Brain Hospital.

A new series called Brain Hospital has started on Channel 5 here in the UK. The series documents patients with various problems related to the brain and the journeys they go through including becoming patients of The Walton Centre a neurological centre as part of the NHS in Liverpool. The first episode includes a young lady who has severe Epilepsy. It's a hard and emotional program to watch but very enlightening and I feel it will be a brilliant way to show the nation some much needed awareness of various condition involving the brain along with Epilepsy. Well worth a watch if possible. 

Published work

Some of my photographic work has been published on Paula Roid today! 

Paula Roid is a blog that showcases work from up and coming female photographers. Please do give it a view :) There's plenty of talented women producing some amazing photography out there. 

Definitely makes me want to crack out my camera some more, I need to get my head back in the game after taking some time off to try and sort my brain out. Obviously not getting very far with that task so best put it back into action in the creative world eh?! 

Much love! 

Fantastic weekend madness

This weekend has been like a whirlwind blowing through the house! Everyone was back home for a couple of days plus some lovely extra people so the level of energy was high with plenty of happy vibes. Friday was an evening full of people chit chat and hysterical stomach toning laughing. Saturday afternoon I met up with an old house mate who's recently moved down to Cardiff to live to visit a gallery and catch the last day of a photographic exhibition. It was lovely to have a catch up and get a fill of arty goodness. The evening was spent in Cardiff bay out for dinner with everyone followed by my first experience of a Bollywood film at the cinema, which ended with us all standing by the screen trying to learn the dance moves... SO fun! 

Then there was Sunday.. which turned out to be an interesting and amazing day!! It started with me waking up to find this on my room door...

I was then told by my housemates to put some really nice clothes on which I did, we then got in the car and I had to close my eyes the entire drive. I had NO idea where we were going! After been led out of the car and across the road (with the wind determined to blow my dress everywhere) I opened my eyes to find we were stood outside Waterloo Gardens Teahouse somewhere I've been wanting to visit for AGES!!! It's a lovely teahouse with about a billion teas from all over the world to choose from, fabulous cakes and arty exhibits hanging over all over the walls inside. 

My friends presented me with flowers, chocolates and bucks fizz, and an adorable card full of sweet messages :) SO CUTE!!! I love them all so much :)

We all stuffed ourselves full of afternoon tea consisting of delicious sandwiches, scones with cream and jam, amazing cakes and chocolates and our chosen tea's.

I chose Jade Cloud tea (obviously) with a big juicy slice of courgette and lime cake! Neither of which I'd ever tasted before and I can officially say that it was the best choice ever! It really was so lovely for us all to be back in the house for the weekend. 

I'm still not sleeping properly and having had such a busy fun weekend it's needless to say I'm very, very tired so taking it easy for a couple of days, the weather is really rubbish here at the moment so I think it's a good excuse to stay cosy! 

Hair today sleep tomorrow

I'm just going to have a tired and frustrated whinge. These last few nights sleep have been very unusual for me. Due to my meds and possibly teeny tiny seizures I'm not even aware about I'm pretty much always tired. I usually sleep all through the night (like a log) in fact I'm usually fast asleep by about 10:30pm having gone to bed at around 10 and don't wake up until anywhere between 8 and 10:30am depending on how my brain feels. Plus a nap in the afternoon most days. But over the last few nights I keep waking up at strange hours of the morning say 5:30 for example and I'm WIDE awake. It's driving me round the bend because it has a knock on effect for the daytime hours when I need to be getting whatever needs to be done in life.. well.. done. I don't exactly have heaps of energy normally so anything else that takes any away does not help!

Also, I had my hair cut today. I wear it as a pixie crop because it got so thin very quickly when I started taking my medicine particularly the Keppra which I've been on for over two years now. Having it short makes it appear much thicker than when I had it long! I recently changed hair salons and today (my second visit to this one) my hairdresser asked if I use a hairdryer or swim a lot. I instantly knew that he's noticed how thin it is and told him all about having to take a lot of medicine and how they dramatically affected my hair. I never use a hair dryer anymore (not that I used one a great deal before) and use a organic "gentle" shampoo which I really think helps but yes I do swim a lot so the chlorine obviously doesn't help the matter. It sucks though to have someone bring it up again. He was very nice about everything as we talked and has suggested a hair thickening product system which I MIGHT give a go... we'll see. May well just be a money making scam though.. but then for £15 for a whole kit it may be worth a try.

Anyway as I'm typing I keep having to stop to re-engage my concentration, my eyes feel like I need matchsticks to keep them open and my face is aching like there's little anvils clinging on. I think it might be time for bed. I hope I can get a decent nights sleep soon and for them to carry on as I cannot work like this and my job starts soon.. talk about bad timing.

Festive catch-up

The holiday period was a lovely one! I spent Christmas staying at my mums and New Year staying at my dads, both were fabulous and brilliant times to relax with family.

Britain decided it might want to sink just before Christmas, we had SO much rain it was unbelievable, there was serious and in some cases deadly flooding everywhere. I was VERY lucky to get up to my mums place for Christmas as I caught the LAST train out of South Wales before they shut the line. Phew!!

I got up to all sorts while I was away from home...

One thing being... getting back on a horse. Given that a particularly scary fall from a horse back when I was in my early teens is one of the possible causes for my seizures today, riding again was no mean feit... Before this particular fall I'd ridden most of my life from an early age. With both sides of my family having horses especially with my mum being a horse trainer and riding instructor it was just an everyday thing. This time though after not riding for years I was unbelievably nervous but I finally got on  one of my mums horses called Dancer. She was so calm and had always been a horse that can sense what the riders is feeling. She put up with my tenseness and silent panic very well and I eventually I even managed a smile, it still makes me smile when I think about it. 

The biggest news is... two yes TWO of my friends got engaged over the festive period :D one on Christmas day and one on News Years eve! The latter of which I was highly privileged enough to witness <3 so, so adorable!

My dad, sister and I took the current 4x4 off-roading for the very last time as my dad is busy building a brand new one scratch SO EXCITING!! We managed a good set of hours running it around the areas, off cliffs and in a ton of mud before someone else got stuck in a swampy area and we rescued him. Unfortunately just after a successful rescue of the other guy, we then broke down and become stuck in the same area! Typical! It was SO fun though so not all was lost. 

Plans now? Get my hair cut, wait to hear when I officially start my internship (super nervous and excited), volunteering on Thursday, thorough sort out of all my paperwork that's hanging around, book a GP appointment about my knee, get in contact with a charity project that I've heard about and see if I can help plus other bits and pieces.

Hello New Internship!

Well apparently my interview went well as... I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!!! I'm now officially employed in the place of my dreams!!! I cannot believe it, and absolutely delighted :) 

Best phone call EVER! 

I'm waiting for the forms to be processed by HR and will hear back from the lovely lady who was one of the people in my interview and who will be my support throughout, on Friday. Then it's go go go!

It's going to be hard especially in terms of tiredness and seizures but for now... Jade 1 - Epilepsy 0 !!!

I'm nervous I'm not going to lie, but I'm unbelievably excited too!

When it snows..

On a more cheery note compared with the last few posts... 

It snowed :D Yaaaaaay! 

Britain (mainly England I reckon :P) goes CRAZY when it snows. We don't usually get wide spread snow on this little island of ours so there isn't much money spent on keeping everything going in terms of road clearing etc (which I think is fair to be honest) so everything almost immediately comes grinding to a halt!!! School's shut, public transport slows right down to a snails pace if moves at all and people panic buy food like mad! 

I think it's wonderful :) People become so happy, we're so used to monotone miserable wet weather for a good chunk of the year that as soon as it snows or is sunny most (there's always the whingers) peoples spirits rocket, and it shows in the form of a brilliant atmosphere and gleeful faces.

These are just a couple of quick snaps I took on my little compact on my way to the arts centre yesterday morning to volunteer. Cardiff has had a surprising amount for a city near the coast and it looks so beautiful. 

Something's on the move

My previous post was a giant whinge on the long waits when it comes to tests, results or simply being able to see a neurologist. In particular though, hearing about any results from my video telemetry that I had back in early October. Well, one of my housemates suggested that I speak to the neurophysiology department in the hospital where I stayed during the test directly. So I did and guess what they were extremely helpful and told me that my results had been processed and sent over to my neurologist in another hospital MID-NOVEMBER!!! That's just ridiculous it's mid-January now!!! Anyway now in a -thankful to know but angry with wondering why it's taken all this time for my neuro to look over them- mood I rang up her secretary. I was as polite as I could have been but she must have heard the angry, confused and just plain "this had better be sorted out soon" tone in my voice. She listened to me as I told her exactly what the dates for certain things were and asked where they were and when I would actually hear anything back about them. She asked me to wait on the line in which time I heard lots of shuffling then quickly she was back and told me that the letter to me and my GP from neurologist had been dictated and typed and was just waiting to be signed and sent off. Whether I believe that or not given that it would have been a HUGE coincidence that they happened to have just been dictated and sitting on the desk the very day I ring up and ask where on earth they are, is another thing. 

Either way I know for sure now that things are moving. All I needed to know is that SOMEONE/ANYONE had looked over the telemetry and registered that it does actually exist and I hadn't somehow imagined the whole experience. Now I know it does and the relief is immense. It's just the small matter of MORE waiting until I actually get the letter in my hand and I can finally see if anything was picked up and a possible move out of this limbo land that I seem to be stuck in!

Gosh all this and I'll bet the results will be useless, that would just be beyond typical.

Anxious waits

I've been waiting since early October to get any results back from my Video Telemetry. The anxious wait being left to wonder what they will say (if anything) is taking it's toll. I feel constantly nervous and scared of what they might say then miserable and angry that they haven't arrived. 

I'm fed up of receiving a painful punch to my heart every time I hear the post drop through the door or the momentary pause before I look to see who's name appears on the screen when my phone rings. 

The results could mean an answer as to what the next step is. A simple yes we can move on with this journey or no we'll have to figure something else out to be the next move. 

My video telemetry results aren't the only results and tests I'm waiting for either. I'm due to see an ophthalmologist to learn why I can no longer see out of part of my left eye. My neurologist about a constant headache that I'm on high doses of Gabapentin to relieve the pain for. A call from the dental hospital to say I can go in to have my first ever filling simply because the numbing injection they give you to numb your month contains adrenaline and my dental surgery aren't equipped or have the measures in place to deal with when it inevitably causes a seizure. 

Big sigh, but one must keep going and think positive thoughts with smiles a plenty!

The interview.

I wasn't going to mention anything incase it is bad luck but there's nothing more I can do about it now so... I had an interview for an amazing sounding internship this morning! It is an internship in Photographic Research Management with the European Centre for Photographic Research. Good title there! I applied a few weeks ago and I found out on Thursday last week that I had been shortlisted, I couldn't believe it when I opened the letter!! 

So the interview was this morning, I had to present to the panel 3 main attributes I could provide towards the role along with examples of how I have put them into practice in the past. The trouble was, the moment I opened the letter my life suddenly got extremely busy, isn't it strange how everything comes along at once? Friday onwards was spent filming (will explain more about that soon) so it was such a busy hectic weekend, plus I was ill on the Saturday which didn't make things any easier so there just wasn't any time to prepare for the interview. We finished filming late yesterday afternoon so I worked into the late hours last night to construct a presentation and rehearse it. I was knackered though so trying to get my brain to function properly was hard!! But I finished it so that's the main thing, then woke up early this morning to give it a quick once over to set my mind back on to what I needed to think about and say. Two buses, intermittent walking and a train journey later I was sitting waiting for my interview to begin. Phew!

I think it went ok... I'm pretty sure I said everything I had prepared to say and answered all the other questions that were asked as well as I could. I'd like to think they were pleased with my presentation and best of all they were very nice meaning I actually felt quite relaxed given the circumstances. 

I find out by Friday this week. Tense times ahead but I'm not going to hold my breathe I suspect there would have been a fair few applicants. Anyway it's the interview experience that counts if nothing else right? 

Vimpat on the up.

Well I STILL haven't written down everything that happened over Christmas and New Year (there was a lot!) My mind just isn't up to it at the moment. I'm increasing my Vimpat from 300mgs per day to 400mgs per day and it's taking it's toll!! Tiredness is an understatement and as for concentration... even writing this far has seen me wonder off to make a cup of tea and forget to take my tablets. I've taken them now though and I've been reminded to ring the pharmacy and see if my next lot are in yet. I will in a minute. 

Oh good news, my landlord knocked on the door this morning shortly followed by two men heaving a new oven up the garden path! Woohooo I've never been so excited to see an oven, at least now I don't risk loosing my eyebrows every time I want to cook something! 

My eyelids are drooping and I figure a shower might wake me up a bit, I'm waiting for the gas man though so I'll have to go and wake my housemate up so she can listen out for him. She was supposed to be doing ward rounds this morning at the hospital but is still snoozing away, I'll consider me rudely awakening her as punishment :P 

Toodle pip!! (I don't know why I felt the need to say that, but I did so there you have it!)

:)

Hello!! (a bit delayed but...)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It's been an amazing festive season here with plenty an exciting event!

Catch up soon xxx