It’s been an eventful day – hence the very late blog post (I’ve still managed to post on a Wednesday though!). I’ve had so many telephone conversations today to do with health care, it has been a day where I have wished that we could unplug the phones. We have secured some funding for my care, but it’s nothing like what we have asked for. So we have had people on the phone apologising but not apologising at all. It has taken six months to secure this small slice of funding. We have fought tooth and nail and have run out of steam with everything, so luckily we now have reinforcements in the form of Tim Farrons team. They have taken over my case and the relief I feel is huge. The movement I have seen in my complaint in the last week since they have been involved has been more than I have seen in the last six months! The specific funding I am applying for is for people who are very vulnerable in society. I have never felt so stressed about anything in my life – which surely highlights a flaw in our system. Surely securing funding for our most ill and vulnerable should be an easy ride? I have never been political on this blog before, but I’m afraid to say it is a sign of a Tory run NHS – constantly looking for areas to cut back on, from staffing to deal with the initial funding request to the actual funding itself.

It has been very hot across Britain this week. This means my POTs (very low blood pressure and racing pulse) has been pretty horrendous and I have been blacking out. Once I have a black out I can’t get warm again and mum has had to get my winter duvet out so I could snuggle under it to get my blood pressure back up- on a 26 degree day!

It was Kendal poetry festival this weekend. My more detailed thoughts on this will be going up on the Kendal Poetry Festival blog very soon, but I had a fabulous weekend. The poets I saw were amazing, and when I read my own work I got some lovely, in fact beyond lovely, comments from audience members. Linda Gregerson dedicated two of her poems to me – but unfortunately I had to go home early because I was feeling pretty poorly, so didn’t get to see her perform! I am gutted, but emailed Linda to thank her and she sent me the poems in question – which left a lump in the back of my throat. Well done to Kim and Pauline for pulling off yet another stunner of a festival. (Thanks to Martin Copley for the pic!)

Speaking of Pauline, for those of you who don’t know Pauline has released a wonderful new pamphlet called Image Junkie with Wayleave Press. I received a review copy of this (video on my YouTube channel coming up soon!), and there are some wonderful poems in there. I only found out the other day that this was her first pamphlet, and bloody hell Po, you and Mike have pulled it out of the bag with this one! (No, it’s not a typo, Po is Paulines nickname, just so you know…)

I have been revising for my exam on Friday. It has been quite surreal really, one minute revising a procedure and the next minute actually having it! I study health and social care, which is actually more difficult than anyone gives credit for. You have to mention specific names and items used in a procedure otherwise you get no marks – even if you describe performing the procedure correctly.

My desk has lots of lovely review copies of books for me to review when I have finished my exam, so I am especially desperate to get everything done and dusted!