Halloween Party

Well my nose is back to its normal self, wahoo! Although its very shiny so I'm going to give myself one of those mud facial things tonight to see if it helps!

On Saturday it was our Halloween party which went really well. No-one was a party pooper and didn't dress so that was good! We had seven people sleep over which was abit of a squeeze but we managed it! By the time I woke up the next morning Pete had made them all bacon sandwiches and tidied up alot of the mess, he's such a good husband! Although I do think he has learnt from the last party we had when I had a go at him for doing nothing...

I've been tired ever since the party though. You don't realise at the time how much energy you are using getting everything together and making the food, sorting people our etc, because of your adrenaline. But then once it's all over it catches up and even though I just laid around all day Sunday once we had put all the decorations away and cleaned up, I'm still feeling tired three days later. This weather isn't helping, I officially hate winter. The thing is, I quite like autumn because of the colours and also loads of good stuff is on the TV hehe, however every time I go outside it's 'cough cough', I feel so wheezy today after taking Alfie for a walk and coughing so much. I felt sick yesterday after coughing all the way to my car which was literally a five minute walk. It's not like I don't get wrapped up, it's just the change from warm to cold or vice versa, it's like it freaks my lungs out and they have a fit! It's also depends on how long ago I did my physio, like if I go our first thing after doing my morning physio it's not as bad as say if I went out at 5pm so due my evening physio in a few hours.

Another thing that's bugging me and I have no idea why it's happening, is that I keep waking up in cold sweats during the night. I'm not warm but I wake up and I'm dripping from head to toe and my pillow and sheets are all wet, it's totally gross and uncomfortable and I don't know what's causing it!

On Sunday we found out that my mums car has been stolen. They broke into her house whilst her, my brother and girlfriend were asleep upstairs. Luckily Murphy was in bed with my mum and not in the kitchen, because that's where the keys were, as who knows what they would have done to Murphy if he started barking at them. When my other brother came home with his girlfriend, the front door was wide open which is when it was discovered what had happened. It's scary to think that someone was in the house, one of my brothers could have come home whilst they were still in there or Murphy could have barked and my brother gone down to investigate. Some people are just scum!

Anyway here are some pictures from the party

Muddy Weather

Gosh I can't believe I haven't done a blog since Monday, I've been informed this by several people. Calm down....! I just don't have anything interesting to say!

I have been adding some pages to my blog, if you look along the top I now have my blog page, a CF and Me page and a CF Glossary page. So take a look and see what you think! I'll add some more when I think of what I could add!

Like I say, I haven't been upto much this week. I have been feeling more and more tired each day, not sleepy tired, more like feeling weak tired. Overall I feel good though, it's just annoying as I don't have any energy to do anything.

On Friday my mini had a service and I went to a relaxation class at where I volunteer, it was good but alot of it I already do in yoga, so it was a case of reinforcing what I already practice in classes and perhaps extending it to at home. My mini was fine apart from needing some new window wipers, they cleaned the outside of the car but not the inside which I was abit disappointed about. Last time it looked brand new by the time they had finished with it! The inside of my mini is disgusting, so I decided I would clean it. Yes you read right, I cleaned out my car, I'd like to point out it was chucking it down with rain too and I still proceeded with this little miracle. I cleaned with soap and water, then vacuumed it and when I got back into my flat I felt like I was going to pass out and had to lay down. My arms were so weak I couldn't pick anything up, it was very strange! I basically laid down for the rest of the afternoon and had a kip!

I wish this wet weather would go away, I nearly slipped into a load of mud on Wednesday when walking Alfie and Murphy, it would have been funny as a spectator but not for me! Then on Thursday my friend and I took them for a walk and ended up with two very muddy dogs. I then had the lovely job of rubbing them down with a towel (I'm very organised!) before putting them in the car, I did Alfie first and put him in the car, then whilst I was doing Murphy I felt something jumping at my leg and it was Alfie! Somehow he had managed to jump out of the car and was wandering around the car park! Luckily he was very good and did not run away! Then I had to give them both a bath when I got home and put up with them running around afterwards like crazy dogs, rubbing against everything. So yes I'd like it if the mud went away please!

I have a new game on my laptop that I'm addicted to. It's called Caeser III, I used to play on it when I was a teenager and decided to order a version that works on Windows Vista for £4! It's just as good as I remember! You basically build and run a roman city and get promoted etc. It's good to know I still like a game I liked about 10 years ago, sometimes I feel like I'm a different person to who I used to be, I feel like I have changed so much in the past 3 or 4 years, so a little link to the past is nice.

Evilness of the Chest

Lidl is ace!

I just went to get a few bits and bobs and it only came to £5 and a few pence.

I got:

Some garlic and coriander nan breads

Tikka Massalla Sauce

Onion Bahjis and Samosas (guess what we are having for tea tonight...?)

Kingsmill bread

Pitta breads

Spready cheese

chicken with herbs (for in sandwiches)

Not bad ey?!

My chest is been an arse this week and that's me been nice. I keep getting pains, then my lung felt like it had unstuck its self from my rib when I was driving Wednesday morning, it was not pleasant and it hurt. When I lay in bed it feels like there is a weight on my chest and then today I have been finding it harder to breathe. I'm not gasping for breath or anything but I am aware of my breathing which is always a sign I am struggling abit and feel like I've just done something to make me catch me breath when infact I am sat doing nothing atall. I have even had to put my acapella on a lower resistance as I can't seem to blow into it hard enough, I've lost my puff!! Nooo!!

So anyway I have done some salbutamol through my I-neb, I kind of guessed how much I needed. I estimated half of the neb as that's how much you use for dnase and tobi and its how much salbutamol I used to use when I mixed it with promixin. I did it though my chamber I use for dnase. Anyway now I feel all shaky as it tends to do that, and my chest feels no different. So load of good that was!

It could be the weather, or maybe my chest is recovering from all the walking when we were in London plus I did get very warm. I am also blaming myself because I didn't do my physio or nebs on Monday night as we didn't get home until half 10 and I was way too tired and just went to bed. But surely missing one lot isn't going to make a massive difference?!

I am also coughing up sticky sputum, the kind that hangs from your mouth as half of it is still stuck in your throat. Yes it is lovely.... and I seem to be spending alot of time over the kitchen sink! I'm not calling my cf team, I shall see how it goes over the weekend. I have a feeling this will pass so not going to kick up a fuss, I'm sure I shall live!

Anyway putting all this aside I decided to go swimming this morning since I have not been in awhile, I have been abit naughty with my exercise regime the past few weeks. The first few laps I usually struggle then I'm ok, today it took about 15 laps before I stopped coughing my guts up, I was seriously ready to give in. At least people kept out of my way in the pool which can only be a good thing! I managed 24 laps in the end which wasn't bad.

I've not really done much this week, just been sat in the front room appreciating the rays! I did go cruising with my roof down to JTF which is this wholesalers. I bought some photo frames as I am putting some photos up of Henry and his wives (that I got on my trip) above Alfie's basket, Alfie is a big fan too.....!! hehe. I bought a few other bits and bobs, its one of those places you go and buy stuff you didn't even realise you needed. For example I bought some marshmallows, who knew I would need some of those? I have been doing quite alot of napping too, I blame the heat! Not that I'm moaning about it, I love the sun. Its cheers everyone up! Don't be thinking I'm lazy though, I did a load of cleaning yesterday!

Here's a picture of my mini in her element i.e. with the roof down. Isn't she pretty? :o)

I doing my presentation on Monday about CF, wish me luck! I'm very nervous!

It's physio time!!

2 posts in one day ey? Anyone would think I don't have a life! But I have actually done quite alot today (well for me!). I have vacuumed up everywhere, dusted and cleaned the bathroom which is bloody hard work when your coughing and spluttering and out of breath! I gave it a good scrub as there was some mould and stuff so now its all lovely and clean. I was exhausted from doing it but I had agreed to go for a walk with my friend (and Alfie of course), so I did. It was very tiring and I got out of breath (I can tell my lungs are still not up to scratch!) but it was nice to have a chat. I was planning to go the gym but have sacked that off and instead I am doing this blog because I can sit on my bum whilst doing it. You know the saying 'so many things so little......energy!'. I've talked Pete into getting a takeaway for tea :o)
I called the hospital at lunchtime and they finally called me back and said I could start my tobi nebs, good job because I had already done my first dose!

I have been doing some videos of me doing my physio to educate you all and show you what I do(although I'm sure all the people with cf are familiar with these things!). Please excuse the lack of makeup and my messy hair, its before I got dressed for the day!

This is one of me patting and doing my pep mask, I tend to do this to get the lowers of my chest as I don't think the acapella gets the lower parts that good and it's were I tend to get chest pains. Alfie was clearly annoyed it was not a video of him for a change so got in on it anyway to steal the limelight!

This is me doing my acapella

This is me doing my nebuliser, the noise is me breathing out

The results are in and....

....Pete is not a carrier of the cf gene, there is now less than 1% chance he is a carrier, hurrah! Like I said before, they only test for the most common genes. This means if we have a child there is less than 0.5% chance it will have cf, which is good news! Although clearly people with cf are the best looking around so I guess I would have to put up with an average looking child....hehe.

I did quite alot on Monday and as a result my whole body was aching in the evening, I swear I'm falling apart! I did some cleaning, took Alfie for a short walk, went to see the flower lady about my wedding flowers and went swimming. I really don't like swimming but I know it's good for me so I push myself to go. Its always busy and your constantly dodging people, although when I cough alot people tend to stay away from me which is handy, this is also a technique I use when out shopping to get people out of the way, works a treat :o)

Today I did my voluntary work, I haven't been for ages so it's nice to get back into the swing of it. I then went for my hair cutting as it needed a trim, I can't have my roots done. Apparently I get it done too often and my hair will fall out!

I got a letter form the hospital today, they send my GP and I a summary after each appointment, so this one is from the end of my iv's. It says my lung function was 46%, I couldn't remember what is was as I was too busy picking my arm at the time. I wish my stupid lung function would decide to settle in the 50%'s!!! My CRP levels are 27 which according to the letter is slightly elevated, I think CRP levels are infection levels, I assume you want it to be 0? But I guess mine are never going to be that since I always have infections! I read on the cf forum somewhere that anything below 10 is good. In my 'other notes section' I also have cf liver disease (non cirrosis) and I have osteopenia, this means my bone density is lower than normal but I don't have full blown osteoporosis (I hope!). Just abit of extra information there for you anyway! Always nice to have an update of how rubbish my body is...! :o)

I have also received our units newsletter and there was an article in there about oxygen on flights, so I have called them to book a flight test for my honeymoon in September. It said in the article that they can limit how many people have oxygen on a flight or can make you pay for it, so I want to know early if I will need it or not. I have never needed it before but you never know, especially since it's a long haul flight! I have never needed oxygen my whole life so I'd be pretty freaked out if I did need it.

My new friend my I-pod

As I've already said, I got an I-pod for Christmas, it's an i-pod nano and it's pink of course! Pete set everything up for me because I'm useless and wouldn't even know where to start. He showed me how to to put music in my i-tunes library etc. but then I couldn't figure out how to get stuff on my actual i-pod, so had to ring him when he was at the pub! Anyway I'm all sorted now and an i-pod genius, well maybe that's abit extreme....!

I have used my i-pod in the car as Pete got me cable, warning don't try to work your i-pod whilst driving, this is dangerous as I have discovered. ... I took my new buddy to the gym yesterday, I felt well cool, everyone has an i-pod and now I have one too! I put Britney Spears on (of course - because I'm a girl and she is way cool in girl world), it was going well. I then realised I was singing along out loud. So I soon stopped that, it's quite difficult to not sing to such good tunes though! Then when I was on the treadmill I was messing with my hair and caught the earphones wire on my arm and the i-pod went flying, luckily I caught it! I also realised I was walking to the beat, god I'm so cool sometimes it hurts....! I'm going to get a cool band to put on my arm to keep it in, then I really will be the coolest gal in the gym!

I had to go in the ironing cupboard today, it's the worst cupboard in our flat. Firstly it is nearly always full because I always have ironing to do! The cupboard is quite high up, not good for people lacking abit of height such as myself. So basically I open it, I can't see the item of clothing I need, I try to delicately move items of clothing to find it, clothes hangers fall out, the iron sometimes falls out (this can be dangerous if not caught! Several times I have had to shout, Alfie run!!) and clothes fall out. I finally find what I need and try to pull it out, usually this pulls more stuff out, it usually has a hanger hook around it, I get stressed out and chuck it all on the floor. The plus side is, I may see an item of clothing that I forgot I had. Bonus!

Warning extremely sexy picture of me.....!

Well the time has finally arrived, here is an early Christmas present for you all, 'What is it Gemma?!' I hear you say! Well my dearest friends, it is a picture of me looking a d*ck in my swimming cap....! tada! Oh so sexy!


So as you have probably gathered I have been swimming today, it was alot better than when I went last week so my chest must be better. I did some ironing today as well, it's been sat there in the cupboard for about a month, I have no clothes left to wear so I had no choice! I also did some vacuuming, mopping and dusting. So I'm pretty tired now! I don't like cleaning, people who say they would never want a cleaner are crazy! When I'm a millionaire I am soooo getting a cleaner, um, might be waiting a long time for that!

Yesterday I went shopping again with my mum, that's all I did. After shopping I feel like what I imagine someone feels like after they have run a marathon, OK maybe that's abit dramatic....

I made a shepherds pie on Wednesday with quorn mince (because I don't eat red meat). I put the following in it, onion gravy, brown sauce, abit of hoi sin sauce, splodge of mustard and abit of reggae reggae sauce. Basically everything I could find in my fridge. I hate bland food and shepherds pie is sooo boring! Anyway it tasted OK but i hardly ate any, it was still boring and my appetite is abit off at the moment, Pete ate loads though so it must have been good.

It's so windy tonight the wheelbarrow is blowing around in the garden, I'm well scared! I'm scared it's going to blow into Alfie when he goes out to the loo or it's going to smash the window! It's seems to have stopped now so hopefully we'll survive!

try chips, cheese and gravy, its yummy!!

I've been busy today so feeling pretty tired, but i'm sure i'll survive..!

Firstly I did my voluntary work, the girl I mentor wanted to get out for abit as she is stuck at home alot, so we went for a walk and took Alfie with us, he was very well behaved. I tried to get the girl I mentor to wear my ear muffs but she wasn't having it, but she accepted my scarf and gloves I had brought for her to wear (im very organised!).

Alfie got very muddy so I had to give him a bath when I came home, he only had one the other day! I also trimmed his tail and bum fur the other day as it gets too long, and when he has a number 2, well you can imagine. So he is all trimmed now. I did try to use my barbering techniques on him, but a dogs back end is not the same as a human head and my scissor and comb technique didn't work very well!

I then cleaned the bathroom as its really mucky, I just keep putting it off as I hate doing it. It makes me get really tired and breathless, but there was mould and stuff growing so I had to do it. Pete had the day off work so he did some mopping, he claimed he was going to clean the bathroom but when I got home he was sat playing on the xbox, and wasn't even properly dressed. He wouldn't do it properly anyway, you've got to scrub the bath really well, thats why it's such hard work!

I then had some chips, cheese and gravy for lunch (don't knock it until you've tried it). Then I had to go to the hospital to get my port flushed. Ports need flushing every 4-6 weeks, they just stick the needle in, flush some hepflush in and take the needle out. This stops the line getting blocked. I was looking through my diary and it suddenly dawned on me I would need a port flush before my next outpatients appointment so I called up yesterday and they said I could come in today. I've got out of the habit of having port flushes because i've been on iv's so much or not had a port. Anyway I was going to go by myself, but I was so tired that I asked Pete to drive me there which he was fine with. I went all red when the nurse put the needle in, it's just nerves. Just cos i've had like a million needles throughout my life, it doesn't mean they don't hurt! I admit I am pretty used to them and don't freak out like your average person, but when it comes to getting a needle put in my port I get really nervous. Normal needles in my hand etc are fine, its just I don't like having my port touched and stuff so i get all nervous. It hurts abit when the needle goes in, like a sting, but then it's fine. The needle is only passing through the skin then going into the port, not like a needle in your arm that is going into your flesh and eventually the bit of skin on the port becomes numb from so many pricks so then its not bad atall, but my port is still quite new so i've not achieved that yet. I also got the prescription for the nose spray I forgot to get last time.

By this time, my small headache I had was growing larger, we got home and I watched Silent Witness on bbc i player (I missed it cos I went to the pub last night and its ace so need to watch it!) then we had to go food shopping (sigh). My head was killing me so we had to make a detour to get some ibuprofen, Pete also kindly bought me a twirl, ah bless him.

Oh by the way I went to see James Bond on Tuesday night and it's quite good! Although I would recommend if you have a weak bladder like me, don't sit on the back row right in the corner when the cinema is packed, also don't sit next to some guy that keeps talking to you.... also make sure you get some popcorn cos it's yummy! Did I ever tell you about when I went to the cinema and some guy exposed himself to me cos I asked him to be quiet? Oh yes it's true, the cineworld in near me is all fun and games!! Never a dull moment!

Looking sexy in my gloves

Well now that I have caught up with The Tudors series, I am abit lost as to what to do! Therefore I decided I could not put off cleaning the flat any longer, the scum in the bathroom had to go. So I got my new gloves out and set to work. I vacuumed every room, mopped, put the bedding in the wash then hung it outside and cleaned both bathrooms. Heres a picture to prove it, (BEWARE, this is not a picture of the Gemma you are used to, I have no make up on, messy hair, glasses on and I am still in my pjs, argh the picture might turn you into stone!!)

It took its toll though, haven't really done much else, just sat on my arse watching tv and looking on the internet at all the English monarchs that have ever existed, i'm totally serious..... im such a geek. I was going to have a kip, but couldn't be bothered, if that makes sense! haha! I might have one in a minute, Alfie is having one and its appealing to me.

Pete and I think we have found the venue for our wedding reception. Yeay! Its an old house and all the rooms are different, the bridal room is really old and has secret doors in it! The room for the reception is nice and big with chandeliers, oh fancy. Plus they only hold one wedding a day which is great, no chance of running into another bride, which would kind of ruin the day! We have a few more to look at but we really like this one.

I called the gym a minute ago which I am planning on joining, I wanted to arrange a look around before I start handing over my money. The guy asked me what days I could come and I told him then he went quiet so I assumed he was looking on a computer or looking for someone. So I sat there patiently, one minute passed, then two minutes, then three minutes and I was beginning to wonder if he had forgotten about me. Then I heard him cough on the other end of the phone, so I waited another minute and then said 'are you still there?', he said yes he was and then carried on with booking the appointment. Now im confused, did he think i was doing something and waiting for me? Or did he go to sleep for 5 minutes? Anyway, it has not put great faith in me as to what to expect tomorrow when I go look around! I think going to the gym may help my lung function as well as get rid of my fat arse :o) , it has a swimming pool which is what im mainly interested in. I can get a discounted rate as I cannot use all the equipment such as saunas as they have lots of bacteria in them (or so I have been informed and told to avoid), I could use a running machine but for about 1 minute! I definitely won't be able to use anything when i'm on my iv's, plus its recommended by the physios that I do exercise to improve my health.

I neglected my car

Well today I had a problem with my car. The engine keeps overheating and making noises for ages after I turn it off, I have asked several people about their opinions on this and even looked in the the manual but it just said drive slowly until it goes back to normal or something along those lines. I finally decided to call the garage after my dad told me to do this. I asked if I simply needed to check the water as I decided this was the problem as my friend checked it when we went swimming last night and it was empty! But they told me they would send someone out to fix it. I had to cancel going to do my voluntary work and wait for him to come. To be fair it only took him about 40 minutes from when I called to get here and I was right (or should I say my friend was) , it was the water. He said once it has run out though that they have to check it has no air in it or something. Anyway it was ok and he says I have to check the water every month now. I have never checked the water before in any previous cars so this is new to me.....shows how much I know about cars!

I went for my hair doing, I got my roots done and about an inch taken off. I had to park miles away (well maybe it was about a 5 minute walk but it felt like miles) as all the spaces outside on the road were taken (all the spaces are reserved for disabled so it is usually ok). By the time I got there I was knackered dodging people, its not very level ground and it was warm. On my way back I stopped into Argos and got a fan, yeay! I thought they may have sold out but they had some, wahoo!

I have realised something else was missed off my prescription and was going to go to the GP's again to get another prescription, its never ending! But by the time i'd had my hair done it was 3 and I was hungry for my crumpets in the cupboard at home. I stopped off at my mums to collect Alfie as he was hanging with Murphy whilst I went for my hair doing and she was vacuuming out her car so she did mine too. Thats was nice of her! I've been meaning to do it for ages but I always put if off as its too much hard work and get all out of breath etc.

I've started on promixin today as my tobi has now run out and now I am sensitive to promixin again I can go back on it. Its better because it doesn't take as long to go through (although compared to when I had that porta-neb even the tobi seems to take no time at all now!), but the trouble is that promixin comes as a powder and has to dissolve with the liquid which takes awhile. You cannot shake it as it makes it get bubbles and then takes ages to go through. I mix mine with salbutamol as mixed with saline it makes me all wheezy. I forgot how much it makes me shake after i've taken it through the nebuliser, hopefully this will wear off in a few days from what I can remember. Not sure why it makes me shaky, think its because the salbutamol is so strong?!

In the afternoon I did LOADS of cleaning, I was like a mad woman! Im rather tired now but feel a sense of achievement lol. I dunno how people manage to do all this cleaning and work as well I just couldn't do it. Not at the moment anyway, i'm shattered from just doing that!