Oxford

Some London Pics

Quick London feedback

Arrived back this morning just after 9am. In a nutshell: had a great time with everyone I went to visit, weather was cold but not toooo bad. Did some nice shopping, climbed all the way up to St Pauls (just under 600 steps) again as well as some other touristy things, met Louzanne's friend Ulric, picked up a cold (seems to be pretty much over now at least), watched Les Misrables at the West End... Also had food poisoning on the airport on the way there! Vomited twice, once was in the queue at passport control :-( Never eat leftover ribs! Luckily I managed to get hold of my Dr in time to get something from the pharmacy before boarding. Talk about bad luck!

I also got to see some places outside London: We went to Windsor for a day and met up with an old friend from school, James. I also did 2 trips with Annelie and Bernie (auth & uncle) to Oxford and Isle of White.

Coming back to the reflux problem: I saw Dr Lee on the Tuesday before leaving, and booked a PH probe test for the 30th. This will entail me going to work on the 31st with a probe sticking out of my nose :-O What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right!?!? Since seeing her I stopped all reflux meds apart from Gaviscon, when needed, in order for the test to be more accurate. So hoping this one will finally have some answers. Luckily the heartburn didn't affect my holiday too badly.

                          Will post some more pics soon.

P.S. Today is 4 years 9 months with the lungies!

2 sleeps and another new Dr

I was lucky to get an appointment with the 24-hr PH test Dr for tomorrow! Apparently I need to see her for a consult before the actual test. Hopefully then I'll know what to expect when I get back from my holiday. So that's good news at least. Haven't had any heartburn again Sice Thursday at least.

Weekend with the in-laws was great, had so much fun at Goldreef City Theme Park yesterday. Did practically all the rides and the hectic ones twice! (except for the last one, Tower of Terror... by that time the que was a bit long!) Real adrenalin junkie!

Anyways... just wanted to update on the reflux situation... have to go PACK FOR LONDON now!

4 sleeps!!!!!!!

Just one crazy half-a-week of work left before my trip!!!!! Monday is going to be especially bad at work, but it's just much easier knowing I have so much to look forward to. Everything is pretty much organised I think!

On the reflux front: Gastroscopy was normal and showed nothing. So that's sick leave and money wasted :-( I suppose at least I can tick it off as being DONE. Next test: 24 hour PH probe. I have to stop taking my reflux meds for 2 weeks, then they'll put a probe down my nose going all the way into stomach, and I'll have to keep it in for 24 hours. The idea is to measure acidity levels or something. Will probably go to work with it in for a day in other words :-( Super fun. Hope I'll have something to show for it at least!

Chris' family are visiting us at the moment, it's really nice and has made this weekend feel like a mini holiday! Going to Gold Reef City theme park tomorrow, can't wait! Love rollercoaters :-) Went to the Lion park today which was awesome. The cubs were soooooooo cute. Got some nice pics.

12 sleeps

This week was only 4 working days but I definitely crammed a full week in there. Had a loooong gym session on Monday, and went spinning twice. We also did quite a lot of stuff around the house preparing for Chris' family's visit. Work has been draining as well, so in summary... I'm off to bed early on a Friday night!

Going for a scope next Friday to investigate the reflux situation. Not nervous about the procedure (yay for sedation) but nervous about missing work, especially so close to my holiday. And will most likely miss some more days at work when I come back for MORE reflux investigations. UUUGGGHHHHH going to be hated in the office!

Have a good weekend!

16 sleeps!!!!!!!

Till London! CAN'T WAIT... this week's been pretty horrible in terms of fellow CF lung recipients passing away and almost passing away and just a rollercoaster ride in general. And it's not over yet :-( Hate it when the survivor-guilt thing pops up and I can't understand why things work out for me and not someone else or why people do the things they do.

On a more positive note, Chris's mom sister and neice are coming to visit next week! So we spent the whole weekend getting the house ready for their visit! It's a good excuse to get all the things done that we've been putting off for too long because we were being lazy!

Gym's also been pretty great, DID MY FIRST SPINNING SESSION LAST WEEK! This was a real breakthrough for me as I've always been to scared to try it and thought I'm definitely not fit enough etc etc etc... but last week I went to gym with a friend, and she's also never done it, SO WE DID IT. Was really not as bad as I expected! The 45 mins went really fast, and I could totally keep up! It was really great and we're doing it again this week Thusday and Friday. Today was a public holiday so the gym was quiet and I had more time than usual... Did 50 mins on the treadmill, weights and 10 mins on eliptical trainer. The rest of the day was spend cleaning the house and doing laundry, so all in all a very active day!

Reflux has been behaving, can't say I've had any reflux in the last week that I can recall. Yay... I guess. Thank goodness it's only a 4-day week ahead, hope it goes quickly!

UK Visa... check!

Picked up my UK visa today :-) Very excited for my trip. Going to visit one of my bestest friends in the world Louzanne and also my bestest aunt Annelie. Departing on the evening of the 10th of Oct, and arriving back on the 22nd. So pretty much 10 days of exploring London!!! Will be my third visit to London, LOVE the city. Louzanne will be returning to SA the day after me (she's been working there for the past year), so hopefully I'll get to see a bit more of her once she's back as well. The pic below is one taken of us +- 12 years ago when we were all young and innocent! It's a privilage to have life-long friends like her (we've been friends since we were about 5 year old when stood out as some of the few Afrikaans kids in a Jewish pre-primary school!) in my life!

 

 

On a medical note, did the Barium Swallow test on Tuesday (was supposed to do it later in the month but after my horrible night on Sunday I couldn't wait). Must be the first time that I'm disappointed that a test gave a result that is NORMAL! The radiologist said that she sees no sign of reflux and everything looks normal. She thought since I have the reflux/heartburn at night, maybe when I sleep and everything relaxes and stomach acid moves up where it shouldn't. So waiting to hear what exactly the next step is. Really hope this can be fixed before more rejection happens! It's not the actual heartburn that bothers me so much as the fact that I know it causes rejection :-(

 

Reflux Frustration

Not sure how much I've blogged about my reflux previously, but here's the low-down... my rejection episode in May/June was as a direct result of reflux (and maybe my cold too). The Barium Swallow test didn't really show much from what I can gather. Nexium/Topzole dosage has been doubled. Trying my best to eat small suppers as far as possible from bedtime and have cut out practically all alcohol.

Clearly something is not working though, because even with all those measures in place I STILL get reflux. Last night I woke up at 01:00 am with bad heartburn, after having only a sandwich for supper at 18:00. Only slept for about 30 mins again after that. And it's not the first time it's happened. Going for a follow-up Barium Swallow test in 2/3 weeks time or so. Really hoping this one will have some answers... because this is not a problem I feel like dealing with for the rest of my life. And I know reflux can lead to chronic rejection so want it fixed asap.

Was starving today when I got home after gym and already scared that I might have had too much pasta for supper :-( Tired as hell but have to keep myself awake now because I can't go lie down now. Plus I'm still kind of hungry. HATE this.

On the plus side... in a month this time I'm off to London for a great holiday :-) Have I even blogged about that?? Next time...

28!

I officialy survived the 27 Club :-) Although not being a musician I probably wasn't at much risk of joining the club! My birthday was so-so, at least next year it's on a Saturday. Work wasn't bad, my desk was all festive when I got to work and we had pizza for lunch. In the evening we went out for steak at The Grillhouse in Rosebank with a few friends which was very nice. I even got ice-cream with sparkles on the house! I got a beautiful watch from Chris as well :-D

The rest of the weekend was also good. I helped the Organ Donor Foundation out on Sat morning with a wellness day. Afterwards Chris and I had lunch with another couple at Melrose Arch as it was her birthday on Sat. The evening was just spent chilling at home. On Sunday I went shopping with a friend and to church in the evening. Busy weekend I guess! Here's to many more years of busy weekends!

Oh, and on SPRING being here!!! Yay!