Porridge for Breakfast, The Ordinary Life of a TTP Survivor

As I grow older I become more determined to sort my life.   I noticed that my mother, as she grew older, gave so many of her belongings away.  Now I am doing the same.   My other half is a hoarder.  He hasn't reached the time to sort and clear.  It drives me just a little bit bonkers! I get that some belongings are precious.   I haven't cleared everything,  and it's the items that have emotional meaning that are the hardest.   I have offered some items to family members, however,  they are generally not wanted.  Old photos!  I've inherited hundreds of them and they're are many I can't identify.   I mean to digitise them one day but I can't sit still long enough to do it.  CDs and DVDs!  It's hard to take things to the recycling centre when they may have some use, but if family don't want them, charity shop have declined, and you can’t give them away, what else do you do.   My other h...

As pensioners, we keep telling ourselves that we need new experiences to keep our grey cells moving 😎.  In an effort to do this,  we had a day out at Steart Marsh, a place we hadn't been to before.   We’re both determined to stay active for as long as we can. One of my anxieties, is knowing that at sometime I will need more treatment for a TTP relapse.  I know I need to be in a reasonable state of fitness for that treatment.  So, forward, I try to eat healthily, I try to keep moving, I’m doing the best I can, for my mental health as well as my physical.  I see memes about growing old disgracefully, and quite frankly I ignore them.  It’s just a privilege to grow old 🤷‍♀️  I’m 66 and think I’m doing ok! We're not bird watchers by any means and completely misjudged the tides but still enjoyed the walk.  The paths are flat, it's built on marshland after all so no hills.  It's accessible for cycling and wheelchairs, it was an easy walk. ...

Today, as part of the Severn Estuary Spring Clean Up, we joined a Beach Clean in our home town.   Other half went out happily,  quite a change for a Saturday afternoon when Skye Sports usually wins 🤔 Wombling on the beach. We weren't the only ones out with litter pickers and sacks.  All ages, grandmothers with younger family members,  couples,  people on their own, it was a good mix.  And as for the litter,  well, that was a mix too.  We found pieces of plastic, tin cans, chocolate wrappers, fishing line, takeaway coffee cups and a broken crabbing net.  The most unusual item, found by the group, included a toilet seat 🤷‍♀️.  I'm mean, really?   A loo seat? The organiser reminded us that if everyone that visited the beach picked up just one piece of plastic,  it would make a real difference.   My other half is in credit.    Whenever we ramble, or just walk down the town, he...

Many conditions have some form of alert for patients.  TTP Network has been championing this need and I'm so grateful that this has now taken a huge step forward.  My Alert Card has arrived in the post. The reverse of the card carries my details, plus contact numbers to my linked centre.  What an achievement 👏  All TTP patients under NHS  England should be linked to a Specialist Centre.  You can find more info on your nearest centre here   TTP Specialist Centres Huge thanks to the TTP Network for pushing this forward and my local centre for posting my card to me ♥️ I'm keeping my card on me, wherever I go.

How is that fossil hunting can make you feel like a child?  There was just something that took me back through the years to a childhood growing up on the South Coast.  The waves were gentle today, the sky mostly blue with cotton wool clouds.  The pebbles are the same shades as those on the Sussex coast.  Perhaps that is what took me back.  It was a surprise to me when I moved to Somerset that the beach pebbles,  and the soil, could be so different. .  Wandering on the Dorset Beach at Charmouth was reminiscent of the beach where I spent so much of my childhood.   Except for the cliffs!  The cliffs at Charmouth are crumbling,  falls are obvious, but each fall seems to bring a huge variety of fossils.   Growing up on the South Coast,  there were few fossils, but we spent hours searching for lucky pebbles with holes.  I've never really discovered how the holes wear right through, but it just feels natural to me to se...

At last!  Yesterday bought a blue sky, no rain, no cold wind!  It felt to me like the first day of spring!  What a difference it makes 😊    Finally,  we were able to enjoy some time in the garden,  in the sunshine! I had bought some polyanthus a few weeks ago and managed to plant them in some pots.  Weeded a small patch, pulled up a mountain of Ivy, and other half was able to cut the grass. I'm determined not to overdo it  I've learnt recently to take smaller steps.  A bit of time each day might be better than sudden bursts of weed pulling 🤔  I've taken a few photos, they're not great.  The Tadpoles are amazing though, thousands of them!  Sadly some will be eaten by the birds.  Nature is a conundrum.   Hopefully enough will survive to grow into frogs, toads, newts.  Then they will in turn eat slugs and snails.  Life is a circle.  A thousand or more tadpoles in the little pond....

I'm having a stay at home day.  It's not like me but I've had a busy week, and the possibility of a busy week ahead.  I feel like I need a rest.   On the other hand I have a mental list of bits to catch up on, they will have to wait. The thought of 'How on earth did I ever manage to work full time,  raise a family,  cope with a house and have an elderly parent live with us?' has crossed my mind again.  The answer is, of course,  I didn't do it well.  Somehow though, we muddled through,  and although I wish I had made some different choices, I might not be the survivor I am today without those experiences. I am grateful for getting to the age I am now.  I think I'm right in saying that I have lived for more years than either of my grandmothers.   Sadly, my memories of both are sketchy.  Thankfully I have been able to hold my own grand child.   I am grateful to wake up every day and to have choices.  I'm grateful f...