An Unexpected Break

Wow, has it really been a month since our engagement party and my last post? So much has happened since then! Today I'm here to apologise for my absence and explain...

As I write I'm sitting in baggy clothing surrounded by boxes of medication, plenty of entertainment and moving carefully so I don't pull my now-healing incisions. It sounds dramatic, but really the drama has been the last 4 weeks!

On the Wednesday after our party while working at the local business park I became very unwell and rushed home to be sick. I thought  I'd caught a stomach bug, but it lasted a lot longer than 24 hours. I visited my GP on the Friday as I was still being sick and hadn't kept food down in days. She told me to keep hydrated but little else. By Sunday I was going noticeably yellow - even the whites of my eyes(!) - so I headed to the out of hours GP.

I have to pause here and say I've got huge respect for the NHS 111 service, who were absolutely brilliant in helping me at every stage of this journey.

Following the GP visit was a trip to the hospital for blood tests which showed jaundice. We went back Monday for more tests and by bedtime I was admitted to the surgical ward! It turns out my gallbladder was full of stones and a very unhappy bunny indeed. A week after first being sick I was in surgery to have it removed, followed by gallstone removal from my blocked bile duct the next day.

It sounds like the story would end there, but shortly after being released I developed pretty severe tonsilitis. For 2 short days I was starting to eat again, only to be reduced to a liquid-only diet! Some antibiotics for that and another week later I was starting to recover again... only for one of my incisions to open back up! Some more time spent in A & E and it turns out there's a small infection preventing it from closing. I'm coming to the end of those antibiotics but now I've broken the joint on my baby finger! I've no idea how - I was sleeping - but it's the one I broke when I was 17 so it was probably already weak in some way.

And that concludes my dramatic 4 weeks! My incisions are finally closing, my throat is better and my finger will mend in time. I can now get back to working, blogging and raising more awareness for Endometriosis! And speaking of endo, we held an event on Monday to raise money and awareness. I guess I'll have to do a few catch up blogs to bring you up to speed since this one is long enough already!

Now it's time to head to bed (at 8pm!) for some much needed sleep. Anyone else missing a gallbladder, or had an interesting few weeks? Let me know in the comments!

A Change In Direction

I can't believe it's almost a year to the day since I wrote my last blog. So much has happened since then! A quick run down of last year for you, before I get on to why I'm actually writing the first new blog for 12 months...

First things first, I got engaged in September! We were on our first holiday with my family in Spain and Tom proposed at midnight on the roof of our villa in a blanket fort. It was the cheesiest, most romantic thing ever and I loved it. :)

My business was also a rollercoaster - growing impressively fast early in the year then tailing off towards the end. December was hibernation mode for me and January has started with a million and one ideas on how to change my business to reflect me a little better.

My relationship with my family has only grown stronger - our experiences in 2013 really did cement some already pretty awesome friendships. I've also made new friends and gotten closer to existing ones, so 2014 was definitely a good year for relationships all round in my life. :)

But that's enough about life. Onto why I'm writing! And how fitting that it's one year since my last post - completely unintentional I assure you. I'm about to enter the next stage of my Endometriosis journey, having some scans to check up on everything and then (all being well) having the Mirena coil removed. This is partly to start the journey of having a family, although I think that one will still take some time, but more importantly I'm taking a much more natural, holistic approach to my endo. My experiences with the diet have been bitter-sweet; when I stick to it everything goes pretty well and I'm largely symptom free still, but if I slip up even slightly it can have some nasty consequences. The first step I'll be taking is to get more strict and more healthy - introducing fitness as well.

What's this got to do with the blog you might be asking? Well I want to document it all. I'll finally be sharing full details of the diet that I failed to finish last time, including recipes I find useful and alternatives to things you can't have on the diet. For example last night I made some caramel cookies that were completely endo friendly. Would you believe it?
I'll also be including any therapies that help, product alternatives to the chemical-filled ones you'll find in supermarkets. exercises that ease pain... all of it. Much like I used to track my eco adventures, I'll now be tracking my endo adventures (with some eco thrown in of course - I haven't changed that much!) in the hopes that it could help someone else going through the same. And the therapeutic effect writing gives me. ;)

I've already got billions of ideas for blogs popping into my head, but I won't be posting everything all at once. If my past unreliability has taught me anything, it's to pace the blogs and have some prepared in advance, so that's what I'm off to do!

If you have any questions about endo, the diet, recipe requests - anything at all - just leave them in the comments and I'll be sure to respond! :)

Christmas Preparations!

Good evening!

Today I wanted to share with you my preparations for Christmas, since the big day is fast approaching! (Seriously, it's December... when did THAT happen?!)

So far the tree is up, Christmas dinner is planned and everything I need to make the girls' presents has been bought. I know what the boys' presents will be, just need to buy in the bits and pieces to make them now! I'll be setting some time aside this weekend to put the gifts together for the girls as I've got our Christmas party coming up on the 14th and I need to leave some fussing time!

I can't pick the element I'm most excited about this year, other than to say it's how all the homemade elements turn out. It's my first year making presents and also cooking Christmas dinner for Tom, Kassi and myself. I can't wait to see reactions to each of the gifts and to have a homely, relaxed Christmas day!

After Christmas I'll be doing a homemade gifts series with How-To Guides on everything I make. Nothing I've chosen is Christmas-specific so you'll be able to use them for any gift-giving occasion. I'll also be sharing my tips and tricks for keeping Christmas low-cost, high-fun based on my experiences this year. I know it's a bit late for this year, but since this year is the first time I'm doing it all I want to make sure it's good advice that works before sharing!

What have you been doing to prepare for the big day? Are you going homemade this year too? Let me know in the comments!

Our tree looking pretty!

Update on Life

Hi everyone!

I'm safely back at home and resting up so thought I'd share a little update with you. :)

The op went well and I came home Saturday evening after almost 24 hours of sleeping in the hospital. I even kicked out my visitors so they wouldn't have to watch me sleep! Since then I've been napping at least twice a day, snacking on plain foods and convincing Tom that I really do need him to set the Wii Fit up every morning so I can check my weight! (I'm more than a little curious how much weight that endo was taking up - results to come once the swelling disappears!)

I was also a lucky lady yesterday when my lovely sister and our friend Andy agreed to take Tom and I to the cinema to see Catching Fire (which I adored in case you're wondering, go watch it!). It was a bit of an expedition requiring a hot water bottle (got some funny looks for that), a pillow being seatbelted to my stomach and pre-warning of all the jumpy bits, but it was worth it and I rested all evening to make up for it.

I also had a visit from the amazing Rachel, who put up with my constant babbling with a smile. I've only seen family since the op so I probably dazed the poor woman and I wouldn't be surprised if her ears are still ringing!

Plans for the rest of the week include training Tom on the business elements of Social Media so he can help me with my new business, making a start on homemade Christmas presents before the Secret Santa deadline and having a lot of chicken soup which is my current food craving!

Hopefully I might find some time between all the napping and eating to write a blog post or two as well. ;)

Have a good week!
xx