Up The Farway Tree

2012-01-16T20:07:00.001Z

I don't have much to report for the month of January, other than just getting back to reality!! It was lovely having time off over Christmas and it all seemed to be over too soon. We had a mini disaster when we returned on the day of the gale force winds, to find out skylight window in the loft had smashed and rain was pouring in!! The insurance company sent someone to do an emergency repair (ie board it up) but we had to wait up until after midnight for them to come, so first day back at work I was rather sleepy! It has been repaired now and we are now waiting to get some roof slates fixed, which were also damaged. I have heard of people experiencing a lot worse, with chimney stacks coming down on cars and lots of trees, so we can't really complain too much!

Seb is just going to hide for the rest of January..

To beat the January blues, Team Glasgow is running a 'swap shop' for the girls on Sat 28th January. The idea is that you bring along some unwanted clothes/accessories and can swap for something else. We will ask people to pay at the door and this money will go to the CF Trust Holiday Fund. Get in touch if you want more info or fancy coming along :-)

2011-12-31T21:58:00.002Z

My Year

January

I started another new year in good health and good spirits. It was in this month that myself, Kirsty and Victoria started our dance class. I proved myself incapable of remembering steps but had a fantastic time trying! I also spoke to a Primary 7 class about organ donation, which was a great experience.

February

I was in a painting mood this month, with the creation of the Giant Panda and the Butterfly Kisses giant canvas. It was also a sad month with the loss of a fellow CF'er David, who had been waiting on his transplant at the time.

March

Was a month of great weather and an early summer (which didn't last). I auctioned the Butterfly Kisses painting for the Butterfly Trust and finished my 30 day challenge of posting a photo a day.

April

I celebrated my 3 year transplant anniversary, enjoyed some good weather in the garden and had the honour of speaking to the 5^th year pupils at George Heriot school about my transplant experiences. We also lost dear Aunty Agnes, who will be dearly remembered.

May

We had a fantastic holiday to Sorrento, which was lovely with beautiful weather. Unfortunately we came back to find the massive tree down in the garden, which became the saga of the following months! Team Glasgow were out on the fancy dress pub crawl for the CF Trust Holiday Fund.

June

I had my 6 monthly transplant clinic and had an all time high lung function of 3 Litres – never had that before in my entire life! This was the same clinic that mum declared that a Buffoon was an animal ;-) I enjoyed my friend Stephanie's hen night in June

July

We eventually had the fallen tree removed, much to Sebs disappointment! Team Glasgow ran an organ donor desk at St Enoch centre for transplant week and had lots of sign ups and made a few good contacts. Finally we had a fantastic time at Stephanie and Pauls wedding and there was much silly dancing all round :-)

August

We celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary! I think we maybe went to B+Q on the day because we were in a massive painting frenzy, trying to finish the house off! We did also go and see Dolly Parton that evening, which was fab! I also took a trip to London with Victoria and we saw Shrek and did some sight seeing :-) Sadly August was also when Margaret, Claire's mum, lost her fight with cancer. She will always be so dearly remembered by myself and my family.

September

The month started well with Emily visiting to run the speakers project, and then we had a great celebration for Anne's 60^th Birthday the following weekend. Team Glasgow ran a 2 day organ donor desk at Freshers Festival, which was a massive success.

October

We had a well earned holiday to Cyprus, where we just chilled for 10 days – bliss!! At the end of the month we had our big Halloween party in aid of The Butterfly Trust. This was really quite stressful to organise but we pulled it off in the end and raised a grand total of £2101.8. Also a fab hen night for Claire!

November

This was a month of highs and lows. Sadly, a dear friend Lou, lost her fight post transplant. She had been very unwell for a long time but was a true inspiration to many. The high lights were Claire's wedding, which was amazing, and also the honour of being God Mother to baby Caoimhe :-)

December

A month of Christmas preparations and increasing excitement! I had my review at transplant clinic and passed with flying colours and a gold shiny star. Can't really ask for a better Christmas present! I met up with lots of friends before Christmas and enjoyed getting into the festive spirit. It never seems to wear off :-)

2012

So where will 2012 take me? I have dreams and wishes for the year ahead, but if I can stay healthy and enjoy life, then I will be more than happy. I am, as always, thinking of my donors family at this time, and hope that 2012 is full of happiness for them. Here's to another year ahead and another new adventure.

2011-12-30T12:34:00.001Z

Christmas!!

I have had a lovely Christmas and now relaxing and enjoying some calm, before the New Year festivities! We arrived at mum and dads last Friday so had the whole of Christmas Eve here. My friends from school (and their husbands) all came over in the afternoon, as per tradition, and we had a lovely couple of hours catching up. We then went to the Christmas vigil Mass and afterwards Sarah joined us all for a Christmas movie. Mum then packed me off to bed so that Santa could visit!

Seb gets into the festive spirit.. (sort of!)

Christmas Eve - before Santa had even been with his presents!

My sleigh full of wee Christmas toys!

Claire made this paper chain when she was in primary one - so that was about 30 years ago! From top to bottom - Claire, me and Fran. Note that we get progressively more dishevelled :-)

Stars that me, Claire and Fran all made when in Primary 1. Mine is the one at the front where the silver paper is not straight and the white is showing through, Claire's is the perfect one in the middle and Fran's is the one using tinfoil mashed round.

I actually slept well this year (must have been tired) and woke at 6.45am. Andrew wouldn't let me get my stocking from outside the bedroom until 7.15am and it was a long wait....! We had a great time opening all our gifts and I must have been a VERY good girl this year because I had lots of fab presents. Andrew had got me a kindle and a Fossil watch that I had been looking at (total surprise) amongst other very Jac presents (including a giant panda to wipe my windscreen with haha!) Mum and dad gave me loads of fantastic clothes - mum always knows exactly what to get! There were a couple of really cute dresses - one red and another black with chiffon sleeves and lots of lovely tops. My favourite was a black dress with tiny red dogs on it - totally love it!! Dad played a large role in the purchasing of a giant rabbit door stop. He is about 2ft tall and I have called him Harvey :-)

Dad quite liked his new hat...

Sarah came to visit with her fab gifts!

Andrew was really pleased with his electric guitar!

Seb with his santa hat and beard that my secret santa at work gave me (along with my present!)

Christmas table set

Centre piece made my Aunty Rose!

Crackers made my moi!

Uncle Hugh

Dad - hobbling around as he had put his back out

Mum preparing dinner

On Boxing Day we headed down to Anne and Johns for Christmas round two :-) We also managed to catch up with Peter and David (friends of Andrews from school) who were home for Christmas and also with Anna, Jamie and their new baby Emily! We had a lovely relaxing time and it's great to see everyone around Christmas.

Anne

Ross

John (trying to look cool...)

Andrew's gran - rocking out on the guitar ;-)

So it has been a lovely Christmas and lots of time has been spent with family and friends! I am now looking forward to the New Year and some more celebrations over the coming days!!

2011-12-23T16:09:00.000Z

2 more sleeps

I finished work yesterday so today I am working myself into a wee frenzy! Bags are packed, presents are all piled in the hallway waiting to go into the car......then it's off home to mum and dad's. Then on boxing day down to Anne and Johns. I love being with my family at Christmas!

Everyone knows Christmas can be a time of mixed emotions, where you look back over years gone past and wonder about what is still to come. My love and thoughts are with everyone who has lost someone close to them this year, especially my friend Claire and her family. Also dear Lu's family and my Uncle Kevin, who has just lost his dad. Although it is a time when we miss people, it is also a time for family and for simply being together. I think the feeling of forced jovility at Christmas can be hard for people - this is certainly something many of my patients struggle with. I think we sometimes miss the point though. Yes, I love Santa and presents, christmas trees and decorations, but most of all I just love spending time with people I love. It's hard when someone is missing - my family know this all too well - but it is also a time to remember them and share those memories. Joy can be about what we have and what has still to come, and I think this can go hand in hand with the sadness that someone is missing. We don't really know what our story is, where the journey will take us and why certain things happen on the way. I think I have mostly learned to accept this uncertainty but it isn't easy. For my sisters Fran and Claire, and for those friends I have lost.

Though we're apart
You're in my heart
This Christmas
...and always

Wishing everyone a peaceful and magical Christmas xxxx

2011-12-20T17:35:00.000Z

How remiss....

Mum just pointed out to me that I didn't update after my transplant clinic on 12th Dec! I had updated on face book and then somehow thought I had also posted here - oops!

Well, no news was good news - another glowing report! Lung function is very steady at 2.99L (108%), oxygen levels were perfect, BP fine and all round good report :-) A nice wee early Christmas present for me.

I have been getting into the Christmas spirit, with all my decorations up, baking mince pies and we went to see Hansel and Gretel at the Citizens Theatre. It is a bit of an inconvenience having to go to work ;-) I am looking forward to some time off and some chilling out. It's my work night out tomorrow night, although I have to go in on Thursday so that's not so great haha. Andrew has been working lots over the past weeks (every night and a few weekends!) to meet some deadlines at work. Things have calmed down a wee bit just now but I think he is more in need of a holiday than me at the moment!

I am on my final countdown of sleeps now - 5 to go and counting! I will leave you with some decorations and Seb stealing my rudolph...

Asking for trouble hanging it here..

New for this year: Sorrento May 2011

From Cyprus: October 2011

Mum brought from New York - Believe in Miracles!

Bear is getting festive (Fran gave me this bear when I got my first flat - he sits about looking cute)

Mr Cow competes for best outfit..

A tree full of memories!

2011-12-08T17:28:00.001Z

Claire and Giuseppe's Wedding

My best friend from school, Claire, got married on 26th November - so here are some photos of a fantastic day!

Claire with her dad - in St Margarets Church, South Queensferry. Amazing dress, which was absolutely stunning :-)

Claire's lovely bridesmaids - her four sisters! Anne-Marie had made all the invites, and lovely order of services rolled into scrolls and tied with navy ribbon. Giuseppe's nephews handed out the scrolls, which was very cute.

Me reading the Responsorial Psalm (to my right is Brian, Claire's brother)

Exchanging vows! (with Fr McDonald, a friend of Claire's family)

The rings!

Signing the register

Claire and Giuseppe at the reception - Orocco Pier. Lovely venue - lots of twinkly lights in the room which made it quite magical! Nice touches all evening from the favours (pin badges supporting cancer research) to the evening snack - fish and chips in a poke (scottish word ;-)) which was styled like a newspaper printed with pictures of Claire and Giuseppe. The band were amazing- same one as Gillian had, and they were just as good this time round. (called Northern Star if anyone looking for a very good wedding band!) Speeches were excellent and there was a lovely atmosphere all evening.

Me and mum

Me and Claire

'The girls' - all great friends from school

The cake. Lovely photos of Claire and Giuseppe's parents on their wedding day on either side. Sadly Claire's mum and Giuseppe's dad are no longer with us, but were very much remembered on the day.

Mini Claire and Giuseppe cake topper - made by me (from fimo clay)!!

First Dance - Let's get married by The Proclaimers

Claire and Giuseppe's names projected onto the shore outside (venue overlooks river forth and the road bridge). You could go out onto a wee balcony to see this, which looked amazing.

To see some professional pictures visit the photographers blog

All in all, a lovely day for a lovely couple!! Love you guys!! xx

2011-11-29T11:30:00.001Z

In Memory of Louise

I received the very sad and unexpected news yesterday that my friend Louise had died at the weekend, three years post transplant and 31 years old. I have spoken about Louise many times on my blog (she posted in the comments as LouLou). Louise had a really difficult time with her health from a very young age. As a child she has Wilms tumour, which is a type of tumour on the kidney. She had her kidney removed and underwent radiation therapy. Unfortunately it is likely that this radiations therapy is what led to her developing Pulmonary Fibrosis in her twenties. At this stage she had a degree in psychology, worked as a primary school teacher and also worked weekends as a manager at Thomas Cook. That was the kind of girl Louise was - into everything!! Her lung disease declined dramatically over a short period of time and she was turned down by the London transplant teams as being too unwell for transplant. Freeman in Newcastle however agreed to take the risk. She did undergo a lung transplant in summer 2008, shortly after my own transplant. Unfortunately she had many post op complications and an extremely turbulent recovery in ITU. This left her new lungs badly damaged but she was determined to carry on and make the most of her new life. In the following years Lou developed many post transplant complications to further challenge her positive attitude. She had post transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, a kind of cancer that can occur after transplant, for which she needed chemotherapy due to it affecting her liver. To just add to the mix Lou only had one kidney, due to the childhood cancer, so her renal function started to decline due to her immunosuppressant medication and her already weak heart pre transplant started to suffer badly and she was diagnosed with end stage heart failure. Essentially she had failure in every organ but somehow she just kept going.

You might think that someone with all the above problems (and many more I haven't even mentioned) would hide herself away and feel bitter about the cards she was dealt. Lou was the complete opposite! She had managed to get back to doing some part time work in the school again, taken up a photography course (which she passed with distinction) and ran her own craft shop online. She was an advocate for Live Life Then Give Life and was always coming up with fundraising schemes, which extended to other charities she supported. She would be the first to send a home made card with words of encouragement to anyone going through a hard time, despite her own difficulties. She was awarded Thomas Cook employee of the year and worked hard to represent them this year.

I think in many ways we often forgot how ill Lou really was because she rarely complained. Her attitude to life was one that we could all take some lessons from. Only days before her death she had posted on facebook that she was making up boxes for underprivileged children for Christmas. Her blog was called Happy to be Me, and one of her sayings was 'It's not about what you have got, but what you choose to do with it', which essentially says it all. We will all miss you Lou xxx

2011-11-20T13:45:00.001Z

It seems to have been another busy few weeks!

Last weekend I was delighted to be Godmother at Caoimhe's Christening. Caoimhe (pronounced Keeva) is my friend Lauren's wee baby - completely adorable, like her big sister Orla. It was a lovely day and we had some nice sunshine for a change. Caoimhe didn't wake up during the entire service, other than opening her eyes briefly when the Baptismal water was poured over her head, then going promptly back to sleep! I wish I was as chilled as that :-)

During the week I had taken an annual leave day to help out at a schools symposium, being organised by NHSBT. 6th year pupils from across Scotland who were interested in studying medicine, or related health care subjects, had been invited. There were 7 stations for them to work through - from meeting transplant surgeons, donor coordinator nurses, labs staff to our station, which was myself and a wonderful lady whose 3 year old son had donated his organs and saved 5 lives on his death. We had 7 groups for 30 minutes each, so it was quite hard going - talking about both our stories with each group. I think it was a powerful message though, and allowed the students to see the real life side of organ donation and of medicine in general.

Friday I had a good catch up with Claire....whose wedding is only a week away now! Then in the evening myself and Andrew were at the Alabama 3 concert in Glasgow. Most people have no idea who I am talking about but if you have seen the TV show The Sopranos - they did the theme tune for that. They describe their music as acid house country rock and I guess that pretty much covers it! There was a really varied crowd of all ages so it was a really eclectic mix. We really enjoyed it and also had caught up with our friends Clare and Al, who were also going along.

Yesterday was not so much fun, as I ended up at A+E getting my foot xrayed! It started on Tuesday with a really acute sharp pain that came on when I was walking. I had been limping for the rest of the week and it seemed to be getting worse as opposed to better. Although standing at a concert didn't exactly help! Some of you might remember that a similar thing happened shortly after my transplant and it turned out to be a stress fracture (because I have osteoporosis). Anyway the xray didn't show any obvious fracture so it is likely to be a soft tissue injury and just needs a bit of rest. I am not very good at rest! I have however been good today and hopefully it will clear up soon - especially before Claire's wedding next week so I can wear nice shoes for dancing!!!

I have now uploaded some other pictures from the halloween party, which shows of the decorations more. You can check these out HERE.

Now I am off to start thinking about Christmas. Count down will be starting in couple of weeks....

2011-11-09T21:09:00.001Z

Fundraising

I was holding off blogging about the Dead Famous Halloween party until we had a final total, but I thought I better write something before people thought I had been eaten by a monster ;-)

Better to say it in pictures (more to come, but this will give a good idea!)

We had a coffin (yes, it's real) set up with a ghoul in it (whose head lit up). We got people to pose in front of the scene for photos and then they could buy the picture in a keyring, which we were making up on the night!

Work friends. Jamie won best fancy dress for the shower (replica of the scene in Karate Kid when he goes to a fancy dress party)

Whole team of helpers - Kirsty and Dougie, Victoria, Gregg, Harminder, Obie, Mandy and us

Kirsty doing everyone's makeup before we started! Below she makes up Lauren (professional photographer who took pictures for us)

Andrew as Edward Scissorhands!!!

Gillian and Pip

Some of the fab decorations we had donated!! The place looked amazing with lots of gory heads, spooky ghouls, tombstones and cobwebs everywhere. I got lots of LED black and orange tealights and put them in jam jars with spiders stuck on them, so we had these on the tables.

Everyone had a great night and we have raised almost £1000 from the night and donations! We are still waiting to hear about a possible large donation through a contact so will keep you posted on the final total! I must admit it was probably more stressful in some ways than the ball because quite a lot of people let us down on the night and didn't come along and it was much harder to sell tickets than for the ball -despite the price difference! I think if people decide to come to a ball they will commit but for a smaller party they are more likely to pull out. Luckily we had arranged with the venue to allow members of the public on later on, so it was actually very busy and got donations and sold raffle tickets to these people too! We also had a lady reading Runes for us, which went down really well and Kirsty had made up lovely sweetie bags which we sold on the night. All in all I think it was a big success, although I think I might still be recovering!

I then spent the rest of the week trying to make cards to sell at mums charity auction - again for The Butterfly Trust. This was last weekend and was a massive success - she raised almost £2000 in one night - professional!! It is always a fab night :-)

Will be back soon with my general chit chat :-)

2011-10-24T21:50:00.000+01:00

Face painter?

If anyone can help us with face painting at the halloween party or knows someone who can, please get in touch :-)

2011-10-24T20:32:00.000+01:00

Halloween Party Venue Change

The halloween party for The Butterfly Trust is this saturday! We had a recent change of venue, so it is now being held at The Flying Duck Club on Renfield St in the city centre. The union was going to be too large (and costly) for our numbers so we had to make a quick decision and fortunately this fab venue was available :-) We had actually tried to get it at the start, but they had a booking at that time. It's a quirky wee pub/club so will be more comfortable and cosy setting - hopefully be able to create more atmosphere. We have our own DJ until 11pm, then their DJ will take over and other people can come into the club, so should be a good night. We have also been able to reduce ticket prices so now £7 standard/£5 student. So if you had been put off by the student union venue but fancy this new one - let me know because tickets still on sale :-) Either online or contact me.

Just Giving page will also keep running until the event for any donations from people who want to support the cause but can't make it on the night.

Exciting :-)

2011-10-21T09:44:00.000+01:00

Cyprus

We got back last weekend but I have been rather caught up this week! Will summarise the holiday in pictures :-)

Paphos harbour

Small castle in Paphos - view from top of castle

Andrew with the very small castle!

Paphos is a national heritage site due to ancient ruins and the uncovering of many mosaics. These would have been on the floor of villas previously on this site. The heritage site is massive and they are still working to uncover items.

Above sunset is from the veranda of hotel bar. The picture below is from where we had lunch in the hotel everyday. There was a private cove at the beach, although the beaches are largely rocky in Cyprus.

Hotel pool

Ready for dinner

Andrew braved the pool - it was rather chilly!!!

If we didn't like the evening entertainment we played cards :-)

These pictures are at the Tombs of the Kings. Although no kings were ever buried here, it was a burial site. There are tombs carved out of the rock - that's me standing in the entrance to one below.

Monastery and Hermitage

Andrew with his Godparents, Pat and Andy, who now live in Cyprus

Above, my wee water shoes for wandering about rock pools! I did go in the sea one day with them :-) Below, the beach at the hotel with Andrew looking out to sea.

Making a 'handy heart' - the symbol that the organ donor battlefront campaign are using :-)

Undersea Walking!! We basically had to climb down a ladder at the end of a pier (see last pic) and they lowered these massive diving bells onto your head - they weigh about 30kg but as soon as your head goes under water they are weightless. You then climb the ladder down to the sea bed and then they walk you out away from the pier. It was really choppy that day we went so they had to take an instructer down per person to make sure we didn't fall over or float away! The equipment stays on land, and there is air being pumped into the diving bells - so you breathe normally and it doesn't fill with water. The instructers then had bread to feed the fish and we all got given some. I really loved that - although the fish were quite nippy!! I managed not to fall over (which is a surprise). My lungs were great but my ears were really sore with the pressure change - but i was just so glad I was able to do it!!

We had a lovely time and managed to relax. It's a shame that work awaits when you come home, but that's life eh? I will be back later to post about the halloween party and a change in venue!

2011-10-04T19:33:00.002+01:00

Just Giving

I am all set for my holidays but there will be only 10 days left before our halloween party when I come so wanted to make a quick post!

We have created a Just Giving page for the Butterfly Trust to run alongside the Halloween Party. This is for anyone who would like to support the event but can't come along - every penny is welcomed by the charity. I have created a widget on the right on this page for easy access.

For those who wish to attend, don't use this page to pay for tickets. Either get them online or email teamglasgow for more information.

2011-10-02T15:18:00.000+01:00

Freshers Festival and Friends

It's been a bit non stop this week! I had a quiet day on Tuesday (Fran's birthday) and went into meet Andrew for lunch on this break. Wednesday I went to pick up the organ donor kit at 8am then I was presenting a case for teaching at work, then busy clinic and then drove straight into town to start assembling the desk for Thursday morning. You could get access in the evening to park nearby to transfer items for your stand and to start building this, otherwise you needed to be there at 8am and have it done for the health and safety check at 8.30am but with no unloading at the site. Luckily Andrew met me and provided his flat pack building skills to put together this podium that you post completed forms into (on loan from Scottish Government) and to pull all the banners up (which I am too small to do) and carry heavy boxes I can't lift! They had upgraded us to a bigger desk which was good because we had lots of stuff to spread out :-)

Thursdsay morning I got the train in and realised when I got there I had forgotten a table cover (these weren't included) so had to leg it up to John Lewis for it opening and buy some paper ones. The desk looked fab once we had it all set out though. We had the two LLTGL banners and also the purple Scottish government one for organ donation. It was myself, Victoria and Kirsty in the morning and then after Kirsty went to work, Gregg came to help for the rest of the day. It was absolutely mobbed - they have about 15,000 students through the doors over 2 days! The encouraging thing was that a massive amount of students had already signed up through their provisional driving license, Boots card or when registering at the GP after moving to uni. For those who hadn't signed up we had a lot of good chats, gave out info and made people atop and think. The students went a bit mad for the logo bugs and we gave out all 300 (having to hold them back to make them last the two days).

Day two was marginally quieter but busier for us as we were able to stop more people and have a chat - when it was too busy it was harder to do this. It was mostly myself and Victoria, although Gregg managed to come down again and help. We got all the people at one of the other stalls to sign up and promised them a logo bug for each person they got to sign up after that - they brought us quite a few as a result! It was good fun although I was utterly exhausted - we were there from 9-5pm both days and I didn't sit down at all. It was also the freak heat wave and inside the tent (with no air con and next to a stall making popcorn) we were melting! However in the two days we signed up 121 people on the spot and gave away hundreds of leaflets to people interested. So it was definately worth it and I think Team Glasgow did well! For pictures go the the Team Glasgow Blog, where Victoria has uploaded them.

I didn't slow down for yesterday as we had a big group of friends over for the night, but it was great fun and I had a fab night. I just tend to cook something easy for people to help themselves so we had chilli con carne (with my portion having no spice haha) and rhubarb crumble. More importantly this year we had a fridge almost entirely dedicated to beer which was rather useful ;) Everyone has just gone home now and I might just need to go for a nap soon...!

Only one day at work then it is my holidays and I can finally stop for a while :-)

2011-09-27T09:51:00.004+01:00

Frances Ann's Birthday

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

2011-09-26T11:32:00.001+01:00

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.

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.

Email

Tickets

2011-09-16T11:30:00.000+01:00

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 :-)

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 :-)

2011-09-08T21:18:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-06T15:35:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-02T23:31:00.000+01:00

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

2011-08-22T20:41:00.002+01:00

Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary!

It was our 7th wedding anniversary on Saturday :-) 7 years seems a long time although we have been together for over 12 years this new year. I thought it would be fun to post some pictures through the years, especially since it has been quite a journey!

2000

Just before we got together, New Year in Edinburgh (andrew doing the 'arm hover' haha!)

2001

Me looking a bit skinny - I think Andrew had to take me home that night as I wasn't well - first of many times having to do that!

2002

My graduation
Andrew kept me sane through the exams - Frances Ann had been very ill in the lead up to my finals and I needed someone to keep me on the right track!

2003

Central Park, New York - day we got engaged!

2004

Our Wedding!

2005

At my cousins wedding
Missing Frances Ann at a big family event, but lucky to have Andrew there with me

2006

At a friends wedding. I am starting to get quite unwell by this time and was placed on transplant list in May of this year.

2007

London - when I was short listed for CF achiever award

I was really not well that weekend but amazing what plenty of make up can do :-)

2008

Just before my transplant call - and only couple weeks after the false alarm, where they started surgery. Looking surprisingly well (courtesy of steroids) but feeling rather rough!! Andrew had to carry my massive oxygen concentrator into the hotel because I wanted to stay all weekend haha. He also carried my wee cylinders about for me :-)

2008 (few weeks later)

First walk along the corridor post transplant!! An amazing moment!

(ignore the mental hair and dodgy tracksuit!)

2009

Able to enjoy a good party and I think Andrew looks more relaxed!

2010

starting to lose the steroid look and enjoying another party!

2011

Sorrento - up a hill!! Finally getting to go on holidays and enjoy them :-)

....and now to look forward to many more years!!

2011-08-18T16:53:00.000+01:00

London

I had a lovely weekend in London. We headed down on the Friday and took Victoria's laptop so we could watch films on the train journey. We went to the cinema that night and headed into London on the Saturday. I did get Victoria lost looking for the underground near her cousins house, and after all the walking and asking people, we ended up getting a bus anyway. She now knows never to rely on me for directions haha. We managed to get some last minute tickets for Shrek the musical for the Saturday night and just spent some time during the day wandering and sitting in the sun. Some random tourist asked if he could take a picture of Victoria's hair - we weren't sure if it was the style (it was pinned in a curl at back) or because it's red! Shrek was really good, although Wicked is still my favourite! On Sunday we were getting the train at lunch time so chilled with Victoria's cousin, his wife and wee boy, Joseph. It was a pretty relaxed weekend and nice to get away :-)

I arrived back to find Andrew had been very busy with DIY and had finished the floor in the spare room and decided to lift and start laying the new flooring in our room. It is starting to look really good - just some last minute sorting of skirting boards, and we should be fine to put furniture back into spare room. I was thinking we were nearly finished and could just stop painting and sorting for a while - but there seems to be some loose plaster in the hallway ceiling, where we had artex skimmed last year. I have a horrible feeling they are going to suggest re-plastering the whole area, which is rather messy. Will just have to wait and see as the builder is coming to look at it soon, and to also look at patio area again.

Work has been busy as they are still trying to find someone to replace the other staff grade, who has moved onto a new job. I know it will eventually get sorted but it's annoying at the moment, as I am really the only person around for the crisis team at the moment. I think I am also a bit stressed about our Halloween Party. I start to worry about enough people coming, selling tickets, having enough help, making enough money etc...I know I just have to learn to go with the flow but my mind does tend to race ahead. The early bird tickets are only until the end of this month so get your tickets now before price goes up :-)

Tickets Here

2011-08-08T22:10:00.000+01:00

The house that Jac built..

Another busy couple of weeks, so not much time for blogging! We are having a last push on finishing off all the painting and decorating in the house, so over the past couple of weekends we have been trying to decorate the two spare rooms, which we had been leaving until last. We have painted walls, ceilings, skirting boards, lifted and removed old laminate flooring and now laying new laminate. One bedroom is finished and the floor is half down on the second one. We are both exhausted! My knees are covered in bruises and I am slightly hobbling after I tripped over a pile of laminate flooring yesterday and went clattering down, paint pot flying and brush in hand. Luckily the pot of paint I practically threw at the wall in my effort not to fall over was the right colour for the wall, so that was handy :-) I have managed not to fall off any ladders yet and am becoming rather adept at removing skirting boards, and filling nail holes, sanding skirting boards and all sorts. My dad taught me well. I was really offended at the weekend when in B+Q this assistant asked me if I was lost because I was in the joinery section on my own - he said "whenever I see a woman up here it's because she is lost!" I politely told him I was not lost and knew exactly what I was looking for thank you :-)

The garden has improved massively since I last blogged - the tree is finally all removed with roots dug out and the hole filled. Apparently there was another set of deep roots under the earth so it took the guys a full day of digging. The shed was then delivered and built last week and looks great, although it's massive. Andrew said he couldn't downsize and got the nearest to what we had, but I am not sure I believe him. You could easily live in there ;-) I couldn't believe how quickly they built it though. I offered the guys a cup of tea and by the time I take it out the shed was nearly built! The greenhouse was built at the weekend and Andrew dug all the vegetable beds out, so the garden looks a lot tidier. We need to build up the rockery where the tree was but there is no rush to get this done. We are almost back to where we were in May before this happened! Hopefully we will manage to get our patio finished this year after all.

shed - greenhouse is now built next to this

Seb has been very sad at the loss of his shed, however I am sure he will find something else to amuse himself with soon enough. Today he managed to more or less smash through the fence trying to reach dad, who was painting the side of the extension from the neighbours garden. There has been a little hole in the fence panel that Seb has been gradually making bigger by picking off bits of wood with his paws. I kid you not. He went a bit mental today though because he could see dad on the other side of the hedge, so now there is a large hole. I was going to replace that bit of fence anyway...

Seb wonders where his tree has gone..

Seb lying on the floor of the old shed...somewhat mournfully

This weekend myself and Victoria had planned to visit Lu, as it's her birthday and transplant anniversary. However poor Lu was admitted to hospital in Newcastle after her appointment last week so won't be home in time. She is having some treatment so keep your fingers crossed it is effective. Me and Victoria are going to go down to London anyway as we have our train tickets already and we are staying with Victoria's cousin so we don't have cost of accommodation. I am looking forward to a lovely weekend that doesn't involve painting or flooring!!

2011-07-29T15:46:00.000+01:00

Inspired Chic

I have mentioned Lu before in my blog - she had her transplant after me but it hasn't been plain sailing and she has had multiple complications. Despite her ongoing health problems, Lu makes and sells arts and crafts on Folksy. She has just started a facebook page for her craft work, so please check it out - and once you are in the page give it a 'like' and be in with a chance to win a wee prize :-)

Also check her crafty blog Inspired Chic and her Folksy Shop.

2011-07-23T18:59:00.000+01:00

Time Flies

Where is the time going? I could have sworn it was only a week since I last blogged...

Last weekend we went to Jennifers 30th birthday drinks in Edinburgh, which was a great night. We were waiting on the live band to come for ages so eventually me, Claire and Fiona (Claire's sister in law) got up to dance, despite the fact no one else was. Sometimes it just has to be done. On Sunday we had dinner and mum and dads because Anne and John were up visiting, so that was nice to have plenty time for a catch up.

There has been significant progress on the tree since I last blogged. The men turned up to start cutting it up on Tuesday and were there all day but still had to come back on Wednesday to finish off, The root stump still has to be ground down but we knew that was going to be done separately anyway. It means we have been able to open the hut door at least and we now need to start taking everything down. Andrew has spent most of today taking the greenhouse apart and trying to clear the site. We then have to empty the hut and take that down before they new shed and greenhouse are delivered. Maybe we will be finished by Christmas...

Seb has not been very happy about the tree being removed. The first day he saw them through the patio doors and was most unimpressed! He spent all afternoon moping around with his tail down, and sighing loudly every 5 minutes. When I put his dinner out he put his paw into the bowl and mixed it around, before pulling half of it onto the floor, then lying in the middle of the mess looking depressed. It was a kind of "I am so depressed I can't even eat."

When I eventually let him out he realised that the branch going up to the shed was still there at this stage, so he was right up there climbing out to the end of the sawn off branches. He was rejuvenated and celebrated by coming back in and polishing off the dinner he couldn't eat 10 minutes earlier..

We had a nice afternoon today having afternoon tea at Devonshire Gardens (very posh!) Dad had won the voucher at our Masquerade Ball last year and gave it to me to use. We got those tiny sandwiches and lots of cakes, which we made a very good effort at polishing off :-)

2011-07-14T16:31:00.000+01:00

Halloween Party in Glasgow - we have secured Qudos at Queen Margaret Union - for those not in the know, this is one of the main Glasgow university unions just off University Avenue.   We have a fab DJ and are putting together some Halloween extras....

All proceeds for The Butterfly Trust.

There is a student discount as it's in the union, but you do not have to be a student to go - although you do need to be 18 or over! It is fancy dress - theme is 'Dead Famous' but any fancy dress will be acceptable :-) Unfortunately people with CF cannot attend due to cross infection issues, unless you are post transplant.   We have to follow the guidelines set by our CF unit and the CF Trust.

I know that October seems a long way off, but if you get tickets now they are cheaper than standard tickets.   Also we need to sell some tickets now in order to pay for room hire etc :-)

Please circulate this link amongst anyone you think might be interested - we need a good turn out to make this work.   Invite as many people as you like and have a fab fun night!

Online payment system set up so you can BUY EARLY BIRD TICKETS HERE

2011-07-13T20:07:00.000+01:00

Wedding

It was my friend Stephanie (who I have known since I was 5!) wedding last weekend. It was a lovely day and they got some nice sunshine for the photos. Stephanie looked fab in her dress with her long red hair, and her bridesmaids were in a dark hot pink. It was at Broomhall Castle in Menstrie, which was a really nice location. The castle/house itself had a few nice lounge rooms we could sit in while photographs were being taken and there were nice grounds to wander in. In the evening there was some ceilidh dancing followed by a disco. I managed to do most of the dances, including a very long strip the willow. My friend Claire was commenting on how she still can't believe I can do these dances now. I used to panic at getting dragged up for ceilidh dances as I would get so out of breath but now it's just my legs that can hardly keep up! By the time the disco came round I eventually gave in and the red shoes had to come off so I could spin around in a safer manner. Myself, Claire and Gillian had some great fun dancing to our own unique style :-)

Gillian, me, Steph, Lyndsay and Claire

Me and Gill (the toy belongs to Lyndsay's wee girl Aiyla)

Standing on my tip toes trying to make the arch high enough!!

I am standing on one leg and Gillian is....well I'm not sure what Gillian is doing actually..

Me and Claire take our dancing very seriously you know

Clearly some important girl chat..

Wedding Party - Bridesmaids (Kristina, stef's sister is the middle one) and three best men

2011-07-11T21:47:00.005+01:00

Donor Desk

National Transplant has now ended and I think I managed to do a few things at least. I emailed every person in the building at work with some chat about organ donation and ways to sign up. I went to a pub quiz last Monday and we called the team Live Life Then Give Life :-) Finally we had the organ donor desk at St Enoch on Friday. We put in a good shift from 9am-5pm but I think it was worth it! Gregg and Kirsty's wee cousin Caitlin also helped out which was fantastic. We had 43 people sign up on the spot and give us the forms back to post and we also gave away many leaflets. LLTGL had made rail card holders (or oyster card holders if you are in London!) as a give away, which had information about organ donation as an insert. These went down well and at least its the sort of thing someone might read later and won't just throw in the bin. Overall the response was positive and we chatted to some interesting people. We met a lady who runs a student magazine who is going to get in touch, which would be an good contact to have. One of the donor family coordinators came down for a couple of hours, so that was helpful and another good contact to have made. To save me uploading pictures from the day visit the Team Glasgow blog where Victoria has already uploaded them :-)

The Evening Times came down to the event and took some pictures and there was an article in Saturdays paper. Victoria has a readable copy scanned on her blog.

To end the week I will leave you with the link to SIGN UP - although I am sure most of my readers are already on board.

p.s I will be back soon with pics from my weekend at Stef's wedding...

2011-07-06T19:31:00.000+01:00

Can anyone help The Butterfly Trust on Saturday 9th?

The Butterfly Trust are planning a collection at Braehead shopping centre in Glasgow this Saturday. Unfortunately several people have had to pull out at short notice and the event will be cancelled if they can't get any volunteers. If anyone can spare an hour or two on Saturday please get in touch and I will pass on your details!

2011-07-05T09:32:00.000+01:00

Busy Bee

It's been quite a busy few weeks hence lack of blogging - always a good sign now!

This is National Transplant Week so I have been trying to help organise some things for that. NHSBT and LLTGL have been working together this year and the theme for the week is around waiting - how people hate to wait and how this compares to those waiting years for the chance of life. Myself, Victoria and Kirsty will be running an organ donor desk this Friday (8th July) at St Enoch shopping centre in Glasgow. NHSBT have been trying to arrange entertainers for locations across the country, with the idea that people can tweet on the day, asking the entertainers to come and amuse them while they wait. In practice I think this might be more difficult that it seems! We are still trying to pull things together and might have some dancers interested for the day. Regardless, us three girls will be there though trying to create some awareness :-) If you are in Glasgow on Friday, pop in - we will be there all day!

On the subject of awareness we are also trying to get online payment sorted for our Halloween Party in aid of The Butterfly Trust. Early bird tickets will be on sale soon, and I will post details once the payment site is live.

I have had a few social things on too, hence my lack of blogging. We were at my friend Jamie's BBQ a couple of weeks ago, which was a great day and despite some rain everyone still seemed to enjoy themselves. This weekend myself, Andrew and Victoria popped through to a fundraiser that a fellow transplant recipient, Gerard, was organising, in aid of LLTGL and the Freeman Hospital. It was a great night with a great atmosphere and I hope they managed to raise a few pennies. We were also at an engagement party on Sunday which was a lovely afternoon, especially due to the fact the sun came out for the day so everyone could sit in the garden.

Me, Gerard, Victoria

Seb has continued his garden adventures and will be very sad to see this tree go. The insurance have agreed to payment so it should be removed within the next 2-3 weeks. Seb will really not know what to do without his climbing frame! Last weekend a neighbour from a few doors down came to the door to ask "You do know your dog is on your shed roof?" to which I replied "yes, he quite likes to go up there" The guy looked a bit bemused and really quite unsure how to respond haha. He just said "oh well, as long as you know he is up there!" It is really quite embarrassing. Another embarrassing Seb incident occurred at the park yesterday. Seb tends to trail behind by at least 100 yards if not more, and when I turned round to see where he was, there he was JOGGING TO HEEL beside some random lady out for a run. She seemed very amused and I reassured her that he wouldn't last very long jogging - she said she wouldn't either. Laughs all round :-)

I will leave you with the cutest picture of a Hedgehog in the garden - we can't get the lawn mower out of the shed, because of the tree, so the garden is currently like a nature reserve. We have foxes, squirrels, a little mouse, LOTS of birds and fledglings and now a hedgehog :-)

p.s I will be back with a National Transplant Week blog within the next few days!

2011-06-21T10:18:00.000+01:00

Hilarity at Transplant Clinic

I was down in Newcastle for my 6 month check up yesterday and couldn't really have asked for better results. Blood pressure, oxygen levels, kidney function were top notch, weight was stable and apparently my x-ray (if it weren't for the metal clips) looks like a 'normal' persons x-ray. It's not like me to want to be normal, but in this case it's great news. Best of all was my lung function - for the first time in my entire life I hit the 3litre mark which gives me a lung function of 109%!! Imagine three of those litre coke bottles and compare this to one tiny coke can, which is what I had pre transplant. Wow!

The day itself was really long and drawn out, as we were 2nd last to be seen by the doctor. We arrived just after 7am and left clinic at 12.30. Yawn. Mum however kept me amused all morning, although not deliberately. I will not repeat some of her classic moments which are too embarrassing to even put in writing but believe me, there were many - including pressing the 'help' button at the car park instead of the 'take ticket' one. At one point we were in the waiting room (imagine a room the size of a box room with seats around the walls) and mum was asking me something she had already asked me last week. She then said I should do some memory tests on her. So in the waiting room (where everyone else is silent and reading magazines) I was timing her for one minute on my phone to name as many animals as she could in one minute. For starters most 'normal' people categorise them into groups eg, pets, farm animals, jungle animals when listing them. Mum of course had her own system of trying to do them alphabetically. So she starts.."alligator, antelope, bison, bear, buffoon, cow..." at which point I was like "whoa, wait a minute. Buffoon? What's a buffoon?" "A stupid man" she says. So then of course mum shreaks VERY loudly as she erupts into one of her manic laughing fits, which I couldn't help but join in. I am not sure if it is more amusing she just made up an animal and didn't appear to notice, or that her brain apparently categorises stupid men along side large animals. I know that I am turning into mum, especially when on route to the canteen she said "I dare you to start skipping" and I duly complied. Despite the fact two people were walking immediately behind us. Life is too short.

Other news in is that I am going to be Maid of Honour at my cousin Sarah's wedding! I am delighted :-) No dates are set yet but it is likely to be next spring. Let the planning commence!

It was Fathers day on Sunday so I will leave you with a cute picture from when I was very small. This is Claire on the left, dad then me. I would also like to note that dad got three Fathers day cards - one from me, one from Corey to his Scottish dad and one from Sarah. My card was the best though ;-)

2011-06-14T16:20:00.000+01:00

Long time no blog!

No particular reason I haven't blogged so no excuses either. We are still living with the giant tree in the garden as waiting on written quotes for removing this, so we can send these to insurance company. It is a slow process but Seb is very happy about the tree still being there and has now become extremely adept at climbing the tree and running around on the hut roof. It is getting a bit embarrassing to be honest because I suspect neighbours along the entire street can see him up there on a daily basis! The birds are also loving the tree and we had some super cute baby goldfinches a few days ago. I am worried that birds are building nests in it though - there is a wee dunnock collecting all Seb's fluff from outside the back door (where we shook the rug!) today, so a nest is in production somewhere - hopefully in the hedge. We have also had a fox coming right up to the front of the garden because it thinks it is hidden in the tree - I think Seb is picking up the scent because he is barking even more (!) than usual outside!

Goldfinch - they were shaking their wee behinds!

I have had a nice couple of weekends - last week we had a wee impromptu BBQ at Kirsty's on the one day we had nice weather, and I was at my friend Stephanie's hen night on the Saturday. I have known Stephanie since we were 5 - so that's 27 years. That makes me feel rather old :-)

This weekend was much quieter and I spent quite a bit of time making cards and invites (for Anne's birthday) and experimenting with jam jars and glass paints. My friend Lu had been making tea light holders from jam jars to use outside so I thought I would try painting one with glass paints. It was a partial success but the paints are really old so think they were bit sticky and lumpy. I am also rubbish at putting the squeezy lead stuff on because my hands shake too much. It is kind of cute though..

Finally I will leave you with some pics of Seb today :-)

2011-05-31T15:44:00.000+01:00

Timber!!!!!!!!!

Apparently there were winds of up to 100mph when we were away on holiday. I might not believed that had I not seen the evidence for myself! Luckily we didn't notice this on Friday night as it was pitch black when we got home - but the following morning we were rather confused to see a lot of foliage just outside the patio. The 60ft tree at the back of the garden had been completely uprooted and blown down!! It was a healthy tree (in fact it had been checked out before) but the winds must have been phenomenal. It unfortunately has gone straight through the greenhouse, shattering the glass and buckling the metal frame. I was more upset that we had spent a week at Easter cleaning the greenhouse and planting seedlings and tomatoes! It is also leaning on the hut which has been pushed backwards, and I don't think it will spring back. It also has a hole in the roof but we can't get into the door to inspect the damage. Here are some pictures...

Of course Seb has found it all very interesting. I couldn't see him in the garden yesterday and it wasn't until I looked up I realised he was up on the hut roof! He had just climbed up the tree trunk and was up there wandering around and barking at a dog in another garden! We thought he was stuck and made a gallant attempt to get him down. The video shows Andrew trying to entice him and I put the camera down when he seemed to be headed over the other side of the roof. Turns out he can get up and down there by himself since he has done in another twice since and seems to think we have set up this arrangement for his benefit!

We have been asked by the insurance company to get some quotes to remove the tree and replace the greenhouse/hut so we will need to try and get that sorted, and keep everything crossed they pay out! The patio was due to be done soon but we might have to hold off until this is sorted. At least it wasn't through my extension, into the neighbours garden, or worst case, landed on Seb! We escaped the volcano on holiday but clearly were due a natural disaster of some kind.

Ideas now for a small (!) tree to plant in its place,??

2011-05-29T16:34:00.002+01:00

Ciao!!

We are home after a lovely week in Sorrento and back to gale force winds, rain and a fallen tree - but I will save that for another blog. Here are some pictures of our trip..

Looking over Marina Picolo in Sorrento, which is on the Neapolitan riveria, being around an hours drive from Naples.

Monastic cloisters in Sorrento - the monastery is now an art school but the cloisters are still open to the public. I really loved the cloisters as they were so peaceful and had beautiful climbing roses in full bloom.

At the hotel pool with Andrew trying to read his kindle and me being bored and playing with the camera! It was lovely warm weather - about 24/25c but not hot enough to go in the pool, which was rather chilly to say the least.

St. Michaels Church in Anacapri.

These are Votives around St Anthony's tomb in the Basilica in Sorrento where he is the Patron Saint. I read when I came back that people left these as an offering when praying to a Saint, or in thanks for a prayer answered. There were lots of little plaques of body parts - including these lungs in this picture - which I assume were related to prayers around illness. Apparently in Sorrento a lot of these votives were from Sailors, as he was also the saint for navigation. I have always known St Anthony to pray to when you need to find something and a friend gave me a little statue when I was waiting to 'find new lungs'. He was also one of my Aunty Agnes' favourite saints and when I lost my wedding and engagement rings (long story) she had half the Church putting money in his box! The rings did turn up and I did find some new lungs. I lit a wee candle at his statue for Aunty Agnes.

From the island of Capri. This is about a 20 minute boat ride from Sorrento, so we visited for the day. Capri town was very upmarket with expensive jewellery stores and designer shops. We then took a bus further up the island to Anacapri, where is was a little quieter and had lovely winding streets. From here you can take a cable car ride to the very top of the island for amazing views. The cable car was great fun and I managed to get on and off without falling over :-)

The ruins of an old mill in Sorrento. We found this by accident but then looked it up in the book later as we had no idea what it was! It was down a steep drop in the water and at night it looked quite spooky.

We went on a trip to Mount Vesuvius, which famously erupted in 79AD covering the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under ash and mud. It has continued to erupt and the last small eruption was 1944 -but they say it will definitely erupt again and it is likely to be on a massive scale! The bus takes you so far up the mountain, then there is a windy path to the top, where you can peer into the crater. We of course had to go to the top. My lungs behaved impeccably (although it was very dusty) but my joints were a struggle - however when I nearly overtaken by two elderly ladies I was most determined to get to the top haha. It was worth the climb and the views were amazing.

We then went to visit Pompeii, which had been completely covered in ash. It is gradually being excavated to reveal the remains of Roman buildings and streets. It is a vast area so we only covered a small part, but with a guide, we probably did see the main features. Amongst the ruins you could see for example, a bakers over, where a bakery would have stood, and many shop fronts. The pavements had scores from chariot wheels, and they had reconstructed the small amphitheatre where gladiator fights would have taken place. There were a couple of bodies on display which has been 'frozen' in the ash, which was both fascinating and macabre in equal quantities. I was more disturbed by the preserved dog! Speaking of which, there were so many stray dogs in Pompeii and we must have passed at least 7 large dogs lying around in the ruins. I was confused because there were signs saying not to touch the stray dogs but they had collars on. I read when I came home that a charity has stepped in, who vaccinated, feed and care for these dogs while they look to rehome them. I don't feel so bad about them now - I wanted to bring them all home :-)

This is another view over Sorrento. There are no beaches as such, but these bathing platforms, like piers into the ocean with sunbeds.

Having a strawberry juice - made completely from crushed strawberries - yum!

Outside St. Francis' Church - where there are benches looking out over the water. Second picture is back in the monastic cloisters in the evening since I liked them so much!

We took the bus up the Amalfi coast, which has some breathtaking views and some rather windy, narrow, rather scary roads! This picture is Positano, a small village perched on the cliffside. The 2nd picture is St. Andrews Cathedral in Amalfi, of which he is the Patron Saint.

We took a boat trip from Amalfi to the Emerald Grotto, which is a cave bathed in a green light. The cave wasn't that interesting to be honest, but the boat trip was nice!

On the last day - one of the small streets in Sorrento which wind around the Old Town and where you can pass hours just wandering around. Especially when you have a memory and sense of direction like mine..

And now back home to some howling gales. Seb was caught by surprise when we went to collect him and did quite a lot of tail wagging before he remembered he had to be huffy! So he was a bit off hand and indignant for a while and then decided to be my friend again :-)

2011-05-15T12:34:00.002+01:00

Catch Up

Since I didn't really blog about what I have been up to last week, I have a few things to update on!

I was speaking at George Heriot private school in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago. They had invited me to talk to 4th year pupils about my experiences of transplant, since the pupils have been doing some work on organ donation so this helps put the information in context for them. I had to do two 40 minute talks back to back, to two different classes (about 35 pupils in each).   They were very attentive but it was hard to get them to interact in anyway -much quieter than when I was speaking to primary 7 classes! It is easier if they do interact though, but towards the end some pupils did ask some questions. I was exhausted afterwards from telling my entire story twice but hopefully it was worth it and they will remember the human aspect of organ donation.

Last weekend Kirsty organised a small gathering to celebrate her friend Nicola's anniversary, who lost her fight with CF last year. Last year Kirsty had organised a Disney party for Nicola, so this year we celebrated by watching her favourite film, Beauty and the Beast and having a small get together in her memory. It was a lovely evening.   The following week has been CF week and we finished that last night with Kirsty's annual fundraising pub crawl. She does this every year for the CF Trust, where her and her friends get dressed up in fancy dress and go around pubs in Glasgow City centre collecting money (with permission in advance from the pubs of course).   This was the first year myself and Victoria joined them, and of course I had to get Andrew roped in too! We had a good night although the town was so quiet last night because there is a big football match today (most people know what I think about football!!) but people were still generous and (mostly) welcoming :-) I haven't hear the exact amount raised yet but any amount makes a difference and by going out and meeting people we are raising the profile of CF.

Some pictures of the night. Gregg as spider man attracted a lot of attention and several people asked to have their picture taken. Victoria was dressed as Alice in Wonderland but got mistaken as Cinderella, Little Bo Peep and Dorothy :-)

Apart from the fundraising events, I have managed to catch up with quite a few friends in the last couple of weeks which is my favourite thing to do :-) I am also trying to get myself organised for my holiday to Sorrento - only 5 more sleeps! I am looking forward to some warm weather (I hope) as it has been raining on and off all week after the one good spell of sunshine. I have only been back at work 10 days and feel like I need a holiday already, which is never a good sign haha. By the end of July I will have one less session again though so will see if that is less tiring over the summer. The PBL group is going well and I only have 2 sessions this week and then the students will be on holiday for the summer anyway.

Lastly it is Victoria's 1st transplant anniversary tomorrow - she is at transplant clinic for her 1 year bronchoscopy so keeping everything crossed for a good result!

2011-05-08T13:47:00.003+01:00

CF WEEK: 8th - 14th May

This week is national Cystic Fibrosis Week so I thought I should perhaps dedicate a post and take the opportunity to raise some awareness!

What is Cystic Fibrosis?

CF is one of the UK's most common life threatening, genetic condition, which means you are born with it. 1 in 25 of the population carry the CF gene but you need to have two copies to have the condition. If both your parents are 'carriers' of the gene there is a 1 in 4 chance they will both pass on the faulty gene and you will have CF. If you inherit one gene you are called a carrier and do not have the disease.

How does it affect the body?

The faulty gene is one that controls a certain protein (called CFTR) in the body which controls salt and chloride movement in and out of cells. When this isn't working properly it causes mucus to be sticky and thick - this occurs mainly in the lungs, digestive system and sinuses. It also causes the sweat to be very salty. People with CF can be affected in different ways and to different degrees of severity because other 'modulator' genes can result in the faulty CFTR protein working more or less effectively - it's not very straightforward!

Lungs:   In the lungs the thick sticky mucus is the ideal breeding ground for bacteria. Repeated chest infections cause damage over the years, causing formation of lung cysts ('Cystic') and scarring ('Fibrosis'). The lungs develop chronic infection, which causes ongoing damage and inflammation. On top of this people with CF have 'acute exacerbations' where they have more severe infection. The symptoms in lung disease are chronic cough, producing mucus, chest pain, shortness of breath and sometimes coughing up blood. The damage over the years eventually causes so much damage that the lungs can no longer work properly and the person has 'respiratory failure'. It is at this stage that transplant is considered.

Digestive System:   The pancreas normally produces enzymes which digest food but in CF the channels are blocked with mucus and the enzymes can't get through, so food cannot be absorbed. This results in malnutrition and weight loss. In the bowel itself the thicker mucus can sometimes cause obstructions - called DIOS - this causes painful cramps and a swollen stomach. Acid reflux also results from chronic coughing.

Liver: Rarely people with CF have liver disease (around 8%) thought to be due to blockages in the small liver ducts. This can be severe and some people require a liver transplant.

Sinuses: The sticky mucus breeds bacteria causing chronic infection and inflammation. This results in pain and pressure over the sinuses.

Joints:   People with CF can suffer from CF arthritis.   It is not well understood but thought to be related to an over active immune response causing inflammation in the joints.

Diabetes: Over the years the pancreas becomes more damaged and has problems releasing enough insulin to control blood sugars. A significant proportion of people with CF develop CF Related Diabetes, often in their 20s, and require insulin.

Osteoporosis:   Most people with CF have thin bones and it might be related to malabsorption issues in early life. This makes them more prone to breaking bones - often ribs due to excessive coughing.

Male infertility: Males with CF do not have the tube that carries sperm (the vas deferens) so are usually infertile. They can however have children using certain IVF techniques.

Treatments

The CF treatment regime can be harsh and time consuming - and something that has to be carried out every day for life! People are at varying levels on the treatment scale, although it is a progressive illness, so most people will gradually have more treatments added over the years.

A possible regime of medications for one day would include:

Digestive Enzymes - taken with all meals/ snacks. I take 25/day - some people take over 100/day.
Prophylactic Antibiotics - oral tablets to prevent infection and control chronic infection
Vitamins A, D, E and K - we don't absorb these properly so need supplements
Anti-reflux (e.g omeprazole) - to prevent reflux and also help digestive enzymes to work
Calcium and Bisphosphonates - these are to help bone strength
Steroids - these can be used in acute situations but sometimes people need them long term
Insulin
Ursodeoxycholic acid - for those with liver disease - used in early stages to prevent progression
Pain killers - most people with CF have a selection of pain killers - for sinus, chest or joint pain.
Salt tablets - taken for vigorous exercise or in hot climates to prevent excess salt loss through sweating
Nebulised Antibiotics - taken twice daily to prevent/control infection
Nebulised Hypertonic saline - makes the mucus less sticky - up to 4 x day
Nebulised Dnase - breaks down the mucus to make it thinner, taken once a day.
Nebulised ventolin/inhalers - a lot of people with CF have some asthmatic like symptoms and need nebulised bronchodilators and a variety of inhalers.
Laxatives and drugs to break down mucus in bowel
Oxygen is used in later stages of CF when the lungs cannot provide enough for the body's needs. At this stage some people may require non-invasive ventilation, which is a special mask that helps them breath over night or during infections.

My medication cupboards with about 6 weeks of drugs - post transplant. Remember that pre transplant you would need to add another at least another three nebulised drugs, four inhalers, 30 x 1 litres bottles of over night feeds, oxygen cylinders, boxes of IV antibiotics with all the accompanying needles/syringes etc. It didn't fit in these wee cupboards before!

Intravenous Antibiotics - these are used for more acute and severe infections. The drugs are given into a vein, usually 2-3 times/day. Patients are often trained to administer these at home, either through a line in their arm or a indwelling device surgically implanted under the skin, which goes into a large blood vessel and can be accessed when IV medications are needed. Some people only rarely need these drugs but most need a few courses a year, and as infections become more frequent it can be more than 6 times a year. (Pre transplant I would only have about 2 weeks between courses of IV's)

Physio - this is probably the most time consuming treatment. Carried out at least twice a day but often more, and as illness progresses, sessions become longer. Most patients can use breathing techniques and a variety of aids - these are usually devices you blow through to help open the airways and allow mucus to be cleared. Sessions can be a quick 10 mins if chest is clear to well over an hour otherwise. Pre transplant I could spend about 4 hours a day doing physio and my chest was never clear! Exercise is also important and is part of the physio approach.

Nutritional - despite enzymes, people with CF are often underweight as they are burning up calories fighting infection but struggle to get the benefit of calories they take in. They will often need high calorie drinks and are encouraged to follow a high protein, high fat diet. In more severe cases they may need over night feeding, where extra calories are fed into the stomach overnight - through a nasogastric tube (passed down nose) or PEG tube (surgically inserted directly into stomach).

Post transplant - mostly need the same tablets as above but usually don't need physio and nutritional supplements. Continue on nebulised antibiotics to prevent infection but don't need the mucus thinning drugs because the new lungs do not have CF sticky mucus. Will be on long term steroids and usually two immunosuppressant drugs for life. Often need drugs to lower blood pressure and cholesterol which rise due to medications used after transplant.

What is the outlook for people with CF?

Around 50% will not live beyond their late 30's - however this also means that there are people living into their 40's and 50's ...and some older! Life expectancy has improved dramatically over the years. It was probably still in the teens when I was born and has increased steadily due to new treatments. However too many people are still dying very young and there is a lot of research still needed. Life expectancy after transplant is difficult to predict because current statistics are based on transplants 10 years ago - with around 50% surviving 10 years. Transplants today may last longer and there are people still going strong who had transplants over 15 years ago.

The Future

Research is ongoing into new treatment, new antibiotics to treat emerging resistant infections and better overall care across the UK. There has been a lot of work on gene therapy, looking at replacing the faulty gene but this is still not in a usable form. They are able to replace the CF gene in mice and have done this in human lungs - but they need a safe way of getting this into the lungs longer term and a way of making it last. Research continues and hopefully we will continue to progress with treatments over the coming years.

Any other questions - please leave me a comment!!

2011-05-07T10:20:00.000+01:00

Run Kirsty Run!

Kirsty from Team Glasgow is running the 10K tomorrow (seriously!!) Money raised is for the CF Trust Holiday Fund - great wee charity. They help give people with CF a well needed break! I had a weekend trip down to London with their help and Kirsty had a trip shortly before her transplant - a holiday she thought would be her last. The fund is part of the CF Trust but something that benefits people with CF here and now - giving them a chance to enjoy life and create some memories to cherish.

SPONSOR KIRSTY HERE

2011-05-03T15:29:00.001+01:00

Lovely Easter Holidays - now back to reality!

Both myself and Andrew have been on annual leave since Easter and we both just returned to work today. I had PBL at the uni and then back to other work tomorrow. We took the time off because we wanted to get some things done around the garden and I also felt if I didn't take a holiday soon I would collapse in a heap!!

We spent Easter weekend at mum and dads, and Corey was also up visiting. We had a nice weekend and a lovely Easter dinner. It was then my transplant anniversary and dads birthday on the Monday, so we had another wee celebration :-)

So we have spent our time since then:

Mostly trying to get the garden back into some sort of order after all the building work last year. Andrew was cleaning out the greenhouse, cutting grass, digging, weeding and sowing the vegetable beds. Meanwhile I planted the herb pots and lots of trays of seeds - some of them I have inside as it is still quite cold over night, and I do have some shoots already. Hopefully I will manage to grow something!

Andrew spent three days painting the rough cast on the extension - it was a nightmare because it was so deep you had to kind of jab the brush into it - no way could you use a roller. I helped for about 30 mins and then gave up :-) He is on the roof of extension here because he was painting the down pipes - Anne don't worry, it's really not that high up :-)

I was supervising the painting here...

Seb got lots of walks at the park!

Andrew liked sitting outside and making small fires in the chimenea. Seb was there for moral support.

Meanwhile Seb was busy sitting on chairs and taking empty ice cream pots out to play with. It's a hard life for a small dog.

We mostly stayed at home and relaxed, instead of trying to run about all over the place. It was nice to enjoy the great weather we have had this week and I have spent plenty time sitting in the sun drinking coffee and reading books.

I also met up with Victoria and Kirsty to start making preliminary plans for our big fundraiser this year,which will be a Halloween party with the theme 'Dead Famous'. This year the charity to benefit will be The Butterfly Trust. There are quite a few charities who have helped us in the past and we are trying to share any funds around! We have managed to book a huge room at QM union, at Glasgow university. I am surprised we managed this because it is around Freshers week so they are not usually keen to hire out rooms around that time but we obviously won them over :-) We are going down the line of a party idea for us young things (I count my age of 32 as young of course!) this time - offering a student discount as well. We thought it would be fun to do something different to the ball and less formal (although we are planning a 2nd ball next year - give people some time to save!) The Halloween night will be £10 a ticket, which should compete with other Halloween nights at local pubs and clubs. It's going to be on the sat 29th of October and we are just putting out the feelers for people who might be able to help with entertainment (preferably for free!). We are thinking along the lines of magicians, face painters, tarot card readers......so if you know anyone who might be willing to donate a couple of hours to a good cause, then let me know. Like wise if anyone has good ideas for other money spinners on the night - Halloween games etc then give me a shout!

Finally I am going to leave you with a very random video! If you remember the Littlest Hobo, this will make sense. For those who don't - this was a TV series in the 80's which featured a dog, who was always on the road, going from town to town and never settling down. The music accompanying my video is the theme tune to the Littlest Hobo.

2011-04-25T14:12:00.001+01:00

My Lungs are Three Today!

Three years today that I received that call 'Jacqueline, we think we have some lungs for you' and three years today that I was given my 2nd chance at life. It's hard to believe that so much time has passed, but then looking back, I have managed to fit rather a lot into that time. It has been an amazing three years and long may it continue.

I have several friends waiting on transplant at the moment (Victoria T, Kirstie, Julie and Chantelle to name a few) and reading their blogs and facebook posts reminds me of that long and difficult wait. Sometimes it is hard to remember that I was that ill before - that life hung in the balance so precariously. The oxygen, wheelchair, constant IV's, not being able to wash my hair, or tie my own shoe laces or speak in full sentences - that seems like it happened to someone else entirely. I have moments of vividly remembering how this felt and to be honest am glad that, for the most part, it can be difficult to conjure up those feelings. I am on a new path now, and although I am not quite sure where it is taking me, or where I might stop off on the way, I am certainly doing my best to enjoy the journey. I love being allowed to be 'Jacqueline' again without the constraints of ill health. I have also met so many new friends through this transplant journey and also been able to enjoy so much more with my old buddies. My family of course have been there through it all and continue to be my most avid supporters :-)

Of course, I also remember today my donor and her family. My azalea has survived yet another harsh winter and the little buds are ready to flower, keeping her memory very much alive.

I will leave you with the message on Anne and John's card, which sums up how we should all approach life!

Dance like no one is watching

Sing like no one is listening
Love like you'll never get hurt

Live like it's heaven on earth

I hope that all my friends waiting get their call and the opportunity to live life to the full once more.

2011-04-19T16:03:00.000+01:00

The Sun is Shining!

What a lovely day it is - I am sitting just outside the patio doors having dragged a wee chair outside. We still need to build a new patio but am quite happy sitting here admiring the rest of the garden and enjoying the sun. I did of course have to rescue a shoe about 5 minutes ago when Seb ran off with it :-)

The rest of last week was fairly busy but I did have a nice birthday week (we operate in birthday weeks in this house). On Friday my cousin Sarah came through for a long overdue catch up and we had a lovely day - cake, then lunch, walking Seb then more cake. On Sunday I had mum and dad over for a birthday dinner for mum - it was her birthday last thursday but I was working all day so we didn't have much time to really celebrate. I did make a cake, although my decorating skills need some practice (!) and we had a very nice meal, if I do say so myself!

Tomorrow is however a sad day. My mum's aunty Agnes passed away on Sunday night, so her funeral is tomorrow. She was a character indeed - full of energy, laughter and stories that took on the White tendency to exaggeration and were hilariously funny (whether she meant them to be or not). I think we could say she was very much the matriarch of the family and will be missed by so many people. Lots of love to her close family at this time xxx

2011-04-12T13:37:00.001+01:00

Birthday Girl had a fab day!

It was my birthday yesterday :-) I had a lovely day and was thoroughly spoiled. I started the morning with some present opening, while sipping my cappuccino and eating pan au chocolat. Andrew had got me a new mobile phone which is so cute and tiny! He also got me a Fossil purse which has little bird cages on it and matches a handbag I have - I was very impressed that he has gone and picked this himself :-) I got lots of really cute presents from friends and lovely gifts from Anne and John - my favourite of which was an owl cushion lol. I then went into work for the morning but half my patients had cancelled so it was a quiet morning, which was nice. My lovely secretary had a wee pressie for me and 2 big lion bars haha! I then headed home at lunch time and mum, dad and uncle Hugh came through. We grabbed a quick lunch and got the train into town for some birthday shopping, I can be a very fast shopper (especially when someone else is buying!) so we flew round debenhams and I got some lovely things for my holiday next month and a cute dress for my friends wedding. We then met Andrew after work and had some dinner in town. I was shattered last night but so happy to celebrate another birthday. They seem to take on more of a significance after transplant because you feel each one is another gift.

I am feeling a bit better now and my cough doesn't seem as bad. I (sort of) rested at the weekend if you count doing nice things. I had my friend over on Friday for coffee which was lovely and then me and Andrew Claire and Giueseppe in town on Saturday for lunch. It was a nice lunch in November cafe, apart from the fire alarm going off during coffee and we had to pile down three flights of stairs to get out the building. We got a free coffee when we went back up though - probably because they were so grateful we came back to pay the bill!

Sunday was a lovely day - it was so warm! I spent half the day in the garden, weeding and tidying the rockery, and the other half making a clock for the kitchen. I have been looking for a clock for ages and had this idea in my head about it being a duck egg blue to match the tiles and maybe having some little birds on it. I then had the idea I would try and make one using a round canvas and attaching a clock mechanism I bought.
I am quite pleased with the final thing - so far it has also kept time which is quite important :-)

Seb has been his usual self and there have been a couple of 'incidents' over the past week. When we go out I had started leaving the study door open as he has a little bed in there, so I thought it would be nice for him to have more space. The other day we went out and could hear Seb barking. Andrew then went back in to get a jacket and as soon as he opened the door, there was silence. Seb was to be found on the window sill in the study, completely still and trying not to be seen. The only way he could have got up there would be to jump on the piano stool, climb onto the piano, then onto the desk, walk all the way round and then get onto the window sill. The speed with which he had completed this would suggest it might me a regular activity... Andrew took him back to the hall and we went out. We came back and Seb was at the door, looking all innocent, until I went into the bathroom and saw all these muddy paw prints IN the shower and then a trail back out the door. He clearly was bored while we were away and had gone exploring in the only room where the door wasn't closed! His final nonsense was at the weekend when I had left a plastic hanging basket lying on the grass, having just emptied it. I then turned round and Seb was sitting with the basket attached to his side, with one leg through one loop and his entire body through another. You really can't leave him alone for two minutes.

2011-04-03T21:51:00.000+01:00

Mother's Day

I have had my mum here today for Mother's Day (and my dad of course as he obviously likes to be involved). We went out for dinner and took Andrew's gran out too, as Anne and John are on holiday just now. Mum was more excited about the macaroon I made her than anything else. She was getting wired into it despite the fact I was heating soup for lunch when she arrived. I don't think it will last long :-) I only ever make macaroon for mum as it's rather fiddly - in fact I broke the wooden spoon trying to mix the fondant for the middle this time as you have to make it very stiff. My mum is worth the effort though :-)

I have been feeling a bit up and down over the week. I still have this crackly cough which is really annoying me, but the doctor is still pretty sure it's just remnants of viral infection. Hopefully it will clear up over the next week - my throat and sniffles are better though :-) It's been a tiring week at work because I was a bit under the weather and this week I also have an extra half day training session on Tuesday. I have taken the following monday afternoon off though as it's my birthday! There have also been applicants for the staff grade job I am helping to cover at the moment, so hopefully by the summer the pressure of doing the extra cover will be eased. I will probably complain of being bored then ;-)

I bought Seb a new toy during the week - it's called Crazy Squirrel. It looked like road kill so I knew he would like it. He likes to squeak it and drag it around the floor and then once he has conquered the beast, it looks rather fetching as a trophy fur...

2011-03-27T15:57:00.000+01:00

Sniffle

Having a quiet weekend as I am full of the cold at the moment. Started with a tickly cough last week and now sore throat, sniffles and it's sore to cough. I hate how being immunosuppressed makes everything last twice as long!   Ah well, still nothing compared to pre transplant chest infections!

To cheer me up I have booked a holiday for the end of May. We had a week off but I hadn't got round to sorting anything, so yesterday I just bit the bullet. We are going to Sorrento, Italy for 7 days - I can't wait!! People say it's beautiful and it's also a great location for visiting nearby places such as Capri and Pompei. I need to look for travel insurance next but it should be easier this year since it's Europe :-)

It has been lovely sunshine the past few days and it does make you feel so much brighter. Seb is solar powered so he has been full of beans and nonsense. I took him for a walk by the river yesterday and he nearly knocked a cyclist off his bike. The guy was cycling up behind us when Seb turned round, thought he recognised the guy, and ran straight at him! I was very embarrassed but thankfully the guy was amused and even stopped to give Seb a wee pat.   He has also been spending a lot more time in the garden and has now discovered a small hole in one of the fence panels. It happened during the build and he hadn't really noticed it until now. Today I spotted him with one eye at the hole peering into the neighbours garden. Then the paw came out and he stuck this in the hole, pulling some more wood of the edges. He then tried to mash his head through but the hole was too small, so he started again with the paw. I have brought him into the house now but will need to do something about the hole before he digs himself out...

Dad finally got the Butterfly Kisses painting through to the Butterfly Trust - on the roof rack! It was too wide to fit in anyone's car, which will teach me not to paint such giant pictures.   I think I need to work on some smaller ones. I have been making quite a few cards recently as well - some based on print outs of my paintings, which worked quite well. I will make some for mums auction later in the year, which will also be for the Butterfly Trust.

Hopefully this will be a quiet week at work and I will be back to full speed soon! For now I am just going to lie here in the extension and enjoy the sun coming through the patio doors :-)

2011-03-21T21:24:00.001Z

Kirsty singing My Hero ....

As mentioned in my last post, Kirsty has recorded the song My Hero - which she sang at the ball, dedicated to her donor. This is the link to her singing the song :-) Anyone who would like a copy (£3.49) let me know - all money for LLTGL and The CF Trust.

2011-03-18T10:08:00.002Z

End of a hard week..

Thank goodness it's Friday - this week has felt particularly long! It was busy at work and I had a few very stressful days. It's mostly due to lack of resources, long waiting lists, people's misconception that I can somehow control these lists and also thinking I have a magic tablet I have not been giving them! Psychiatry is such an inexact science and we have a limited armoury with which to treat people. I understand the frustration, and I understand the relatives frustrations...but I am doing my best! The latter part of the week was a bit better though, which helped to redress the balance. I think it was also because I have been feeling really headachey this week - more like migraine type headaches with that sicky feeling. It's hard to concentrate when you feel like that. However it looks like a lovely day today and I can have a chilled weekend so will be back to normal for next week :-)

I want to tell you about two charity things that you might be interested in:

1. My best friend Claire, her sister Jennifer and their mum Margaret are taking part in a 5k for the charity Bosom Buds. This is a local charity, founded by breast cancer sufferers. They support the local cancer unit but one of their main roles is providing real hair wigs for those undergoing chemo therapy for breast cancer. I think this is such an important aspect to care and a great wee charity! You can sponsor their walk HERE.

2. My friend, and fellow Team Glasgow member, Kirsty Geddes has had the opportunity to record the single My Hero. Kirsty sang this at our Masquerade Ball in memory of her donor - the lyrics 'there goes my hero...he's ordinary' are so fitting for all those people who have donated. Ordinary people doing an extraordinary thing. The single costs £3.49 (inc postage) and is well worth it - she is an amazing girl, with an amazing voice. All proceeds will be given to Live Life Then Give Life and The CF Trust. If you would like a copy, let me know and I will pass on the orders :-) You can hear the single on facebook but I will check if there is another way of listening to the song.

2011-03-14T20:54:00.001Z

Catch Up!

With the 30 day challenge I didn't really post anything about what I have been up to!

The CF and Body Image booklets are about to undergo a 1500 copy print run, with copies then being distributed to CF units in the UK. I think there has been some early interest from the units so it looks very encouraging. I will still like to do some formal research around the eating disorder and CF topic but have very little time at work to fit in research. Hopefully once I no longer have to cover the other resource centre, I will be able to free up a little time and look into this more.

I have also been asked to speak to 4th years at George Eliot private school in Edinburgh about organ donation. Apparently the government has been encouraging schools over the past few years to include this in the curriculum. I don't think it has been widely taken on, but there are specific resources designed for this purpose and George Eliot have been running it for a few years now. I am really just going to talk about my experiences to give organ donation a human face - should be interesting!

We have still been working away on house things, slowly but surely. We have finished painting the living room and finally that room is complete. We are still hardly sitting in it though because using the extension all the time! It does save tidying the rest of the house though...

I will leave you with some amusing Seb photos, to demonstrate that he has been up to his usual carry on:

Dragged Andrew's bag from the hallway in bid for attention. When he was ignored, just lay down on rug as if just home from a hard day at the office

He was in that basket and I told him to go to his bed in the hall - where he stays when I am at work. I thought he had gone and then realised he had just climbed into the DVD unit instead!

Ordered a new dining table - that's it in the box ready to be built. Seb thinks it's a platform for him to view the garden from.

Next, Seb inspects the new chairs. He doesn't look too sure though...

I was trying to take all the pieces out the box - Seb sees this as an invite to get in the box

Andrew trying to screw the table top in place - Seb getting in the way and licking his nose!

Seb looks pleased with himself. Andrew - not so much!

This was really weird story. Seb had eaten most of his dinner when he lifted one piece of dry dog food and brought it into the middle of the room, where he carefully placed it down. He then turned round and saw Andrew's bag propped against that chair. So with one deft paw swipe, he pushed the bag over and then carefully placed the small piece of dry dog food on top (tiny dot on left front corner). He then returned to his bowl and ate the rest of his dinner and just left that one piece sitting on the bag all night. Now, tell me that's not really weird??!

2011-03-13T12:58:00.000Z

Butterfly Kisses

Bidding has now ended on the Butterfly Kisses painting with the winning bid at £110. The winner is donating the painting to the Butterfly Trust for displaying in their Edinburgh premises - in memory of my sister Frances Ann. Rather fitting, especially as painting is based on the trust's ethos :-)

2011-03-09T22:31:00.002Z

Painting Auction

Just to remind everyone that bidding closes at 12noon this Sunday (13th) for the Butterfly Kisses painting

Current highest bid is £110 Please let me know if you want to bid before the closing time - email me at weejac.art@gmail.com with bid. If I get two bids the same, I will email both people to offer them a chance to outbid. I will allow 24hrs from closing on Sunday for a response from both people since I don't expect people sitting at their email in anticipation!

If anyone missed this post first time round - I am auctioning this painting (by me) in aid of the Butterfly Trust, a charity which supports people with CF in Scotland.

2011-03-08T15:08:00.002Z

Day 30: Picture of Me

Well this is the last day of the photo challenge and today was simply just a picture of me. I was going to use one where I was all dolled up, maybe even from the recent photo shoot, but then decided that this one probably reflects my personality more than others. That in itself is a worry! This was taken on Christmas morning last year, and yes, that is my pyjamas I am wearing with the panda hat. My father in law still doesn't believe I wear this hat to work and patients have seen me with it on. I think that is totally acceptable?

So, a picture of me - what does this tell you? If I were to describe myself I would use the following words: rather daft, easily amused, kind, enthusiastic, impatient, sometimes quick to anger but equally as quick to get over it, calm in a crisis but can look flustered, especially if drinking double espressos, known to laugh inappropriately during meetings and distract other people, always give 100% to everything I do, can be a drama queen when I feel like it but when things really are bad, tend to keep it to myself. I know my own mind but try to see things from other people's view point - although tend to still believe I am, of course, correct :-) I am very small. I like to feel special (but not in a 'just been let out for the day' way). I like to just be myself :-)

2011-03-07T07:37:00.000Z

Day 29: A picture that can always make you smile

This is Seb at 5 weeks old. We went to visit the breeder to choose a puppy - the rest of the litter were all brown, there was one parti colour female... and then Seb. He was sitting in the middle of the litter allowing another puppy to chew on his ear. He had the grumpiest little face but once I had a wee hug it was puppy love!

2011-03-06T13:45:00.000Z

Day 28: A picture of you last year and today with a description of how you've changed

The first picture was taken in April last year when I was in Florida and the picture on the right was at the beginning of this year. Physically I haven't changed much - if this was a just after transplant vs 1 year later photo there would be a noticeable reduction in steroid induced hamster chops! I think there has still been some cheek bone return in the past year. My hair is longer and almost back to pre transplant length. About a year after my transplant my hair started falling out - it was so thin and fragile and all I could do was keep getting it cut until it started growing in thicker again. I would say it's now back to normal :-)

At work I think I have become more confident. Last year I had only been in the staff grade post for 6 months and it was a steep learning curve, having been out of general adult psychiatry for a while. I think my knowledge has increased significantly, as well as developing the way I undertake consultations, react to situations and create a rapport with patients.

Emotionally, the further you get from transplant, the stronger you feel. It starts to seem as if being ill was something in the far and distant past - sometimes feeling like it didn't really happen to me at all. I feel more and more like the 'old Jacqueline' who was happy, carefree and full of nonsense.

In a practical sense I am more settled. The house is really coming together and we have been able to carry out most of our long term plans within the last year. Plans that were always waiting for 'when I am well'. I had my own PBL groups a few times last year, which I really enjoyed. I also became part of Team Glasgow - pouring energy into our ball and this year a Halloween party is on the agenda :-) Through this I have also made two fantastic friends in Victoria and Kirsty.

Overall throughout the past year, I have had that feeling that 'Life is Good!' Can't ask for more than that.

2011-03-05T19:04:00.000Z

Day 27: A picture of something you are afraid of

The big transplant 'R' - Rejection! It looks rather pretty in this slide but not so pretty in real life. Acute rejection I can deal with - I have had that and a few days of IV steroids soon sorted that. Chronic rejection however is one of my biggest fears. It usually has a slower onset, scarring the lungs and reducing their function - and there are no cures. When I got my transplant I said 'oh if I just get even a year it would be great' then I want 3 years, and 5 years and so on! I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the future and usually work on the most positive and optimistic outcomes. However when I sometimes get a niggle, or a feeling of being breathless or a cough, then my heart sinks and thoughts of rejection (and other complications) rush to the fore. Having been given a taste of this new life, I am not in any rush to return to the restrictions of the past, although I know I would still cope if I did. No one knows what the future holds - post transplant or not - so it does give me that nudge every so often to re-evaluate the important things in life and to remember that, for everyone, it should be about enjoying the here and now, the small moments that make you smile and accepting and moving on from the ones that make you cry. Life is here to be lived and I am doing my hardest to make each moment count.

2011-03-04T17:35:00.000Z

Day 26: A picture of something that means a lot to you

This is 'wee red man' and 'donkey'. You can see how original I am with naming things - it's actually a surprise Seb isn't called 'dog'. Wee red man belonged to my older sister Claire, and my mum gave it to me as a keepsake when I was a child. It developed into a lucky charm of sorts for me - gave me the feeling I had someone to watch over me. I had it with me during every hospital admission, every school exam, university exams, interviews and in my bag at my wedding!

When Frances Ann was really ill during my final year of uni, I gave her the wee red man when she was in hospital - I didn't really know what else to do. She did somehow recover from that horrendous episode and when she got out of hospital she returned the wee red man, with a note saying 'I am returning the wee red man so he can help get you through your final exams, thank you for the loan. This wee donkey wants to help you too. I hope he can!" Donkey of course, was duly added to the lucky charm collection!

Both donkey and wee red man were packed in my 'transplant case' along with more obvious essentials to take when the call came. Underwear - check, toothbrush - check, pyjamas - check, wee red man and donkey - check! I am not really a superstitious person and would walk under a ladder or open an umbrella in the house. These two things mean a lot to me, not because I think they are somehow magical but because they remind me that I'm never alone.

2011-03-03T19:39:00.001Z

Day 25: A picture of your happiest memory

Our wedding, August 20th 2004. The beginning of a journey with twists and turns, highs and lows but always side by side.

2011-03-02T21:08:00.000Z

Day 24: A picture of you with a family member

This is me and my Uncle Hugh. I can't really say much about how mental he really is because I think some of his parishioners read my blog. Oops too late ;-) I am very close to my Uncle Hugh and very much respect his thoughts and opinion. He is also great fun and is often at the centre of family gatherings and has worked hard to create a lively community within his three Parishes. I do worry he might become even more eccentric as he gets older and he likes to tell me that I will have to look after him at this stage. I have of course assured him there is no chance of this happening but that I will visit him in the nursing home on high days and holidays :-) We used to have that 'how much do you love me' conversation when me and Fran were young. It was the 'no, i love you more than the world' 'no, i love you more than the universe'. Frances Ann finally stunned Uncle Hugh into silence (the one and only time I believe) when she said 'well, I love you more than God does!' He knows I love him very much.

2011-03-01T15:40:00.001Z

Day 23: A picture of something you crave

Lion bars are amazing! I bought 15 of them on Sunday and have eaten 5 so far, which isn't bad :-) Mum used to always buy me a sweet of my choice to eat in the car coming home from clinic appointments. I always chose a lion bar. It's a classic! I also like the fact there is a lion on the packaging. I like animals.

I also crave home made truffles and flap jack but these involve more effort on my part. It has put me in the mood for baking though...

2011-02-28T19:12:00.000Z

Day 22: A picture of something that confuses you

It was too difficult to pick one thing - I get very easily confused with all manner of things. I will give you some prime examples:

Accents: I have a major issue understanding accents and I don't necessarily mean foreign accents - I mean anything not from the central belt! I find it hard to guess where people are from and even harder to understand them at times. My best faux pas was saying to a doctor once "well that would be a bit Irish" in reference to something I can't remember and when she left the room, Andrew saying 'You do realise she is Irish?!"

Sports: Football and Rugby are the worst. In football they seem to just kick the ball down the field, the crowd crescendos, the commentator sounds like they are about to have a heart attack and then the player kicks the ball out or falls over. Total anti climax. In rugby they appear to just gather in wee groups and grab at each others shorts inappropriately. I find it disturbing.

Sensory Overload: I get easily confused if in a really busy shop, where it's noisy and there are lots of bright lights and people e.g department store. I just get all disorientated and confused about what direction I am going and what I want to look at. I think it's like a small child in a sweety shop - the choices are overwhelming

Films: I really annoy Andrew because I get easily confused by film plots, especially if there are a lot of characters - and more so if the characters look similar or have accents! He has to pause the DVD to explain what is happening on a regular basis.

2011-02-27T15:16:00.003Z

Day 21: A picture of something that makes you happy

Sitting in my wee house, looking at my wee dog, looking at his big garden...on a sunny day. This makes me happy!

2011-02-26T11:07:00.000Z

Day 20: A picture of somewhere you would like to travel

I would love to go on an African Safari. Largely to see the animals! It is probably obvious from my various paintings that I am generally an animal lover and it would be wonderful to see some of the these amazing creatures in their natural habitat. I am not sure if I will be able to fulfil this due to vaccinations required - some of these not allowed post transplant. Never say never though!

2011-02-25T11:39:00.002Z

Day 19: A picture of something that inspires you

My donor and her family...and a...ll those who have been in this position. There is a lot of debate about opt in and opt out donor systems. This is not the place for such a debate, but what I can say is that I see organ donation as a gift, a choice, an act of selflessness. People should be thanked for that gift, not just 'expected to'. Not only has the donor made that inspirational decision to save someone's life but their family,who are the ones who have to actually live through the process, are a true inspiration. It must be incredibly difficult in those hours of despair and grief to make this decision - a decision to benefit a complete stranger. This act saved my life, and so many of my friends lives. It is not the recipient that is inspirational (we have little choice) but those who make a choice they don't have to, for the good of someone else.

2011-02-24T19:02:00.002Z

Day 18: A picture of your biggest insecurity

One of my biggest insecurities is the fear of being disliked - which leads to my inability to say no! In fact this is the reason I didn't post this yesterday because I was so shattered from work and got home late - because I am not good at saying 'no, I really can't fit that in'. I always worry people will think I am being unhelpful, or difficult or not hard working or just not nice. It is high standards I set for myself. If patients phone and ask me to call them, I feel obliged to asap because I know what it's like to be the patient. If I am asked to squeeze one more person in because they really need seen, then I do, because I hate the idea of just leaving them. But for my own sanity I need to learn to be more assertive and not worry so much about what other people think. If people really know me, they will realise if I say no, then I have a very good reason for doing so :-)

p.s bidding on painting now at £90 :-)

2011-02-22T17:48:00.000Z

Day 17: Picture of your favourite song

This is a hard one because I think most people have favourite songs for different occasions or related to specific memories. "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak is one song that I really love, which is not related to anything. I just really love it! I wasn't even aware of the song until it was used in the Jaguar advert in 2001 and it really caught my attention to the point I went and bought a Chris Isaak album soon after! I find it a very haunting song and think the music is beautiful. The lyrics are largely beside the point for me - its the way it is sung and the music itself that I really love.

p.s Bidding at £70 for painting. Click on photo at top right for more info.

2011-02-21T19:20:00.002Z

Day 16: A picture of you and someone you do weird things with

This is me and my cousin (aka surrogate sister) Sarah. She is possibly about as weird as me....in the nicest possible way. I was going to add Corey into this post as well, but luckily I couldn't find a picture of the three of us. He is even weirder than me and Sarah put together ;-)

Sarah was my bridesmaid, along with Fran, who was her best bud. She is the only one that really understands that weird humour we all shared. It is unfortunate she is so pretty because it makes me a bit plain in comparison, but I will let her off because I love her lots anyway :-)

2011-02-20T16:52:00.001Z

Auction for the Butterfly Trust

I mentioned on my blog that I was planning to create a painting to auction in aid of the Butterfly Trust. I have spent all week creating this special painting, with the trust in mind. Their aim is to support people with Cystic Fibrosis in Scotland, and the butterfly logo represents people with CF being helped to open their wings and fly - therefore I have used the butterfly image in this painting to reflect that ethos.

Please click this link for photographs of the painting and further details of bidding. The painting is 4ft x 4ft (big!) - I have added a photo above my sofa to give an idea of scale.

BUTTERFLY KISSES PAINTING

If you are interested, email me at weejac.art@gmail.com with your bid. I will inform you if you are currently the highest bidder. I will place the highest bid for that day on my blog and also at the link above, but will keep this anonymous. I will take bidding for 3 weeks from today - so bids close on Sunday 13th March at 12 noon. Payment can be paid direct to the charity - I am donating the costs of canvas and materials.

Hopefully this will make a little bit of money for this great charity!

2011-02-20T12:04:00.000Z

Day 15: A picture of me and my family

This was taken in Florida last year - first big family holiday after my transplant. Left to right, my dad, John, me, mum, Anne and Andrew. Andrew's brother Ross isn't in this picture (Disney isn't really his thing!) but obviously he is part of my family too.

Anne and John have very quickly become part of my family - and in fact, they even go on holidays with my parents without me and Andrew - what's that all about?! It's great that we all get on so well, it means I have double the support, double the love and double the hugs. Can't ask for more than that :-)

2011-02-19T11:53:00.003Z

Day 14: A picture of something that makes you happy

When I was waiting on transplant one of the things I looked forward to most was being able to take Seb on nice long walks! One of the things that makes me feel happy is taking Seb to country park and I especially love those summer mornings where there is a slight haze in the air, heralding a beautiful day ahead. Taking Seb to the country park in the early morning on days like this, when the air is very still and quiet, I love walking along woodland paths where it is soft underfoot with fallen pine needles and bark and the sun is just filtering through the trees. I love when there is hardly anyone else around, except maybe a few early morning joggers or fellow dog walkers. I love allowing Seb off lead for him to run around, exploring and sniffing and when I stop on a bench or under a tree I love that Seb likes to come and sit beside me and just sit, quietly. I love the fact that my transplant has allowed me to do this again. Such simple pleasures make me happy :-)

2011-02-18T20:32:00.000Z

Day 13: A Picture of something you hate

I was thinking about this today - what do I hate? I don't really have any irrational hatred of particular objects (or people!)

I was then visiting my friend Gillian this afternoon for coffee and realised one thing I do really hate is the feeling of never having enough time to spend with friends. It's funny how no matter how long you spend chatting, it never seems quite long enough and there is always another potential topic to discuss which seems vitally important at the time. I seem to find this happens a lot when I meet friends, although may be something to do with the amount I talk ;-) My friend Lucie is a good example - we are always complaining about running out of time, even if I have been there half the day!

I'm also really weird about 'wasting time'. I get really annoyed at myself if I think I have wasted time by lying in bed too long or sitting about doing nothing. Unfortunately this means I am not great at relaxing! I think it partly comes from being so ill in the past - I now have this constant sense of wanting to cram things in and make the most of every second while I have the chance. I should probably re-evaluate what I consider to be wasting time - I suspect other people might refer to this as chilling out :-)

2011-02-17T19:40:00.000Z

Day 12: A picture of something I love

Seb! He is a wee cutey, rather cheeky and I love him very much! Seb came along late 2004 - it was Frances Ann who had been emailing me pictures of Tibetan Spaniel puppies and trying to convince me to get one, so she could come and baby sit it. I didn't need much persuasion. Unfortunately Frances Ann didn't get to meet Seb but I think he helped us all during a difficult time and he was just what I needed.

I wasn't in great shape when he came along but it did encourage me to get out and do a little exercise, even when I felt really unwell. Laterally mum had to do the walking during the day but I still had him for fluffy hugs and spent ages teaching him tricks when I was off sick. He can do lots of cool things :-)

It's amazing how much a dog can become part of the family. Even my mum calls him 'my wee boy'. What's not to love about Seb?!

2011-02-16T19:56:00.000Z

Day 10: A picture of you when you were little

This is me and my sister Claire - she is the tidy one on the left and I am the small scruff on the right. If in any doubt, the panda under the arm should give it away! That panda (called Panda by the way) appears in a lot of photos when I was young. Sitting on a deck chair in Italy, sitting on a swing in the park but mostly under the arm like a handbag.

You can also see that Claire was really neat and tidy - well behaved, standing nice for the photo. There's me with the cardigan hanging off, the fringe half out and one hand on the hip.

Most of the photos of me very young are with Claire - I think I am about 3 or 4 here, and Claire would be 5 or just turned 6. Mum may correct me! I don't think you would guess how ill Claire was as she was always smiling in every photo :-) I like this photo in particular but have quite a few really nice ones. Happy little girls!

Day 11: Picture of your celebrity crush

I found this one really hard! I don't really have a celebrity crush - I'm not really into celebs. I never had any posters of singers/actors on my wall when a teenager. I think I had a couple of those 'no fear' posters and a giant panther. I was a bit of a freak really..

Anyway, I have selected a picture of someone nice for you to look at! This is Josh Holloway from Lost. I watched the entire series of Lost and was losing the will to live towards the end as it just went on and on and on. Josh, who played Sawyer - bad guy turned good - helped to break the monotony though!

2011-02-15T14:48:00.000Z

My two favourite boys today (not including seb!)....

Day 8 - A picture of someone who makes you laugh

From yesterday's story you realise my mum probably contributed to the headstrong and determined nature - well my dad is responsible for the mischievous me!

My dad has a habit of being really amused by his own jokes and funny stories - he then starts laughing and then doing this kind of mutley laugh which is very infectious. Then mum starts laughing until we are all rolling around in tears and no one can remember what was so funny to start with.

As I said my mum visited my in hospital every day - so did my dad of course - he would come straight from his work to do the evening shift. However he somehow found himself incapable of just sitting there - he was always playing with medical things, pushing buttons he shouldn't be pushing and generally being mischievous. I think its the Irish in him.

He inadvertently amuses me, through his little quirks. The way he screws up his face as if in terrible pain, when simply hammering a nail in. The fact he never measures or marks the wall to hang a picture - he puts his finger on the spot, takes it away then just hammers roughly in that area. The fact he takes on accents of wherever we are on holiday - within 24 hrs he will be speaking with an Irish or American accent. But when he tries to 'do an accent' it always sounds chinese. The fact he is rather accident prone - the incident of floating on a lilo out to sea and straight into a pier is one of my favourites. The way he never reads instructions on how to build something so invariably has 3 screws left over and some random pieces but remains unconcerned. His favourite phrase when he wants to spend money "there's no pockets in shrouds!" Most of all, he laughs at my jokes. No one else does.

My dad is my hero!

Day 9 - A picture of someone who has gotten you through the most.

When Andrew first met me 11 years ago I was (relatively) well and in my 2nd year of medical school. Little did we know what the next 10 years would hold and the ups and downs to be faced.

I remember only a couple of months into the relationship I had a chest infection and needed to go to hospital. I was waiting on mum to collect me but in the meantime andrew packed a bag for me and when mum came in he was tying my shoe laces. She told me he was a keeper then :-)

My personal challenges have been more so in the last 6 years and Andrew has been there every step of the way. Supporting me through the loss of Fran and then through my own health decline in the years to follow. He had to cope with sudden outbursts of emotion and moments of fear and doubt about my future. Carrying me up the stairs when I was too breathless, taking my shoes off and putting my slippers on because bending over is really hard when you can't breathe, and even having a go at blow drying my hair. Never again!

He visited me every day whenever I was in hospital, only leaving when the nurses put the lights out! He kept strong for me throughout my transplant and even puts up with the permanently increased level of chattering afterwards.

Andrew has definitely got me through some of the hardest times in my life - hopefully I helped him get through it too. Rather apt that this photo falls on Valentines Day - here's to our future together!

2011-02-14T20:10:00.000Z

DAY 5: A picture of somewhere you have been:

This is a view from the Empire State building in New York. We were actually trying to get up for sunset but the queue was so long it was dark by the time we got to the top!

I have chosen this picture because I got engaged in New York on this holiday. In Central Park, 10th October 2003 - doesn't seem that long ago! Of course I said yes, and it was the best decision I ever made :-)

Hopefully we will get a chance to go back sometime!

Day 6: Picture of your favourite artist:

I don't really have a favourite band/artist - in fact I have rather eclectic tastes! I do however have certain music I like at certain times, and particular songs of significance. I chose Dolly Parton for this photo because it reminds me of my transplant and the start of this amazing journey. I had her song '9 to 5' as my ring tone at the time I was called for transplant - so whenever I hear that song I think of the day I got that amazing call!! It is quite handy that it is a song I also love, especially to dance too. I like to play Dolly on the way to work sometimes, just to get me 'going' before I start the day :-) My other favourite driving music is Alabama 3 but this makes me drive very fast so I tend to avoid it now ;-)

The most exciting news is that I actually managed to book 2 tickets for Dolly's show in Glasgow - one night only!! It's on my wedding anniversary - I am very excited but Andrew isn't so sure.

Day 7: A picture of someone that has had the biggest impact on your life

My mum thinks she deserves to be written about in at least 5 categories in this challenge. She told me this - I told her she would be getting one and that is plenty!

My mum has definitely had the biggest impact on my life - after all she has made me the person I am. I thought about my transplant as something that had the biggest impact, but to be honest, I wouldn't even have got that far without my mum.

My mum taught me that CF was just something I lived with - not something that defined me. She always encouraged me to take part in everything in life - from horse riding, dancing, music lessons. She encouraged me at school without pressuring me, but also making sure I did not use CF as an excuse to take a day off when I couldn't be bothered! She delighted in every achievement, no matter how small or big. She listened every day to my detailed accounts of what happened at school and never complained. Frances Ann's accounts were along the lines of "had some subjects, not much happened, not got homework". My stories started "well the bell rang and I then went to registration class and..."

Mum sat beside me all day, every day, during the countless hospital admissions from childhood into adulthood, but she taught me to not wallow and feel sorry for myself. She comforted me when the tears would fall but dried them up and pulled me back up. She helped me understand it's not what you can't do...it's what you can.

She is convinced she more or less sat a medical degree along with me (and is frequently found to be dishing out medical advice!) but to be fair, I probably wouldn't have made it through the course without her behind me. Little cards, daily phone calls, coming and rescuing me when I really just needed to come home.

In the lead up to transplant, she had to come and look after me every single day. Trying to keep me positive and strong, when I am sure she was terrified the call would never come. Busying herself with the practical tasks around the house but always vigilant for impending emotional crisis - usually to be resolved by taking me shopping :-)

My mum would be described by others as very selfless, always doing things for other people, always trying to turn negatives into positives and being one of the best listeners I have known (although pretty good at talking too!) She has shaped the person I am and taught me important values in life which so far have served me well and will continue to do so.

My mum is my best friend.

2011-02-13T11:38:00.000Z

Photo Challenge

I need to post a few a day to catch up with facebook. So here are Days 2, 3 and 4!

Day 2: A picture of you and someone you have been closest to for the longest:

Claire has been my best bud since the start of secondary school. She has been there through all the fun times in our teens, and supported me through the hard times waiting on transplant and then celebrated the new chance I have been given. She makes me laugh all the time - with her stories and tendency to embellish them for comedy effect ;-) We can still talk for hours on the phone and I always feel better for it. Claire is getting married this year, so G, if you are reading - you better look after her well :-) Love ya Claire! x

Day 3: Picture of you with someone you miss

I love this photo of me and Frances Ann - taken at my graduation party in 2002, when Fran was 17. In many ways we were very different - I was quieter (yes, really!), very tidy, bit of a geek. Fran was a chatterbox, had a mind of her own and was always up to something! Yet, in many respects we were like two peas in a pod - the only person I could really second guess and who I shared my very odd and rather twisted sense of humour with. I miss her every day and it feels like a little part of me is missing too. I do have so many memories to treasure and am just grateful for the 19 years we had together. She was younger than me but in many ways wiser and she taught me a lot about how to live life - each day at time, never too seriously and with a good sprinkling of utter nonsense and hysterical laughter. Oh and try and wind mum and dad up on a regular basis for my own amusement :) An example of her daftness was on holiday at a posh hotel, where we were sharing a room, she insisted that once dressed for dinner we put on the shower caps and go to meet mum and dad and "just act casual". Love you wee sis!! xx

Day 4: Photo of a habit I wish I didn't have

Drinking excess amounts of real coffee with even more excessive amounts of sugar! I have never liked Tea despite mum and dads attempts to convert me as a child. I started drinking coffee at primary school age (clearly thought I was very grown up). It was instant back in those days. What was I thinking?! The real addiction to cappuccino made with espresso started when I was ill and mum came to look after me every day. It was our little treat and making the coffee was about the only useful thing I could do to help. I have since however been unable to drink instant again. Unfortunately I am also unable to cut down my sugar - 3 for an average cup - the double shot I buy at work needs about 5 or 6. The man in the coffee shop knows what I take and how much sugar to put in without me asking - this is a bad sign! I toyed with the idea of giving up coffee (and thus the sugar) but quickly came to my senses, admitted my bad habit to the diabetic team and was told as long as I took insulin with it, then all was well :-)

2011-02-12T18:57:00.001Z

My Week and The 30 day Photo Challenge

Well the benefits of Stobo were pretty much undone by the time I finished work on Monday haha - but nice while it lasted. Had quite a nice clinic on Monday morning though, where I was really pleased to have picked up a physical problem in a patient that explained symptoms they have had for a long time, and will hopefully make a difference to them - they were happy, which made me happy. Tuesday I took a trip out to meet my peer group - this involves being allocated to a group of three staff grade doctors, and we have to meet a few times a year. The idea is we look at what each of us are doing, what teaching and further eduction events we attend and what we need to do to improve. We then set goals and meet up again to review these. Useful to see what other people are doing, and I think I actually do quite a lot outwith my routine work, so felt quite pleased. Reassuring for everyone else that doctors do undergo continual appraisal and revalidation.

I had my dance class this week and bought some dance trainers to wear. They were much more comfortable and it was easier on my joints - but unfortunately it didn't do much to improve my dancing ;-) My main issue is remembering the sequence - I get it when she shows us slowly but then speeding up for the music sees me flailing my arms wildly and getting my feet all tied up. Not the best look.

You may remember me talking about my friend Fi, who sadly died 4 months ago. I had her sister and mum over for a coffee and chat today, which was lovely. So nice to talk about Fi and the good memories, as I don't really know her other friends from her work and home town. We had a lovely afternoon and it was great to catch up. I had been tidying and cleaning for them visiting and I could just imagine Fi watching and laughing at me!

I am thinking about my next art project. I still have another giant canvas (4ft square) and was thinking about doing something to sell for the Butterfly Trust. This is a great wee charity, that mum does a lot of work for, and I am trying to think of different ways to help. It is hard to have fundraisers all the time, because you are asking the same people all the time. Team Glasgow will definately do something for them this year, but I thought this might be a nice wee thing I could do. Watch this space.

The other thing I have been doing this week is a 30 day photo challenge on facebook. You have a list of 30 categories and each day you post a photo with a related story to the category. I guess it's a way of people getting to know a little more about you and I have been enjoying thinking up something for each one. I think I might add them to my blog every day as well - will need to post some extra to catch up as on day 7 on face book!

Day 1: Photo of you with 15 facts about yourself

1. Used to be terrified of dogs
2. Was given the chance to go to a Kyle concert (and go backstage) when in hospital about age 8 and turned it down because "I'm not really that into Kyle to be honest"
3. Got the nurses in Sick Kids to bandage a cannula (not inserted) onto her arm so she could pretend to rip it out and see how her mum reacted..
4. Favourite sweetie is a Lion Bar
5. Had an annual membership for Lazer Quest in Edinburgh and went with friends every saturday in her teens
6. Has her bronze and silver Duke of Edinburgh award
7. Played the piano for years and used to be quite good many moons ago
8. Put up her own shelves (with rawl plugs and everything) age 13 to impress her dad
9. Had a 'trundle pusher' pram (originally claire's) which she used to carry bricks around for dad, instead of pushing a doll.
10. Stayed with her CF paediatric consultant, and his family, for a week and shadowed him at work, as part of uni application. He started me on antibiotics half way through the week haha
11. Has always hated Tea
12. Was involved in making up Vampire plays with her friend Sacha Kyle (who is now a director) and other friends, and we then performed to the class at primary school
13. Always wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember
14. Is old enough to remembering the drink Hooch being cool
15. LOVES dancing on a night out... and in general around the house

2011-02-05T18:50:00.000Z

Pandas and Pampering

I am just back today from 2 nights at Stobo Castle with mum :-) We arrived on Thursday evening after I finished work and picked up mum - that night was just for relaxing and then we had a lovely dinner. On Friday we had a facial in the morning, then relaxed and had lunch, before a foot massage and then using the spa facilities. Then it was time for more food! This morning we had a back massage and then headed home after lunch. You basically float about in your dressing gown all day - for breakfast and lunch, although you have to get dressed for dinner. At dinner you share tables with other guests, which I don't mind if I am in the mood for chatting but sometimes it is quite tiring making small talk with random different people at each meal. Mum of course insists on striking up conversations, even if someone so much as glances in her direction! I did use the opportunity on both evenings to do some organ donation work, making sure everyone at the table was signed up to the register and answering questions haha! How we managed to end up talking about this two nights in a row with two different groups of people I don't know, but at least I was doing some advocate work while being pampered!

Seb went to stay with dad because Andrew was working extra hours. Seb was being quite huffy when he saw my bag packed but was quite happy to be left with dad for his pampering weekend - which involves lying on top of dad snoozing in the chair and then dad taking him to the men's group with him on Friday night. I guess Seb is male but not sure in what other way he qualifies for attending such a group :-)

I finished the Giant Panda from last week and am rather pleased with the final result! It is rather massive but it is a big wall, so I think it works well. A slightly random subject matter but I am not really known for being mainstream.

Panda with little panda for scale....(the letters are Chinese for Panda Bear, although I will probably discover it actually says chicken noodles or similar)

Lastly I have to leave with some sad news that another CF friend lost his life waiting on transplant. David was a friend of Team Glasgow and was to become the 4th member after his transplant. He had been waiting since last year but the call did not come in time and he sadly lost his fight last week. Kirsty and Victoria were able to represent us at the funeral and organise some beautiful flowers from ourselves and some other CF friends. Another reminder of how many people don't get the chance I got, and another reason to keep spreading the word. Keeping his family in my thoughts. x

2011-01-23T22:14:00.001Z

This weeks antics

Last weekend I painted - some walls in the utility room... and then a little canvas for the new bathroom. I was going between the two, waiting on coats to dry in between :-) I started off wearing my painting coat and a shower cap for the utility room painting, in an attempt to keep the paint out of my hair, but somehow I did end up with white stripes regardless!

Big eyed owl

Tuesday was a busy day! In the morning I had the talk with primary 7's on organ donation. I thought it went well :-) I tried to make it interactive and hopefully they have all taken something away from the session. I gave them leaflets to take home so hopefully they can chat it over with their parents too.

On Tuesday night we had our first dancing class. The first hurdle was finding the place - we walked past it twice after Victoria had us heading in the wrong direction and I had the wrong street number. Once we located the building we got ready for class - Victoria then realises she has two left jazz shoes hahaha! Eventually we get into the class and start the warm up and learning a dance routine. By the end of the class we were fairly convinced we were in the wrong class!! We were meant to be in a Music Video class and turns out this was 'chick flicks'...oops! We had to tell the teacher then find the correct class to say we would be there next week. Hopefully it will go a little smoother this week :-)

I started my next painting project on Friday. I ordered a massive 4ft x 4ft canvas for the extension and have been working on my creation....of a Giant Panda. Yes, you heard correctly. Hopefully it will be finished soon (I have taken over the whole study at the moment)and fingers crossed it looks cool, not totally ridiculous, once in situ :)

2011-01-14T16:38:00.001Z

It's back to reality!

So the end of another week back at work- Christmas seems a long time ago now! It wasn't too busy back at work so I have got back into the swing of things now. There is a bit of unrest at work because there has been a freeze on staff grade posts (budgets!) but not all the resource centres are currently covered in our area, so people are going to be shuffled around. I really don't want to move as I am settled in, have my case load and know people at work now. We have a big meeting in a couple of weeks so I will find out more then.

Last week I met up with Kirsty and Victoria for a drink, which was lovely. I chickened out of going clubbing because a) I am getting very old b) It was snowing heavily and I was very paranoid about getting back home! We are planning to join a dance class (seriously!) for some exercise. I am a bit nervous because the last time I went to any type of dance class I was about 7 years old and too young to care if I was rubbish, and too young for the teacher to say if I was rubbish :-) Will be good to get some exercise though as there are not really any sports I am interested in.

Last weekend was an Ikea nightmare. I truly hate the Ikea shopping experience! You get onto that wee path round the shop and there is no going back - people are coming up behind you, buggys are barging you out the way and at this point you haven't even got to the warehouse bit where you find they don't have what you needed anyway ;-) We were going for book cases for the study (which used to be the dining room) to at least make some effort to get the piles of books and DVDs etc off the floor. We had to go back the following day though because we could only get half in the car at one time. Andrew however worked hard and built them all on Sunday. He is getting rather good at building Ikea furniture! So now they look all tidy and organised. I spent my day off on Tuesday sorting all my art stuff into boxes that go on the shelf and all my card making things into tiny plastic drawers I bought. It will never stay this organised.

Today I have been working on some ideas for explaining organ donation to a Primary 7 class. My friends sister in law is a teacher and her class were reading a book about xenotransplants, therefore sparking their interest in organ donation. I was going to try and add some fun elements like a wee quiz with some interesting facts about organs e.g if you laid out the lungs flat, including the airways, what area would it take up? The size of a tennis court! No kidding. Anyway, that's on Tuesday so hopefully it will go well.

Seb has been a little bit mopy since we came home because he now doesn't have someone with him 24 hours a day! Since his vaccinations, where we realised he had put on some weight (although still is good weight for his breed) we decided to make sure nothing was added to his dry food - he, for example, is rather partial to some dry parmesan sprinkled on the top!! Anyway he also used to get a bit hot water mixed in, which invariably meant the food needed stirred when he got round to eating it. So although there is now nothing added, not even the water, he sits and scrapes the bowl, sticks his paw in it and sighs loudly until someone stirs the food - then he immediately eats it! He clearly thinks something magical happens when it is stirred and refuses to eat until this is done. I have such a diva of a dog.

This weekend will probably involve some more home DIY type things - still a lot to do but trying to pace it :-)

2011-01-04T15:08:00.001Z

Holidays nearly over!

Well, I am all packed and ready to head back tonight and then work on Thursday. The holidays never last quite long enough!! I have had a lovely time at home - I wouldn't say relaxing as we are busy busy over the holiday period, but they say a change is as good as a holiday.

Anne and John were up for New Year. We started celebrations on the 30th with Carol Ann's 60th party, which was a great night and a chance to see some relatives and friends. I wore the new dress mum gave me and fortunately had brought home a pair of shoes that went...spooky.

Cutting some moves with mum on the dancefloor...

On Hogmonay we had a lovely meal, with more of my home made crackers, and then had a fairly relaxing evening. Seb was up to his usual antics and half way through dinner we realised he was missing. Andrew found he had managed to get down the steep stairs to the basement (which takes him about 20 minutes, one paw at a time) but couldn't get back up. We got him back up and ten minutes later he had disappeared again. This time mum found him lying in the shower tray in her en suite. I have no explanation for this, other than it being his typical attention seeking behaviour. He refused to come out and I had to shut him in the shower when I used the bathroom - too freaky having him sitting staring!!!

Dad indulges Seb's need to sit at the table with everyone..

Anne and Mum

Seb in the shower tray

We brought in the bells with a glass of champagne, being with the people who matter most. Again, I felt it was not a time for looking back, but for looking forward. The only resolution I make now is to try and enjoy each day as it comes :-)

John and Anne

On the 2nd we headed through to Uncle Hugh's for the last family celebration. We had a lovely afternoon with a nice meal and some games afterwards. Yesterday was the first day we really just chilled out and now I feel more tired than before! Back to reality now but there is also something nice about getting back into a routine. Lot's of friends I need to catch up with soon, so I have plenty to keep me going :-)

2010-12-31T15:22:00.000Z

New Year in Pictures

Well, as always, it is difficult to sum up the year in one blog post, so I will illustrate with some pictures again.

January
The start of year 2 after transplant and still going strong. We had a difficult start to the year with my uncle dying on New Years day after a short illness - although we had at least been able to visit him in hospital in the few days prior. Later in the month I went with mum to Nick Nairn cook school and had a lovely weekend - I bought a tiny pan for making potato pancakes and have never used it since ;-)

February
This month seemed to be consumed by insurance hunting for our Florida trip - what a nightmare! On a more pleasant note, myself and mum went to Stobo for a night and had a fantastic relaxing time. We are planning another visit this year :-) Myself and Andrew enjoyed some nice walks up at the country park with Seb.

March
Not a good month - got a viral illness and ended up being flat out for most of the month. Mum ended up coming through to look after me. Was rather scared at the time and especially worried I wouldn't be well enough for our trip. I did of course recover in time, but I was glad to see the back of that month. It was the worst I have felt since my transplant and brings back some not so pleasant memories. It does however also make me appreciate how far I have come.

April
Florida!! The long awaited family holiday was as good as I had hoped - we had a fantastic time in Miami and Orlando. We did have the saga of getting stuck for an extra week due to the volcano - very stressful at the time but in hind sight I can laugh about it now. This is me in the Magic Kingdom :-) On the 25th I celebrated my 2nd transplant anniversary.

May
Started with a hen weekend in the Lake District, which was great fun. Had a go at archery and quad biking and managed not to do myself any injuries. We also got planning permission for our extension this month but then started the long wait for a building warrant! There was a question mark over my contract renewal due to job cuts but luckily it turned out well and I ended up with a permanent contract instead :-) It was a sad month with the loss of a fellow CF lady, Nicola, but also a new beginning for Victoria who had her transplant after so many false alarms. I hope this year sees her go from strength to strength. We a;so had some lovely sunny weather and lots of trips out with Seb.

June
Great report at transplant clinic and a busy month at work. It was Johns 60th birthday so we all enjoyed his birthday celebrations. We also were given tickets (thank you Lee) for Paul McCartney concert, which was brilliant. A good month all round :-)

Me and Andrew at Johns Party

July
My dear friend Gillian's wedding, which was fantastic, and was also a good opportunity to get my lady bug shoes out. We went down to London and visited Emily and Adam - a fleeting visit but we had a lovely time (apart from the fact Emily abandoned us to go into hospital in the middle of the night - how rude ;-)) Preparations began for the Masquerade Ball!!

August
Another friends wedding and another lovely day. Started painting all the wood in the house and spent most of the month with paint on my hair, noted a few times at work. It was my 6 year wedding anniversary and we had a nice lunch out -although did spend the rest of the day looking for kitchen tiles.... the building work finally commenced on the last few days of August and the chaos began.

With flatmates at Al and Clare's wedding

Where the extension was to be built...

September
A busy month of work on the extension and we saw such progress over the weeks. It was a difficult month too, with Frances Ann's birthday and anniversary - I also spoke at the donor family network day around the time of Fran's birthday. It was a lovely afternoon, very emotional but an honour to meet the donor families. I had a slight health wobble with the persistent cough and the aspergillus showing up - however a swift CT scan showed no problems and I have been fine since :-)

October
Wow - a busy month!! We started with a trip to Cambridge so I could attend a Transplant Psychiatry Interest group, followed by the advocate weekend in London. That was after I realised I had booked train tickets for the wrong weekend! It wa a great weekend (especially since I was travelling down with Victoria and Kirsty) and a good opportunity to catch up with all the LLTGL team. I had the very sad news that my dear friend Fi had died suddenly and we managed to go up to Aberdeen for the funeral - please keep her family in your thoughts over the new year period.

Of course the month ended with a bang - the big Masquerade Ball, which was a massive success! It was rather manic in the lead up, with trying to finalise the last details and pull it all together. We did it though and raised a massive £12, 600 for Live Life Then Give Life!!!

Oh yeah, and in between, we got all the ceilings plastered, emptied and moved rooms more times than I can remember and painted the extension.

This was an accidental picture taken by Pip - we had our photo taken at the same time and the flash lit us up!

November
Extension was finished but some more plastering upstairs - and we also decided it was a good idea to empty the entire room and get new wardrobes. Of course. Meanwhile I was still busy at work with my 10th week of PBL, although I really enjoyed the group. I also did my Section 22 training in the mental health act (and in fact just got my certificate in the post today). Spoke about CF and transplant at a church group - always good to keep spreading the message.

December
Christmas count down begins! Had a great December - two work night outs, both of which I really enjoyed. We went with my friends to see Beauty and the Beast Christmas show which was great. The weather however, was awful and it had been a hard month for getting into work - with trains cancelled, delayed and all round madness on the roads. It did at least look nice and Christmassy! I also squeezed in a trip to Newcastle and got a great report, which is always a good way to end the year. I can't believe December is now nearly over - had a lovely Christmas and still a few days of celebration to go.

2011...
Who know what next year will hold? I have nothing planned, no big holidays arranged this year - but sometimes that's a good thing. We will just see where the year takes us! It will be lovely to enjoy the extension this year and we can finish off the rest of the house at a slower pace. Two of my close friends are getting married so can't wait to celebrate with them. I am sure 2011 will be a fantastic year and I will certainly be doing my best to make sure it is - and to enjoy each day as it comes.

Happy New Year to everyone!

2010-12-27T11:23:00.001Z

Christmas 2010

Another great Christmas! I was very restrained and although woke at 7am, I did wait until 7.30am before waking mum and dad. I think that's pretty good :-) I opened my stocking, got up and festooned Seb in his Christmas scarf and took stockings in for mum and dad. We then started on the mammoth Christmas present opening ceremony :-)

I must have been a very good girl all year because Santa was especially good to me (again!) Mum and dad had me lots of fab clothes, including a lovely wee retro black and white dress - which I will wear at a party this week. I also LOVED the furry bag and ear muff set, which match my very furry boot slippers. I am like a giant fur ball :-) Andrew was getting me a new laptop which I am writing this on now - it is soooooooooo much faster than my old one, which was about to give up the ghost. He also got me a panda hat...best present ever!

We had a lovely Christmas dinner, with a new starter this year of haggis in filo parcels. Very nice! I had made crackers for the table with little gifts for everyone, which I was rather pleased with if I do say so myself. We then just chilled out for the rest of the evening and watched a really cheesy Christmas movie. All in all everyone had a great day :-)

It's been a hard day...

Yesterday we headed down to Anne and John's, where I am at the moment. The roads were clear coming down but it did snow last night - fingers crossed we get no more before heading back. We are now just relaxing and unwinding before the next set of festivities at New Year!

Over the Christmas season, please do keep in your thoughts my donor and her family, as well as all those otherdonor families, who have given this wonderful gift.

2010-12-24T12:08:00.000Z

One More Sleep

It's one more sleep 'til Christmas..tra la la la la, tra la la! I came back home to mum and dads last night after work, so that's me officially on holiday now. Woo!

I can't believe Christmas has come around so quickly and we are fast approaching the end of another year. Another fantastic year :-) I do love Christmas (would you ever guess?) because it's just a great time for family and everyone gathering together. I find it difficult at work in the lead up to Christmas as many patients get very depressed about it - feeling it's a time for missing people, for feeling lonely and for forced joviality. I would say I have had my fair share of loss and pain, and likewise, I do find it an especially poignant time of year. However I also see it as a time for remembering happy memories of those we have lost, of celebration and enjoying time with my family. I think it is about being in the moment and not dwelling on the past - we have some fantastic memories and stories of Christmas' past which we enjoy sharing at this time of year, but likewise, we are creating new memories to share in future years. I'm just so happy I am still here to celebrate Christmas and to look forward to another new year. Bring it on!

2010-12-18T21:10:00.001Z

Great Report

I made it down to Newcastle on Monday night - although I cheated slightly by getting dad to come and drive me! I was a bit nervous with the recent weather but wanted to get down for my check up before Christmas. They were very pleased with me (again) and my lung function was 105% which is pretty much the same as last time. He was a bit concerned about the fact I grew that fungus a few months back but agreed it was probably spores I inhaled, because if there was active infection in the lungs I would have been very unwell. Since I was looking so well it's still going to be another 6 months before I have to head back :-)

I was shattered by the end of this week as I was at work all Monday, then down to Newcastle in the evening, then up at 6am for the 7am clinic and back home by tea time - but back to work full day Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday myself and Victoria had an organ donor stall at the Students Loan Company, as this is where she works. Kirsty helped her do one in the city centre office on Thursday and I helped at an other office yesterday. It wasn't really busy but we did speak to a few people and hand out leaflets - I always think that if even one person stops to think about it, we have done some good. After all it might be that one person that will really matter. Afterwards I dropped Victoria home and as she lives in the city centre I decided to take a chance on getting parked so I could pick up the rest of my presents. I did this very impressive reverse park with about 2 inches between the car in front and behind - this is what Christmas shopping does to me. It's mind over matter ;-) I managed to get the few items pretty quickly so that's me all done. I did most of my shopping online weeks ago but things only starting arriving this week because of the weather. Today I wrapped, and wrapped and wrapped!!! Mum and dad popped through so I have sent them away with lots of bags of presents for under the tree at home :-)

Despite trying to avoid too much DIY in the run up to Christmas, Andrew has been building these wardrobes. He had built most of the carcasses last Sunday and dad was helping him today - the problem is not building the furniture, it's the fact the walls and floor are not straight and they need to be secured along the whole wall. That's the character of older houses I guess. He has moved onto putting rails up though, so if we even get that far it would be great - need somewhere to put all my new Christmas clothes (eh mum?!)

Last weekend we went to see Beauty and the Beast at the Citizens theatre - it was fantastic. It's a really small independent theatre so I wasn't sure what to expect. I have been there before but not seeing their main show. I really enjoyed it though and it was a nice alternative to a Christmas pantomime. I also would really like to see Harry Potter and the new Narnia film but haven't had a chance yet. I always associate Narnia with Christmas and also with Frances Ann. She had a box set of all the films and actually knew most of them (especially the lion the witch and the wardrobe) off by heart when we was about 7. She would talk along with the film! She then went through a spell of telling us each morning that she had been to Narnia during the night - very active imagination ;-)

Well this week is quite busy, but hopefully rather festive too. I am working Monday, Wednesday and then covering all day Thursday (we all had to take a day around Christmas) - then home :-) On Wednesday we have a Christmas quiz at lunch time and then I have my work night out (the 2nd one!)

7 more sleeps.....!!

2010-12-10T19:54:00.000Z

Snow snow snow..

It's been a tough week with the snow and trying to get to work! Monday was complete madness and one of those days you wish you hadn't bothered getting up :-) I got the train into work and by lunch time there were reports trickling in of mayhem on the roads, with all buses off, gridlocked cars and problems with the trains. I decided to phone all my afternoon clinic patients and we had a wee phone consultation instead of just cancelling their appointment altogether, then headed off to try and get a train. By this time all the trains to my town had stopped running and there were no taxi's at all - the traffic was just standstill along the main road. I decided to just get a train as far as I could, which was about 4 miles from my house. The first mishap was falling getting onto the train, which was rather embarrassing and caused a pretty impressive bruise on my shin. I had initially planned to phone a taxi from that station but it turned out most of the taxi's weren't out because of the roads, and it was a 2 hour wait! I decided just to walk - it took about 1 hr 40 mins because of the snow and ice but I was so impressed that my lungs had no difficulty at all! My joints however were in agony, and I also went over on my ankle about a mile from home, but the sheer brilliance of the fact I could do it was amazing. I would never had dreamt of it before :-)

It's been a bit of a nightmare all week with trains running late and being cancelled, but there is a thaw starting today so fingers crossed the roads will clear a bit, although rumours of more snow next week. It does all look rather Christmassy and I have my tree and decorations up. I have this really cool advent house this year - you open a wee door every day and there is another figure to add to the Christmas house (thanks Anne and John!) I am such a big kid.

My friend Fi gave me this decoration, so it was nice to stop and think of her when I was decorating the tree. She loved Christmas too :-)

Seb is still enjoying the snow, but really not so keen on the slush. I am still making him wear his wee coat when he goes out to keep him a bit cleaner - this is what he thinks of it!

This is after a walk when he sits in the kitchen waiting on his treat - bit intense!

It was my Christmas night out at work yesterday, which was really good. There was the minor blip of the fire alarm going off during coffee and us all having to stand outside the hotel in the freezing cold! They started handing out those foil blankets but thank fully we weren't outside that long. It was a good night and I managed to do quite a bit of dancing despite having gone over on my ankle earlier in the week - I had it all strapped up with tubi grip for the purpose of dancing. Not the most sensible I know, but can't really go to night out and not dance! I have another night with all the doctors next week but am unfortunately covering the resource centre the next day so better be sensible and not too late. I also have appointment at transplant clinic on Tuesday but will decide nearer the time if it's safe enough to drive down.

I will leave you with a picture of Andrew trying to work from home and Seb 'helping'