Oops I did it again.....

...only I havent been stash shopping (yet!), just obsessing with feeding sheep and chopping down trees and the like - as you do at getting on for 3 in the morning!

I was up at 6...I dont know how Im keeping going, I think I went through the sleepy barrier and have now woken up just as I was going to head up the stairs to my cosy nest - which should be much needed after the day I had.....and I mean in a very GOOD way!

Getting up so early was a good start - my body wasnt so creaky and I had so many hours to fill! So I took myself out for a little taste of normality....'dashing' here there and everywhere getting lots of errands done which up to now my sister has been doing for me.

First stop was the surgery to drop in another repeat prescription (only because they would have said it was too early for this one item if I had asked for it on Monday)....and I thought, what the heck, rather than just post my slips in the box, Im going to take on the gestapo and get myself an appointment for a blood test. I have to have them a few days before each infusion - just to check levels of this and that I guess, and last time I did it at the hossie as I was already there having my radiation (all that seems like yonks ago already!) But it must be easier to get it done at the surgery (free parking for a start), so I organised that. Luckily I wasnt terribly fussed about specific days or times so there was nothing for her to pick a fight with me about - I could almost feel her disappointment!

From there it was up to the shopping centre to make more appointments - nice ones for a change. Firstly at the opticians as my specs fell to bits the other day, I cant recall if I reported on that, but I am in dire need of an optical makeover anyway...AND I had some special offer coupons for D&A/Boots, so I will be getting the old eyes tested on Friday. I am currently using a pair from years ago...a couple of prescription changes have occurred since these were made up, but Im coping quite well with them actually....except any attempts to read the paper are a trial as these dont have verifocals so I have to remove my specs and get my nose practically touching the paper to read it lol! I tend to just stick to the headlines..I can cope with those!

A couple of shops along is Subway...so that was tea sorted...yum yum!

Then I took the plunge and took my tatty looking self into the fancy hairdressers to book an appointment for foils and a cut. Ive never had foils before...Im still living in the world of rubber caps and the pain that goes with it, so this will be a treat....at enormous cost, but a treat nonetheless. However, because they had to do a skin test, they couldnt book me in any earlier than Friday so that is going to be one very busy day! I think thats why Im not rushing to bed...I suspect I will need a good old sleep once I do go up - one, to get over todays very long day, and two, to prepare for Friday. I cant wait, and it will be so nice to get my hair seen to before the office chicks night out on Sunday - the woolly mammoth look isnt terribly flattering!

I did consider doing a little Christmas shopping and took a little looky at the lovely stalls, but still couldnt settle on what to get. And I did take a couple of steps into Tescos only to walk straight out again - it was bedlam in there and I was just about done in at that point. Sooooooo....it was head for home, a top-up on pain meds and a nice brew - sorted! I felt very pleased with myself as bits of my brain are always telling me...nah, stay in the warm, and its quite an achievement to actually get my bum in gear and get myself out of the door! If I say so myself, welldone me!

I think its safe to say that improvements in my pain-levels really are being made now which is fabulous! As long as I keep on top of my meds then life is much more comfy than it was. The aim though is to do without the pain-relief altogether, and to be able to get around without the stick....Ive a way to go before that happens I suspect, but things are going in the right direction...woohoo!

Oh well, there you are...an upbeat post today, and now I really am ready for my bed...yawn!

Take care all, hugs & sparkles, Sue x

ps: perhaps just one quicky looky at cuttinedge before I go up....ha ha ha ha!

I really ought to head for my nest.....

.....but I just cant stop looking at crafty stash on the internet!!!!!!!!!!

Heeeeeeellllllp!.................No dont! lol!

Go on Sue, you can do it....log off, step away from the computer, and GO TO BED!

Hugs, sparkles & sweet dreams, Sue x

UPDATE: OMG I was up at 6...all bright eyed and bushy tailed....WEIRD!!!

Turning a corner...and re-discovering the world out there...!?!

But first...huge amounts of sparkles to our Gina, who it seems has not gotten over the shock of turning 50 yet and is feeling very poorly! I hope you will be turning a corner soon my lovely...and choose the right bloody corner to turn around hey missus!

As for me, do I dare to think that I am on the up?!? Having reported the easing off of my nausea the other day, it came back with a vengance (pretty much soon after I typed the nice sentence!) and I have been feeling very sorry for myself indeed - I couldnt even enjoy a brew, which in the words of Craig Wotsisname on Strictly was a DISAAAAAASTER! However, thanks to another cock-up at the surgery today, I believe I am now free of feeling icky..phew!

I had a rendezvous at noon with a friend, but thought I would get up nice and early so that I could go fetch my much needed prescriptions from the docs first thing...then I could drop them into Boots to be made up whilst said friend and I were slurping coffee. I felt pretty brave getting into the car and even contemplating the journey...it is a bit of a way and I havent driven for a while, but no...I was fine, I hadnt forgotten what to do and I didnt come anywhere near running anyone over - phew! I even managed to drive without having to physically lift my poorly leg from accellerator to brake (forgive rubbish spelling!), which was a vast improvement and added somewhat to my level of safety. But....and whenever heading to the surgery, there is always a blooming BUT isnt there - they couldnt find my prescriptions...sigh! They could see on their computer that they had been done, they had been signed....but they had also become invisible...tut! So first they send me over to the chemist to see if they had been taken over there....hobble hobble I go - 'no' says the chemist...though Im not convinced as they lost one once before, but hey ho...hobble back over to surgery (grumbling to myself - "I dont need THIS!"), by which time a flipping great queue had appeared. I eventually gets to the front and shakes my head, no..the chemist dont have it - and as the gestapo huffed and puffed, I gave my 'special' look that said, dont be messing with me missus and Im not leaving here without it! She sighed (even better than me!) and said she would print off another lot, and all I had to do was go upstairs and tuck it under the duty doctors door who would then sign it when she or he had finished with their patient and bring it out to me. Well, this is when things took a turn for the better. The duty doc today just happened to be my nice doc, and as the waiting room was empty when she appeared with my prescriptions she called me in for a little chat...just to ask how I was doing. WOW it was like a free appointment - yay! I told her I was doing quite well but the nausea was just going on and on and I asked her for any tips, ie: herbal teas or whatever. Oh no, I didnt need ought like that...she had just the pill for me, so promptly printed out another prescription (to add to the pile).....and by jove, the magic pill is working!!!

So in the end, the cock up turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as to access those pills without such a stroke of luck would have meant taking on the gestapo to get an official appointment, and when you are feeling icky you are just not up for the fight, and no doubt that would have meant more days of ickyness too...so RESULT!

However, by this time it was gone 11.30 so I had to rush home...no time to put a face on, tear out all the bits of paper I needed from the pile I had been given, sign them ready for Boots, and rush off out the door to meet up with Lynn.

The lovely Lynn is a retired office chick from Waitrose, and she comes right across from the other side of the county to get her hair done up at our local shopping mall. Well, when you find a hairdresser you like, you will follow them anywhere wont you lol! We had had a lovely natter on the phone last week and agreed to meet up, all being well..and thankfully all was well! I missed out on a lunch though - she was going to treat me, but I had to decline as I hadnt got the pills yet and my tummy wasnt 'doing' food. I did manage a nice cake and a coffee, and apart from a couple of wobbly moments brought about by all the noise and hustle & bustle, I was fine and it was SO nice to be out and about, and to get a big hug and a good gossip with my friend, thank you Lynn!

After goodbye hugs, I headed back to the car via Boots - to pick up my carrier bag full of drugs (its a scary sight, my bag of meds!)...and got waylayed by the door as I spotted the special offer goodies that they have been advertising - the 35 quids worth of free stuff if you spent just 22 quid on No.7 products. Well, what can one do - FREE STUFF! I love their serum - and if a face needed serum just now its mine, so that and a nail polish was enough spends to get my freebie...and all in such a gorgeous little bag too! How naughty am I....sod Christmas shopping, I will treat myself instead lol!

Anyway, I get home, pop a pill and soon enough the nausea went off - at last! I even dared to eat a noodly ready meal later which would have been a big risk any other day of the week I can tell you, and its stayed put! AND most importantly, Im enjoying my brews again..woohoo!

An evening of much needed rest and some reflection on my day followed. Icky'ness gone, and Im confident that now I have the right pills, it will stay that way. But also, I thought about how I had got through my day with my naughty hip and I have to say it is definitely feeling rather better. I had done a fair bit of walking about one way and another, especially compared to just shuffling from pc to kitchen and vice versa all day long, and yet I dont feel like I am paying for it. I am still 'with stick' but it feels more like it is helping me get about rather than enabling me to get around if that makes sense.....I know what I mean lol! Its the right time for improvements to be felt so fingers crossed, every day will bring more and more comfort. I thought I might even return to the mall later in the week and actually attempt some Christmas shopping...you know, buy things for other people and not myself lol...we will see! Ive been living in a bubble for way too long now and its time to escape!!!

On that up note, I will say nighty night and send out lots of special sparkles for our Gina, Alma, Maria & Valerie, and of course not forgetting our Charlie xxx

Big hugs, Sue x

More 'birthday season' sparkles for Gina...and a day of snoooooozing!

A gold star for postie for getting Ginas card to her today (to me it is still Wednesday)... and here it is:



I adore using that flower template - so much opportunity for BLING....which I hope incidentally, didnt all fall off en-route! You carry on enjoying your birthday season Gina, more treats to come!

So what other scintillating news and gossip do I have for you today? Mmmmm....not a lot Im afraid...it was another snoozy day for me! Got myself up at about 11.30...an 'early' morning for me then lol, though Im not sure why I bother, as by the time I make a brew, sit at the pc for five minutes firing off a 'good morning' email, Im ready for another kip and take to the sofa! I snooze away the day until tea-time, though it has to be said that tea-time in this house is rather too early - about half past two, when Dad presents me with a fry up...black pudding the lot. Well, I forgot to mention up to this point that I had been feeling rather nauseous since getting up - I was fine laying on the sofa, but a plate of grease just about finished me off! I did my best so as not to upset Dad...ate a few chips and a nibble at the bacon, but I could take no more. I really would have been better off with a bowl of crispies. So what else could I do after that but once again take to the sofa.... and keep very still in the hope that however small my intake had been, it stayed where it was...and thank goodness it did!

However, evening came along and my day really perked up when my Jamie and Tom came to visit, with Ruby the doggy...just to keep the kitties on their toes! It was lovely to see them and thankfully I had snoozed enough so could remain awake during their whole visit...yay! Tom was delighted to find treasure under the stairs...in the shape of a carrier bag full of 'out of date' crisps that my sister had left for him lol! They are all the flavours her lot wont eat so she saves them up for Tom as he doesnt give a fig about eat by dates and is crisp crazy! It saved him constantly rootling through the fridge too, though he did visit it once and discarded a pack of muller corners a month out of date (sorry to mention yoghurts Lee!)....there are limits and out of date yoghurts are an absolute no-no! Having said that, my Dad ate a spagetti bolognese yesterday that was 9 days past its best...I told him in no uncertain terms that if that made a repeat appearance, he could clear it up himself...ugh! Oooo aint you glad you popped by now with all this talk of nausea and potential vomiting...oh well, whats new!

Im glad to report though, that in the last hour or so, my nausea has passed...phew, I will look forward to a much more comfy day tomorrow then, and maybe I will be less sleepy too. Its that infusion malarky, it seems to take about 3 days to get over it - thats just how it was last time, but then things were far worse, so Im thankful for an easier time this go round! I might even risk a bowl of crispies before heading for my nest....

Happy Thursday folks and hugs & sparkles all round!
Sue xxx

A very Happy Birthday to Gina....and a general update....

As I begin to type, there is just half an hour of Gina's very special birthday left....50 today...woohoo Gina, Im glad you had a lovely day with lots of nice treats and visits from family and friends!

Of course at this point, I should be showing you the card I made for my lovely friend...but as she hasnt seen it yet, I shall save that 'pleasure' until hopefully tomorrow when postie has called on her. I cannot blame postie of course...having actually got it made in time, and that itself was a very close call...sis and I forgot to pop it in the post yesterday while we were out, so it didnt begin its journey to sunny Cardiff until late last night - I do hope it reaches you in the morning my lovely! Birthday 'seasons' rule - cards are never actually late then are they lol!

In our defence, yesterday was 'a bit of a day' to say the least! I had two appointments at the hossie booked - one was at 8.30 in the morning (meaning I got up at 6.30...OMG what a shock to the system!) This visit was for that nasty infusion that Im to have every 3 weeks, and the one that last time made me feel very poorly indeed. The reason we took the 8.30 appointment was that it was the first appointment of the day so there would be no delays - we would be in and out and home again in no time.....yeah right! We sat for an hour before the nurse decides to tell me they had run out of my particular drug on the Friday and were waiting for more to arrive...sigh! I sent Carol running after her to enquire how long this might take...I mean, Carol had work to be doing, we couldnt be sitting around there all day long and we were going back later for a zap anyway! They didnt seem to have a clue, so it was decided that I would come home and go back for that treatment at the same time as my zap at 4.30. We arrived in plenty of time so that the infusion could be done before the zap was due, but once again it was wait wait wait....until I set Carol on them again, who promptly came back to fetch me from the crowded waiting room and through into the treatment room...hoo-bloody-ray! Nonone messes with Carol lol!

Once again they had a job on their hands finding a vein....I dont know where they've all gone, but they certainly take some persuading to appear in order that treatment can begin. They always have to go fetch the nurse who is the 'vein expert' - evidently every ward has one who can almost literally get blood out of a stone lol! Whilst all this was going on I explained what an awful time I had had last time, but I dont think they believed me...theyve never had reports of side-effects before they said....what rot, it does tell you about them in the leaflet, only I was unlucky to suffer them at the extreme end of the scale! However, they did agree to drip the magic potion into me over 30 minutes instead of 15 as I had read that that can help, and indeed it turned out to be so. It was straight from there along to the zap dept.....more waiting - honestly, we felt like we had been there all day long, but once done we came home and I felt well enough, if exhausted - Carol too! She then goes home to a pile of work that takes her into the late night hours, and the triplets of course....oh for a fraction of your 'oomph' Carol!

I just hoped and prayed that the nastiness wouldnt kick in later as it had before, and thank goodness it didnt.....just extreme tiredness, and Ive kind of learned to cope with (or rather 'enjoy') that. In fact, I didnt get up until about 12.30 today...then having had half a cuppa and after emailing happy birthday to Gina, I just had to sleep again so took to the sofa. There I stayed until Carol came to collect me for the FINAL zap at about 3. I was well cosy though and enjoyed drifting in and out of sleep, with the odd visit from my kitties for a snuggle. It certainly beat chucking up and feeling like I would expire at any moment! I did feel a bit wobbly going out though...a little nauseous and even rather faint as we waited for my zap, but I got through it without making a show of myself and 'ta da' the zapping is over! Phew....both Carol and I are very relieved that that is over...its not the procedure but all the endless waiting around....ugh!

So where does that leave me? Well, pain-wise, as has been said before, the next few days I should expect worse before it gets better. Having said that, I havent noticed an increase in pain during these last couple of weeks...not a lot of change either way really, just good and bad days as before. But....as the days go on now I should (I HOPE) begin to feel improvements leading up to pain free.....I cant imagine it, I really cant....but I will SO welcome that day when it comes! I have a review in 3 or 4 weeks time...I dont know what will happen then, will they do another scan...I dont know, I suppose so to see if there is any difference? Im not sure if a lack of pain would mean that there must be a difference so a scan wont be needed? As you can tell, Im not exactly very well informed! But then maybe I dont ask enough questions...I dont like asking questions in case I dont like the answers - I just go with the flow and take it as it comes!!!

At this point I want to say a big fat thank you to Carol - for running me around and being right there with me every step of the way! On the odd occasions when Carol has been unavailable and I have had to rely on my 'alternative chauffeur', my appreciation of Carol simply intensifies beyond belief lol! You have been an absolute star and Im lucky to have you!

I thank ALL of you for your best wishes and sparkles which work their magic by getting me through each day, and I thank you also for putting up with me and my (what Im sure must be tedious) tales of my adventure along the way. Ive a way to go obviously, but from now on lets hope its not taking over my life on a daily basis, and I will have more fun and inspiring things to write about.

Thank you to my office chicks....aw poor yous'...here we are, car scrapping time again and Im escaping that...phew! Im so looking forward to that pain free day so that I can come in to see you all, and better still when I can think about coming back to join you once again as a zapper rather than a zappee...honestly, Id would rather be there than here! (Except at 6.30 in the morning lol!) I will be looking forward to our Christmas get-together...all being well next month....do you think it would be acceptable for me to bring a pillow to the Saracens Head...? lol! Oh, and think on...where will my snuggle corner be situated at work when I come back??? lol!

Ah well, time to attend to my facebook chores before I take to my nest. You all take care, and if I havent bored you to death, I look forward to your next visit and your comments (and stash shopping tales)!

Be good, and as I always say...if you cant be good, hide the receipts!

Super hugs, Sue xxx

Happy Birthday Sam Jack and Ben!

If Im quick I will get this posted before your birthday comes to a close! Congratulations to the 3 of you - 16 today.....and welldone Carol & Russ on surviving lol!

You havent seen these yet boys, but here are your cards.....I only had 16 years notice, but still I was adding stickles at the very last minute, you will have them tomorrow...

I hope you had a great day.....and dont spend your pennies all at once!

With love from Pop and Auntie Sue-bubbles! xxx

Zappity zap zap....half way there!

Five zaps down, five to go...and all is well - lucky me! Pity I cant time my sessions for about 10 O'clock at night...then I might find myself in my nest at a more reasonable hour. As it is, I have slept most of the evening away and now, at gone 3am...Im wide awake...well, as wide awake as Im likely to be just now anyway!

The 'excitement' at todays session was a prisoner being brought out from his zap not long before I went in...super-strength handcuffs, a couple of armed escorts, the works.....and Carol missed it as she was having a nervous breakdown parking the car! Something a bit different..it breaks up the monotony eh lol! The only disappointment was that he wasnt wearing a suit with arrows all over it...he he!

A very modest stash parcel turned up today...here are my new bits and bobs:



A couple of small punches, some pretty little blooms and a gorgeous floral embossing folder - at least I wont have to find too much space to house these little bits...phew! One of these days I might even get around to doing something with them!?! The way I am at the moment, I would find myself nose down in my ink pads..and that wouldnt be a good look!

Oh, there was very nearly a punch up in the chemist today when they couldnt find the prescripion that the doctor promised me she would pop over to them. Much huffing and puffing from Carol and I...and then they found it, so we had to take back all the horrible things we had been muttering about the silly moos over at the surgery lol! At last I got my much needed drugs, and my repeat slips look in good order for next time - what a relief, so hopefully it will be a little while before I have to take on the gestapo again!

The good news is that I am continuing to feel in good spirits - which is THE most important thing to me just now, which will hopefully aid my healing.

"Good" says Lee, who needs me back at work to get on with zapping of a different kind lol! I just cant imagine it Lee, as Im still hobbling around like a 90 year old, never mind all the irritating though not horrid side-effects from all the meds, but we have to have faith in those docs dont we Lee...they have promised me 'pain-free' and how I look forward to that day!

Promo change-over for you tomorrow (or rather later today), in fact you will be gathering in the office in less than 3 hours to get started...good grief! I do hope those sections have done their bit office chicks, and the big zap goes as smoothly as possible - sending oodles of zappy sparkles your way!

Continued deliveries of sparkles for Charlie, and Charlies Mum...bless you, I hope things really do start to look up soon!

Righty, Im off to bed now to have a good read of 'Happyslapped by a Jelly Fish' - I was in fits last night, talk about fetch another Tena Lady...lol!

Take it easy my lovelies, have a good Wednesday and good luck on the lottery!

Big hugs, Sue x

Radiation - Day Four....and still not yet glowing in the dark!

Okay...I know we have had a weekend inbetween my last post and this, but there are limits to how witty I can make 'slept, played on facebook and slept some more' sound lol!

I had a good weekend, ie: no nervous breakdowns...but then having the right 'fix' in the house made all the difference! I did feel myself going a bit wobbly on Sunday (again), which doesnt make sense as thats my favourite day of the week with my sister here most of the day, and the fun (?) of the crosswords, but as I say...pop a happy pill and all is well..phew!

The hip, leg and bum cheeks have been playing up a bit, but then I was warned that things could get worse before they get better so I guess that is that bit kicking in. So far though, no blisters or cystitis or other horrid things, so all in all, things are going pretty well. Another session today, and I have to thank Carol for braving the weather. It was the absolute pits today...winds and rain, and blooming freezing bbbrrrrr! She has the ordeal of finding a parking space and dashing through the elements to get to me. She very kindly drops me off at the doorstep of where I need to be...a few steps to the lift, then a few more steps to the waiting area - and then she goes to fetch the car to pick me up again. I know I keep saying it, but Carol you are a star and I am very lucky to have you supporting me through this 'adventure' xxx

But of course, the day cant go too smoothly can it, and I just knew it would be the gestapo at the docs surgery who would upset the day....sigh! We popped in there on the way home from the hossie to collect my prescriptions, only the gestapo had decided that there were a couple of items I could not have as I had asked for them too early..tut! The paperwork was confusing it has to be said, but the bottom line was, I was been given two weeks worth of these particular meds and then couldnt have any more for a month! Obviously a normal person with an ounce of common sense would have questioned this with the doc, but no...we are not dealing with normal or sensible here are we. Righty, so I need to speak to the doc, no you cant, well she said even though you will say that I cant, I am to tell you that she says that she will.....mmmm.....we've been here before eh! I was angry at myself for not getting more uppity and insistent but they really do get the better of you. However, I did manage to get a promise of a phone call later from another doc...I wanted my doc, and I know my doc would ring if she knew I needed it, but gestapo lady said 'no she cant'. So I just had to wait for the phone to ring and hope that I would get someone nice. And thank goodness I did....phew! She could see the problem straight away and really took the time to listen to my concerns - I thought I was going to have to make a special appointment with my own doc to get this all organised once and for all, but no...she kindly re-jigged my meds to just how I need them, and has done a special extra prescription for the things I need now. Better still, as the surgery is going to be closed tomorrow for training (as obviously noone is going to get sick tomorrow!?!), she will drop the prescription into the chemist across the way so that I can collect it from there. So all's well that ends well, but why this pigging battle every time???

Im sorry, I realise that this is a boring lot of twaddle, but this is the highlight of my days at the moment and you're just going to have to share them with me lol!

It was parcel day once again - yay...but this time not stash (the stash is due tomorrow). I have given up on the murder & mahem that I usually read, preferring things to make me laugh. So todays gems to arrive were: Happy Slapped by a Jellyfish by Karl Pilkingon, An Idiot Abroad..also by Karl Pilkington...have any of you been watching the series on Sky1 - it has been hilarious? And then I have 'My Sh*t Life so Far' by Frankie Boyle - I know he is VERY rude but I do find him very funny so that should be a good read. Plenty to keep me chuckling there anyway.

My appointment with the zapper is rather earlier tomorrow - 12.10, so I shall be having to get up early to give my body a chance to unravel and take in enough tea before I start my day. An early night would be in order, but thats not going to happen as I have all my neighbours to visit on facebook, and I do love visiting my neighbours lol!

Very special sparkles needed today - firstly for Charlie, Lesleys darling pooch, he is poorly and very much in need of a visit from the sparkle fairy. Get better soon our Jelly Belly!

And lots of sleepy & healing sparkles for three of my crafty buddies....Im not pinching all the sleep now, honest!!!

Until tomorrow then, when hopefully I will have a nice little array of new stash to share with you...all I need to do now is find a space for it!

Hugs and sparkles, Sue xxx

Radiation - Day Three.....Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Well, my day started off very well indeedy....beginning with my usual very slow start until the meds and tea kick in, followed by a little read of the paper, and after two days slog, finally completing the sudukos in yesterdays Sun - I had just settled myself at the pc when a very nice man bangs on the door bringing parcels....stash parcels....whoopee! These were a variety of pretty papers and embellies from QVC who have lots of nice goodies in their clearance section just now (grab them while you can!!!!)

No sooner had he driven off, when Tesco arrived with our shopping...mmm I dont remember all those donuts falling into my cart....lol! Of course, because I was settled in my pc chair...and its no mean feat getting into my cosy position...no way was I getting out of it again to deal with said shopping, so it kept Dad busy for a bit packing it all away while I caught up with mails and my many facebook tasks....nice!

I spent the day relaxing and feeling very positive about things in general, then had a lovely phone chat with our crafty Babs. She is also afflicted with an alien upon her person just now...a suspicious little bugger on her nose. However, she is feeling very up as she has had bits cut out and now awaits results...and boy does she have a wait on her hands....until 7th December, yikes! The good news is that whatever it is will be completely treatable and she will get a pretty new nose out of it lol!

Anyway, so busy was I gossiping away I didnt realise the time when Carol turned up! This time no panics, no flying car passes, just her usual tales of her busy busy morning where she has been running around like a blue arsed fly - honeslty she wears me out just telling me about her days, AND I have to be twice as lazy to make up for her frantic activities just keep the world balanced....ah, its a tough job but someones got to do it lol!

So off we go, ding ding, its round 3. The procedure was fast and fine as always, but this time I did have a couple of sticky moments....one little wobbly feeling as we came down in the lift, but thankfully this passed and hasnt come back, and for a while after, the feeling that I had swallowed acid...bleh, not so nice!

This wasnt going to get in the way of our trip to Midwest however, where we ordered our scrummy big fat ranch style burgers, with bacon and cheese....oh and plenty of the most yummy chippies I have ever eaten on the side...AND BBQ beans AND coleslaw...well, lets push the boat out eh! We couldnt get home fast enough with car filled with this wonderful aroma, and we barely get our coats off before getting stuck in...mmmm.....yum! It was so delicious that even though I sensed that my body didnt really want to be stuffing its face in such a manner, I didnt care and if it decided to 're-visit' me later.......so-be-it!

Thankfully everything has stayed put, so then all I had to contend with was the irresistable urge to sleep, and sleep I did! I think I sort of 'came to' to see most of the soaps, but then the next thing I knew, Dad was nudging me at 10 to remind me that I needed to take my meds. On attempting to move, my body reminded me also, and in fact I had kind of missed out some top up meds by sleeping through...boy I was stiff and sore. But, I went out to swallow my various 'fixes' and in no time at all felt a lot better. I dont think I am feeling actual improvement on top of yesterdays little bit of improvement, but lets see what the morning brings. Ive two days off from zapping now - time for the bits of my body that are getting zapped but dont need it, to recover, and for the naughty bits to get cracking (not literally hopefully) on their retreat! Come Monday.....it will all start again....

Anyway, for me a weekend of......guess what......resting (for a change....NOT), and hopefully maybe some crafting. One of the kits I received today included a lovely scalloped acrylic album, and I have accumulated quite a lot of acrylic in various shapes and sizes over the last couple of years, but yet I dont think I have actually worked with any of it - what a minx! I just need to think up a suitable project and I will be well away...its just all that 'thinking' thats so tricky though eh! We will see...surely there is something I can get my teeth into!?!

Now I cant tell you how many times I have had to backspace/delete in getting this written...my eyes are so droopy, and I wouldnt be surprised if I have nodded off at least twice during the process lol! I guess that means its bed time...my hottie is already up their waiting for me to keep my tootsies warm (with my fan up at the head end to keep my top half cool)!

I hope you all have lovely weekends ahead, and dont forget - I am always eager to hear about any stash shopping trips...complete with lists! lol!

Thank you for popping by!
Hugs & sparkles, Sue xxx

Radiation - Day Two....and it could only happen to my sister!

To set the scene....as I expect you are all well aware, parking ones car at the hossie can be an expensive (and always a very stressy) exercise. However, one of the 'perks' of having to attend for zapping on a daily basis is, you get given a FREE car pass...yes, FREE! It is very strictly managed, the car registration has to be written on and it will only cover you for those specific times that you are being zapped. But, a perk nonetheless and very welcome indeed - just think how many pieces of pretty paper I can buy with what would otherwise have gone to the car parking gestapo....sweet!

However.....

Carol arrives in good time for a quick cuppa before we head off, but is looking very sheepish indeed.

Carol: "On the way home from you last night, I did a very very silly thing"

Me: "Oh no, not caught speeding (again)?

Carol: "Nooooo"

Me: "Popped into Morrisons and spent £130 on shopping that you didnt need (again)?

Carol: "Noooooo....the thing is, I was very hot when I left here (tell me about it...sigh!), so I wound down the window in the car to get cool"

Me: "Mmmm"

Carol: "Well, the car pass only flew out of the sodding window didnt it, and despite me getting out, dashing up and down the road and rummaging through the bushes (in the dark), it was nowhere to be found...and thats it, its gone!"

Ha ha ha ha...! I said to her, it will be along the pathways between this house and yours along with all of your missing earrings...she is always turning up with one missing and swears she had them both in only minutes ago, the soppy moo! It did give us a giggle, and she remarks....I suppose that will be going on your blog later, and I said - too right missus!

Anyway, as commented upon yesterday, the ladies at the hossie are SO much nicer than at your local GP's surgery, so a new pass was issued without any hassle at all (maybe the odd snigger though!) Mind you, Carol did have to pay to park the car today as you just cant risk leaving it while you go in to sort things out...so thats at least 3 sheets of pretty paper down the swanny...sigh! lol!

I dont know, all this fussing about yet once Im wriggled into position, my actual zapping only takes a couple of minutes...a couple of very magic minutes mind you!

So day two is done and dusted....and today I did feel the tiredness when we got home and nothing would have kept my eyes open...not even feeding my pigs on the farm! However, it was a very mellow tiredness and tonight I was able to get myself particularly snuggly on the sofa as my lovely Lesley sent me a prize which arrived this morning....a gorgeous soft blanket with sleeves and a nice big pocket up front for bits and bobs...tissues, mobile...the essentials...oooo Lesley, it is just the ticket, thank you SO much! It goes without saying that you are such a minx!

Having had a good snooze I woke up to no ill-effects once again - hooray, and maybe a little improvement in the hip? Its difficult to say, but I do think it is feeling just that little bit more comfy...and every little helps eh!

No cravings on the way home tonight. Well, I was hungry but I knew Dad had a nice tea waiting for me at home so we are saving our next jaunt to the take-away for tomorrow when my appointment is a little later....we have somewhere in mind where we havent been for years!

So there you are, all in all another very good day. My happy mood stays with me...helped along by Carol's antics of course, and I got the online grocery shop done... and eventually got around to feeding my pigs...so all is well!

I guess I ought to head for my nest now...then I might get to see a bit more of the morning tomorrow! Lets hope tomorrow brings more good things...not just for me, but for a few of my buddies out there who are really going through it and are needing some special sparkles themselves.

Until the next installment, hugs & sparkles, Sue xxx

Radiation - Day One...and all is well

Hooray for late-in-the-day appointments - it meant I could have a good old lie-in and a leisurely morning psyching myself up for my first experience of being on the receiving end (for a change) of the ZAPPER!

Firstly, I was just so happy to wake up feeling in a perky mood - how I have come to value those! I set about drinking plenty of water in preperation, and thought I had better have a big bowl of cereal around midday in anticipation of not feeling much like eating later (oh the irony....)

A little stash parcel arrived from cuttingedge...ALWAYS a good start to the day, and I enjoyed reading the paper and having a bit of a natter with my online buddies to pass the day away. I read up (again) about all the expected side-effects, and this still didnt pop the happy mood bubble, so I was all set and ready to roll!

My chauffeur (AKA Carol) arrived, as did the rain...but hey ho, and off we went. On arrival at the hossie, the waiting area looked packed...sigh, but on checking in, the lovely lady on the desk (and they do have lovely ladies on the desk as the hossie!) assured me that the waiting time was only about 30 minutes. It does make such a difference when they keep you informed like that, and I guess 30 minutes was about right. Enough time for Carol to do some shopping anyway...buying up the Crazy Hats bra brooches, pens and wotnot to add to her collection lol! She will be well skint by the time this treatment is over!

First up was a little chit-chat and Carol came in with me for that - she is my own personal memory bank as my own is shot to hell!

Then into the big room with the BIG zapper, followed by much mirth and laughter as I was contorted into just the right position lining the machine up with the tattoos I'd had done the other day. The nurses left the room for a few minutes, came back in to wiggle me around a bit, then back out for another minute or two...and that was it, all done. I didnt feel a thing or hear a beep and wouldnt know that anything had been done to me at all....phew!

As we left the hossie and were faced with the horrendous tea-time traffic (the down-side of a late appointment), a side-effect that hadnt been mentioned anywhere suddenly kicked in..................I NEEDED a Big Mac and I needed one NOW lol! I was famished, so a minor detour was in order so that I could stuff my face, and boy was that yummy! Im not really a McDonalds kind of person (hence it must have been a side-effect and totally beyond my control!), but thats what I wanted and I was in utter burger & fries heaven lol!

As for genuine side-effects, I gather these will build up as the days go on, but if I keep drinking the water and rubbing the cream in, I will hopefully keep these to a minimum. My hip has felt very stiff this evening, but really not too bad at all, so I am a very happy bunny!

Episode Two tomorrow at 3.50....and I wonder what I will be craving for this time?!?

Thank you as always for your fabby good wishes - I am sure I am glowing with sparkles before I even enter the room, and every single one helps!

Hugs and sparkles back at you!
Sue x

When you crash and burn....

...you pick yourself up, get hold of some happy pills....and start again!


Deary me, one minute I was on here typing up my 'happy post', then the next day....boy did I crash and burn, thats the only way I can describe it! My head decided to take itself off to the darkest of places and no matter what I did, I could not shake it off....as high as the previous couple of days had been, this was the equivelent low - not nice :(


I was right out of the happiest of the happy pills that I have, and of course it was a blooming Sunday so no way of getting hold of anything to help...so it was a case of deep breaths, telling myself that this WILL pass and simply waiting for it to do so. About tea time, I could feel things lifting a little, and believe me, every little helped, and I just kept telling myself...one more sleep then you can organise yourself a way out of this crisis!


Lo and behold, it was getting on a a bit...it must have been gone 9.30 when my Joe rings up....he is up at our local McDonalds and do I fancy a visit!!! He was on his way home from a halloween party up in Newcastle...though how he figures Northampton is on his route back to Cheltenham who knows...I guess he just knew that I needed a hug! It certainly did the trick Joe, thank you my wonderful son! I was still out of sorts, but I did at least feel that I could now cope well enough until daylight came.


Distraction is quite a good solution when you are having inner struggles - I found this out this morning as I encountered the usual argument with the gestapo on the desk at the docs! I had rung in about 3 hours ahead of the appointment I already had with the nurse, simply to ask if she could get my doc to write out a prescription for some happy pills that I could pick up when I got there. 'Of course she cant do things like that' says the gestapo. 'But my doc has said that she WILL do this for me, and I am to tell you that she said she would, so could you just please pass on the message'....tut! She huffed and puffed, and as expected, when I got to the surgery later there was no prescription waiting - the cow! But I had a Plan B, so sod her I thought.


I gets in to see the nurse who has this HUGE needle waiting for me...this was my first implant which will shut down the old ovaries. It was a bit YOW but I was beyond caring about things like that at this point and just winced and beared it lol! Then she persuaded me to have the flu jab. I had only resisted this as I had enough 'side-effects' from this and that to be going with and didnt want to add any more. But she said I really did need it as the radiation will leave me very vulnerable...and who needs flu on top of everything else, so in that went. Then I revealed my very best 'begging for mercy' voice and asked her if she could do me a huge favour...could she possibly ask my doc to do me a prescription there and then as I had had a pig of a Sunday and was desperate. NO problem at all....she just picks up the phone (how easy was that Mrs Gestapo on the desk!!!) and my pills were on their way...phew! My doc, who I know was extremely busy today, even brought the prescription down to me and asked if I needed a chat or anything...bless her! Anyway, a couple of pills later and I had left the dark places and rejoined the world of blue skies and pretty colour leaves falling from the trees....mega phew!


But hey, there is something missing from the above tale...lol! After swearing that I would NEVER get in the car with my Dad again, I actually felt rather too wobbly to drive so I did ask him to take me today! On the whole he was pretty good, there was just the one very near-miss, but we were nearly home AND I had the right pills to take to get over it, so all was well lol!


Now then, I wouldnt come along here and lay a pile of doom and gloom on you without ending on a high - well two highs really....one being brought about with the happy pills to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside again, and two...I actually completed my little project and am ready to show it off!


Here is the before...a tatty old thing I bought in the hospital charity shop for 30p




...and here it is blinged up with some of my bestest stash...and is just waiting for a nice little space on my emporium wall





I did take piccies along the way and will try to get around to doing a step-by-step slide show soon. It did feel so good to finish something it has to be said, I really ought to try that more often lol!

Anyway, a day off tomorrow from poking and prodding and time to start guzzling water - evidently this SHOULD help alleviate the side effects of the radiation which begins on Wednesday...yay! (I think! lol)

Hugs and sparkles all round, and thank you my friends for helping me through the highs and lows!

Sue xxx