2 years on. I think I have something to say now.

So....it's been two years since my last blog. Well...a lot has happened, especially in the last year. In fact it's about this time last year things went a bit pear shaped. I managed to get the flu, didn't realise at first and battled it out at home. After a few days I gave way and decided to go to hospital. On arrival at hospital it appeared that I was a tad dehydrated and my kidneys had gone into failure, that's right...kidney failure. Jesus! So I was admitted, but they couldn't give me antibiotics because my kidneys couldn't take it. I knew I was ill, but how ill, that I don't think I realised.

They put me on 4 litres of oxygen and continuous fluids to re-hydrate me, but even that wasn't enough. I woke up in the morning gasping for breath, I buzzed the nurse and begged them to start IV's as I could tell things were not good. I finally got some iv's and some heavy duty steroids infused. This was all good, but my body became massively swollen. Not only that my gums for some reason cracked and my lips were all swollen. It was a very unpleasant time. Not only was my health taking a hit, but due to the nature of my crash (kidney failure) my team were concerned about whether my kidneys would be good enough for transplant. The thing that I have been focused on for the last decade, the reason I gave up work and the reason I have tried so hard to stay fit was potentially being taken away from me. I was devastated.

Not only that, but whilst this was all going on my partner and I were clearly on our way to splitting up. The week before I was admitted into hospital, my partner had doubts about our relationship. So whilst worrying about my health, my kidneys, my lungs and potential transplant, my 11 year relationship was also coming to an end. If anything, the concerns regarding my health put my relationship in context. If I cared more about my health, than my relationship, then maybe that was a sign the relationship was right to end. I think so. Ill health certainly puts life in perspective and makes you realise what's important.

Sorry for the grim update, will try better next time. However, there is still a lot to update you on, some grim, but I promise some good. However, that's life isn't it? The good, the bad....and well...me...the ugly.

I'll leave you with a wee song by my favourite band of the moment. Frightened Rabbit are from Scotland, Selkirk to be exact. People occasionally say to me 'you're so inspirational'. I think they say it cos I have CF. Nothing inspirational about it, just a person dealing with their situation. However, I would like to think that while I'm on this planet I could influence and encourage people. No matter who you are, how popular, unpopular, famous or not, you will influence someone and that will make a change. Like donating your organs, no bigger influence or bigger change you can make to someone's life that that, is there? Enjoy FR.

Heading towards the end of iv's

So I'm now only a couple of days away from the end of iv's and steroids. At this point in the process I'd hope to have improved and thankfully I feel I have. I've been pushing the exercise within the last two weeks, taking my portable o2 concentrator to the gym and trying to get my lungs working. I feel better, I'll never feel normal, but I feel better. The trouble now will be the comedown after steroids and iv's, hopefully it won't be too much of a comedown and I'll hopefully sustain this level of health for a while. Last week I was feeling pessimistic, but tonight I feel optimistic. The changing nature of my outlook really does exemplify the changing nature of CF, one day you can feel ok, the next your chest is full of gunk, bleeds and breathlessness. In some ways its like Glasgow weather, its generally shit, but occasionally you have a great day and you think 'wow, if only this could last a while', but then it doesn't and it starts sleeting in the middle of June.

Anyway, its almost been two weeks of pretty much dedication to medication. But if you wanna be the best and you wanna beat the rest, oooh, medications what you need. Although it has been pretty much medication, gym and activity for the last two weeks, I have done other stuff too. Went to see Russell Kane on Friday, he was very good. I also went to a party Saturday night. One of Elaine's friends turned 30. Funny thing was that there were only two guys at the party, me being one of them and at one point I thought I was going to be the only guy. For the brief time I was there as the only male representative I quite liked being the 'eye candy', it doesn't happen all that often. However, after about an hour the other guy turned up and he was taller and probably more handsome, I soon turned into the small skinny, runty one. Still the ratio of 7 girls to every guy is better than average.

In the past week I also went to a charity comedy show in aid of PATH at The Stand . Please check them out.

http://www.pathscotland.org.uk/

On the iv's, the steroids and the good times.

I haven't been too great recently, been feeling breathless. I was breathless walking from room to room in my small flat, even breathless putting my shows on the other day. It was getting rather worrying. I had tried a couple of different oral antibiotics, but they weren't really helping and so Intravenous antibiotics (IV's) and steroids seemed the best step to take. I've also been coughing up a bit of blood lately, this isn't unusual for me, but it makes fighting infection harder.

Although my lung function isn't great I have adapted my life to cope with it, I don't do long walking and generally I can cope with the things I do, basic tasks are generally doable, even if extra time is needed and I need to stop for breath. However, recently I was finding the basic tasks a little difficult and it was a real insight into what its going to be like once I get worse. To be honest, I'm still worried that after the steroids and IV's I'll drop back to where I was, if that happens, then transplant maybe a little closer.

In fact, on the matter of transplant, when I was at hospital recently I was reminded by my very good and very dedicated physio that I need to do an exercise test soon. The exercise tests they conduct at my hospital involves walking for 6mins, they measure your oxygen levels, your heart rate, the distance you can walk and the difficulty to which you find the task. So basically, if I feel like I did prior to IV's when I do this test I can't see anything but a poorer result. Since I'm already flagged as one of those individuals they need to 'keep an eye on' for transplant, I can't help feel that the latest breathing difficulties could be the straw that break the camels back and result in a transplant referral. My physio said whilst talking to me 'you already have reasons to be referred for transplant, so its important we assess you and don't miss the window to refer you'. It was a fair but worrying reminder that although I've battled hard to keep static and maintain my lungs, this battle can not be won forever, sooner or later I'll need that transplant.

I have hopes that maybe I could keep this lung function for 10 years or so, by which point transplant techniques and post transplant care was better, therefore extending my life considerably more than if I were to be transplanted now. I've done well to hold onto my lungs for 6/7 years, I've maintained my fev1 (how efficient my lungs are), but I have lost a little capacity in that time. The docs always stress that the fev1 is the important figure, so the fact that hasn't dropped is pretty good. Anyway, that's enough about health, perhaps too much about health.

Anyway, the gigs I went to. Ben Folds was really good, as was Admiral Fallow. The Ben Folds gig was boiling, I was dripping away on my seat. To be honest the heat had a negative affect on the enjoyment of the gig. Admiral Fallow were also very good, but perhaps a little less experienced in working the crowd and showmanship. I've got a couple of gigs lined up now, Russell Kane Friday and Tim Minchin in a couple of weeks. Also off to a charity comedy gig on Wednesday, so hopefully that should be fun too.

 

Here is some Ben Folds. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Gigs, Gym and something else that starts with 'G'

Well...it's been a horrible winter. I was couped in the house for months. It was just too cold to go outside, i just couldn't breathe. Christmas was kinda cancelled, as was New Year. The festive season was disrupted by horrendous weather and terrible illness (luckily not me, but the rest of my family), much disappointment. The weather seemed to have more influence over my quality of life than CF did. Having said that, perhaps if I had good lungs I could have done more.

However, I wake today and the sun is out, it's a pretty day. I've got hopes that the winter is over, it's just gone on too long. At least I'll be able to go outside and enjoy decent weather for once. There have been days of occasionally niceness, but even in that niceness you know it is only a fleeting moment of goodness in a harsh winter.

So what with the weather getting better life returns back to normal. I'm now back at Citizens Advice. I took a wee break during the winter. I've also joined a gym. I've often belonged to a gym, but mine closed 18months ago and I've never found another one.....until now. Whilst my health had been stable I felt my exercise capability has been much reduced. Only a month ago I went for a 15 minute walk (by my already poor standards), it took me 50mins with the stopping and starting. I also had oxygen on, but I could barely move or breathe. I decided I needed to join a gym. Within only a weeks of joining the gym I already feel better, my figures may not be better, but I feel I am. Sadly, in contrast to feeling better, I think the added pressure has caused me to cough up blood again. Since joining the gym I've almost coughed up blood everyday. I now have to weigh up the cost of producing blood against feeling better.

I'm not one for New Years resolutions, if you want to change something you just do it, you don't need a date or some sort ceremonial occurrence for changing things in your life. For a while I've been planning to go to more gigs and get out a wee bit more. As a student I went to gigs all the time, surrounded myself with smoke and drowned myself in alcohol. Maybe many look back at their student days as their favourite days and want to recapture the days that brought joy, a little fun and a bit of unpredictability. Ok, now there will be less smoke when I go out, there will also be less alcohol, but i love music and I need to get out there and listen to more. Went to see the 'Burns Unit', hoping to see 'Admiral Fallow', 'Ben Folds' and 'Cold War Kids'. I've also got tickets to see Russell Kane and Tim Minchin. I leave you with a link to the master Ben Folds in his 'Ben Folds Five' days. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV4hIy0zfps

Funny Episodes (2)

Ok, so it's fair to say I won't be winning any awards for the best blog of the year. Unless of course I post something really, really insightful, something really ground breaking in one of my posts. Maybe somehow through my musings I'll discover the reason for living, or accidentally uncover the explanation to the JFK assassination. Point is, I really should post more. Not that I'm looking for awards or anything, but if you have one handy?

Anyway....I left you with a cliff-hanger, I say cliff-hanger, I think with the amount of time between blogs you will have definitely lost strength to hang onto that cliff and will have fallen to your death. However, despite my poor ability to update the blog, I will continue.

Yes, a diagnosis. Well, after having suffered more of these episodes, one of which occurred while out and about, I decided to push the doctors again on the matter. So I spoke to one of my CF Doctors we will call him Dr Biscuit, it's not his name, but it allows him to remain anonymous. Dr Biscuit was intrigued by the reports of my blurry vision and so he had me admitted and referred to another Neurologist Consultant. We will call the Neurologist Consultant, Doctor Nintendo. Anyway, after listening to my symptoms Doctor Nintendo decided I was suffering from migraines. From this point on I was given a new drug to try to see if it alleviated my symptoms and reduced the occurrence of the migraines.

Now, this drug duloxeitine is generally used for depression, but apparently also helps with migraines. I don't suffer from depression, although I do wonder whether I get SAD. However, living in Scotland this winter will not have helped any ones mood this winter, it was grim. I have digressed. Duloxetine caused me a few problems, firstly I puked for the first week of trying it, so I altered the time I took it to late on in the day. Changing the time of the drug only resulted in insomnia for a week, I had about 3hrs sleep everyday that week - nasty! Eventually an anti-sickness drug was prescribed, it's an anti-sickness drug they give to people with chemotherapy. Once I started taking the anti-sickness drug, everything seem to settle, no puking, no insomnia and no puking whilst suffering from insomnia.

I still have these funny episodes, but the symptoms are milder (funny vision, pins and needles in arms, legs and tummy and a splitting headache) and I am calmer when they occur. In fact, I'm seeing the neurologist soon to discuss how they've been and to discuss the response to the drug. In recent times I've also become aware of anecdotal evidence that other CF people suffer similar symptoms, and that research has been done on it, so I may well discuss this with Dr Nintendo. One thing these migraines have done is added more drugs to my already extensive drug card, I now have over 26 drugs on a daily basis - beat that! I'm so proud of my mangled body.

OK, now onto something slightly more interesting. As you may or may not know, I love football. However, due to my rubbish lung I never quite made it as the next Maradona, although I have tried to emulate his great drug taking (although mine are legal). In the last few months I have created my own football team, no computer based management for me, I am manager of Scotstoun Park Galaxy. We have had three games so far, lost two, drawn one. It's early days and we are playing established teams, so we hope to do better. In fact we have a game this weekend. We are sponsored by the 'CF Trust', and 'Live Life Then Give Life'. I say sponsored, I asked them both if we could use their logo on our football tops.

Funny Episodes (1)

So..where was I? Yes, I was about to go on about my collapsing and my very bizarre experiences.

The first of these 'funny do's' happened a year and a half ago. I was sitting on the couch watching the quite amusing 'Tropic Thunder' on DVD with a friend. I started to laugh during the comedy (as one is supposed to), I coughed and felt a funny feeling in the left side of my chest. I started to feel weird and tried to put on my oxygen, but my hand couldn't put on my oxygen properly. My friend put on my oxygen for me. My legs and arms felt like they had pins and needles and my vision went blurry. I could still see, but there was a mirage effect. The vision effect was not distinctive to one eye, but to both in the same place. Apparently all colour went from my face. My legs felt cold and dead. I asked my friend to call an ambulance, I truly thought I was on my way out.

It took a couple of minutes for the ambulance to arrive. I was a tad confused as they asked me question, but I think I was able to respond adequately enough. They checked my heart, my oxygen sats and my sugar levels and all were fine. During the time they were there I started to recover. Feeling returned in my arms and legs and my vision returned. All seemed OK and the ambulance men asked if I wanted to go to hospital, I declined. I honestly felt fine again, it was all very weird.

Anyway, later on the next day, just as I was doing my late physio I had another similar experience. However, this time I tried to get to my oxygen concentrator and switch it on. Whilst attempting to get to the oxygen my symptoms got worse, so much so my vision went blurry and I lost feeling in my legs and collapsed to the floor. I couldn't see properly, I couldn't move arms and legs and I felt really cold. My friend once again got my oxygen for me and made sure I was kept warm until I recovered. I've never lost consciousness during these episodes, I've been quite with it. Anyway, after these two episodes over the weekend I thought it was best to go to the hospital on the Monday.

Since this is a story covering almost two years I'm going to split it into two. This part will cover the first year, the next instalment the more recent stuff, including a diagnosis. Anyway, where was I? Yes, hospital. So to hospital I went. After initially being told to go home, I asked for a second opinion as I was quite concerned by this occurrence. I was admitted into hospital for a week, then checked my heart, brain, spine, lungs and found nothing. From a heart attack, to a stroke, to a severed spinal cord, many options were explored. I saw a neurologist who confirmed it wasn't a fit of any kind. In the end it was referred to as a syncope related episode, meaning, It was a fainting episode. However, that wasn't the final diagnosis and it wasn't until a year and a half later I had another diagnosis.

Until next time...

Da Family

In recent times I've been watching a few of the BBC series 'Who do you think you are?'. To be honest I've been watching a lot of the old episodes and therefore been playing catch up. Watching the likes of Stephen Fry, David Tennant and Jeremy Clarkson discover about their family has made me wonder about mine. Not only have I wondered about the history within the family, but I've also considered the genetic history within the family. As some of you may or may not know, CF is a genetic condition. The gene is recessive, therefore individuals can carry the gene with no affects. It is only when two individuals that carry the gene decide to have offspring that there is a 1 in 4 chance that their child could inherit both copies of the gene. If a person has two copies of a CF gene, then they have CF. So my thought regarding my family tree are, where did my copies of the CF gene come from?

I have the most common CF gene, Delta F508. I know what gene I have, so if given DNA tests I could confirm which grandparents my CF gene came from. Whilst it may be possible to identify whether my mothers, mother carries the gene, identifying the gene in my other grandparents may not be so simple. Sadly all my other grandparents are deceased. Whilst digging them up might have been an option, it is one I doubt my family would have accepted, even in the pursuit of scientific knowledge and understanding, something I'm sure my Grandparents would approve of. All my Grandparents have been cremated, so I can keep the spade in the shed for now and I can also avoid prosecution for desecrating a grave.

So I'm now wondering whether second cousins carry the gene. Trouble is, many people only get tested to see if they carry CF if they are planning on having children. At present not all my relatives are thinking of having kids, some are still teenagers, so I can forgive them for not trying. I don't think it would be morally responsible for me to encourage them to have sex or to get pregnant. I don't want to be known as the perverted relative who promotes underage sex.

Anyway, this family tree and the origins of my CF gene are something I want to explore more. Where, if anywhere, my intrigue leads me, who knows?

On a separate, more daily issue, I'm off to hospital today. Had a couple of mini 'CF do's' in the last few weeks. I will explain what a 'CF do' is in my next post. To be honest, there is no real definition, neither in terms of my episode or in terms of a 'CF do'. I'll explain more next time.

I'm back!

My goodness. Who would have thought that my blog would still be open? Surely it should have been closed? Isn't it some sort of environmental hazard to keep such rubbish open and exposed for so long? You would have thought it would have been buried deep, far beyond anyone eyes, deeper than a Giles Brandreth jumper or John Terry's morals? Anyway, luckily for me the blog is alive and well. OK, maybe not well, but it's alive.

So I take up the reins again, almost 4 years after I last spraffled on this blog. I don't think spraffled is a word, but I'd like to spread it. 'Spraffled' means to write or talk nonsense, similar to waffle, but even more nonsensical and producing even less conducive discourse. Anyway, spread the word. I went to see a comedian called Alex Horne not too long ago and as part of his show he relays the produce of a project of his to get certain words into the dictionary. I recommend you visit his site. http://www.alexhorne.com/ Very funny man, he reminded somewhat of Dave Gorman, not just in comedy, but also in facial hair.

Anyway, I hear you say (I hear me say, not sure anyone would read this), why back here after so much time? Well, I was writing on the CF Trust forum, having a rant, wondering whether such a forum was the place to have such a rant and wondering whether I was trying to gratify my own desire to be heard by others by spraffling on about various CF perspectives on life and how that perspective alters overtime. In the process of having this rant the sodding computer decides to take over and censor me by deleting the post. OK, maybe I should thank the computer for protecting me from myself, and alleviating the pain on others with CF of having to read my rant - have they not suffered enough already? Point is, I was in the middle of a rant and I still wanted to express my thoughts, but realised it wasn't necessary to share those thoughts with the general public. I then remembered my blog.

OK, what was the rant about? I was looking at a site a fellow CF peep had posted called 'CF Voice'. Anyway, there was a section in the adult bit called 'Living Uninsured'. I kinda hoped the video would be about the flawed health system in the US, but it wasn't. The girl talks about living life to the full and not letting CF get in the way. This sentiment I fully agree with. However, she then says that she sees people with CF being frightened to death about the next bug they catch or picking up something from somewhere and that those thoughts restricted them. After the 'I live life to the full' sentence(I'm paraphrasing), she then says her lung function/fev1 is 70-80%. This is where I have my problem.

When I was healthier I clubbed 6 nights a week, went travelling round Europe and N America. I wouldn't let anything stop me, there wasn't any limit on life. However, my lung function is now around 30% and I can't do the things I once did, no more clubbing, no more free travelling without care. However, I still live to the best of my ability, but I do live with that fear of catching a bug or having a lung collapse that could really screw me over. When I was 40-50% lung function I still didn't have a care, just like the lady, but now I have no choice but to be wary. My perspective, as does others, alters with decline. Whilst some say they live life to the limit, the point is that there are limits and those limits change.

I, like I'm sure others with CF have sometimes queried others for the way they deal with their CF. For example, I've never understood why some people with CF don't disclose their CF? It isn't anything to be ashamed of, you won't be stoned for it. In fact, to step up and say 'I have CF' I believe is the stronger thing to do, it means you are content with having it, you don't need to hide it and as a result any dips in health or treatment can be properly confronted without feeling you need to hide behind a curtain. In a similar way individuals are open about being gay, religious or ginger, people with conditions of health should be open too. Not that I'm comparing them all, I'm just saying that in this day and age people should be open and allowed to be who they are and not feel the need to hide a condition in fear of being treated differently. The point here is that people with CF choose to deal with CF in different ways.

Having said all that, I cannot say to someone else with CF 'that's the wrong way to deal with CF'. Some people like to disclose they have CF, some don't. Some people like to live life with CF burning short but bright, while others like to be a dull glow for a long time. We all deal with our CF differently and have different techniques, aspirations and philosophies on how to deal with CF. So my point, whilst perhaps on occasion being slightly hypocritical, is that, the lady cannot be critical of others for letting CF 'get in the way'. Her limits are not the same as someone's on the transplant list and on o2 24/7. I think Gandalf said it best to Frodo,

Frodo: 'I wished the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had never happened'.

Gandalf: 'So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'

Sven Goran Who? People can be annoying. Am I a performing monkey?

On Friday I managed my first football team and whilst the result wasn't perfect (we lost 7-2) the team we were playing against were a proper team that knew each other, whilst my team was a bunch of mates and randoms just stuck together. I even got a shot as goalkeeper, but being 5'7"(8") I haven't quite got the height for a keeper. I could barely touch the crossbar while on the goal line, not really ideal for a goalkeeper. Yes, I know I must be a dodgy manager to put a dwarf in goal, but my first choice keeper was having a nightmare and was begging to be taken off. To be honest, I don't think football management is a realistic career move for me, at least not yet.

On Thursday I played footy too. I play at my local sports centre, I say 'play', I tend to walk around the pitch or go in goal, there really isn't any running involved. When you have lungs the size of a packet of crisps it's very hard to run, in fact just to survive the match I have to take pain killers to dull my coughing reflex. Oh....how I love cocodamol! Yes, I know it's addictive, but I only take it for footy - no need for rehab.....yet!

That's one rubbish thing about CF, none of my drugs have a decent street value. I guess I could sell them to third world countries, but I think the large pharmaceutical companies are already dominating that market and shafting various countries in the process. Oooh....I'm being all political.

Anyway, I was planning on telling you about Thursday. As I was saying, I play at my local sports centre. At the sports centre there are specific disabled car parking bays, these are often wrongly taken by non-disabled people. Due to having poor lungs I find getting around tough at times, especially when ill and because of this I have a 'disabled blue badge' which entitles me to park in disabled bays. Anyway, as I was approaching the disabled car parking bays there was one bay left and a car pulled into it right in front of me. I didn't' believe the car in front had a disabled badge so I got out and had a conversation with the driver. There were three guys in the car, I have numbered them man 1=driver, man 2=man2, man3=man3

(me) 'Are you dropping off or parking'

(man1)'I'm parking'

(me) 'Do you have a disabled badge'

(man1)'no'

(me) 'Well I do, is it possible for me to have the parking space?'

At this point man1 looked me up and down searching for a visible disability.

(man1)'Is the badge yours???'

(me) 'yes'

(man1)'ok'

Man 1 then moved his car, but his two friends man2 and man3 stared at me while I parked. When I got out my car man2 and man3 were standing there, but started walking away. Man2 then spoke,

(man2) 'you don't look very disabled'

(me) 'I've got cystic fibrosis'

(man3) 'well I hope I don't see you running on the pitch'

Some people can be annoying. Whether or not I had been there to ask for the space, these grown men shouldn't have been taking a disabled car parking space in the first place, it makes their questioning of me and my health even more deplorable. Some people!

Sometimes this is the problem with CF, at first glance there aren't any visible problems. On the outside people with CF can look quite normal and I think people find it hard to comprehend that a young person who looks well can actually be ill. For example, on a bus or train there are seats specially set aside for those who need them. If you see an old person, you can distinguish them by the wrinkles on their face, the grey hair or the smell of pee. Pregnant women we can identify by the massive growth on the front of their body and haemorrhoids , but with CF there aren't visible signs of illness. However, if you saw me doing my physio, having a coughing fit, nebulising or with a tube down my nose you might think there was something wrong, it's just I try and keep those things in the home place.

Recently I have done some stuff in the media regarding CF. This has involved being on TV, radio and in the newspaper. For my radio appearances they try to broadcast my cough, for newspapers they want to see my collection of drugs and for TV they try to broadcast my cough and show my huge array of drugs. It can sometimes make you feel like a performing monkey, but sadly performances are needed so the general public realise that I have CF and that there is a problem with me.

All of this has just made me wonder about labels, ones we have placed upon us and also about labels that we choose to display. It made me wonder, are labels good or bad? We use them when we need them and disregard them when we don't. I don't want to be known as a disease, but at other times I talk about CF and use it so people take notice of what I'm saying. I guess it made me think about the contradictions within everyone and more specifically in me. On the outside I look well, but yet I'm not well. Then there are times I want people to know I'm unwell, but yet I don't want to be different and therefore don't want to be known as 'ill' and neither would I want to be known or defined by CF.

I don't know if what I've said is clear, i just hope you get the gist. Anyway, my brain is starting to get mushy, so I'm gonna stop thinking.

Substantial post?

I may as well get something on the way here, something that isn't so vague as the intro, something more substantial about me. Anways...It's 2pm and I still haven't washed. This isn't a habit of mine, but it's quickly turning into one. I can feel 'the beano' green cartoon lines of stench radiate from my body and it's not a pleasant feeling. Having said that my cat (Amie) is particularly smelly of late, so I don't feel so bad. Everything is comparative and frankly I'm not as smelly as my cat. However, everyone can put up with their own body odours better than they can others and so maybe I'm smellier than I think. That's not to say that ones own personal odours don't occasionally lead to regurgitation,of course they do! I should point out that cats don't have the same kind of luxury when it comes to cleaning products, I have face wash, shower gel, deodorant, toothpaste etc and she just has a tongue. So it really is an unfair comparison, but for the moment it feels like I'm not such a slob.

I've done my physio this morning, so at least that's something. For those who are just dropping by I should quickly alert you to that fact I have a condition called Cystic Fibrosis (CF), you can read about it here: http://cftrust.org.uk Overtime you will see that CF plays a role in my life, ultimately affecting each day, from the everyday logistics of planning a day to helping form the distinct perspective I have on life and the events around me.

So what have we learned from my first 'substantial post'? I have some sort of health condition and that I seem quite keen to talk about body odours and body functions. I think I've managed to sum myself up pretty well. Take care and pop back soon.

It's only the beginning

Hello!

So here it is, a small but momentous moment for the literature world. Here is an opportunity for me to publicly voice my ill judged misgivings and to demonstrate my poor comprehension of the world around me, how could I pass up such an opportunity?

This is also a chance for some to catch up on what I'm doing without having to go through the pain of talking to me face to face. Follow the ups, the downs and the plateaus, from the vaguely interesting to the the not so interesting, it might or might not be here in my blog.

Anyways, thanks for dropping by. I only hope my blog can be as interesting as some others i've read.