Yesterday was definitely a good day as I got a few texts from the lady herself!

Firstly her mum texted saying Hols wasn't as sick or drowsy as she had been previously and was looking much more like herself, and then I received a few texts from Holly, saying she's not feeling too bad and that she managed to have a shower (any post transplant people reading will know how vital the shower bit is to start you on the road to feeling human again!) She has also been walking around with the physio and did some stairs yesterday!

Kidney still fast asleep but scans continue to show it looks absolutely fine. Anyone got an alarm clock...?!

Emily

There wasn't much to update yesterday; Holly was still in HDU but all the drains and necklines were removed (woo!) Another scan of the kidney revealed that all is well, even though it's still being stubborn.

Today Hol's has made progress and been moved out into the Transplant ward which is great! This naughty kidney is STILL not working however, and so she remains on dialysis. She is still feeling pretty sick too, so needs lots of warm thoughts heading her way.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Emily

Holly's not had such a good morning, with sickness plaguing her and making her feel a bit rubbish.

The kidney is still not working but the good news is they did a scan to check everything and it all looks fine. She's on dialysis at the moment just to support her body till this kidney decides to wake up. Hopefully just a matter of time and as her mum said "it's now a waiting game".

Holly is in the Royal Liverpool Hospital in ward 9A if you would like to send a card.

Thanks for your ongoing support :)

Emily

Emily here again :)

Update from Holly's mum: Holly is still doing well. She sat out of bed for a bit this morning (yay Holly!) but felt quite weak and is still having some pain. She seems better tonight and everything is generally moving in the right direction....Mr Kidney still has to wake up and start working though.

Willing that kidney to kick in!

Thank you for those lovely wishes and thoughts, and do keep them coming, they are getting passed on to Holly by her family.

Em

Emily here! I've hijacked Holly's blog (I promise she asked me to do it!) in order to bring you the most exciting news!

Holly texted me yesterday saying she had been called with the news that they might have a kidney for her. Many hours passed with no news until we got the fantastic message that the transplant was going ahead! She came out of surgery in the early hours of the morning and everything went well.

Even more amazingly, I later received a text from Holly herself! She is doing ok, a little sore and feeling “quite dopey” but is sounding like her usual positive self. The kidney has not yet started working – this is quite normal, as it often takes a little while for the new organ to get going – but please send her all the positive vibes you can.

I will update here on Holly’s behalf but hopefully that won’t be for very long at all as the lady herself will be back as soon as she can.

Thank you for all your support for this wonderful lady – we are so proud to have her as a LLTGL advocate.

Emily

Was so busy wittering on about things that I completely missed out another hospital appointment I had been to!

It was my 3 monthly check up with my consultant on Wednesday morning (before uni) there were a few things to talk about, we discussed my tablets which I will need to change soon (my alucaps) because if you take them for more than 3 months the magnesium builds up in your bones and makes them weak. I am disappointed as these are my favourite phosphate binders (having favourites, how sad am I?) because they aren't too big and dont take much fluid to swallow. The new tablets he will put me on in a month will be BIG chewable ones that taste horrible apparantly. ewwwwww, something to look forward to! The consultant also said that my HB (hemoglobin/blood count) is low and that I would need Iron infusions to give me a boost and push this figure up! I had been feeling tired recently, thought it was just normal, it was probably down to this. He also mentioned my high pulse again, his solution is that I am unfit and need to do more excersise to bring it down, its easy for him to say, I cant exactly run a marathon after dialysis, in fact sometimes I struggle to make the car without feeling lightheaded. Finally he had a look at my arm and felt the stent and agreed with the surgeon that all was fine!

So some things to change but on the whole an O.K report! (Don't know how all this slipped my mind!

Well I've had a really busy week so far!

On Monday I had to get up early and head on up to the Royal Liverpool for a scan on my fistula in my arm, I was convinced that the bulge in my arm had got bigger therefore I would need more balloons meaning more surgery! However my theory was disproved as it hadn't got bigger at all (if anything its got smaller) and the great news is I don't need anything doing, well not at the mo anyway! I need to go back in 2months for another scan just to keep an eye on it! The surgeon did the scan himself and took some measurements for the trial I am part of! So all good news!

I then had a full day at uni on Tuesday and went out for a chinese with my friends Steph and Gary! It was my turn to drive this time so I picked Gary up on the way and headed on over to Frodsham which is about half an hour away. We had a lovely time chatting and laughing away, its good to see them away from the hospital and not just talk kidneys and dialysis.

On Wednesday I had another full day at uni, a big lecture on doing my dissertation! Very scary! The headed on over to Warrington Hospital for Dialysis, which was ok apart from the end when I felt a bit funny and got terrible cramp in my big toe! It brought tears to my eyes, the most annoying thing is that I can't move (get up and stamp my feet) the nurse was very nice and filled up a rubber glove with hot water to hold onto the cramp to ease the pain! Cramps happen when you are taking alot of fluid off or taking too much fluid off.

Felt ok today, a bit tired but not too bad, I think its all the early mornings and uni catching up with me. I went again today, just for the morning and then this afternoon we were babysitting our friends little boy Peter. We had fun playing trains and watching in the Night Garden. Andy brought Abigail round for an hour as well which was nice but they had to make a quick dash for it as Abigail was having a bit of a tantrum (hehe starting early)!

Also had a phone call this afternoon from Kelly at Raw Television (the battlefront campaign) she has asked me to fill out a CRB form online and I need to take my Identifications to the post office ASAP for them to check them, this is necessary for all the people that finished in the top 10. Kelly then went on to say that it was even more important that I do the CRB quickly as I had made the judges top 3!!! I need to speak to a psychiatrist/psychologist (can't remember which) on Monday at 4pm to see if I am a suitable candidate to make that coveted 20th spot inthe Battlefront! Really happy about this, just need to wait till 3rd November to see who wins!

Finally my plans for next week are...

On Monday I'm excited to say Emily from Live Life Then Give Life is coming to stay the night as she is up in the North West to do a talk at the Manchester Royal Infirmary on Tuesday. I might head up to Manchester in the morning to help her set up the LLTGL/Organ Donor stand before I go to uni in the afternoon (Can't wait to catch up Emily). Talking of Live Life Then Give Life they have a great new blog which you can visit here, I feature in their latest blog!

On Tuesday night I'm at my friends birthday night out, we're going bowling and then heading into town for a few drinks.

So thats all the gossip really, will keep you updated with the Battlefront competition!