So firstly sorry for the delay with this post but you shall see why when I explain what has been going on the past month or so.

So firstly Christmas went off without a hitch (well I mean I was in pain, I fainted and I vomited but you know it was fine.) Then I had a wedding on 28th which lets just say didn’t go according to plan…… Now listen the wedding was amazing, I mean I have never seen a more beautiful bride and the hotel was fab, everything about it was amazing if only my body was as amazing haha don’t think we’ve much hope there….. So the day before we decided to go half way and to break up the 3 hour journey and we just chilled in a hotel for the evening which was lovely. The next day we made the journey to Cromleach lodge in Sligo, which is a fabulous venue for a wedding and I can’t speak highly enough of the staff who went above and beyond to make things easier for me. The drinks reception went well and I got to catch up with one of my old nursing friends from college which was nice, during the meal I managed to vomit 3 times and faint twice so my plan of blending in and acting normal didn’t go exactly as planned haha luckily I didn’t vomit on the table….now that wouldn’t be embarrassing at all!!!!! And worst of all the dessert was sticky toffee pudding and I couldn’t even eat it… DEVO!! I napped for an hour and went back up and had a wee chat with the stunning bride and then went to bed by 11.30 managing to faint in the hall with my dress up round my waist…classy kim real classy haha. Poor orla undressed me and helped me take my make up off and put me to bed…….seriously what a friend and if you think that was bad I retched and vomited from armagh to blackrock on the way home and she just carried on driving…..friend of the year award goes to……ORLA MUlHOLLAND!!! And now for a look at the stunning bride and me!!

Unfortunately the recovery process was much worse than expected, probably the worst I’ve ever felt which is a pretty big statement to make but hey I did it and there was no chance I was going to miss it! By the time I had recovered I had about two days left til my next adventure which was skiing!! Eep! So the day before we’re due to go I wake up excited that there’s only one more sleep!! (I’m such a child) but……….. HELLO HELLO i’M AT A PLACE CALLED VERTIGO!!! Yup my vertigo is back like literally could it have it picked a worse time to rear its dizzy head….. mum and dad seriously considered cancelling the holiday because I could barely sit up nevermind stand but there was no way I was letting that happen. Luckily I had packed the day before so I could just lie down flat for the day, take my vertigo meds and hope for the best! unfortunately it never fully disappeared and I still have it when i move my head certain ways which is majorly annoying so my GP thinks I may have to have some sort of procedure done to help it, we shall see. Anyway other than that the holiday went really well, check out the cute family snap at the top 🙂 the travelling was pretty rough but after that I had a really chilled week overall, I managed to make it up the mountain everyday for lunch and some days a cheeky gluhwein 😉 and let me tell you there is literally nothing like the fresh mountain air, its just so refreshing and clean haha. I love it! I would have loved nothing more than to be skiing but obviously that wasn’t an option this time and I’m not gonna lie, one night I was in agony and it all just got a bit too much for me and I had a wee break down but it only lasted about 10 minutes and I perked myself up and watched an episode of gilmore girls with Jane, the perfect pick me up! Overall the week was an absolute success, it was great to spend time with the family all together and thankfully we got on really well it was lovely.

So we came home from Austria on Saturday and I was straight back into appointments on Monday which was my pain specialist, so basically he’s pretty scared of me (who isn’t at this stage lol) and is reluctant to do the back surgery because of how i reacted the last time which is understandable but at the same time freaking annoying!! GRR!! So he decided to change my morphine to a long acting one and one that doesn’t cause constipation (TMI sorry) and he also tripled the dose, so that was a bit of an adjustment but it definitely works better than what I was on and he also told me to do a few stretches for my back (more about that in a bit) and also use heat everyday, then he wanted me to ring him in two weeks to see what was going on…. I’ll get to that!!

Then it was my birthday! Yay me!! 27!! Jesus I’m getting old!! So me and four friends went out for a meal just to mark the occasion the night before and then on my birthday i went to my fave place for brunch! Yum!!

Two days later and its time to catch up with my cardiologist! So basically he put me on a new drug three months ago and it’s actually helping my faints but I need to be on a higher dose for it to work more efficiently but to do that he wants me to reduce two of my other drugs now this may not sound like a big deal but in reality these drugs could be the difference from me fainting once to a day to go back to fainting 15 times a day we just don’t know! So I have to do it very slowly and carefully so I shall update you on how that goes!! Also when they tested my wee loop recorder it showed my heart rate changed by 40 beats when I fainted which is quite a bit!!

The next day I’m being a good girl and sitting on the floor doing my stretches for my back when…… POP!!!! Yup I dislocated my shoulder and my AC joint, well done Kim pat on the back!!! Anyway thanks to the help of nurse Diane my shoulder was back in place, ended up with a trip to the GP>minor injuries unit> fracture clinic because my AC wasn’t back in, but in the end I popped it back in in my sleep!! Usually when my joints go back in I feel instant relief and just have a deep achy kind of pain for a week or so but not this time……So I had to ring my pain specialist a couple of days later anyway, so I filled him in on my “normal” pain and he decided to increase my morphine again from 30mg to 40mg so thats a bit better and then i mentioned what was happening with my shoulder and he said i need to see an orthopaedic specialist, so i have a new doctor to add to my list!! sigh!! I’m off to see him in the Beacon on tuesday so we’ll see what he says hopefully he’ll help because writing this blog with one hand is not easy haha!!

But I’ve got some good news peeps!! I have a couple more trips planned!! I’ve decided that it really helps me stay positive when I have something to look forward too, I swear I’m not high maintenance!! So myself and my gorgeous mum are heading off to Farnham estate in cavan after my appointment on tuesday, I can’t wait for a wee pamper day and maybe a glass of prosecco if I behave!! lol! Then myself and my good friend Ciara are heading off at the end of the month for a night in The Morgan in dublin!! Very Posh I know!!!

I’m deffo not leaving it as long the next time because I know this was crazy long! Sorry!! and well done to anyone who is still reading!! haha!! but so much has happened in the last six weeks,

So the moral of the story is chronic illness is not going to stop me living my life even if sometimes i feel like it’s not worth it, it always is, it makes me feel that little bit more normal and like I’m not missing out on as much. Special mention to my grandad whose 1st anniversary was last week, I don’t believe in god but I do believe he’s with me and pushing me on every step of the way! #kimbo