Improvements!

Yay, I'm getting there, back to some sort of normal just in time for a heatwave and/or treacherous thunderstorms. Sleep has been the most useful; this week has been the start of my 'lying in' till 9 am two days a week and that has helped massively in both getting enough rest and getting that natural wake-up. So I am moving now to focus on positives once again and get better!

There's definitely a theme developing here...

It's my youngest's Sports Day tomorrow - fingers crossed I can go (and that it isn't cancelled due to heat) but my main goal is my eldest daughter's birthday party on Saturday - with extra fingers and toes crossed we aren't struck down by lightning. However, back up plans to the outdoor party idea have been set in motion....

Both girls are doing fantastically at school, home and play, despite everything, so I am super-proud. And my husband has been and is amazing. And friends and family are wonderful too. ©

And another positive is that I've made another donation to the hospice (via JustGiving) thanks to everyone's generosity as well as get a few things that have really, really helped with my recuperation. ©

What a Fabulous Weekend!

Well, I've gone from needing to sleep, to a good rest and sleep to a fantastic weekend of fun! All in moderation, all balanced, all good.

My mum had friends over from the States so she had a little bash for them on Saturday, inviting a few close friends and it was lovely to see everyone. It was completely coincidental that it was near to 4th July, but a happy one for a double celebration. I got wheeled over to her house and back which was interesting, keeping out of the way of nettles and twigs on the footpaths, but we did it and we'll do it again.

This was followed on Sunday by another lie-in and then my youngest's birthday party. Her actual birthday isn't until August but over the years we have found that people often don't turn up to parties in the summer holidays.  So now we do them for her before the summer term ends, and this was literally the only available date! Again, everything in moderation - we prepped as much as possible the days before, ensured the girls helped out with some of the more fun stuff like the party bags and then 'all' we had to do on the Sunday was finish off things like the catering, decoration and the highly successful bouncy castle! And the cake - all done by my own two hands, oh and Mr Sainsbury's. This is one of the things that I would have done from scratch in the past but the compromise is necessary. And no complaints of course - she wanted Monster High and she got it!

The party was amazing, the children were delightful, my friends and family were perfect. I couldn't have asked for it to go any better so thanks to you all who were there! Having this support, I feel, is another key element and I am very lucky.

I had a fairly decent night's sleep and nap this morning so I'm okay-ish. The antihistamines have arrived so I'll give them a go tonight and fingers crossed they will help. Got another couple of busy weekends on the horizon so I need to recharge as much as I can plus of course there's everyday, normal life stuff too, to be getting on with. It's amusing me that I'm thinking the summer holidays are going to be quiet and give us a chance to keep recovering - surely it should be the other way round?

And resting

Well, following my post last night, my husband had the great idea of asking the agency for a lie-in today and what a difference it's made! I reckon I will still need the antihistamine but getting enough sleep and waking naturally are clearly key. It just goes to show how the simplest things are often the most important and we need to build on it.

We've got a lot on this weekend and I was worried that much of it would have to be cancelled or at least compromised but I'm hoping this is what I needed to recharge and carry on - albeit carefully!

And hurrah to finding chilled coffee at the supermarket which also helped. Especially with it being Seattle coffee.

Onwards and upwards and....

Rest.

I am so thrilled that I am able to get out and do more, but it's been taking its toll and I need to be aware of that. Apparently everyone has an energy bank and needs to be careful to not use it up and ensure it gets replenished, and I have been on the brink of no energy in my quest for getting on with life! I've not been sleeping well either - could be the weather with its mugginess and prickly heat and waking me up, could be the fact I hate getting put to bed at a certain time and my body's rebelling, could be me thinking too much at night (I'm not worrying/ stressing though). I am also being woken at 7.00 am every morning apart from Sunday which is totally unnatural - I need more 'natural' wakings and lie-ins. So the last couple of weeks have been fabulous with lots of end of term stuff with school and the PTA, work, family outings and brilliant visits but tiring and a new balance needs to be found.

Hopefully, the care agency can help with giving me a lie-in once or twice during the week, with them coming a little later in the morning. They're sorting the logistics of this at the moment and I hope to hear tomorrow or Friday what they can do. I'm also going to get some drowsy antihistamines to take before sleep; the hospice nurse is sorting this for me so I don't rattle too much with my various pills. So please keep your fingers crossed that I can sort these energy levels, get a decent sleep pattern back and carry on as per usual! There's too much I want and need to be doing right now and I don't want annoying tiredness to stop me!

Checking In

Just thought I would do a post to say that things are plodding along fine at this end.  I've been off work for almost a month now and have been focusing on building up my strength, mobility and confidence and it's been progressing really well. Going out in the car or wheelchair isn't really a big deal any more; my husband and I have got the knack of manoeuvring me about so it's more and more straightforward each time. It would be great if I didn't have to sit in the wheelchair to get about and could rely on my lovely trolley walker, but I don't think that will happen for a little while. In the meantime, I am just enjoying my new-found freedom, even if it does mean I have to sit and be pushed!

It's quite amazing to experience the world from this viewpoint and see just how much things aren't thought about for physically disabled people - things like dropped kerbs being wonky or broken, shops' A-boards in the way on the street and even people who just don't seem to see the wheelchair and act surprised when they nearly crash into it! But on the flip side, there's plenty of ways that things have been thought out properly and we're really appreciating those; I liked this trolley thing at Sainsbury's that clicked on to the wheelchair and we could shop quite easily with it (apart from avoiding the aforementioned oblivious people).

Another brilliant development was that, at the weekend, we discovered I am able to get in and out of bed with my husband's help, and sleep in my back brace. It's not the most comfortable of arrangements, but it does mean that I don't have to have four carers put me to bed at 9.30 pm every single night and wake me at 7.00 am every single morning. What it also means is that, when I have fab friends over for say, oooo Eurovision, I can cancel the carers and stay up late! So we are trying again this weekend and if it is still easy, I may just do it every Saturday night.  Hurrah for being able to manage my own time and stay up on a Saturday!

At least it wasn't nil points for the UK!

The only fly in the ointment is that I am so tired all the time. I assume this is a combination of my body trying to work to get me functioning again but also it's hard to sleep. No specific reason, just general discomfort and me thinking I guess. But it's annoying when I just randomly drop off in the day, especially in public! Need to sort that really, especially if I start to drool....  eek!