6am is not a time!!!

Why do people in hospital think it is acceptable to come and wake you up at 6am in the morning??? 6am IS NOT A TIME, so no I am not giving you my arm!!! Grrrrrr

Stupidity

I have done 2 stupid things...ok more but 2 im going to tell you about. Firstly I just went to sign in a write my hotmail address and instead of writing 'hotmail' which would have been right, I wrote hospital! Duh! *slaps head*
Secondly, I have been informed that I post I wrote informing people on my current whereabouts (hospital) didnt post...not sure why but hey ho.

So to update....the detist came on Thursday night. She was crazy but very nice. The problem with my mouth it seems is an infection in my wisdom tooth. Not so much of a problem normally but since my immune system has been down from chemo needs antibiotics and they need to keep an eye on it. She advised I stay in hospital until its gone and I have finished my antibiotics. I think I finish them on Tuesday so not long and its already feeling much better. The swelling has if not all, pretty much gone and the pain is very much under control. So hopefully on Tuesday or wednesday they should let me home!! YEY but thankfully not my neuts are up I can wander about the hospital as I please, which I have been doing :)

An update on the nail course...
I sent my first assignment off however I had an email back saying my actual tutor is not back until June 14th so noone will look at it until then and I wont get feedback on it...however they have sent an example assignment and when I read it it was rather long...so I have added alot more detail, tripled my assignment and Im going to get my mum to check it for spelling mistakes/ grammar etc tomorrow so I can resubmit it before my tutor is even back. :) I actually rather enjoyed writing it all up, wish I enjoyed school that much!

At the minute Im watching QI. It is my new favourtie show!! It hilariously funny!!!!

Anyway...my nails have dried now so I can go to sleep (they are a kind of burgandy colour if your wondering Kimberley :0) Thought you might be)

So night night xx

Almost Home!

My counts are finally high enough for me to go home (0.71 today) so as soon as they find out whats wrong with my mouth...im outta here!! The dentist should hopefully be coming tomorrow but if not I should be allowed out on at least weekend leave so i might be out for the bank holiday. At least I can now eat what I want (in theory) and I can get out of my room for a bit.
I couldnt get to sleep again last night, not because of the pain but because of something quite insensitive someone said to me. It actually upset me quite alot but hey ho some people should know better! Once I got to sleep i was asleep untul they took blood and then I fell asleep again until the nurse rudely woke me up to be faced with about 8 doctors stood in my room (it was ward rounds but why they really need that many of them I dont know). So all within about an hour Id had the doctors in, had my toes dressed and had a bone marrow biopsy (?) done....which needless to say hurt...ALOT! However the upside to having a bone marrow is that I get gas and air which is great!!!! Makes me laugh quite alot!

Iv been reading my nail book (2 assignments to write up and send off which im going to do later) im reading a section which isnt in any assessment and quite frankly why do I need to know about the bones in the head to work on nails....i think its just stuff you need a basic knowledge of. Thankfully iv done it all in AS biology, my gym course and my ETM course so its not like im unfamiliar with it) My plan is to finish reading this section today, type up and send of my 2 assignments that I got done tonight and then Ill start my 3rd one tomorrow and hopefully get that one done too so I can have a nice break over then weekend! Im not wasting any time with it...might aswell get it all done so I can start practicing the fun practical bit!!! :D

My mum went off to get me some wotsits and skips as they melt in my mouth so it means I can actually finally eat something! But she also came back with a choc sundae and dougnuts :) Isnt she good to me!! Also some shoes so I can now go for a walk since the only ones I have tith me are flip flops and quite frankly I cant wear them with socks!! YEY

Over all...good day :)

Nail Excitement!!

Well my nail package came yesterday! Its all very exciting...it includes a huge folder of everything I need to know (it has big writing so its not as scary as it looks) and a starter kit for manicures and pedicures! I have 6 assignments to do...5 are theory and the last one I have to do certain things, take pictures of them and send the photos off! Iv already done my first assignment as I could not sleep last night, the excitement was killing me! No m kidding, the pain was keeping me awake so I did something useful and started my assignment and befor I knew it I had answered all the questions! That was the easiest and quickest one I think though, so the others may take a little longer (for example the one im doing now is all about regulations and legislations so I have to read quite alot of 'Acts') but get the boring stuff out of the way first and then I can start on the more interesting stuff and the practicals :D Ill take a picture of all my stuff when I can so you can see all my cool stuff :) YEY or in Kimberleys words....EEK!

I wasnt at all inmpressed with my counts yesterday. When I got them although they had gone up my neutraphils were not as high as I would have liked...they were only 0.09. But at least they are going the right way :) Im still in quite alot of pain with my mouth (hence I was awake quite alot last night so could get a whole assignment done) but when I woke up this morning it does seem a little better...slightly less swollen and a little less painful. Im still waiting for the dentist who is ment to be coming today but hoepfully the drugs they are giving me for it are starting to work. I still havent eaten much so I am starving and my stomach keeps making noises but hopefully it should be ok soon.

Cross your fingers

Well I still dont have my neutrophil count for yesterday as they only had the prelim results, however my white cell count is looking promising. They have gone from 0.5 to 0.8 and normally when they go up so do my neuts. So keep your fingers crossed for today.
However I now have other problems. As I said about yesterday I have a very bad pain in my mouth. Yesterday it seemed to be under control with just paracetamol but last night it was just getting worse and worse. Unfortunately I had a nurse who just seemed a bit annoyed that I was making her work. The pain kept waking me up so I didnt get alot of sleep. This morning however I have a nice nurse (who apparently turned up and she shouldnt have even been working...oops) but either way it works for me. She has asked the doctor to prescribe some kind of pain killer that works on nerve pain....or something along them lines. Im still very tired so I just nod and smile (as best you can with a swollen mouth). The newest doctor (Charlie I think) has been in and is talking to Emma (who is a little crazy but really nice) she has just been in and has just gone to find something *shrugs* so hopefully they will be able to find something to help.

Although im in pain im quite excited! My stuff for the course I enroled on yesterday should be coming today....im not really sure what there will be in the package but im quite excited about it! It gives me something to do and get fired up about again that I can actually do in hospital. There is some theory involved aswell so might make my brain start working again. My grandma is also very excited about my new venture....not entirely sure why. I think its just because she has an excuse to get her nails done daily. So im sure an undate will be coming when i get that through :D

Emma has been back and had a look in my mouth. She said it could be that there is some inflamation from a wisdom tooth and im chewing on it....not literally but something like that. So will just have to see what the dentist says.

Stay Colourful

We will start with the updates today as there isnt a great deal. Yesterday my tooth started hurting, more aching then anything else...I thought it was a wisdom tooth coming through. The pain of wisdom :( but at 12.30 last night the pain woke me up and every time I swallowed it really hurt down my throught and neck on the right side. So i had some paracetamol through my line and managed to get to sleep. When they woke me up at 7 to take my blood I didnt really notice the pain but again when I woke up properly at 8.30 it was really hurting again so I had some more pain killers and when the doctors came round I mentioned it. The german one (who tries her best to make conversation bless her, but it doesnt really work) told me I had very nice teeth so....thats nice lol but they are going to get a 'very nice but bonkers' dentist to come and check my teeth. 'Nice but bonkers' seems to be a requirement for many people working in the NHS!!
Im still waiting on todays blood results so no updates there yet!

On more interesting news Iv just applied to do a home study nail technician course while Im ill so I have something that I can actually do in hospital to keep me occupied. So when I get that through (hopefully tomorrow) ill be needing peoples hands to practice on and take pictures of please :) any takers???

For those of you who are interested in my nails (Kimberley) they are in the process of changing from bright yellow to the bright blue that my mum bought me just before I went into ICU in November....remember that one??

Im channelling my summer look today with some demin roll up short type things that were once my mums...now mine :) and a navy vest top....doesnt sound that summery but teamed with my newly painted nails and a very nice bright orange silky scarf also doubling as a cute little belt...im feeling like im out in the sun. Well if I close my eyes and imagine really hard!!! Im gutted that this year I have NO chance of the slightest tan. I know im always 'pale and interesting' (thats my excuse and im sticking to it) but normally I have a small chance of being out in the sun and getting even a slightest hint of colour, but with chemo and being in hospital....NO CHANCE. So if its quite alright with everyone dont rub it in that you will all go a lovely golden colour :( although the majority of my friends are like me and dont tan so hopefully it shouldnt be too much of an issue!!!

Emily

Going up!

Just a quick update....For me back in hospital normally means Im waiting for my blood counts to go up so I can go home with a lower risk of getting an infection. And from having no neutrophils (one of your white blood cells) today I have 0.01....so hopefully this is the start of my counts going up and when that number reaches 0.5, im going home for a bit :) keep everything you can crossed that they will have jumpped up alot tomorrow when I see the doctors!!

Emily

Changing Rooms

Well Im in yet another room on ward 33...I think I must have been in at least half of the rooms now. I moved yesterday afternoon from room 5 to room 1. The very first room as you walk in...so visitor dont have to walk quite as far now lol The view is alot like the view I had in room 3 as it looks out onto the same little garden but its not quite as good...no smokers outside though, which is a good thing! The lay out of the room is all wrong though! hose of you that visit all my different rooms will understand! But the bathroom is slightly bigger....im not sure why this matters but I was quite excited about it.

View from room 3...my new view is slightly more to the left, so same thing from a different angle

You may have noticed my funky new background and such too...I have my friend Olivia to thank for that! Her blog (http://goldielocksandcupid.blogspot.com/) is extremely cool...check out her funky pictures she puts on, they r awesome! So I was looking at her blog and felt mine was quite inadequate so I clicked on this shabby blog site thing and found all sorts of random stuff.

Today hasnt been so exciting yet so thats all for the minute :)

xxx

Sleepy

I really dislike sleeping in hospital, especially when I have what must be the noisiest room on the ward!! Not impressed. I didnt get much sleep. Uncomfy bed, noisy nurses and just general hospital noise. The nurses were laughing at me at about 11.30 last night when the clock ticking was annoying me so I open my door and threw it out. They found that highly amusing....one of them said it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. I felt like saying you must have had a really boring life then!! Im moving rooms anyway. The doctor came in as I was ranting about the noise last night and also the lovely little smokers corner outside my room. They are on drips with their chemo going through and still smoking.....ARE THEY THICK!! That said at least they have a nice view is they sit outside my room. No not of me, of the fields. Although who wouldnt want to look at me lol joking!!

The smokers corner ^^^^ with no smokers right now obviously!

So what to do today??? Well im sure ill have lots of nurses in poking and prodding! The doc has already been in so I dont have that little joy to look forward to. At this minute I have a nurse making my bed...no no make that 2, and a cleaner doing her thing in the bathroom....and another nurse has just wandered in!!! They love me :D

Im very hungry right now and im intrigued as to what delights they will bring me for lunch as they didnt give me a menu yesterday...not that it makes a difference! I dont eat their nasty food anyway.... we joke about my mum bringing food in but I would starve if she didnt...thanks mum :) Its very difficult when your only allowed to eat certain things though because of the low counts, and im a fussy eater! Doesnt help matters. Good job I eat meat now though, otherwise we would be screwed!

Oh I also signed up for the Adidas Silverstone half marathon in March....might be very hard...well WILL be very hard as its hopefully going to be about 8months after transplant so ill be recovering but hey ho i like a chellenge. Mum has also signed up so expect sponsorship forms to be coming round :) also dont forget im doing the Race for life in June. I know alot of people do it and want sponsorship but remember Im on chemo and at the beginning of this year I couldnt walk so 3miles will be a chellenge for me right now :) so get sponsoring....

www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/emilypierce1

Emily

Back to hospital

Well today im not a happy bunny! Back to clinic this morning for blood tests and guess what...my bloods have dropped and I have to go back onto the ward! Me and my doctor are not friends any more. So the nicest thing they have ever done...let me home to pack my stuff so my mum doesnt have to figure out what Ill want. So after ringing my lovely boyfriend and bugging him at work I packed my stuff and waited for my mum to pack the food bag! That takes up the most room :D But thankfully today im travelling light as I dont have to haul all my college stuff in with me.

This is me travelling light ^^^ not too bad I dont think!!

So after a very warm drive to Castle Hill we got to the ward and my room isnt even ready!!! We went and sat in the day room (where im not usually allowed as I have to stay in my room) And from there we can almost see home!!!!!

After finally been admitted (it took over an hour) I finally got to have my milk!! :) yey! But my mum is unimpressed with the layout of the room...the bathrooms in the wrong place, as is the fridge, the tv and the bin!!! so she unpacked my food and rearranged the room as much as she could which to her distress was not a great deal!!

On other matters Iv been thinking about taking a home study nail technician course. I figure I can do that in hospital aswell!! So soon I may need peoples nails to practice on :D any takers??? I also wanted to learn how to make jewellery as I also love my earrings especially! One of the nurses said the lady who runs Beverley beads on Cott road can come and teach you but I rang and she seems to have shut down. So that ruins that plan untill I find someone else who can teach me...i may do the course at Hull college I was looking at a while ago when Im better. So if people start getting random jewellery as prezzies you know how im spending my time!

Im feeling quite summery again today. Im wearing my new Zara maxi dress and its flowery. Iv taken a couple of photos (the only photos really since Iv been ill) My nails are also bright yellow and they match my sandles.

A few random photos from the hospital.......

The Oncology building at CHH.Some 'modern art' from the corridor.....looks like lettuce leaves if you ask me.Some of the slightly better 'modern art'

1st post :-S

This is all a bit strange...how are you supposed to start writing these things?? I guess you should know a bit about me first.
I'm Emily and im 18 years old up until June 25th (next month :-D yey). I have far too much time on my hands right now as im in and out (mostly in) of Castle Hill Hospital. In September last year I was diagnosed with leukemia and im waiting for a bone marrow transplant. Its a very long story, so to cut it short in November I got relly ill and ended up in ICU for 5 days. I think it was 5 days but then again I cant really remember any of that so I could be wrong. Anyways after alot of complications Im feeling alot better now! Im having more chemo now to get the leukemia down again before transplant but seem to be tolerating this better then the last ones (touch wood). So now im just getting very bored of waiting...theres alot of that in hospital it seems!
Normally to pass the time I like internet shopping but turns out i spend far too much money when i do that :S so im going to start boring people with this blog :) Iv been doing the next best thing from shopping today...making stuff. A skirt that is. I had a really old dress from primark that I was going to get rid of but instead of sending it away Iv recycled it to make quite a cool skirt. I need to start doing that with my old things instead of shopping!!! We have about 7 bags of old things for charity shop so ill just start cutting them up and using all the fabric I got from college last year (I was doing fashion before I got ill). I love to make things but get a bit distracted sometimes. Ho hum.
Hope the first post wasnt too boring....bye for now x