Hospital Admission

Sadly my photo is a bit boring, I got distracted by the match, but it gives you and idea of what it was like!

Well it was a bit of a varied one this time, I wasn't hugely ill which made a really nice change, I said to the taxi driver who took me over that it made such a nice difference to be going in and knowing I wasn't going to be chained to the oxygen when I got there.

My blows on admission were really good, so good in fact I felt quite guilty for being there. The plan was just for a bog standard 10-14 days of IV's. For the first few days I was in one of the private rooms which was really nice and had a sofa, but I knew it wasn't destined to last so I didn't get too comfortable.

The admission was mixed in it's success, my lung function actually went down, and I didn't feel any better by the end of it, however I didn't feel any worse.

I was lucky enough to take part in a clinical trial investigating the effectiveness of muscular physio on correcting the curvature of my spine and generally mobilizing my rib-cage. It was very interesting to take part it as we chatted about all sorts of complementary therapy concepts while we worked. It made me feel a lot better and straighter and the difference in the measurements was shockingly good, all in all a major success. I just really hope that the trial is a success and the secure funding for regular treatments.

Unfortunately my whole system is always under such strain there is no quick-fix, I need constant maintenance, for years I've felt guilty about my posture, but the physio treating me was very supportive and encouraging. She said although obviously there were things I could do to help myself it is just the natural thing for my body to do, breathing comes before good posture in the body's order of priorities, and I have to say it's a wise subconscious decision .She also said it was partly cultural, partly from a sedate lifestyle, but also when we see other people stood in poor positions sadly we are liable to copy them, the body is kind of lazy like that!

Other things of note that happened...

I went home and cuddled my boys and watched Dr Who, which though not earth-shattering was a lovely thing to do. I really enjoyed the fact they were so close as I could nip home and see them and still participate in Edward's care, I got to feed him, bath him and put him to bed a few times. It is also much nicer to be snuggled on the sofa with Luke at home, than cramped on the bed with nurses and tea-ladies and goodness knows who else coming in my room staring at us.

Finally and most excitingly of all my dear friend Raj managed to get us tickets for center court at Wimbledon!!! I ran a bit late getting there thanks to pharmacy who had managed to send my drugs to the wrong ward, however it wasn't too bad and Raj had made himself useful helping out the wardens directing people towards Wimbledon.

We skipped down towards the courts under clear blue skies and on the hottest day of the year so far, by the time we got there the atmosphere was already buzzing, everyone was mincing about in lovely summer dresses, blazers and straw boaters (which Raj pretended to hate, but secretly I think he was jealous)

We mooched about looking at the courts, watching people warming up, and just generally soaking in the atmosphere, I think everyone was on a high from the gripping Murry match that had taken place the night before all secretly hoping they'd be lucky enough to be part of something equally gripping, and of course the streaming sunshine helped.

Eventually it was getting close to time for the match on center court to begin and so we furnished ourselves with Pims and water and took our seats. We each picked a random unpronounceable girl to back. It was a good match, though it went on for a long time, and sadly right at the end poor Raj came over quite faint and we had to go out so he could recover and so we missed the end!

I then did my IV in the medical room (well finished it off) and so missed most of the Serena Williams match, we came back just in time for the end. What I saw was impressive even from the gods where we were sat you could sense what an intense and powerful woman she is, I'd be quite intimidated if I ever had to face her I think.

It was quite surreal to actually be at center court having seen it for so many years on TV. I really missed having the little purple and green BBC graphics to tell me what was going on score wise and almost hallucinated them into place on several occasions. On the upside it was really interesting to see around the edges of the court and spend more time watching the inter-ball girl/boy politics, though in fairness they were terribly impressive and professional, one girl in particular was incredibly sharp, almost robotic in her movements....we think she has a promising career in the armed forces :o)

We then watched the mens doubles which was very different in style and pretty good, the match went on for a shorter length of time than the first womens match which made following it much easier and more interesting. To end we got to see some of the senior mens doubles, which was more of a comedy act than anything else as they took the mickey out of themselves for being so old, it was quite a nice end after the intensity of the earlier matches.

We didn't stay to the end though as we were a bit bored of being sat inside center court by then, so we went for a last wander round the site, had a mooch round the gift shop, and watched the very impressive junior womens doubles finish off their match. We then wandered down to the train station, we debated getting the bus but decided the £2.50 they wanted to charge was a total swizz, I regretted it a little half way up the very long steep hill, but felt smug once I got to the top.

It was a really magical day and something I'd highly recommend to anyone should they ever get the chance....tick 'thing to do before I die - go to Wimbledon' off my long list :o)

Thankyou Raj