Monday 17 February 2014

Goodnewsoutweighsthebad.

I'm getting really lax at keeping up to date with this blog! Sorry!
However now that Stacey is doing pretty well there seems to be less to talk about (which is definitely a good sign!)
I may even start doing some different posts on here, whatever takes my fancy, just to fill out the blog when there is no news to report :)


So, last week we had some bad news. My Aunty Suzanne is the latest candidate for 'The Kidney Factor' (yes I made that up and its awesome). This involves some heavy tests, starting off with blood work and tissue matching then onto kidney and breathing tests. To check that my Aunty is a match for the first round the hospital have to have up to date vials of Stacey's blood to compare it.
However, since moving from three lots of 4 hour dialysis a week to two 3 hours a week, her blood work has got worse and she has felt more poorly because of it. This means unfortunately its back up to 3 days a week and Stacey HATES it. she has dialysis Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings which means the days in between she is recovering then she's back to it again. It really drains her.


Stacey over the last few months :)
 
Buuuuuut, as it says in the blog title, the good news outweighs the bad. The same day she found out about dialysis, she also found out that she has been put forward for tests to find out if her body is fit enough for her kidney transplant. At the moment she is not on the kidney transplant list due to her body not being fit enough for surgery if a kidney match comes up. Her tests are due next week and if she passes (?) she will be put on the transplant list and her doctor is hopeful that she will have a new kidney within 4 months!
 
Not only that, but Stacey found out a couple of days later that the guide dog tests that she had taken a few weeks ago have meant that she should get a guide dog in the next 6 months due to her being young, fit and at least slightly aware of her surroundings meaning she can be matched with a lot of different dogs.
 
So much good news! Stacey has already bought the dog its first toy, she's so excited!
 
 
 

 

Stacey & I - October 2013.
 
 
 
 
 
Thank you for reading :)

Monday 3 February 2014

happiertimesahead.

Stacey ready for her Uni Ball.

My bestie recently told me that she loves to read my blog about Stacey, but I always start off cheery and end up leaving her in tears, sorry Charli! So this is a happier, cheerier post!

I ventured home to Coventry last weekend for my BFF's birthday, and as always, I stayed over at my parent's house. Thank god I did as I got to see my beautiful sister all dressed up like a princess to go to her Uni Ball with her boyfriend and her friends. Unfortunately when Stacey became ill she only had 3 months left of university and then she would have been a fully trained Nurse. The uni are being amazing and holding her placement open until 2016 for if/when her sight returns and she can complete her degree however, this did not stop her from saying well done and celebrating her friends passing their degrees and getting jobs.

Stacey had a surprise for everyone though, she usually has a short bob that recently due to the crazy amounts of medication she is on, dialysis twice a week and long stays in hospital beds, has started falling out. She came out of her bedroom at 7pm a changed person! She had been to the hairdressers earlier that day and had long blonde extensions put in, that even her boyfriend didn't know about and she had done all her makeup herself!

She looked like a Barbie doll :)

Totally didn't stop her trying to ruin my nice photo!

They partied til the early hours and only managed to get home just half an hour before Dan and I at 2am!
 
Also, earlier that day my mum and I were going into town and Stacey decided she was going to join us, however instead of coming in the car with us she decided to use it as an excuse to do some more training with her mobility cane. She has been told she needs to go out and learn routes to places she would normally go to in preparation for getting a guide dog. After being really apprehensive about letting her out of the house on her own being partially sighted, I was completely surprised when she beat us into town! Stacey had managed to walk to the bus stop, get on the bus and get to the shop in town before us and we were in the car! I was so proud. She was also completely hilarious using her cane to part people like the red sea... people were jumping out of the way of her walking so fast.
 
Witnessing how incredibly strong she is after everything that has been thrown at her just shows that things can only get better and with her strength and courage there is nothing stopping her.