Presentation Stress

As part of the live event module on my course we have had to put on an event for Marie Curie. We originally planned to do a pamper night but after little contact with the venue we had to change the whole idea at the last minute- stressful! I might have mentioned before that stress is a big factor with crohns and its important to keep it to a minimum. As well as changing the whole idea we also had to do a presentation on Thursday which was scary! I felt so nervous before that it started to hurt my tummy but after it was done I felt fine again. The presentation went really well and I don't know why I was so worried. It has proven to me that I can do things that I don't think I can do and if I can believe in myself a little bit more I won't get as stressed.

Today we got the results back and our group got a 1st so we must be doing something right! 

Motivation

This week has been a very productive week in our house and everyone seemed to be motivated to sort things out for the next year! Me and Tally made the decision to put our deposits down for the student accommodation that we were looking at in Coventry. It is £125 a week which is about £40 more expensive than our house at the moment but as it is bills included and is next to the uni buildings we go to we will probably be paying around the same with taxis, tv licence, internet and bills factored in. I am really pleased with the decision as I think it will make next year a lot easier for me. My lectures are a couple of minutes walk away and I am also next to the library which is good for when I come to do my dissertation. I can get to town in 10 mins and everything else is very close. There will also be less stress as I don't have to worry about paying bills and whether other people in the house will pay me back on time! Overall it's the best place for me to be in my final year. I do wonder if I didn't get crohns would I have considered it as an option but this is just one of many things that has had to be changed and considered now. 

The other good news is that I have my job back at Odeon! I worked there over the summer doing a few shifts in the week and really enjoyed it before I started to get ill. I love working on the screens and being able to catch different bits of the films and I haven't been to the cinema since I worked there. I called my manager on Monday and although she said they were expecting to hear from me sooner they had saved my job for me which I am so grateful for! They were very understanding when I gave them my conditions for coming back (2 shifts a week, up to 6 hours to start, no working on retail) and I go back on Saturday! I really can't wait to start feeling abit more normal but I know I need to be careful and not push myself too quickly. 

I have also booked an appointment to meet with the health and well being officer at Uni to see if there are any ways to make my time at uni a little bit easier and to help me apply for disabled students living allowance which would really help.

Tomorrow I am planning to visit somewhere very exciting and I cant wait to share it with you I just hope it goes to plan!

Organising my room

This year I want to start being more organised and prepared, I know that stress can affect crohn's and I have seen in myself what happens when I get stressed so I am going to do as much as a can to prevent that. This weekend I moved back into my house in Coventry so whilst unpacking I decided to have a real clear out and organise the things I use the most. I am very limited on space and storage so everything needs to have a place! I managed to clear out a couple of bin bags and a recycling bag full of rubbish, mainly toiletries and papers from old work. I have also put some more things on eBay, last weeks sales made £70 which I am very pleased about!

I have included some pictures of my room to show how I have organised some things and also because I am very nosy about other peoples bedrooms so I thought you might be too! My bed is never usually made but the cushions with words on I did make from an old bed sheet, the quilt at the end of my bed was a gift for going to uni. The pictures on the wall are hung by a piece of string (I am praying the holes from the nails aren't viable when I take them out or the landlord won't be happy!). I am planning to bring up some more pictures on Wednesday.

I have labelled the draws to remind me what's in them, I moved them so I can get better access and also use the top for space. On the top I have put all the products I use every day for example cleanser and moisturiser so they are easy to reach when I'm feeling lazy. I have put products there that i don't use very often like bio oil to encourage me to use it more. I have also got my make up bag and a bag with my medicine in so I don't forget to take it. I managed to compress my toiletries from 3 bags to one draw by being strict and throwing out anything that I wouldn't use again or was getting old.

I have also shown a picture of my wardrobe, luckily I have 2 draws under my bed, one for underwear and one for t shirts and other tops otherwise would never fit anything in! My wardrobe is sorted by items grouped together and all my shoes are kept underneath along with trousers which are folded in a pile. My bags are all grouped together on a shelf so I can see them and change them around. I also sorted out that my 2 main bags for uni have essentials in like tissues, a mirror, hand cream and paracetamol. The hand cream being in my bag will encourage me to use it.

The folder is my crohns folder so everything is in one place, pretty impressive amount of paper work since October! I really hope my room stays like this and I keep the motivation up to be organised. What are your tips for keeping on top of things?

Germany!

I spent last week in Germany with the University and it was so good! I did write a blog post while I was there but it didn't upload so I will just write everything in this one. The journey there was very exhausting, it took almost 12 hours because of the snow which meant lots of delays but we all managed to keep each other going and by the time we got to the hostel it was a relief to be going to bed!

The hostel was really nice, it was very clean and comfy and the breakfast in the morning was surprisingly nice. My room mates were impressed with the amount of tablets I had to take when we ate! The trip was an innovation trip so we spent the week at a German university with other students. It was very hard work and quite stressful with the deadlines they gave us, my energy levels were a bit up and down as well. One day I fell asleep 4 times and eventually they decided to just leave me! The food was good at the uni, you could get a big meal with desert for €2.35 and it was delicious. I didn't feel like I had to avoid many foods and there was some choices which made it easier. I even ended up trying sauerkraut which is like a pickled cabbage and enjoyed it!

When we weren't at the university we had some time to look around the city and visit some of the sights. One night we went on a tour of the cathedral and other places around cologne. On our final day we ended up visiting them again in the daylight to see abit better. The cathedral was amazing and we all lit a candle which was quite overwhelming. We also visited the love locks which are on the bridge over the river. This is where you and the person you love put a lock on the bridge and then throw the key down so it will stay locked there forever, it is something I would love to go back and do. We also visited the chocolate museum but didn't do the tour as it was quite expensive. Instead we decided to spend some time in the gift shop where I got a few presents to bring home. We also spent an evening at the hard rock cafe which have never been to, personally i thought it was very over priced and not that good, i didnt feel very well after either but i am glad ive been! I have included some pictures at the bottom of the sights we saw!

Overall the trip was really good and has shown me that I can push myself further than I think. When I was in hospital in October I really didn't think I would be coming back to university so soon and going to other countries so I am quite proud of myself for being able to do it! It has given me lots of motivation and I would love to plan some more trips abroad soon.

Hurdles

Today has been very exhausting, the morning was spent in the hospital at my appointment to see Dr Kahn my gastroenterologist and the rest of the day was spent shopping, spending time with my cousin and packing for cologne. To make things easier I will split these up into separate posts!

The meeting with Dr Kahn was overall quite positive, he started by asking if there was anything I was confused about and I told him I still wasn't completely clear about where my crohns was. He explained that the large and the small bowel are the most commonly affected, the small bowel is named that because it is very thin. This is the part that confused me as it is much longer than the large bowel! He told me my inflammation is all the way round the large bowel and then a small part into the small bowel - normal for someone with crohns. This was reassuring and didn't feel patronising at all which is what I like about him! He also said that despite the shingles, which caused a break in my taking of azathioprine, my blood tests were showing an improvement on inflammation! This means the steroids were still working (I love the way doctors say steroids, like stiroids). However he has upped the dosage again to 4 tablets a day for the next two weeks. Ideally I would like to come off steroids soon but hopefully this big hit of them will mean that I can.

He also explained about surgery in the future and that he would do everything he could to prevent me from having it and explained the next options if the steroids don't work. These come in the form of injections which I have heard some negative things about from other crohns patients so I'm hoping I can stay away from those! The next hurdle is going back to university and fitting in appointments at home with my work. I already face this in the next two weeks where I start university but have a hospital appointment an hour and a half away the next day! These are things to work out as I go along but I hope that it will settle down eventually.

Shingles update

This week I have neglected my blog a little bit (and myself if I'm honest). I came back to university on Friday night and it's been difficult to settle in whilst at the same time testing how far I can push myself. Having shingles on top of that and being taken off azathioprine has not made it easy! I have finished the tablets and the rash is definitely healing but now it is the most painful as some of the scabs come off and there's fresh skin underneath (disgusting I know). Through out this week I have tried a few methods pain relief to get through the night as its been difficult to sleep. Some of these worked great, some a little too well and some I didn't feel the affect of at all. That is another blog post completely and one I probably won't share for awhile! I have also noticed this week that my emotions have been all over the place. Clearly my body is getting used to being pumped full of drugs and then having them taken away has shocked it. There is information online about chronic pain and shingles being linked to depression, although I don't think it's going to get that far I can tell that I'm not myself. I am looking forward to starting the azathioprine again tomorrow as I could feel it working and it might help balance me out again! I am hoping that having the 10k run to focus on will level me out and keep me from feeling too down.

Sale Shopping!

The Christmas sales have started and this Boxing Day I decided to go shopping to see if I could pick up some bits. I even wrote a list to keep myself on track (despite it saying NO DRESSES I did end up with one...) These are some of the bits I picked up!

• iPad case £3. I have a hard case on my iPad but wanted something to protect it when I chuck it in my bag to take to Uni!
• Red River Island Clutch £8. You can never have to many clutch bags and this one will look nice with a red lipstick.
• Lightweight Jumpers £10 each. These are great to throw on for lectures and go with pretty much everything.
• Burgundy dress River Island £15. I liked this dress at the full price (£28 I think it was) so when I saw it was in my size in the sale I decided to just buy it!
• Black New Look Wedges £15. My brother got me a New Look gift card for Christmas so I decided to use that to get these black wedges. They are so comfy so I will probably wear these for New Years!
• I also bought some new underwear and some jewellery from asos! 

Azathioprine and Prednisolone

This week I had my first post-hospital check up with my Doctor. I first saw the nurse who took my weight (I've finally managed to put on some!) and my height (I've grown 1/4 inch, i'm now a massive 5"2 1/4! I then saw a specialist Crohns nurse who my doctor had asked me to see. She was the most helpful person I have spoke to so far and gave me so much information. The blood test from a couple of days before showed I still had high inflammation and low protein. I have come off the steroids I was on as my symptoms had got worse and she suggested the dosage wasn't high enough so I have been put on another 6 week course which decreases my one tablet each week, this is called Prednisolone. I have also been put on Azathioprine which is an immunosuppressant to stop the cells in my immune system attacking my body and causing inflammation. These can take up to 6 weeks to start making a difference so as the steroids decrease these should kick in and start to work. 2/3 people are fine on this but the other third can suffer from side effects such as flu symptoms and joint pain which I need to be aware of. It also says a 'very common' side effect is anorexia which I cant understand! I will need to have blood tests weekly to check my liver function  and anaemia which start this Friday. I also had several questions to ask which she answered fully such as Can I give blood? Nope, I need it! Can I take paracetamol and codeine? Yes, anything but ibuprofen is fine. Can I drink alcohol? Yes, in moderation. My original doctor came in to visit during the appointment and said some words that have really helped. He said its up to me now I really need to own it and if I want to be better they will do everything they can to help like giving me the medication I need but its up to me to take it and look after myself and focus on getting better. It has made me realise that this needs to be priority now and everything else like University and other things can wait. He said that if the medicine starts to work I should be able to go back but if they don't then I wont be able to go on the Cologne trip so fingers crossed!