Holidays and Low Days

It was back to earth with a bang today as I had a clinic appointment at Papworth. The hope was to meet up with Stacie Pridden and Kath Graham, both of whom I know from the PH forum. I've met Kath before but never Stacie so I was very excited. However the hospital decided to mess things up by giving Stacie the fastest appointment ever and me the slowest. Ah well, we will have to keep trying, eventually we will manage to all be in the same place at the same time.

Ceiling of the Chapter House

The doctors were pleased with me overall. I'm still a couple of pounds off target weight but they are happy as long as I don't lose any. My SATs were 91% at rest so that is also good and they liked the results of the ECHO I had at the Brompton a couple of weeks ago. However the slide is still down and still very evident so they admit they need to get a bit of a wiggle on as regards the transplant. The doctor said that they were trying hard and were hopeful for a result soon. They always say that though so I'm not taking any notice.

The RAF Memorial

So back to the holiday.

Very ornate clock

I must say we had a fabulous time of it. The weather was just right all the way through, dry sunny and warm, not hot. I saw almost everything I wanted to but sadly, being stuck in a chair, not everything was available to me. I've already mentioned the wall walk, and of course there were other places I'd have liked to have visited but couldn't. Roman and Tudor architecture are not built to accommodate wheelchairs. I couldn't do any of the ghost tours either as they involved climbing stairs and tramping across graveyards in the dark.

The floor of the Chapter House

A definite highlight of the trip was meeting fellow PH sufferer Carole Ayrton and her husband Colin. We met for a coffee and a long chat and if only we lived close I think we would be great friends and meet up often. As it is I have now turned another face book friend into a real friend and that is always a joy. Carole brought me a very thoughtful gift of delicious biscuits to make it easier for me to gain weight. How lovely of her to think of my needs. I was so sad that our time was so short but I'm determined to see her again, and soon. (And not just because of the biscuits.)

Carole and Myself at the market

The big downside is that the trip made me realise how much I've deteriorated since we went away to Canterbury last year. Then I could walk short distances and was able to do stuff that was impossible on this trip. I was so tired by the end of the day that I literally fell into bed. If I could have had a rest day between each sightseeing trip I might have coped better but I couldn't so now I'm paying for it with a very sore chest and difficulty in breathing. The doctors couldn't find any evidence of infection at clinic today and my SATs are good so the conclusion is that I need to rest and I should be fine.

One of many memorials

I am sore for another reason too. Yes I fell off my scooter again. This time it was a graceful topple sideways but I still managed to bruise my arm, which I stuck out to save myself, and my hip, where I landed on my car keys. We were visiting the ruined abbey and I was toddling along quite happily over grass and gravel. Then I went across the corner of the building to take photos of the other side and failed to see the lump of rock in the grass. Over I went and lay there laughing while a thundering of feet told me help was on the way.

One of the restored cut glass windows

Another highlight was feeding squirrels in the Museum Gardens. These greedy little creatures took nuts from the palm of my hand, quickly buried them and then came back for more. I'd have happily stayed there all day if I could. I did make sure to wash my hands thoroughly afterwards though. They may look cute but can carry some nasty diseases.

Lectern in the for of a Gold Eagle

I am including several photos in this blog. I've taken over 500 so if you want to see them all then follow my flickr links on the right hand side bar or view them on face book where I've created an album. I haven't uploaded them all yet though, didn't want to crash the system, but they should all be there by Monday. I will also post more in the next few blogs.

The imposing exterior to York Minster

Now I'm going to follow doctors orders and catch up on a weeks worth of Eastenders. More tomorrow.