Thursday 3rd to Friday 4th December

Thursday was an inside day. I really wanted to take myself out for a coffee but I kept talking myself out of the idea because I needed to give my bedroom a bit of a tidy. (Clothes everywhere because I am messy! but extra clothes everywhere from where I’ve been trying to have a bit of a sort out every now and then!!) I also thought at this time that I would be going for my weekly walk later which would have been my contact with the outside world for today, but two of the others couldn’t make it this week, so it didn’t happen Frustrating that.

Friday was just a work day.

I did hear about this in the news this week though.

‘A baby who died 74 minutes after birth has become the UK’s youngest organ donor’

The parents knew from a scan that sadly she was not going to survive when she was born, so they were able to plan for her kidneys to be donated, which they say they found more helpful for them. The doctors also took some cells from her liver which were frozen and can now be used to treat patients who are waiting for a liver transplant. It’s amazing to think that her organs, which must have been so teeny tiny, have been able to go on and help others.

Monday 30th November to Wednesday 2nd December

An afternoon spent in Banbury with Robyn and Tom. Shopping and a visit to Pizza Express 😀

Work on Tuesday morning. Its now 1st December!

And this happened in Wales. The law changed. You would now automatically be on the Organ Donor list unless you choose to OPT OUT. A great thing to happen. Will England follow in this? We wait to see.      Click on bit.ly/1AxXumY

I served three ladies at separate times today while sat on my till that I know very well and who have all had severe problems with their health. It’s really sad to think about them suffering as they are all such nice, kind women and all used to do lots of different things to help other people. It’s not fair. I really hope they all stay strong, keep fighting and beat their horrible illnesses.

They all knew about what had happened to me and were glad to see me and pleased that I was back at work. One of the ladies had been back to work too but was now going to retire. She was saying about how hard she found it to try and go back to normal, that we’ve all been on some kind of journey that not many other people understand, and it can be very difficult to go back. It was so nice to talk to someone that understands. Everyone that sees me says ‘you’re amazing, you look SO well, are you better now’ and I obviously feel so much better than I did, but there are still things going on in my body and head that people can’t see, and I think that’s what makes it so difficult. I don’t like to keep going on about it because I think people get fed up of hearing it, and I know that there are many many people much worse off than me. But yes, I do agree, it’s hard.
On Wednesday I was very tired but I didn’t feel unwell. Maybe I’m getting used to this work business!! I had lots of jobs to catch up with today and lots of washing. My house is on 3 floors so I’m up and down the stairs constantly. I think I’m actually going to count how many times I do it one day. Even if I just want to get myself a drink I have to go down and then back up the stairs!

Jake obviously decided that he wanted to come up the stairs to our living room and see us a few times this week. So there we are eating our breakfast or whatever and suddenly in he comes round the door! The trouble is he can’t get back down them without falling (they are steep, twisty and narrow) as he is old now and his legs are not the best. So we have to hold on to his collar and guide him down, without tripping over him ourselves. Not the easiest of jobs 😏

Later in the afternoon I had to go and pick up a parcel that had been delivered to our old house, so I walked up the hill to get that. It was weird and quite horrible going back there. The kids grew up there, my friend lived just across the lane, lots of happy memories, we just didn’t want to leave there 😦

Anyway I got my parcel, then I walked back into town to pick up my prescription and then I met Robyn when she had finished work. I think I mentioned before that my old neighbour Tony had sadly died. So we went to meet some of our friends and had a drink with them at the wake.

Then it was time to go to Christmas bingo! We normally go to this every year. It’s a bit of fun. The prizes are boxes of chocolates, biscuits, Christmassy things etc. Robyn won the full house prize in one of the games, a tub of Heroes chocolates and a Christmas selection box (and she won’t even eat chocolate!) The rest of us were not lucky. Oh Hannah won some chair cushions in the raffle at the end, but she wasn’t too pleased about it 😝

When I was on my own later that night I was reading things other people say in a group I’m in for people with PBC and it was about the illness coming back after transplant. I’ve always known that it happens but when you hear people saying that it’s happened to them it makes it all a bit more real. Got me thinking. Do I really want to go through all that stuff again, years of feeling crap, endless medication and then possibly, if lucky enough, another transplant? Not sure I could do it …

Friday 27th to Sunday 29th November

When I got up this morning to get ready for work Robyn decided to have a nose bleed! She keeps having these too often at the moment and I hope she’s just going to get them checked out with the doctor real soon. This one was really very heavy and lasted for quite a long time. It stopped her from being able to get ready for work for a while, and it was starting to make me feel a bit sick! Eventually it stopped as suddenly as it started, thank goodness.

Work was busy. A constant steady stream of customers to serve.

I made myself some pasta for dinner. I don’t know about you but whenever I make cheese sauce I always seem to get lumps in it 😦 so out comes the sieve! 

Saturday morning’s breakfast.

How spoilt was I? It tasted amazing. Mr Warburton’s Giant Crumpets are so nice. Crispy on the outside and so soft inside. And the holes just let all the flavours from whatever’s on the top, soak through. I really advise you  all to give them a try. They are my new favourite thing 🙂 Seems like I haven’t had a curry Saturday for a while, but if I get this instead I really don’t mind 😉

Then there was another ‘attempt at Christmas shopping’ trip. You will find there will be an awful lot of these now. I managed to get a couple of little things again. Then, amazingly, I got Gary to agree to get a Costa coffee ☕️ We had to go and sit in though, I wasn’t allowed a drive through, which of course I didn’t mind either! I had another one of their mince pies too as I find them very very tasty. So then I got out my iPad and did a bit of online shopping. Another 3 little presents bought. A much nicer and relaxing way to shop. I was quite pleased with myself 😆

We were due to go and watch Tom’s band this evening but for some reason when I got home I just couldn’t face it. After a lot of debating with myself I decided not to go. This made me incredibly upset as I felt I was letting Robyn down and after all she does for me, she definitely doesn’t deserve that. So in the end I spent the evening at Gary’s. I had a shower and then just sat on the sofa doing nothing. I was upset for the whole evening 😰

A little mention for my dad today. It would have been his birthday. How I would love to see him again and for him to meet Robyn and Leah. And of course to tell him all about what I have been through …

On Sunday we decided to go shopping at the last minute. Gary needed some paint and I was going to look in a specific shop for a Christmas present (can’t say anymore than that because the person concerned reads my blog!) Annoyingly it turned out I wasn’t very successful in that department anyway as the shop didn’t have much choice! 

We took so long in the shops in the end that we were really pushed for time. We were going to see a band play in our local pub (and this time I was determined that I would go ) We rushed back and got ready to go out quickly. We were late. Then when we got there they hadn’t even started. They were waiting for the football match that was being shown in the pub to finish first! My friend Jackie came to watch too. I hope she enjoyed it 🎤

On the way back I got some chips. In the end they were too salty (the man in the shop had put it on) and I couldn’t eat them 😦

What a weekend.

Wednesday 25th to Thursday 26th November

I really didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. I was very sleepy. When I did get up my eyes were very puffy and I had a terrible headache. It must have been bad because I actually took some paracetamol! I very slowly, did some things around the house. Earlier in the week I had already promised myself I would have a trip to Caffe Nero today because I was getting fed up of just being inside all day in the middle of the week. As I was feeling unwell I really didn’t fancy a walk into town but I made myself go because I knew that in the end it would make me feel better.

So I had my normal mug of tea and treated myself to another one of their gingerbread muffins and I just sat quietly and did a bit of blogging. Quite enjoyable. Broke the day up a bit and also gave me a little rest from all the different jobs I keep finding myself to do.

I opened the door to the smell of chicken casserole 🍲 simmering away in the slow cooker. It did smell good. I hoped it was going to be as tasty! Makes me feel like I’m a good mother when I have made a nice hot healthy meal ready for when everyone is home (well Robyn went off to the gym first and had hers later). Both the kids told me that they loved it anyway 😀 Leah even had seconds!

I felt a little better on Thursday. I sorted a few more of my clothes out. I know this seems to be taking ages but I only do a little bit at a time and a lot of them I need to try on to see if they still fit or if I still even like them. And there’s always those day to day jobs that need doing too!

I went for my walk in the evening. A good hour and a half this time. And I could feel it too 😦 Enjoyed it though. Another lady joined us this evening. She was telling me about her daughter who is also suffering with liver problems at the minute and how she is finding it difficult living with the extreme fatigue. I can only sympathise with her It’s very tough.