It's a nice day!

I've realised it is a long time since I posted on here - I've been quite busy! The other weekend we had a weekend in Stratford for Network. Alison Judd talked to us about her time as a Mission Partner in Barbados and we thought about getting alongside women in mission. We had a great time but it was very tiring. Since then I have had a cold and chest infection which does not help my breathing.

Yesterday I went to Papworth for a check up and they seem pleased with the fact that I haven't deteriorated very much and said that my fitness seemed to be improving. The critical thing now for being on the transplant list is my quality of life and at the moment, allowing for winter blues, it is quite good. There are restrictions obviously, but there would be other restrictions if I had a transplant. My osteopath has said that the aquafit is making me more flexible in my chest and upper back area. The main problem at the moment is that I have put on a lot of weight over the winter which I now need to lose.

Today is what my daughter used to call 'a nice day' - cold but with blue sky and sunshine which definitely improves the feeling of well-being so hopefully we can put the winter blues back in their box. We were woken at 7 by a phone call from my niece in New Zealand wanting to sing Happy Birthday to her uncle Nick before she went to bed. My sinuses are feeling more comfortable so hopefully my cold is on the way out and normal service can be resumed. I'm not very good at what the doctors call 'pacing' myself - if I feel better, I do things and then don't feel so good, so today I think I will have a gentle day to save myself for District meeting on Thursday. One thing I need to do today is order my oxygen for a weekend at Swanwick before Easter.

I am reading through a wide selection of study books as part of creating a library for housegroups at church and trying to produce a booking out system. This seems a suitable occupation for a quiet day!

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.