Cold!

Having a cold when on O2 is interesting to say the least. I won't go into the problems of gunk from your nose clogging up the tubes but having a blocked nose means that the demand feed does not work too well. Basically the idea is that when you breathe in, one nostril triggers the machine to fire O2 up the other nostril. So if one or both nostrils are blocked........

I am waiting at the moment to be assessed for a lung transplant and am therefore undergoing loads of tests. The latest appointment to drop onto my doormat is for a 24 hour ph test. This involves not eating or drinking for 4 hours before hand, having a thin tube poked down my nose into my throat which is then taped to my face and a small box attached to monitor the acid in my stomach for 24 hours. Nice!! One of the possible complications is apparently difficulty in breathing - as if I don't have enough problems. I tried to ring up to speak to the department only to find they are on holiday for a week. I don't want to turn up for my appointment only to be told they can't do it because of my being on O2.

I'm off to my parents in law for the weekend and the weather forecast is typical for a bank holiday - showers follwed by rain.

London on Cup Final day!!

I'm on the committee of Methodist School of Fellowship and we meet in London about four times a year. Our May meeting this year was yesterday. I decided to catch the 9:13 train but when it arrived from Birmingham it was already full. A young Cardiff City fan gave me his seat but at every station to Banbury we picked up more and more people. Naively I had assumed that as the final was between Cardiff and Portsmouth, there would be no fans on the Birmingham to London train. I was wrong!

We stopped at Wembley and the train emptied dramatically but as the game didn't start until 3, there were still fans who got off at Marylebone. Marylebone was full of people in reflective jackets - police and security people, and lots of metal barriers. I bought myself a pasty and set of for Methodist Church House (opposite Madame Tussards). This is something I have done many times but yesterday I found that I had to stop and eat my pasty and then walk - I don't seem to be able to eat, breathe and walk all at the same time any more. Also my legs are used to walking fast and have difficulty with the fact that my breathing can't now keep up. Another of life's little frustrations.

We have just spent an hour searching the house for a pair of compasses - daughter has GCSE maths tomorrow and I didn't want a frantic panic in the morning so I insisted on seeing that she had everything tonight.

Still plodding along

Saturday's Network day was a great sucess even though I didn't sell many cards. We had lovely weather and a good number of people. On Sunday I suffered the consequences of the long day - I spent the afternoon with my head under a pillow to get rid of a migraine. What we call an 'undercover elephant day'. Those of you of a certain age will remember a cartoon which appeared with Secret Squirrel, featuring a large blue elephant who put on sunglasses so that noone would recognise him!
My daughter starts has her first GCSE exam today but then has none until Monday. Of course, it is due to rain for the rest of the week now but she will just have to revise indoors.
I am finding that having O2 piped around the house is easier to cope with than having to carry my portable everywhere and the rest of the family are getting used to avoiding stepping on the tubing.

Cards and things

I spent last weekend making cards to sell this weekend at another Network event. I am trying to keep this blog positive, but it has not been a good week. Having a chronic condition means I have periods of depression and 'not coping'.

Work operates a flexitime system which means (in theory) that by working a little bit extra each day, time can be saved for an additional day or half day off. At the moment I am finding it hard to manage my 34 hrs a week without adding any extra.

I have at last admitted that I need oxygen piped around my house and it was installed today. It saves me carrying my portable around (or pottering about without it) but having a plastic tube following me is going to take some getting used to. At the moment I keep catching it under the kitchen door......

I will try to be more cheerful next time.

Notebooks

Well, I survived my 6 hour fast and barium x-ray today and I have worked out how to post pictures. These are some of the notebooks I have made which I sell for LAM Action. LAM is what is known as an orphan lung disease - basically it is not so common as asthma or cystic fibrosis, so we need to raise money ourselves to fund research.