July 2017 – Hannah Hodgson

Hello all! I’m still a little down, if I am honest, but am on my way up again! This week I have been at the hospice for a night. It gave mum some much needed respite. While there I had such some amazing experiences. I had a manicure, pedicure and glitter tattoo thanks to a very lovely local beauty business owner. She spent two hours chatting and laughing with me, and gave me the most gorgeous nails. I wasn’t convinced they would last long due to all the syringes and stuff I use, but the paint on my fingernails lasted a week, and the stuff on my toes is still going strong! I also got a glitter tattoo of some butterflies surrounding a watering can. It was so pretty!

We also baked bread using melted ice cream. It’s something I’d seen on one of those thirty second facebook videos so we decided to give it a go. All that was in the recipe was melted ice cream and self raising flour. It had the appearance of an eggless cake – I can’t verify this myself because I couldn’t eat any, but everyone said they were rather tasty.

I made a lot of gorgeous bracelets while there as well. My visit has really reignited my passion for crafting, which has been helping me destress. I have been making beads which you bake in the oven ever since coming home!

Jumping back to being at the hospice, I made some candles! We put wax and lots of oils all together. If I’m honest I can’t say that they smell of much now that I have got them home and am burning them, but the process was so fun!

I had an MRI scan today, I get the results at my next appointment. I’m quite anxious about it, and looking deeper into my feeling of sadness the last couple of weeks I guess I am just anxious to know what the result is.

I went to Botany Bay yesterday. It’s one of those places we northerners pass all of the time and always say we will bob into. It’s an old factory that has been converted into a HUGE retail outlet. It was amazing. Nothing was overpriced and they had everything you could ever think of! There were second hand items, home ware, gifts, a sweet shop, cafe, homemade cake stalls, furniture – everything! I loved it and really want to go back soon! I bumped into one of my old friends in school. She told me she had got a 2:1 in her first year of uni and was excited about her second. When I was at school I was a bit sad, to be honest, to see all of my friends spreading their wings and flying away. Now though, I feel like I have things to say back that are equally as exciting. For example, Poetry Salzburg is going to publish three of my poems in the autumn and I begin my mentoring with Clare Shaw next month. I also have three projects up my sleeve that I’m not allowed to talk about yet!

From Monday to Sunday this week I am participating in the BookTubeAThon, a Readathon whereby you have to complete a certain amount of challenges. I’m having quite a medical heavy week, so am struggling but LOVING it.

I have also been chatting so much with a fellow BookTuber who has become one of my closest friends. We chat every day and have Skyped twice (will be three times tomorrow!). We don’t stop nattering the whole time. I wish we lived nearer to one another, but Skype means so much to me right now!

So I stopped the Wednesday streak, which I am kind of gutted about but hey ho.

Where I’ve been for two weeks…So, hello! I haven’t been blogging for the last two Wednesdays because I haven’t had a minute! Life has been mad from both a medical and general life perspective, but things are getting back on an even keel now. If I’m honest I have been feeling a bit down, but I’m on my way back up again now. So tracking back two weeks ago, I had a bad reaction to a new drug I was trailing AND a POTS attack after the Poetry Business winners pamphlet launch in Grasmere. That feels a lot longer than two weeks ago. Anyway, I do apologise if I met you for the first time that day, I was really quite ill! I ended up having a very long faint which lasted in excess of 45 minutes. My POTs just seems generally worse over the last few weeks, even after the medication had worn off. During the occasion in Grasmere and also subsequent occasions, I have had to recline my chair in the car as far as it will go, and put my feet on the dashboard. I hate it. I’ve also had a virus recently, so really haven’t been capable of blogging (thought I’d get my excuses in quickly…).

I went to Edinburgh on holiday with my family. It was so wonderful to reconnect and actually have some time just to breathe. It was a huge novelty to even be watching a film together in the evenings, as I need to be in bed. We had a suite which made it possible for us all to be together. We watched Sing! Which is an animation – and much funnier than many ‘comedy’ movies I have seen of late. Although Edinburgh isn’t the most accessible of places, we had a fabulous time. We visited Hollyrood Palace, one of the queens residencies, the botanical gardens and shopped Princes street. It was the complete rest our family needed.

Finally, I went to see Little Mix a few days ago! I went with mum to see them in Carlisle. They were incredible! We were in a wheelchair bay, so despite the outdoor venue we had a slightly raised view. The music was so loud I could feel it through my wheelchair- never mind my chest! The dance routines were incredible and I knew every single one of the songs off by heart. It’s the best concert both mum and I have been to. They were supported by Sheppard and Ella Eyre – who were also amazing. The disabled access was seamless and really, really well thought out! There was a separate disabled entrance to prevent crushing, a disabled toilet right night to the disabled access and a brilliant view from the wheelchair bay.

Sorry this wasn’t very long, I’m trying to get back in to this again! I needed some time away just to get some things sorted. I’ve also hit my one year blog anniversary (where has that time gone?!!), which means I have been home from hospital after initial diagnosis for two years.

Hannah Hodgson

Month: July 2017

Hospice,Manicure, baking and MRI scan

Where I’ve been the last two weeks…