Dear world,
So I’m here down under (as we Brits call it). I’ve been here
exactly a week now and my god time has flown by so quickly. Feels like I’ve
been here all my life and very quickly I have settled into Beaconsfield (a
south eastern suburb of Melbourne). Part of that is down to the generous
hospitality of Katie and Jono as well as my instant love of Melbourne returning
as soon as I landed. Although when I did land I genuinely had to check we had
arrived in Melbourne and not in Manchester as I could have been forgiven for
thinking it was Manchester due to the torrential rain I arrived to. But luckily
whilst it was raining it was still relatively warm, something that Manchester
is rarely.
What a busy first week I have had. Katie not allowing me time
to suffer from jet lag, booked me up with lots of new exciting adventures.
First of all driving what felt like back to the UK to get to Warrnambool, a
south western suburb of Melbourne where we spent the weekend. Catching up with
some friends I already knew and met some new faces that I didn’t. It was the
first part of our Come Dine with Me extravaganza. Trotters and Uska did the
first night and wow did they go all out. Can tell they had their eyes on the
prize – a wooden spoon! Ha joking! I met my CDWM cooking partner Juzzy for the
first time and he turned out to be a terrible influence on me, making me down
shots. Since having PH my drinking has taken a back seat (ok well maybe not the
day of the brunch in Dubai – blame my mum for that one) but I haven’t touched
shots since sometime in 2013. Well you can imagine the state I was in…….oh wait
you will have seen the photos! Juzzy and I did our night on the Saturday night
and thanks to Juzzy we were both suffering a lot on Saturday whilst we prepared
our food for the evening. The food was a highlight shame our conversation was a
non-starter and by 11pm I was so deliriously exhausted, jet lagged, emotional
and hungover I announced to the table they were all to leave! Luckily they took
it in good spirits and overall whilst our entertainment was pretty poor we had
an enjoyable evening, well I did!
Perfect timing, Jono had booked Katie and I into a spa hotel
in Lorne, which is on the Great Ocean Road for her birthday present and a 2 day
relaxing spa break was exactly what the doctor ordered, with the best body
massage I have ever had. We did a few walks and a few drives along the Great
Ocean Road to Apollo Bay. I do love the state of Victoria; it’s so green,
unlike the rest of Australia. I think that’s why I like it so much, it reminds
me of home just wish the weather in Melbourne could be like in the UK. Now back at Katie and Jono’s I’m getting
myself into some kind of routine – hopefully not too strict as I do like to be
spontaneous and impulsive every so often.
You will know the story of when I was diagnosed and not
being allowed to start what I had hoped was my new life in Oz back in 2013. I
was led to believe that I would never make it back to Oz as my doctors were
just too concerned the flight would be too much for me to manage. Plus in case
I got worse whilst I was over here and couldn’t fly back. Well I’m delighted to
prove the medical profession wrong and I didn’t even need oxygen! I am here! I
came across a sign the other day which said “the greatest pleasure in life is
doing what people say you cannot do!” For the first year or so of my illness I
think I allowed my PH to dictate me, which is unusual for me, as I can be known
to be quite stubborn when I want to be!
I guess maybe it was the fear of the unknown or how scared I was for my future
and what that meant. I’m not sure when it instantly switched for me but since
having Beth my personal trainer I finally feel slowly I have regained the
control. We know there is no cure, well
apart from transplant (although I wouldn’t really call it a cure as whilst it
cures you of PH the chances of you developing other diseases is very high, and
there is a high chance of rejection, together it doesn’t necessarily make it
the golden ticket everyone assumes it will be), but it being such a high risk
process has started to make it something I’m not sure I’m willing to explore right
now. Hopefully I will have a few other options first to explore than going
straight into transplant. Currently I am reacting well to the medication and I
would class myself as stable which is great news. But my main worry as the
doctors remind me is the medication will stop working at some point, could be
this year, could be in 10 years who knows but I am trying to find a way to slow
this down. Now I am no medical profession, don’t think they would have allowed
me into medical school with a C in Double Science GCSE, but I look at other
chronic illnesses that have no cure and I know from a close connection that we
can’t just always rely on the medical profession and medication. Take cancer
and Multiple Sclerosis for example. I know quite a few people who have had
cancer, who have pulled through it due to changing their diets, including
fitness into their regime and engaging in meditation. I’m not saying that
because they started to have green veg and did a bit of jumping on the spot for
10 mins that this alone cured their cancer, but I am becoming more conscious of
how we feed and look after our bodies can directly impact negative or positive
outcomes to them.
So my plan to try and slow PH down is by fitness and diet.
I’ve always had a good balanced diet, I was diagnosed coeliac in 2012 and this
made me even more aware of what goes into food. I make all my food from scratch
and with the influence of Deliciously Ella and Lean 15 I have started to have a
really balanced and healthy diet. Now I know anyone reading this that has PH
will be thinking how can she do fitness with PH, but starting off slowly and
putting in what will feel like hard work eventually leads to it becoming
possible with more ease. I spent pretty much the first 6 months in a chair,
taking forever to walk up a flight of stairs and getting up out of bed would
sometimes be impossible. Now I can do 30-40mins fitness a day, I’ve walked 4
miles in one day and apart from suffering with blisters (rookie mistake wearing
flips flops) I am starting to live a “normal life”. I would always say check
with your PH consultants; they know you better than anyone and what the state
of your heart and lungs are, but even if you managed 5 minutes exercise a day
whilst sitting in a chair that has to be better than nothing at all. It’s taken
me the past 18 months to get to the point I am currently so it’s by no mean a
quick fix and you have to be determined and passionate to do it, but I can
honestly say this has to be the reason I feel so much more energized. So why
not just add in one new exercise thing a day, whether its arm or ankle circles
or some gentle marching on the spot for a few minutes, it will all help. I am
now the happiest when I’m in my gym clothes and know that this is helping me
gain a better quality of life.
For anyone who knew me as a child growing up to now, so
pretty much my entire life, you would never have classed me as a fitness
fanatic! I once went with my friends Dave and Dan to the uni gym. I say once as
I made it only once the entire 3 years I was there! Well after 5 minutes of
fast walking on the treadmill I got shooting pains up my entire arm, Dan joked
and said I was having a stroke, and maybe in my defence it was an early sign of
PH, who knows, but my point is I used to be so unfit and now I am the fittest I
have been in my whole life. Ironic that it has taken me to have PH to get so
fit! So if I can do it I believe anyone can.
Lecture over you will be pleased to know!
So what are my plans for the next few months I’m sure you
are desperate to know. Well I’m looking forward to my first AFL game (it’s a
well-known Aussie game that is taken very seriously over here – think a bit
like rugby mixed with Gaelic football, I’ve got to brush up on the rules before
the game…can’t wait!) and that is on Anzac Day played at the Melbourne Cricket
Ground, again another first. We also have part 2 of CDWM so looking forward to
more raucous and no doubt drunken behaviour. I am also looking forward to
ticking off another bucket list point, which is to drive abroad. I have
travelled so much in my life but never driven abroad and I know it’s probably
not the most exciting of points but at least this way I can travel around a
bit. I’m hoping to catch up with some old friends and no doubt with my
impulsive character and my new found love of having fun I will be off gallivanting
far and wide as much as I can over the next few months.
My first blog was named Fate and I said everything happens
for a reason. At the end of January my whole world was turned upside down and
at the time I thought it was the worst thing that could have ever happened, but
now a few months later, I can honestly say this was the best decision I ever
made and I’m now so excited for my future and whatever that brings and with
whoever I end up sharing it with.
Lots of Love,
Gem xx
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