It’s been quite a week, we got back from Poland Sunday night last week and hit the ground running.
Our evenings are ramping up with nights out on the run up to Christmas.
On Tuesday last week Chris and I went on a fabulous date night in London. I’m not sure how or why weird stuff happens to us/me but as we arrived at Holborn tube station I got off the train and out of nowhere - on a people free platform comes a mouse heading straight for me...I did no more than an incredibly clichéd scream and run while it continued it’s trajectory towards me, Chris moved and some how managed to push it further in my direction...while I’m still pathetically screaming. All to the delight of the passengers on the waiting to tube. Hahahahaha my life is often very cartoon-esque.
I managed to free myself from the clutches of a very oblivious mouse and continue with my journey to The Savoy for dinner. We decided to have drinks in the hotel bar before hand, we both said to each other that we wouldn’t eat the snacks they bring to you with the drinks...we’re as hopeless and as helpless as each other and by the third round of mini nibbles they brought to us we finally conceded that maybe we shouldn’t eat any more! Brilliant, our resolve and restraint is non existent! Hahahahaha
Dress from Tesco (indeed - every little helps), Boots from Hobbs, bag from Christian Dior.
The American bar at the Savoy is really lovely, it’s not up itself, just very chilled and relaxed. They do some lovely virgin cocktails too.
After such self control with the nibbles we proceeded to eat copious amounts of bread and a 3 course meal plus petit fours...in fairness, although the bread scoffing was down to us the maitre’d was an absolute feeder! Swear to god he kept encouraging us to eat more. And when I explained that I hadn’t eaten the chocolates at the end of the meal due to a food intolerance he went off to the kitchen and brought me back some chocolate free fruit jellies to eat. Literally had to force myself as the meal had been amazing and I was stuffed to the point of too full to walk.
We did say we’d walk to the theatre for the Tina Turner musical but it was pouring down with rain and really cold, so we caught a cab. Admittedly I could have done with the walk as I was wearing thick black tights and even though I cut a hole for my bag to poke through the sheer restrictiveness of the tights was making me feel a bit hot and bothered and queasy.
I sat through the first half happily enough (well not happy happy, I mean poor Tina had a terrible life and that Ike, what a piece of work he was, but anyway), at the break I decided enough was enough and I went to the loo’s to remove the offending item...the tights rather than my big fat food belly that is. Hahahahaha
I managed to get them off perfectly fine, a lesson should I need one to not over fill my stomach. Probably not the best idea with a stoma or maybe I’m perfectly placed to over do it. My stoma is emptying constantly, Chris over indulged too and his was all sitting in there will no constant output to relieve him. See another positive of stoma owning brought to you by me.
I returned to my seat to see a bit of a commotion ensuing in front of us. Then I saw a chap arrive with what looked like the powder to cover vomit with....hold on a minute......what on earth had happened in the time it took to take my tights off?? Well it turned out one of the audience members had been taken quite unwell...and had managed to not only vomit on the chair and floor but also managed to get some splatter on the chap in front of her too.
My legs buckled as I realised, I tried to remain calm but I have phobia’s of heights (last weeks episode), vermin (beginning of this week’s episode) and Vomit!!!
Chris asked what I wanted to do, whether I wanted to stay for the second half or go. I attempted to settle back down in my chair, I reasoned that no one in their right mind would go out for the evening if they felt ill with a tummy bug or at the very least they’d have brought a plastic bag to do it in if they had felt a bit dicky and that it must be alcohol induced...to which at that moment a friend of the patient tried to reassure (if that could possibly be the correct terminology in this case) the man that had been hit with vom splatter that the girl was dreadfully sorry, she most certainly wasn’t drunk and that she had a stomach bug....RIGHT that’s it I’m off!!!
She did offer to dry clean his jacket, a nice gesture but literally the least they could do under the circumstances hahahahaha.
There was no way on gods earth I could have sat there thinking about the vomit germs seeping insidiously around the auditorium.
As we were leaving the building the lady attending the doors panickly asked us why we were leaving, I explained the situation and she very sweetly offered to find us some seats away from the incident, but as much as that was a very kind gesture I was done.
Stoically, the chap that got sicked on remained in his seat for the second half, well done that man, I applaud you but also eeewwwwwww! Hahahahaha
I’m still a bit shocked it happened at all, I generally don’t go out if I feel yucky and more importantly I carry sick bags to hand at ALL times...yes, that’s a sign of a sickness in itself but I’m always prepared and I’ve never puked on a stranger yet... ;)
Chris and I finally got our walk, and in the rain too, which really was very romantic, if not a tad chilly.
The fresh air was much needed. We had a fantastic evening nonetheless, nothing could dampen our spirits, not hail or hurl. ;)
It’s always a joy to spend time with Mr.D.
All dressed up with somewhere to go...home as it turns out.
The week went in a blur of physio, Pilates, Christmas shopping and lunches out with friends.
On the Pilates note though it’s helping no end, I’ve had back problems ever since I had radio therapy, I’ve never had it fully medically confirmed that radiotherapy caused the issue but seeing as I didn’t have it before and I started suffering straight after radio I’m going to say it’s probably more than just coincidence. Radiotherapy destroys all soft tissue, which is fab news when it comes to pesky tumours but it does tend the leave a trail of destruction in its path, which is why my womb and ovaries were destroyed too.
Which means I have to get proactive when it comes to my back. I’ve tried many many things but the combination I’m using now, regular physio and Pilates is the best I’ve felt in years. I did try yoga for a while and as much as I loved it it caused my back to flare up every week. Pilates hasn’t had the same effect.
I got chatting to a lady a few months back and someone told me she was 72, she looked incredible, not just for 72 but in general. Her posture was enviable. Anyway I got chatting with her and I asked what she did to keep fit, she said well I’m 82 and I do Pilates every day. Errrrr 82!!? She was amazing. So that made me go straight home and call a Pilates instructor my physio has given me the number of.
She’s been working her magic on me at my home for 6 weeks now but this week I decided I was confident enough to join her group lesson. It was really really good. Lovely ladies, some older than me but so much more bendy and flexible I’m keen to keep this up. I want to prevent any further damage to my back. And I want to be pain free. There’s no magic pill for anything sadly. I want to be thinner - eat less. I want to be pain free and flexible - work at it. It’s as simple as that.
And then it a flash came Friday. Who doesn’t love a Friday night out?!?
What could be better than a little black dress?
I absolutely love this dress, I bought it about 4 or 5 years ago and I’ve never worn it. I struggle with dresses like this because my boobs are a tad too big and the shape of the dress looks ghastly at the bust, BUT I found a fabulous dress maker that has been slowly working through my wardrobe and making my clothes fit to perfection, this dress just needed some shaping tucks so it curves around my top half rather than splay it out.
Dinner was going to be at Aquashard at the Shard in London and seemed the perfect place for this perfect dress.
Dress from Karen Millen, Shoes from Christian Dior
The beautiful waterfall detail down the front gave me a lot of confidence...maybe too much...
For reasons unknown, and I mean unknown, seeing as the dress has a certain amount of stretch to it, my bag decided to *pancake. I made it through the fabulous evening thank god. I had a brilliant night out with Chris, Matt and Kim, but on the way back on the train I felt the familiar unpleasant tingle of the bag lifting off my skin as poo preceded to ooze under the sticking patch.
Is there a greater sense of panic as an ostomy user than that unwanted tingle. I tried to stay calm, and luckily at that point I couldn’t smell any unwanted smells so my feeling was that it was just the beginning of a complete unstick of the bag.
I did however have a brilliant night before that but time spent with Matt and Kim is always a pleasure.(I can’t say the meal was mind blowing, in fact it was decidedly average, which is such a shame as it’s very fancy and very expensive. I ordered the bubble and squeak but I didn’t want the duck egg it came with so I asked if I could swap it for a chickens egg and she said “no, we don’t have chickens eggs”....I did have to point out to her that one of the starters was a dish with a hens egg...which is a chicken...but she said I could have a duck egg or nothing, so basically I had a plate of crushed new potatoes with the tiniest bit of greens...(bubble and squeak it was not) in it...bargain for £25!! :0
There were some other issues with ordering other food too which was just a bit unexpected for somewhere with a reputation for being so fancy.
When the chap came over to take payment for the meal he said to Chris how was everything - and good for Chris he did the very un British thing of telling him how below par it had been. The man who happened to be the general manager, was mortified, and immediately apologised and set us up in the bar settee area with complimentary champagne, as Chris and I are both non drinkers he happily swapped ours for any soft drink we wanted...all Kim and I really wanted was the cheese course our waitress said we were sadly out of time at the table to order. Hahahahaha).
Twins...
and more Twins? Hahahahaha
The views from the 32nd floor are breathtaking, seeing the whole of London majestically lit far below is a fabulous experience.
The views out of the window can’t be beaten, but sadly most of my view was watching Chris and Matt chomping through what looked like a Brontosaurus bone. Hahahahaha
During the car journey home the tingle continued to worsen and I could smell that the bags sticky pad had breached, thankfully we were with friends but ideally I don’t want to stink at all.
I’m still stunned that it happened as the dress had stretch, I wasn’t wearing any tights that could compound the issue. There was literally no reason for it, just one of those things.
99.9% of the time I find colostomy life perfectly lovely - apart from random outbursts of gas that I have neither control over or warning of and pancaking.
It won’t put me off going of course out but it will make me unlikely to wear that lovely dress ever again, which is a shame really. but at least it’s had one outing, and partially fulfilled its destiny. Hahahahaha
Saturday day time was spent prepping for Christmas, is it too early to put the decorations up? Not in my house it isn’t! Hahahahaha. I love Christmas, I love my decks up early, and as I’m a grown up in my own home I get to make the rules here, isn’t life wonderful like that. Hahahahaha
I’ve only done the dining room and outside so far. The living room will get its turn on Sunday this week...and that’s only because the tree would be bare of needles if I put it up too soon.
Then Sunday night was spent at my cousins house, I love my cousins, I’ve got stacks of them, I’m very lucky.
I see Emmy and her family every few months or so but speak to her more often than that. It was so great to catch up.
Em is a fabulous cook, I missed out on the cooking genes I think. Hahahahaha
Anyway, after the previous night leaking catastrophe, I played it very safe with a cosy knitted dress, I was hoping there was no chance this dress would cause an issue. It paid off and I was fine. But after an incident it can be a little daunting and I can anxious about going out and trying again.
Dress from Tommy Hilfiger, Tights from Tesco, Boots from Kurt Gieger.
The boots are new, I thought I’d snuck them under the radar, but when I put them on Chris said oh right, I wondered when the new foot wear would make an appearance...bloody bank shows every single purchase and from where. Hahahahaha
Must start paying with cash. Hahahahaha
*Pancaking is when a vacuum occurs in the stoma bag and the bag sticks together, preventing the contents from dropping to the bottom. Faeces remain at the top of the bagwhich can potentially block the filter, and the bag can also be forced off the body. This can happen with an ileostomy or colostomy.