Family, Friends, Food

WOWZERS!! So its been a wee while since I last posted, I keep saying I will try update more often and breaking my promises..Sorry!! But as the saying goes "no news is good news" I guess I haven't been updating lately because I have been doing so well and have nothing to tell!! I have been very lucky to have had my mum and my mother-in-law come to stay with me over the past two weeks-all the way from New Zealand so I have been enjoying my time with them instead of writing on here.

I absolutely loved having them stay, but oh my gosh do I now miss home (NZ) something chronic.
It's all made harder with the likelihood that I cannot conceive or carry children myself , and that's why I keep getting homesick. At the same time, I totally don't want to leave Brisbane. I love my life here, I am passionate about my job and the industry I work in…oh and the weather is fab! The plans before all this was to go on our honey moon then settle down, buy a house, have children…You know how it goes. Now I feel like what's the point of buying a family home if there are never going to be children in there? We cant afford to buy a house now either, because we might need to use all the money that we have saved to try and have a baby. It's looking like one day we might have to move back to New Zealand because thats where it's more likely we can afford to try and have a baby whether it be through adoption, IVF or surrogacy. After all the struggle that we may have to go through, we would want to be by our family and friends, who are in NZ.

I watched this programme on multiple births the other week. It was basically people who had gotten pregnant through IVF and then next minute…triplets and quads. I'm secretly hoping that's me. Maybe not the quads but it would be nice after so much heart ache and struggle to get one more than you bargained for. But God if you're reading this, I'm not being greedy, just one would make our lives complete.*cough* twins *cough*

But anyways back to other things, I have enjoyed having my mum and Kay (mummy in law) here. I have eaten many a delicious treats gone for many walks and little adventures-it's been great. This past week I have been getting a bit annoyed because I havent been sleeping properly. It doesn't matter if I go to bed early or late. I will wake up to go to the bathroom during the night, and usually I can go straight back to sleep after this, but lately I am awake for around 2 hours after until I eventually fall back to sleep again. I'm not sleeping for anywhere near as much as I used to either. I usually will need 12 hours a night (at least), and now I'm not getting that and it's freaking me out a bit. I think it's because I am getting better and I don't need as much sleep though, which is a good thing.

The other night however, I haven't been feeling quite myself. I won't go into details as yet as its probably a little too much info, but I think I have cracked the case as to why my Crohn's symptoms are playing up. I will keep you posted!

I have had a few mishaps as well. I say everything is OK, but I did experience I leakage over a week ago. That was not fun. I really hope that doesn't happen again, or if it does I hope I am home!! My skin around the stoma has been getting a bit irritated having a plaster stuck to it every day of its life. I think its been acting up in the warmer weather we have been having. It has been around 32 degrees here lately, so I'm getting more sweaty, and have sensitive skin to begin with, this causing me to get a few really sore spots around my stoma underneath the plaster. When Mum was here, she gave me some tea tree oil to put on my skin when I clean it. Just a few drops in some water, then I clean it, and that seems to be helping. The spots are going/ have gone away. I try not to look at the bad side though, the positive things since having this surgery have so far outweighed the bad.

My workmates have been so amazing, they put together the most beautiful get well gifts for me. So much thought had gone into it I feel really special. They hand made a card for me which was so lovely!! I am really looking forward to going back to work again. I start back at work really soon, on October 5th, unless they have any jobs come up for me sooner and I will go in to help them out :) I am a bit apprehensive about some things, but I think I will be fine.

How great are my workmates?

I have been getting back into cooking slowly. Last week I made leek and potato soup and stuffed capsicums for dinner. I was quite proud of myself. Not only have I never made them before, they tasted delicious and I spent my evening just pottering around the kitchen without feeling tired at all.

The top left is a picture of the overnight oats that I have been making. They are freaking delicious but I have had to stop eating them because they were no good for me :( I highly recommend anyone with a normal stomach making them though. It's the easiest and most delicious breakfast for summer. It takes slight preparation as you have to make it the night before, but you have breakfast ready to go in the morning without any prep, which if you are like me and not a morning person or time poor, is awesome.

nom nom!

I have had a couple of people ask me how I did the capsicums. I did an adaptation of this recipe here. I forgot about the red onion and basil even though I had them ready to go..duh!! We had some left over savoury mince from dinner the night before, so I put a little bit of that in the bottom and then followed this recipe. So good, I tried it with mince and without, and I preferred it with. We aren't very good vegetarians in this house hold! I didn't have ricotta on hand either, so used the feta that we had instead and it was delicious. Put the lemon in as well. I initially thought hmmm I dunno about that, but it's yum.

I hope you are all doing well. I will update soon how my first week of work goes!

Holly X

Foodie Post

My appetite has returned..bigger than ever. Its insatiable, I just want to keep eating. I think it's psychological because I can eat normally now and I don't want to stop. I think it is safe to say not putting on weight is a thing of the past.

I can happily say that I went out for dinner the other night, the first time since my ileostomy operation. I was a bit scared about my choice of dinner, probably not the "safest" first meal out. I chose Thai. We have this A-MAZING Thai restaurant just down the road from us called Siam Sensations (everyone on the Northside of Brisbane needs to check this out)
I absolutely love the food there, not to mention the prices are so good, which is a plus since I haven't been working. Anyways, I have the tendencies to make short stories way longer than they need to be which is whats happening right now. To keep a short story, well…short... I had a mild yellow chicken curry, it was amazing. I also had a dim sim, a curry puff and some other thing that was also delicious, smothered in sweet chilli sauce. Result: No reaction to any of it.
Here is a picture of our food. Yip I'm that girl, photographs all her food. What up.

Yummiest yellow curry ever.

Tonight we headed off to the park down the road to watch the Disney/Pixar movie Brave. Our village that we live in has a festival each year…which is kind of random because I don't think many other suburbs in Brisbane actually do this?? It starts today with the movie in the park, and on Sunday they have a big festival, fare type thing in the main street. We have lived here for a couple of years now and have never been. I was thinking the reason we haven't been before is probably due to work commitments. But then Will pointed out after we had returned home that I wouldn't have been able to do this kind of thing a month ago, and probably a year ago too as I have been unwell for such a long time. Going to events where there is lots of people and not many/no toilets frightens me to no end so I would avoid things like this before.
Anyways back to the story, since hubby and I are free agents this weekend, we went to check it out. Even though it's a kids movie, I was really excited and had a really good time. I got in touch with a good friend of ours, Grace, who I know shares a mutual love for Disney films and we decided we will make a picnic out of it. Most people in their mid 20's are probably having a few drinks and going out on a Friday night. We go to the park, have picnics and watch Disney and are back home by 8.15pm. Perfect.

Seriously though it was awesome. It started off with some fireworks, which I was quite blown away by. My expectations weren't too high as this was a free event in my local suburb..how good could it be?  But they lasted probably 10 minutes and were fantastic. I feel like a little kid watching fireworks, I can't wipe the smile off my face.

Earlier in the day Will and I went to the supermarket (which I am proud to announce, I walked to without needing a break) and got some things for the picnic tonight. I was a bit excited and nervous as this would be the first time I have cooked since my operation. Will has been fantastic at looking after me and has been cooking up a storm at dinner time for us. Since I often don't have a lot of energy and it gets hot in the kitchen I have been uncertain about heading in there. I really enjoy trying out new recipes, even though I am not the best of cooks! I decided to make some mini bacon and egg pies which I had seen on this great blog called Not Quite Nigella. Click here to see the recipe. These turned out pretty good though and taste even better. They are a perfect picnic treat. I thought it was going to be a disaster because when the recipe calls for eggs... It didn't mean your giant mofo free range eggs that I had, it needs ones a lot smaller or a bigger muffin tin. Maybe I am got a bit too generous with my fillings also…Thats probably it. I am quite in love with bacon, not going to lie.

Look at this cute little bottle I found for the ketchup!

 These pictures dont do them any justice. I wish I had cut down the middle of one where you would see layers of bacon and cheese and red onion. YUM! To put it into perspective, my husband Will has never eaten an egg like this before. He looks at eggs and runs the other way. I have only just got him eating scrambled eggs this year after being together for 6 years. He doesn't eat eggs done any other way, only scrambled..So they must be tasty because he really enjoyed them. I also made some salami and cream cheese sandwiches (without the crusts cut up into cute traingles, picnic styles of course) They also went down a treat. Will couldn't believe how yum they were, I'm not too sure if he's had cream cheese before either. It was a day of firsts for him!

I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen and didn't feel yuck or need to rest at all so I am really happy. Today I really felt like my old self again. My old self has been gone for so long I didn't know if I would realise when I had found her!

I have been feeling so well that I feel a bit of a fraud. Why? Well my mum is arriving from New Zealand tomorrow evening and will be here for a week. Then my Mother-in-law arrives the week after and will also be staying for a week. I mean, I definitely still need help with a lot of things, and I do have days where I am so tired I can't do anything, but they are both coming over from New Zealand to look after me and I am doing way better than what we all expected. Nevertheless I am sure they will enjoy their breaks and spending some time off in another country where the weather has been absolutely perfect lately. Oh and of course spending it with yours truely ;)
I can't wait to see them both!

I would like to end by showing you a picture of the most yummiest ice cream ever and the reason why I will soon be overweight..But I cant because it's so yum and I ate it too quick. Streets, why do you have to make it limited edition?!! It's probably for my own good really…If only they came in boxes. It's a Strawberry White Crumble Magnum. Strawberry ice cream, with a white chocolate and biscuit shell. YUM.

Well I have sufficiently chatted about stuffing my fat face for quite some time now so I will sign off.


Love Holly

XX

 

Progress Report!

Hi Lovelies!

Just thought I would do an update of how I have been. I know, I know, I said I would try and do one every few days and I have left it to a week (looks away sheepishly)

I have been really well for the most part but have had my ups and downs. The downs still not being anywhere near as bad as what I was prior to surgery though. Since I updated you last I have been to Chermside shopping mall (giant-ass shopping centre near our house) and was able to drink a coffee frappucino - although it was soy, I still felt like this was a huge victory! While we were there I brought some support singlets that I talked about in my last post. They are made to smooth down your fat, but for me they are made to smooth down Steffi (stoma)
I originally looked at buying one online, and f**k me I am glad I didn't because I would have never been able to get it on. HOLY MOLY THEY ARE TIGHT HUH?! I got an Australian size 8-10 off the rack, since that is my size and I would be only an 8 at the moment, so I thought oh surely if it's 8-10 I will be OK. NO. NO FLIPPIN' WAY!
I ended up getting a size 10-12 and I fought to pull that down. I actually had to wrestle with it in the change rooms of Big W, to the point I broke out in a sweat,  but they work well.
I also got one of those triangle shaped pillows because I was having trouble sleeping and getting comfy, and now i sleep like a baby and have even been sleeping on my side at night! Winning! I never would have thought I could sleep on my side this soon after my surgery. I'm a bit scared I'll roll over onto my tummy and get myself into some seriously trouble though! Haha.

Now I have been feeling pretty down about my appearance lately but specifically my hair. It was really damaged due to being ill for so long and I have hated it for aaaages. I have blonde highlights in my hair, but I haven't been able to get it dyed for a long time because I was scared that it would fall out since it started getting really brittle with being sick and the same goes for getting it cut. My hair then did start falling out when I wasn't eating properly because I was so malnourished. I would brush my hair and clumps would come out. It was so bad I stopped brushing my hair altogether and I think I would have lost at least a third of my hair. Since I have been eating properly after surgery my hair has stopped shedding…hoorah!! I have also started to see lots of new growth, which is awesome, except I have a crap load of fly away sticky uppy bits on my head - so annoying!! Anyways, I thought I would book in to my local salon as it's only a short walk down the road and has fantastic recommendations, to get my hair cut and have a treatment put through it to strengthen it. I really wanted to get my hair coloured but didn't know if it was still too weak to be able to get it dyed yet.
I went there on Wednesday and had a chat with Kamy at The Ruby Room in Nundah, if anyone local ever reads this I couldn't recommend her enough. She said she would be able to dye my hair, she used a lower level of peroxide and only did half a head of foils this time, to be on the safe side until more of my hair grows back and gets stronger. Needless to say, I was over the moon!!
I got my hair treatment and OMG it was more of a hair TREATment. Never have I felt so spoilt having a treatment through my hair. They gave me headphones and played some relaxation music, put a towel over my eyes so I could totally bliss out, gave me the most amazing massage, not only on my head but my neck as well - absolutely amazing! Then when I thought it was all over they gave me a lovely chamomile and vanilla tea to finish.
I was a bit apprehensive about getting my hair cut, last time I got my hair cut, it was wonky and so hideous. But this was amazing. Nothing major, totally simple but it's exactly what I wanted without knowing it myself and I feel like a million bucks.

WARNING!!! SHAMELESS SELFIES FOLLOW!!

After :-)

After I got my haircut Will and I went to a cafe for some lunch and I had the best time. I just felt so happy and relaxed. I didn't have to worry about analysing every single ingredient on the menu - about what foods might upset me, I didn't have to look around to see where the nearest bathroom was, exactly how I would get there and did I need to ask for a key before hand to get in? I was able to completely relax and enjoy myself. I can't remember the last time I felt that happy prior to the operation. Now it happens most days. 

I mentioned before I still have my down days. Even though I have had an ileostomy, I still have active Crohns which I have to remember so that is why I will be feeling a bit blah sometimes. Some days I am really tired and don't want to do anything but I have more good days then bad and the days I dont feel so good, I'm only ever really tired. I feel a trillion times better then what I did. 

I saw my gastroenterologist on Thursday who gave me the all clear to start Humira again which is awesome, that will make me feel even better. I got weighed while I was there, and I was the exact same weight as I was in hospital (47.2kgs) I felt a bit bummed because I have been trying so hard to put it back on. 4 days later (today) I had an appointment with the colorectal registrar and I was 900 grams heavier! I had only had a light breakfast and hadn't had lunch by this stage, its safe to say I might even be a kilo heavier!! I go from staying the same weight for 2 weeks to a kilo in 4 days! Frustrating! I wish I was able to slowly and steadily gain weight but I'll take it. Both doctors were pleased at my progress and couldn't believe I had only just had surgery as I looked really good :)

Anyways I am going to sign off

Love to you all

Holly xx