It's been a while!

Well hello there! I have been informed on several occasions (by one person) that I have neglected my poor wee blog. I kinda feel that I don't really have much to say now?! But anyway, to keep all my avid readers (i.e. Dad) happy, here we go!

My latest scan was at the beginning of March and everything was grand. Appointments have been decreased to every three months but I don't need to go back to London until December - hurrah! I will be very pleased if I never have to see the inside of Charing Cross Hospital again, but that won't be happening any time soon. Energy wise, I have definitely improved but I know I'm not back to my old levels. I still get tired very easily and if I don't have a good night's sleep (at least 8 hours), it makes my hands cramp constantly the next day and have pins and needles in my legs. It's all rather odd. This means that I am now SO precious over my sleep (which would be great if I slept well) as I know if I get a dreadful sleep, it will ruin the next day. Other than that, my tinnitus is still super annoying but I just have to suck it up and think it could be worse.

OK, that's the boring stuff over with, what else shall I fill you in with..? It has been quite a while so when I think about it, I have done rather a lot! In September I held a few Coffee Mornings for Macmillan and absolutely loved it. We had one at church and then another in Hillhead Bookclub, both with great turnouts! This was taken at the end of the night - Ruth and I were knackered from running about all day!

The next few snaps are a combination of events and fun times before the end of last year - mainly to show my hair progress!

Once my hair had grown to a mullet, I decided it was time for the chop! The hairdresser actually took quite a bit off, but I did like it - even though I felt like the haircut made me look middle aged.

We had a lovely Christmas and New Year with all the family filled with plenty games of Risk and Shloer - standard. 

The past few months have again been filled with birthdays, hen do's, weddings and general merriment. My favourite kind of thing.

Oh yeah, here's that time I turned up at a wedding in EXACTLY the same colour dress as the bridesmaids.. Whoops.

One highlight of the past few months was LES MIS. I may be slightly obsessed which was apparent in the birthday cake that was made for me..

I realise this has just become a bit of an erratic photo diary but OH WELL. As you can see from the above, I definitely have been able to do more. I even have enough energy to stand at gigs - amazing huh? Using your legs TO STAND. This was a totally mental concept to me not that long ago - if you see me smiling contently while standing, it's because this is still a BIG DEAL. Other than the above, I've also done some volunteering and looking to get back into work again. My 'vague' plan is to continue volunteering/applying for internships until the end of Summer and try and get back to working then. It kinda terrifies me but I think I am capable and a lot of the fear is to do with my confidence. I know that the more I do, the more my confidence will grow, so, I just need to push myself and try! I am also doing an Open University course which I'm really enjoying. The next topic is all about the Suffragettes - totally up my street! I'm quite surprised at how much I really like studying again, maybe it's because there's no pressure attached to it?! 

On Monday I was also back on the TCT Ward for the first time in ages to meet Aileen McLeod MSP. It felt very strange being back. When I walked in I even forgot what floor the ward was on - I think that's a good sign. It was great to meet her - she was so lovely and interested in the work the TCT do. She also told us that she had suffered from cancer as a teenager so really understands the difficulties that young people with cancer face. The TCT are currently working on ensuring that all young people throughout Scotland get the same level of care, regardless of where they live. The work the TCT do is essential and hopefully I'll be able to help out more in the future. 

Well, I think that'll do for now - I shall try to update a bit more frequently but let's be honest here, I probably won't. BYE.

"Well, that looks fantastic!"

Once again, I have left it a very long time to update this old thing. I feel I don't really have much to say anymore! So, I'll just pop up a wee health/life update on my little corner of the internet.

So, last Thursday evening, Mum and I made the journey once again to London. Unfortunately, this was not for Fashion's Night Out or the Paralympics, but for an appointment with the prof on Friday Morning. We arrived at Daphne's (who once again put up with us!) rather late so went straight to bed. My MRI was at 9.45 so it was a pretty early morning for us! After that, we headed over to clinic and were seen early (THIS NEVER HAPPENS) which was good. We had a little catch up and I was told off for doing too much.. Whoopsie. The prof said he thinks my little 'episodes' are probably migraine related but also that they seem to happen when I'm overtired. So, I have been told once more not to push myself - I will be taking things easy these next few weeks! He then looked up my MRI and had a look through. He said it looked fantastic and there was no trace of the cancer - what a relief! After he said that, Mum and I both realised how nervous we'd been up to that point. When I'm nervous, I feel incredibly nauseous and can't eat. The second he said that, the sickness feeling passed. I'm not sure why I was so worked up about this scan - I guess every check up is nerve-wracking, so it is great to hear everything looks good. My blood levels are still a bit all over the place so we're going to keep a close eye on them. Dark chocolate is supposed to help Magnesium levels so I've been instructed to eat a lot of that.. What a shame. We had a long catch up and then Mum and I were free! I absolutely LOVE walking out of Charing Cross Hospital in a good mood - it doesn't have many happy memories attached to it. We're not due back down until March but I will still have my blood checked regularly and have appointments at The Beatson. So to celebrate, we headed into Chinatown for some dim sum and then went to see Anna Karenina at the cinema in Leicester Square. The cinema is so nice inside but it was £18 a ticket!

After this, we headed into town to meet my good chum Martin for dinner. We ended up in Covent Garden drinking prosecco in a lovely rooftop bar - perfect! The next day we met Cousin Kate for brunch and headed back to Daphne's to get ready for Matthew's Friends Ball (http://www.matthewsfriends.org/). The charity is raising money and awareness for children with epilepsy to try a different diet - it was such an amazing and inspirational night hearing about the charity and the amazing work they do. We were at a table with some of Mum and Dad's friends from Cole Abbey, so Mum loved the catching up!

The past wee while hasn't been too busy but enough for me to feel shattered all the time! My energy levels are still RUBBISH but fingers crossed they'll pick up soon - they're taking their sweet time. Here are some pictures of recent events.. First up we have Sarah's wedding! It was such an amazing day, Sarah was such a gorgeous bride - DUH. We stayed at Granny & Grandpa's the night before then Alice's lovely folks put up with us on the night of the wedding - thanks Sandra! 

William laughing at my wasp sting..

Showing the dance floor our Beyonce moves.

This wasn't actually posed (honest) - it's just to show how long my hair is! PONYTAIL TIME!

Beautiful Mrs McNeish!

Next up is just a bundle of random photo's from the last month or so.. First up, I absolutely LOVED the Olympics - which is bizarre as I do not enjoy watching or participating in sports.. Oh well, it was awesome. Ruth and Ally held an opening ceremony night, so obviously we had cake.

We had a wonderful holiday club in Coatbridge with lots of amazing kids - I've stolen this snap off you Jane, I hope you don't mind!

My lovely cousin Esther turned 21, so she held a 20s themed party! Any excuse to get dressed up :)

I also had a day at the fringe with my lovely Music Girls (not sure why we still call each other this - we left uni 5 years ago!) - it was great fun.

Finally, we have a picture of myself in the local newspaper! I'm currently doing some volunteering for Macmillan and trying to get folk to sign up for the World's Biggest Coffee Morning at the end of the month! I'm holding one in Coatbridge and also one at Hillhead Bookclub - it should be fun! Also, the newspaper spelt Macleod wrong..

Today I have done absolutely nothing and I still feel shattered. I have come down with a rubbish cold and can't speak at all - I'm guessing everyone in the house is rather thankful about this. I hope it comes back as I have plans this week - ANNOYING. I shall try not to leave it as long before my next update. I say that but any money it's longer. Oh well, laters!

Pop Pop!

Afternoon all! I thought I would 'pop' up a wee update on the blog for y'all. I am currently in bed with some peppermint tea having a very chilled Sunday afternoon (actually, I have to lie down as I ate so much at lunch). I have had a rather busy few weeks so I will fill you all in!

First up (will get health rubbish out of the way), I've been feeling rather rotten. I have had some weird fainting/dizzy/light-headedness spells and they don't seem to be easing up. My magnesium is pretty low again so it might be in relation to that. Basically, I'm constantly feeling light headed and at times my right arm goes all tingly and I feel like I'm about to faint - not particularly pleasant. I've also had the kaleidescope eye thing again - this in particular freaked me out as it reminded me of what I felt like during chemo. I'm going to call the docs tomorrow to see if she has any suggestions on how to get rid of this. I'm feeling rather restricted again as I'm paranoid to go out and do things as I do not fancy fainting alone in Topshop! That would be pretty awkward. It's really frustrating as I was feeling good and desperate to do more things - I know I'm not back to square one, but it is annoying.

Anywho, enough of that. I've had a lovely time this past month with weddings, hen do's and a trip to Keswick! First up, we had Cat and Paul's wedding. It was such a wonderful day and I was so happy to be a part of it. Cat has been one of our closest friends for so long and I felt so emotional watching her walk down the aisle! ML's speech was obviously a highlight too.

I have more photo's to get off Dad's camera so I will do that soon! On the wedding theme, last weekend we had Sarah's hen and it was AWESOME. A surprise party on the Friday (with lots of Sarah masks), a dance class on the Sat (which my legs have just recovered from), then dinner, drinks and dancing on Saturday night - a wonderful weekend! Well done to the bridesmaids for organising an amazing time for all!

This last week, Mum, Dad, Granny and I went to Keswick - it was really nice to get away for a few days and see the family. I felt pretty ropey a lot of the time so didn't do much but a change of scene is always fun. Dad and I also managed to fit a trip to the Pencil Museum.. We lasted ten minutes. I don't think I'll be going back.

This post feels like it's been a jumble of pictures and rambling - so, same old huh? I shall report back soon with something interesting. Maybe.