Isles Of Scilly

Hi all, I have just come back from a week in the beautiful Isles Of Scilly. I was lucky to be well enough to go and wouldn't have had the chance if it wasn't for my friend Kath and her family. When I was in hospital her mum said that when I felt better she would take me and a few of the girls to the Isles Of Scilly (Kaths granny lives over there). On Sunday 11th August we set off from Penzance on the ferry to the isles of scilly. We had a lovely week and as usual I kept a diary.

Sunday 11th August

We set off for our road trip to Penzance at 6:45. Me, Kate and Rach were in my car and Kath and Ash were in Kath's dads car. I had to follow Kath's dad up as I didn't have a clue where I was going. We arrived to penzance, checked in our luggage and boarded the boat. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful hot day, so we sat outside. The boat journey wasn't too choppy and bad which is what I was dreading so I took an anti sick before we left just to be on the safe side. We arrived in the Isles Of Scilly at St Mary's island at 1 o'clock. Our cases were being taken to the bungalow so we didn't have to worry about dragging them around with us. We went to a pub called The Atlantic and had something to eat and drink.Luckily I didn't get ID'd because I left my ID at home after thinking I packed everything ha, I got mum to ship it over and it arrived by the next day. After lunch Kaths dad picked us up and drove us to the bungalow. The bungalow had beautiful gardens, it reminded me of a secret garden :) When we unpacked our suitcases we cooked some tea and had an early night as we were all really tired from travelling. 

Monday 12th August

Today we walked down to the town which was about a 30 minute walk from the bungalow (well in my pace which is not fast). We had a look in some of the local shops and i bought a few postcards to send to my family. Then we went to a pub where I wrote my postcards out and had some lunch. In the afternoon we went to the beach, had an ice cream and went back to the bungalow. Some of the girls walked back but I was too tired and aching so got a bus. 

Tuesday 13th August

Today we took a trip on a boat over to another island, Tresco. It was a beautiful island, one thing I really loved was that when we got off the ferry there was a wall full of painted shells. There was a trail of them and at the end, it said that the children of Tresco painted the shells and to take one as a souvenir and leave a coin in its place to create a money trail, it was to raise funds to build a park for the children. I thought this was really sweet so bought a few as souvenirs for my family. After admiring the beautifully painted shells we walked around the island and found a beautiful beach, the water was really clear, the sand was pure white and I felt like I was in the Caribbean. Although the water was pretty cold we went right in and had a amazing enjoyable day. When the tide went out we noticed that there were loads of jellyfish washed up ashore, it was unbelievable how many there were. We went crabbing for a bit and found a huge crab, such children we are I know. We got the last boat back to St Marys and came home to a roast, cooked by kath's mum and granny. It was delicious, home made yorkshires and local potatoes and veg locally grown on the island. Yum Yum.

Wednesday 14th August

Today we had a chilled day and didn't do much. We went to play tennis in the morning, went to the pub had a few drinks and played pool.

Thursday 15th August

Today we went to St Martins Island.I forgot my camera but luckily I had my phone on me as we went to the most amazing beach ever. It was called Great Bay and I would recommend anyone who is visiting the Isles Of Scilly to visit this beach. The water was amazingly clear and the sand was so soft it felt like talc powder on my toes. As the day went on, It was pretty hard to find a clear spot to swim in as there were a lot of jellyfish in the sea and us girls being girls we were easily scared out of the water. When we got the boat back to St Mary's we went to the local pub and teamed up in quiz with Kaths mum and dad, luckily we had them on our team because we came 5th out of 15 teams.

Friday 16th August

This morning we had our first proper lie in and didn't get up until 12. When we got up we went for a swim at a beach really close to where we were staying. It was also beautiful and the water was clear. In the afternoon we went to Juliet's Garden and Kaths mum treated us to a cream tea. It was delicious, I would also recommend this to anyone visiting as it has the most beautiful view and the cream tea was amazing. In the evening we went to watch the gigs, this is when all of the islanders from all of the Islands compete in a rowing race. It was really fun to watch and we went out on the boat to ride along the competitors.After we went to the pub and had a few drinks. There are no clubs on the island so every friday night there is a disco. Me and the girls had a really good night, just shows that you don't need nightclubs to be able to dance and enjoy yourself :) We walked home after which took us a LONG time but didn't seem long when we were walking or in Kath and Kates case, jogging haha.

Saturday 17th August

Today was our last full day on the Island and we didn't do much. We went to the social club, watched the football and then went to browse the shops. 

Sunday 18th August

On our last day we had the holiday blues before we even left. We packed our bags and Kaths uncle drove them to the boat. We had some lunch and boarded the boat at 3 in the afternoon. On the way back me and ash decided to go to the lower deck and have a sleep before we arrived at Penzance as I had to drive home and didn't want to be too tired. 

After an amazing week in the Isles Of Scilly I am going to 100% return in the future. It is a beautiful place and has the most amazing beaches. There is a different way of living over there compared to where I live in Plymouth. 

Always smiling x

 ♥

Iron Overload Update...

After having my venesection on Wednesday it wasn't half as bad as I was expecting. The needle wasn't too big and only felt like a sharp scratch. The nurse said that I should eat and drink before having it and because I woke up up late that morning I missed breakfast. This resulted in mum getting me a bacon roll from Warrens bakery...I can't complain. After having something to eat the nurse inserted the needle and managed to find a vein right away...always a good start. It took around 15 minutes to drain the blood and she said that I would most likely feel dizzy and could possibly faint. I felt okay until she started to take the needle out of my arm. The room started spinning and i felt light headed, the nurse just tilted my chair back for a few minutes and I felt okay after that. I  have never felt so dizzy in my life it was a horrible feeling.

 I asked my nurse if my blood could be donated and she said it has to be thrown away as the iron levels are too high. I am not worrying about having it done every month for a while as I know what to expect. I am booked in to have another one in a few weeks. I will still have routine blood tests and hopefully the iron level should start to drop soon.  

I will keep you posted.

Iron Overload

Just a quick update. Today I had a routine blood test and a clinic appointment. My blood levels were perfect except there's one slight problem.. I have too much iron in my blood. The normal iron level people usually have is between 15 - 150 and mine is 2086. My consultant said that my level is super high because I have had A LOT of blood transfusions and there is a certain level of iron in each bag of blood. The only way of depositing this iron is if you lose blood and due to me now being postmenstrual (going through menopause) I don't have periods and therefore am not losing blood . This means that in order to get rid of blood I have to have regular venesections (guessing it is like donating blood) The nurses said they will most probably drain 500ml of blood every few weeks and it could take up to a year to get to a normal level.Although it nothing to worry too much about if the iron stays in my body it could damage my organs so it's safer to get it out than in. I am going for my first venesection tomorrow. So will update soon how it goes and the procedure.

Always smiling x

 ♥

Alton Towers

After suffering from shingles for 2 weeks I was happy when I started to feel much better and was able to go Alton Towers at the weekend. My CLIC social worker Jo e-mailed a charity called Lucys Days Out and applied for me and my family (mum, dad, Kieran and Ella) to go to Alton Towers for 2 days and spend a night at the Alton Towers hotel. We had an amazing time! After having shingles for the past 2 weeks I was still feeling a bit rough but didn't let that change my excitement for going away.

We left early at 5:30 on the Saturday morning. It took just over 4 hours to get there and we stopped for breakfast on the way. When we arrived we were unable to check into our hotel right away but that didn't bother us too much as we were too excited and wanted to go right to the park. We went to the desk to collect our tickets and then went to the theme park. We left our bags in the car as we couldn't check in until later in the afternoon. Luckily there was a monorail from the hotel to the park, so we didn't have to walk. (I get so tired really easily and my legs swell up which is not nice so I can't walk long distances without sitting to rest) such an old woman I know! After checking into the theme park we went to the customer service desk and asked if there was a fast track pass available we could buy so we didn't have to stand and queue for 2 hours for each ride. We told them my circumstances and they gave me a red wristband to wear. They said that when I go to queue for the rides to use the disabled access and this meant that I could go to the exit and get right on the ride without having to queue  This was really useful as my feet didn't swell up as much as they usually do. (I would advise anyone who suffers with fatigue to do this as it helps a lot!) We managed to ride a lot of the attractions, although mum and Ella were too scared to go on any roller coasters! (Boring i know!) Dad was my partner in crime, we went on the oblivion and nemesis a few times! Kieran also loved the roller coasters  it was his first time at alton towers and he loved it. We decided to leave some of the roller coasters to ride the next day (we had a 2 day pass). We rode on the log flume and the water rapids and they were really funny! We all got soaking wet but soon dried off as it was a boiling hot day. After spending all day at the park we caught the monorail back to the hotel. We stayed in the Alton towers hotel not the splash landing hotel but we could use both hotels facilities. The hotel was beautiful and had a very cultural theme to it. We got to our room at 6 and mum went for a sleep while me, dad, Ella and Kieran went to the splash landing park. It was really fun and I felt like a little kid, there were lots of water slides and I am such a water baby. After a few hours of fun in the pool I was shattered!  It was tea time and we went to one of the restaurant's in the hotel to have something to eat, I had a chicken burger with some chips and salad, If you know me well you will know that I am such a burger girl and if theres a chicken burger on the menu I will choose it. While we were having our tea it started thunder and lightening really bad. I must admit that I LOVE thunder and lightening (as long as I am safe and not outside.) Ella started to fall asleep when we were having something to eat so when we finished dad and Kieran took her to the room and they went to sleep. Me and mum on the other hand were not tired so we went to the lobby where there was a cabaret show. We spent the evening watching the entertainment and had a few glasses of wine.

The next day we woke up feeling refreshed and went to the restaurant for an all you can eat breakfast buffet. We definitely took full advantage of this, the food was delicious. After having something to eat we went into the garden of the hotel where they have beautiful water features and an amazing view. After taking a few photos we went to get the monorail. First we went on the water rapids and then more roller coasters.Oblivion is my favorite one by far. Me and Dad went on Oblivion a fair few times. Kieran was too scared to go on it but I know he would have loved it. After spending a few hours in the park for the morning, we spent our afternoon at the Splash landing water park. I went on all the water slides and as it was a sunny day, the outside pool and slides were open too. After spending  few hours in the water park we decided to get our bags and pack the car. We headed home at 7'0 clock in the evening and stopped at Frankie and Benny's for something to eat. Yummy! Although on the drive home we had to pull over and I was sick on the side of the road (Travelling mixed with tablet side effects and lack of sleep) Not so Yummy! I managed to fall asleep in the car and we arrived home at 12 ish and went straight to bed. I had an amazing weekend and it's all happened thanks to Lucy's days out. I really appreciate being able to create and cherish family moments and memories we can spend together. Thankyou xx

Always smiling x

 ♥