Not the best of weeks

When I last wrote, I was off to London for my GON injection. The day went well, transport arrived and even got me there early which is a rare occurence. I got to see some familiar faces on the day unit and some new ones as well. I'm a bit of a veteran now when it comes to GON's so the nurse had me explaining it all to the new patients. I hope I didn't put them off! The injection itself also went smoothly and I only had a little wait for transport to come and take me home.

The next day not only did I feel sore after the injection but one of my carers came in to tell me she was leaving there and then. I went into a bit of a panic as this carer was meant to be looking after my cats while I was in hopsital, was going to visit and was also going to look after the cats again while I'm on holiday. The day was spent making various phone calls and getting stuff sorted. I'm all organised now and my other carer is going to do some extra hours but it was something I didn't need. Days like that make you think 'if only I could manage without help'.

Since then although the hemicrania has gone for now, the migraine is still very bad so I've not really been doing much. I go in on Monday for the DHE and although I'm always a bit apprehnesive I'm rather pleased to know that by Monday night all the pain should have gone!

It has been a bad week for PostPals as we lost 3 little girls in the space of a week. Two of them had neuroblastoma, which has claimed the lives of the majority of children that we have lost. I don't know how it can be classed as a rare cancer. It's hard when we lose children as I feel so much for the families and it reminds me so much of when we lost Kerry.

There was some good news. Alice got her wish granted and got to meet Cesar Milan. I'm more of a cat person than a dog person but I was rather jealous when I saw his photo! Her and her family so deserbed a treat and I'm so glad that Postpals managed to pull it off.

I've got nothing really planned for the next few days and am just getting things organised for Monday. I hope they send a big ambulance as I've got everything bar the kitchen sink! I'm going to try and update each day while I'm in as I hope it will take my mind off the feeling sick and stomach cramps and give me something to do.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a needle in the back of the head!

This week has not been the best of weeks as my migraine has been really bad as has the hemicrania continua.

I've made the decision not to go back to college until after the Easter holidays once I've had the DHE. I went last week and found that I was a lot less patient than usual and the strip lighting made me feel a lot worse. I feel bad about letting people down but have got to put myself first.

I did manage to go and see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the weekend. The theatre was in Milton Keynes and it only took about an hour to get there. We had great seats and they were really comfortable. I enjoyed the show but it isn't one that I would go and see again. I found the children a bit too stage school ish. I loved the special effects though. I really didn't expect the car to fly but it did and was amazing.

I'm now just waiting for hospital transport to pick me up and take me to Queen Square in London. I'm having a Greater Occiptal Nerve Block injection in the back of my head. I have these every 10 weeks and they help to control the hemicrania continua. The injection itself does not hurt too much. The worse bit is that you can hear the liquid being squirted in. They put some numbing stuff in as well so it won't hurt for a few hours but later on tonight it will start to throb a bit and be a bit uncomfortable. That will feel better in a day or so and then the hemicrania continua will be tamed for a few weeks.

Only 10 days to go until my DHE. My hospital bags are out of the cupboard and I'm just starting to get them organised. Each time I go in the more I take!

That's all for now but I'll update before I go in for DHE.

A trip to A & E

I fell last week in the garden whilst 'attempting' to do a bit of gardening and bashed my right leg on a piece of wood. It wasn't too bad although over the weekend it got quite swollen and was all colours of the rainbow and working its way down to my ankle. I decided today, whilst I had a carer to drive to me, that I would pay a visit to the local hospital to get it checked out. I can't have my DHE treatment if I've got a break anywhere so I just wanted to make sure it wasn't. It was totally manic at the hospital - standing room only, thank goodness I had my own chair! I had an x-ray and luckily its not broken. She said that it was a haematoma and worse than a bruise but I always thought a haematoma was a bruise - maybe my medical knowledge is a bit out of date. She reckons it will take a month or so to go down but at least I can have my DHE treatment.

And talking of DHE treatment, it is only 3 weeks until I go into QS. Transport is all booked and I know what ward I'm on. Now I just have to sort out my hospital bag and enough things to keep me occupied for five days. The treatment is not nice but at least I know I will have some pain free time after.

My new bedroom furniture came last week and is really nice. I've got a bit more hanging space which I really needed. The furniture is a lot lighter than my old stuff and really makes the room look brighter. I just need a new curtain pole and lampshade to finish it off.

I've quite a busy week this week again so I'm hoping I'll be well enough to do it all. I'm at college Tuesday and Thursday. I'm getting my musical fix on Saturday and am going to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with my Mum and on Sunday Mum is coming round for a Mothers Day lunch.
I'll update next week and let you know how it all went.

Return of the migraine

Last week got off to a bad start. I woke up on Monday with a migraine, a sure sign that the DHE (the IV drug that I have to help control my migraine) had worn off. When I have the first signs of a migraine I'm allowed to take a drug called a triptan to try and stop it developing. Dr M, my wonderful headache specialist, changed my triptan at New Year to one called Zomig. I took that and it did absolutely nothing so I just had to sit it out with just the oxygen and a pack of frozen peas to help. The same happened again on Tuesday and Wednesday so I had to call my one of the nurse specialists at QS who spoke to Dr M and he has decided that I am to go back to using Imigran injections. They have been ordered from my pharmacy and fingers crossed they should be ready to collect today.

Despite feeling rough I managed to get to college to teach on Tuesday and Friday although I paid for it after. I try to go even if I feel rough as it gets me out of the house and stops me from getting fed up. Both sessions were good - we are on data collection at the moment which involves the learners going round the college counting various things or asking people questions and then drawing charts and tables. They all seem to enjoy this, I think its because it is more practical and we are not in the classroom.

I managed to do a bit of Postpals work last week. I finished off my Easter cards and managed to get a few parcels sent out. I've managed to get each pal an item donated from a US handmade craft website so now I'm on a different website trying to get each pal a card donated. I think Viks has got some other jobs for me up her sleeve which will keep me out of mischief!

I'm getting some new bedroom furniture on Thursday so this weekend I sorted out all my stuff and one of my carers came this morning with a man with a van to take my old stuff away. My bedroom looks a bit bare but also rather dusty from where all my old furniture was so I'll be getting my other carer to have a clean up in there before the new stuff arrives.

This week, I'm hoping to get to college and also want to get some cards made. I've finally found a kit for doing cards for older boys so I'll be making some of those. I'll also be getting my room sorted when the new stuff arrives.