to some relaxation and a last minute top up of sun before winter is upon us. We are going to Paphos although faffed about so long that by the time we booked it we had missed flights, so have to fly into the other airport in Cyprus and transfer. Never mind, it will still be worth it.
This weekend Emily is up because she is running the Speakers Project in Glasgow tomorrow. I am going to the morning session then will help out in the afternoon. The aim is to provide people who have had transplant, are waiting on or are involved in some way (relatives usually) with the skills to speak about organ donation. I think its a really useful project because the people who have experiences transplant really are the best advocates. It will be interesting to hear about other people's stories.
Life is busy but good :-)
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Fran's Anniversary 9th September
Hard to believe that tomorrow another year will have passed and it is now 7 years since we lost Frances Ann. I always do find September really hard and this week I have felt quite emotional. I think it's always worse at work because I am trying to listen to people's worries and woes, yet at times I would just like to have a wee greet myself!
I have a memory box (I say a memory box, it's actually a Barratts shoe box!) with loads of pictures, cards and letters from Fran. There are pictures dating back to when she was really young and although the pictures are really good, the spelling is quite funny lol. I think there was a 'hossy' (horse), golden egel (eagle) and I was apparently the 'best sister in the wirild'. The latter pictures are really good and she had great artistic flair. Then there are the letters. Some of these are written to me when I was in hospital, most of these finish with p.s I fed the fish. Some are just random - there is a cute one where she is telling me she has left my breakfast out for me because I wasn't feeling well. Some are written when I was at uni and she was still at home - she was in her teens. There was a couple of things that just made me laugh out loud tonight:
"I made dinner tonight. Mum was mad at me because I told her I didn't know what to do with tatties. She gave me a row and went out but I still didn't know what to do." I remember this incident - mum was horrified that she had got to this age and didn't know how to boil a tattie. There was another time when mum had phoned home from work and Fran answered but mum thought it was me. She started telling her to put on the meatballs for dinner ....Fran just said "mum, you obviously think it's Jacqueline so I will just hand the phone to her."
Another quote was "Granda came up to the house today. He said my room was a total mess. It must be really bad if Granda can even see it." My Granda had macular degeneration and was practically blind at this point!! Fran was one of the messiest people I know. She used to get a row of the nurses in hospital all the time because her hospital room was such a tip. I was the complete opposite and when we shared a room seemed to spend most of my time tidying her half!
The other amusing thing was the number of names she signed letters off with. These included 'banana milkshake', Batman (formally known as Fran), Queen Fran and in another letter she was telling me that at a church youth event she had to wear a name badge, so she changed her name to Zara Lane for the day.
I am glad I have all these wee memories and it's nice to have letters and cards to help bring these back. Always in my heart xxx
Hard to believe that tomorrow another year will have passed and it is now 7 years since we lost Frances Ann. I always do find September really hard and this week I have felt quite emotional. I think it's always worse at work because I am trying to listen to people's worries and woes, yet at times I would just like to have a wee greet myself!
I have a memory box (I say a memory box, it's actually a Barratts shoe box!) with loads of pictures, cards and letters from Fran. There are pictures dating back to when she was really young and although the pictures are really good, the spelling is quite funny lol. I think there was a 'hossy' (horse), golden egel (eagle) and I was apparently the 'best sister in the wirild'. The latter pictures are really good and she had great artistic flair. Then there are the letters. Some of these are written to me when I was in hospital, most of these finish with p.s I fed the fish. Some are just random - there is a cute one where she is telling me she has left my breakfast out for me because I wasn't feeling well. Some are written when I was at uni and she was still at home - she was in her teens. There was a couple of things that just made me laugh out loud tonight:
"I made dinner tonight. Mum was mad at me because I told her I didn't know what to do with tatties. She gave me a row and went out but I still didn't know what to do." I remember this incident - mum was horrified that she had got to this age and didn't know how to boil a tattie. There was another time when mum had phoned home from work and Fran answered but mum thought it was me. She started telling her to put on the meatballs for dinner ....Fran just said "mum, you obviously think it's Jacqueline so I will just hand the phone to her."
Another quote was "Granda came up to the house today. He said my room was a total mess. It must be really bad if Granda can even see it." My Granda had macular degeneration and was practically blind at this point!! Fran was one of the messiest people I know. She used to get a row of the nurses in hospital all the time because her hospital room was such a tip. I was the complete opposite and when we shared a room seemed to spend most of my time tidying her half!
The other amusing thing was the number of names she signed letters off with. These included 'banana milkshake', Batman (formally known as Fran), Queen Fran and in another letter she was telling me that at a church youth event she had to wear a name badge, so she changed her name to Zara Lane for the day.
I am glad I have all these wee memories and it's nice to have letters and cards to help bring these back. Always in my heart xxx
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Catch Up
Another few busy weekends! This weekend we had a lovely treat, going to Cameron House Hotel in Loch Lomond for afternoon tea :-) This was part of Anne's 60th birthday celebrations, so it was Anne, John, my mum and dad, Andrews gran and great aunt and myself and Andrew. It was a lovely tea with lots of cakes and great coffee. Me and Andrew drank about 2 massive pots between us, so I was a bit buzzy for the rest of the day. Never a good thing since I am pretty buzzy without!
On Sunday we were at Uncle Hughs parish fete. They were so lucky with the weather and had a massive turn out of people - I am talking hundreds! They have raised over £11,000 in one day. Fantastic. We also managed to finish building the wardrobe and drawers for the spare room - so that's finished. Phew. I was going to paint something for above the bed but decided to make this collage instead - cutting out little birds from some cool paper I had. It's a bit mental. But then so am I.
Yesterday I was at the 2nd meeting of the Transplant Psychiatry Group. I think we are changing the name to Transplant Psychological Medicine or something though because it is open to psychologists, nurses and social workers affiliated with transplant in the UK. The idea at the moment is to get an idea of the current services provided for pre and post transplant patients in the UK and how this varies across regions (and organs!) We would then be looking forward to how these services can be improved and what transplant teams, and the patients, are looking for. I somehow managed to volunteer to speak at the next meeting about the patients perspective, which I think is vital. The group were in agreement about this. I am not sure of the format yet - perhaps taking them through my experience of the transplant journey but also will try to gather some information from other transplant recipients and those on the list, about their thoughts on psychological input (or lack of). Andrew said I only volunteered because "you like to get your wee neb in!" Correct!!
We have been at two very different concerts as well over the last few weeks. On our wedding anniversary we went to see Dolly Parton at the SECC. It was fab!! She is a fantastic singer and sounded the same live as she does on her recordings. She also played tons of instruments.piano, guitar, saxophone, banjo, penny whistle and others. Andrew wasn't quite so sure but he did still enjoy it! The last week we went through to the Edinburgh festival to hear our friend Tomoko Kinuta playing the flute. This was in the art gallery and she played a combination of Japanese flute and the European flute. We had only heard her play once at a friends wedding so it was lovely to get a chance to hear her perform and we thought she was amazing! I have also booked tickets for Alabama 3 who are playing at the 02 Academy. No one seems to know who I am talking about though. They describe themselves as 'acid house country rock'. You can tell from the above three concerns/gigs that my taste in music is somewhat eclectic.
Victoria was over last week and we had a skype meeting with Kirsty about the Halloween Party. Skype because Kirsty had a cough and we can't mix if any one of us potentially has infection. We have decided to focus on the Halloween Party as purely a party, with DJ, dancing and only having some prizes for best dress etc and hopefully face painter and tarot card reader. We are not going to have tomobola etc this time as it doesn't seem like that kind of evening. We are going to work hard on the decorations to make it super cool, and on selling as many tickets as possible - we need the place to be jumping! I will also get round to setting up a Just Giving page for donations if people cannot attend but want to support us. We really need to sell tickets at the moment as we have things to pay for and no money to do it! So ways to help:
1. If you are planning to come, please purchase a ticket online or email me direct if you are going to see me and can therefore get tickets from me. I know it seems a long time away but its only next month and we need idea of numbers! See link below for online tickets. £10 or £8 student.
2. If you have any halloween decorations or contacts for decorations, please let me know.
3. We are still trying to get a tarot card reader/angel card reader/palm reader type person. If you have any contacts please get in touch!!!!
4. Please circulate the facebook page and help us to get as many people as possible!
HALLOWEEN PARTY
Another few busy weekends! This weekend we had a lovely treat, going to Cameron House Hotel in Loch Lomond for afternoon tea :-) This was part of Anne's 60th birthday celebrations, so it was Anne, John, my mum and dad, Andrews gran and great aunt and myself and Andrew. It was a lovely tea with lots of cakes and great coffee. Me and Andrew drank about 2 massive pots between us, so I was a bit buzzy for the rest of the day. Never a good thing since I am pretty buzzy without!
On Sunday we were at Uncle Hughs parish fete. They were so lucky with the weather and had a massive turn out of people - I am talking hundreds! They have raised over £11,000 in one day. Fantastic. We also managed to finish building the wardrobe and drawers for the spare room - so that's finished. Phew. I was going to paint something for above the bed but decided to make this collage instead - cutting out little birds from some cool paper I had. It's a bit mental. But then so am I.
Yesterday I was at the 2nd meeting of the Transplant Psychiatry Group. I think we are changing the name to Transplant Psychological Medicine or something though because it is open to psychologists, nurses and social workers affiliated with transplant in the UK. The idea at the moment is to get an idea of the current services provided for pre and post transplant patients in the UK and how this varies across regions (and organs!) We would then be looking forward to how these services can be improved and what transplant teams, and the patients, are looking for. I somehow managed to volunteer to speak at the next meeting about the patients perspective, which I think is vital. The group were in agreement about this. I am not sure of the format yet - perhaps taking them through my experience of the transplant journey but also will try to gather some information from other transplant recipients and those on the list, about their thoughts on psychological input (or lack of). Andrew said I only volunteered because "you like to get your wee neb in!" Correct!!
We have been at two very different concerts as well over the last few weeks. On our wedding anniversary we went to see Dolly Parton at the SECC. It was fab!! She is a fantastic singer and sounded the same live as she does on her recordings. She also played tons of instruments.piano, guitar, saxophone, banjo, penny whistle and others. Andrew wasn't quite so sure but he did still enjoy it! The last week we went through to the Edinburgh festival to hear our friend Tomoko Kinuta playing the flute. This was in the art gallery and she played a combination of Japanese flute and the European flute. We had only heard her play once at a friends wedding so it was lovely to get a chance to hear her perform and we thought she was amazing! I have also booked tickets for Alabama 3 who are playing at the 02 Academy. No one seems to know who I am talking about though. They describe themselves as 'acid house country rock'. You can tell from the above three concerns/gigs that my taste in music is somewhat eclectic.
Victoria was over last week and we had a skype meeting with Kirsty about the Halloween Party. Skype because Kirsty had a cough and we can't mix if any one of us potentially has infection. We have decided to focus on the Halloween Party as purely a party, with DJ, dancing and only having some prizes for best dress etc and hopefully face painter and tarot card reader. We are not going to have tomobola etc this time as it doesn't seem like that kind of evening. We are going to work hard on the decorations to make it super cool, and on selling as many tickets as possible - we need the place to be jumping! I will also get round to setting up a Just Giving page for donations if people cannot attend but want to support us. We really need to sell tickets at the moment as we have things to pay for and no money to do it! So ways to help:
1. If you are planning to come, please purchase a ticket online or email me direct if you are going to see me and can therefore get tickets from me. I know it seems a long time away but its only next month and we need idea of numbers! See link below for online tickets. £10 or £8 student.
2. If you have any halloween decorations or contacts for decorations, please let me know.
3. We are still trying to get a tarot card reader/angel card reader/palm reader type person. If you have any contacts please get in touch!!!!
4. Please circulate the facebook page and help us to get as many people as possible!
Friday, September 02, 2011
In Memory of Margaret
I wanted to share a link to a fundraising walk that my best buds brother is doing next weekend. It's a night time marathon for Cancer Research and is in memory of their mum, Margaret Gilchrist.
Margaret sadly lost her battle with cancer less than two weeks ago, very suddenly, having initially responded well to treatment last year. It has been devastating for her beautiful family of five daughters, a son and her husband. She was one of the most selfless and thoughtful people I have ever met.
I used to go round to Claire's house every week when we were at school. We had decided to join a badminton club - not really to play, but to sit about and chat! So it seemed necessary for me to go to Claire's house straight from school, have dinner with them and then Claire's dad or brother would drive us to the club. I only lived 5 minutes car drive away so I am not sure why this seemed so necessary! Given the size of the family I am not sure how they squeezed me round the table, but it never seemed to be an issue. We always knew that if Claire's mum or my mum said we were allowed to do something, then the other would also agree. When we were older and at university, we used to have these phone calls about various dilemmas. It would often end with 'ok, you phone your mum and I'll phone mine, and see what they say'. We would then discuss their advice, which was inevitably the same.
Claire's mum has supported every charity event I have had - even joining us on the team Jac walk after my transplant. She was one of those people who always remembers your birthday and every important date. She wrote my anniversary card and had it posted the day she died. I will treasure that card for ever. That really sums up the kind of person she was. I am sure she will be looking down on the whole family and will always be proud.
If you want to support this fab family and give to a great cause, here is the link:
Brians Walk
I wanted to share a link to a fundraising walk that my best buds brother is doing next weekend. It's a night time marathon for Cancer Research and is in memory of their mum, Margaret Gilchrist.
Margaret sadly lost her battle with cancer less than two weeks ago, very suddenly, having initially responded well to treatment last year. It has been devastating for her beautiful family of five daughters, a son and her husband. She was one of the most selfless and thoughtful people I have ever met.
I used to go round to Claire's house every week when we were at school. We had decided to join a badminton club - not really to play, but to sit about and chat! So it seemed necessary for me to go to Claire's house straight from school, have dinner with them and then Claire's dad or brother would drive us to the club. I only lived 5 minutes car drive away so I am not sure why this seemed so necessary! Given the size of the family I am not sure how they squeezed me round the table, but it never seemed to be an issue. We always knew that if Claire's mum or my mum said we were allowed to do something, then the other would also agree. When we were older and at university, we used to have these phone calls about various dilemmas. It would often end with 'ok, you phone your mum and I'll phone mine, and see what they say'. We would then discuss their advice, which was inevitably the same.
Claire's mum has supported every charity event I have had - even joining us on the team Jac walk after my transplant. She was one of those people who always remembers your birthday and every important date. She wrote my anniversary card and had it posted the day she died. I will treasure that card for ever. That really sums up the kind of person she was. I am sure she will be looking down on the whole family and will always be proud.
If you want to support this fab family and give to a great cause, here is the link:
Brians Walk
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