Ireland Part 2 – The Wedding

The big day had arrived and we got up early as we had to go to the hairdresser’s to get our hair done. Mum and my Auntie had theirs washed and blow dried, while I had mine washed, then went under the dryer, had it put in rollers then under the dryer again and then put up! It was well worth it as it looked pretty (even if I do say so myself.) We then went home and got into our outfits and set off for the church which was a 15minute drive away. We arrived to find loads of onlookers outside the church trying to get a glimpse of the bride and the wedding, the minister said this was the biggest wedding he had ever been involved in (there were around 200 people there).

The wedding lasted over an hour as the string quartet played, hymns were sung and the groom’s sister (who sang at my brother’s wedding) also did a solo. After the wedding the guests were invited over to the church hall for a light lunch, where the quartet also played again. All the guests then set off for the reception which was taking place at a hotel in a place called Newcastle which is a small seaside town at the foot of the Mourne Mountains. It was over an hour away (I slept for most of the car journey).

The reception was at the Slieve Donard Hotel and started at around 5 o’ clock. The speeches were great and the food was delicious, the tables were decorated beautifully and the attention to detail was superb! Instead of favours the bride and groom made a donation to a local charity called Riding for the Disabled which was a great idea. After the four course meal there was a chocolate fountain with strawberries, fudge, marshmallows etc and then a band and disco. There was a buffet served at around 11.00pm and the dancing went on till around 1 o’ clock, that’s when we left but apparently the chatting went on till 3am.

We stayed over in the hotel and woke up to an Ulster fry breakfast. I just had sausages and bacon and it was delicious (although I was to pay for it later.) After breakfast we went for a stroll in the hotel grounds and along the beach, there was even time for a paddle in the sea (it was absolutely freezing!) We then headed on home back to Armagh as I was too tired to spend the day in Newcastle which was a shame. The road home was not straight (that’s an understatement) it was so windy and twisty and about 30mins into the journey I could tell my stomach wasn’t feeling too happy. We pulled over to get a drink of water and I thought the sooner I get back in the car the sooner we get home but this was not one of my better ideas. About 20minutes later we had to pull over again, this time in a car park, I walked into the corner and was (as discreetly as possible) sick in some bushes, not so glamorous, I was trying so hard to not be sick on my own feet as I was wearing flip flops!!! I thought the sausages and bacon in the morning wasn’t such a good idea, ah well, I will learn my lesson one day!

So the rest of the day was spent taking it easy and sleeping as I had tired myself out! Then it was off to dialysis again which went fine and luckily no clotting this time. Yesterday we went to a local town called Portadown for a bit of souvenir buying and window shopping, and that’s my week in a nutshell really! We arrived back home last night about 11.30 and I had a lovely nights sleep back in my own bed!

I’m so glad I decided to go, I don’t know why I put it off for so long or why I was so nervous about it! The dialysis went fine, the nurses were great and I haven’t got a bad word to say about it at all, it almost felt like I didn’t dialyse at all, it was a real holiday and I will certainly go back in the future in fact… I can’t wait!!!

Ireland Part 1

Well where do I start? I’m back from N. Ireland after an amazing week away! We managed to fit so much into one week! It didn’t get off to a great start as our plane was cancelled and we had to get on the next one which meant a two hour delay, I managed to find some computers and logged onto the internet to kill time, so all was not lost. Our flight eventually left Liverpool at 10.45pm instead of 8.30pm and we arrived at my Auntie’s house in Armagh well after 12.00 and went straight to bed.

The following morning we took a walk round Cabragh which is where my Mum was brought up and where I remember spending lots of time as a child. We walked through the fields that my Auntie owns and made friends with some cows! We then went for a Sunday lunch at a posh restaurant, Mum, Dad and Auntie D had a four course meal, I just had the main. After lunch we visited the church at Loughgall village where the wedding was going to take place on the Thursday but more about that later. That night we were invited round to my Mum’s cousin’s house to see their son’s wedding presents. This is a tradition in Ireland apparently, people are invited to see what everyone else has bought (Mum loved this bit, she’s very nosey). So we had tea and cake and chatted till about 11.30 that night.

On the Monday we did some shopping (my favourite pastime) in a local shopping centre and had lunch there. We went home for a little rest before setting off again for Daisy Hill Hospital for dialysis. It took half an hour to get there we set off at around 5.45 and my shift started at 6.30pm, the nurses were so friendly and really professional, I was on every night before 6.45.

On the Tuesday we went to the local town (Armagh) for a little look at the local shops and in the afternoon we went to Lisburn (about a 45minute drive) to see my mum’s Auntie, who is in her 90’s. It was great to see her and she is looking really well. We spent a couple of hours with her and then headed back to my Auntie’s house where I treated my mum, dad and Auntie to a Chinese takeaway, which was delicious.

I decided on the Wednesday to take it pretty easy as the following day was going to be a hectic one with the wedding. So we had a little walk round the Mall (a green area surrounded by trees in the middle of the town where the local cricket team plays) We used to always do this when I came to Ireland as a child so it was nice to be able to do it again. In the evening I obviously headed off to Daisy hill in Newry again for dialysis which went ok although I did experience some clotting about an hour before the end, but thankfully it held out to the end of the session and I didn’t need to come off early.

Just a quick blog to let you know that all went well at the appointment with my consultant. My calcium is a bit high, due to me taking calcichews and alphacalcidol so he has stopped both of these, the calcichew permanently and the alphacalcidol temporarily. So my phosphate binders have been changed (yet again) this time to Alucaps, I have taken these before a few years ago so I should be ok with them.

I asked him about my arm but he seems to think it looks ok (I still think its getting bigger) I told him that the ultrasound people hadn't been in touch about another scan so he gave me the number direct to ring them when I got back from Ireland. By coincidence, they rang later that day to book me in, so I'm having it on the 21st July, fingers crossed all is well and I won't have to have another angioplasty.

So thats about it really, I spoke to him about my aranesp and he suggested I could inject it myself on the saturday to save me taking it with me, I think the look on my face told him what my reply was! Theres no way I could do that, and my Mum n Dad couldn't either, so I'll take it with me and have it through the machine on Monday.

So I'm running around like a headless chicken, getting everything ready for goin, cramming everything in my case (although it still won't close) getting my meds sorted, and I also have to take my dialysers with me too, which is the artificial kidney that clips on the machine and filters the blood. So thats something else to remember!

Anyway best go and carry on, so much to do, so little time (you can tell I'm not used to going on Holiday.)

Going to try and get to an internet cafe during the week, will update if I can, if not, See you in a week! x

Two blogs in one day, aren't you lucky....

Yesterday I had a rough day, I was sick in the morning, I think this was due to the over exertion the day before with all my walking. It was well worth it though as it got people signed up to the organ donation, raised awareness of Kidney Disease and raised money for Kidney Research!

So today and yesterday I have had a cough and have been feeling a bit chesty, I am going to see my consultant tomorrow anyway, he usually checks my chest and heart so he'll be able to tell me if I am A-OK! I am also going to ask him about my Fistula (in my arm) as since my operation I feel its getting bigger (where the needles go in) maybe its just me as I am really aware and self conscious of it! Would like to put my mind at ease though and ask him to have a look, as the surgeon that did the procedure on my arm said that I should have a scan and check up in a month but I have heard nothing since and its been a month already!

I am also going to ask the consultant about my aranesp (this is an injection into the machine to help maintain the correct level of HB in the blood) as I am going on holiday to N.Ireland on Saturday and need to take some Aranesp with me as I receive it once a week, this needs to be refridgerated at all times! I am also unsure as to whether I should take it in my hand luggage as I don't fancy getting stopped by security on the way in, carrying a syringe that looks a bit dodgy! I'll see if he will give me a letter to go along with it!

Really excited about going away on Saturday as it will be the first proper holiday since I was diagnosed and more importantly the first time my Mum and Dad have been away! We are staying with my Auntie (Mum's sister) and we are attending a family wedding next Thursday so that will be good to catch up with everyone! I will also have 3 dialysis sessions while I am away at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry (sounds nice doesn't it), I am a little nervous about this as I have never dialysed away from the unit before and am a bit weary of new nurses needling me, but I'm sure it will be fine.

So today's news... I went shopping for a new digital camera to take with me to Ireland, I ended up getting this pink one, it's charging up at the minute I can't wait to try it tomorrow. Also It is my Gran's 84th Birthday today and so she and my brother and his wife came round for tea (a Chinese, with no salt for me, my contribution to the renal diet.) We got her a cake and sang Happy Birthday and she seemed to like all her presents!

Earlier today Emily from Live Life Then Give Life asked me earlier today if I could get hold of a video camera and film a video diary of life on the transplant list to present to the treasury. She said I would have to make it really emotional and sad, not too sure I would be any good at it because I think I'm quite a positive person, put waiting on the list to the back of my head and try to lead a normal life as possible! So not sure how convincing I would be to the treasury, haha! Emily also sent out some press releases to some local newspapers about transplant week and how I am waiting so maybe they will be in touch this week, to get the topic of organ donation out there, and get people talking about it.