Stop the World I want to get off.

As most of you will know we have been on our holidays to Scotland.  Though we rarely managed to get wifi or indeed even a signal for our telephones we did most of the time get television so it was great to keep up with the news worldwide.  I was shocked and horrified as each day yet another extremist either opened fire, ran lorries into crowds, or even decided to use an axe to kill people.  It was so shocking that I actually dreaded each news item but felt compelled to watch nonetheless.  I am sickened at the world we have become and it has to be said, and  yes I know I have said it before that it can't be denied that most of these atrocities are carried out by Islamic terrorists and they say it is the name of religion.  No religion I have ever known goes about the barbaric acts of killing as they do.  They are just cowards, absolute cowards and I hate each and every one of them.

Also upsetting is the fact that most of them get shot and killed themselves after carrying out such cruel acts and then we are left to pick up the pieces.  The families they leave behind are still allowed to continue living in the countries their sons abused so badly.  Maybe if the people that are leading up to carrying out such terrible things knew that once their deadly deed is over ALL their family left in the country they have so abused would be sent back to where they came from they just may think twice.  It is easy for them to just die knowing that the tab for bringing up their children or taking care of their elderly parents etc would for the most part fall to the government of the country they have so badly abused.  It just may make them think twice. 

I read the headlines after the most horrendous killings in France  by the Islamic terrorist and the headline said A Night Of Terror, well it wasn't just a night of terror.  Anything like this has consequences that travel far and wide.  It is like throwing a pebble into a pool,  The ripples start small but they grow.  So too the effects on all the families, neighbours  and the countries as a whole.  So much pain, so much suffering, so many families destroyed forever.  Time will not dim the pain.  It is so sad.

Whilst reading the Scottish papers I read an article about a family who had been welcomed onto the Isle of Bute.  They sought sanctuary and were greeted with open arms as part of the refugee programme.  They were given a house and promised money for the next five years.  One would have thought they would have been so pleased to be out of their war torn country but no....... Not at all.  The family were saying they were bored.  They said this island was a place people went to to die.  It was full of old people.  They had hoped to have been given sanctuary in London where they would have been able to talk to their own people.  There were four families welcomed onto Bute.  Two were very grateful but two wanted to go back to where they had fled from.  It had cost a lot of money to bring these families over as part of the refugee resettlement.  For me I would spend a little money and send them back.  I found their moans and groans to be so ungrateful it shocked me to the core.  They had not managed to master any English and said if they could only go to London or Manchester where there were others like them they would settle with them and learn English.  Now is it me or does this sound mad.  If they were re settled with a community of their own nationality do not tell me they would then be able to learn to speak English whilst they couldn't learn in Scotland.  Yes send them back, in the long run it will be cheaper and see how they then like going back to the place they fled from, after all it is what they are now asking for, give them their wish. 

Scotland

How could anyone not love the majestic views of the highlands of Scotland, such amazing scenery around every corner.  With our motor home we moved on from day to day mostly and each place we went to we gasped with the splendour of what we were seeing.  We spent days with our van parked beside lochs where Colin fished, no he didn't catch a thing but had fun trying.  He went mountain biking on the most splendid trails and I meanwhile lay on our sofa and just took in the views and read.

On one site Colin went for a walk taking his camera.  He came back to show me some pictures that were rather unexpected.  I have posted them on here.  On the first we see the pure white rabbit popping up out of its burrow, where did this rabbit come  from, an escaped pet I assume or are there pure white rabbits in the wild, would love to know.   

In the second picture we see a Jack Russell with its bum sticking out of the burrow where it was trying unsuccessfully to capture the rabbit.  We know he didn't manage it as he following morning we saw the same rabbit seemingly oblivious to how close he had come to being torn apart chewing the grass.  What did upset me is that the camp site we were on had a very specific sign up saying that dogs MUST be kept on a  lead at all times.  This dog was from the site as we saw it later with its owners who seemed to think that the sign was for everyone else but not their dog.  It pleased me so much that the dog did not get its prey.  

We managed to get to see our friends Mark and Toppy in their beautiful home in Ardfern where we were very warmly welcomed. After almost three weeks of barely not speaking to another soul it was lovely to talk to somebody else.  It was then time to head down towards home.  The scenery changes so dramatically when leaving the Isles and the highlands.  Though the lowlands are fine they cannot compete with the highlands.  It is almost instantaneously  how quickly the change is from one to the other and we both remarked on it.  Roll on next year when we hope to do a similar trip again, this time spending even more time in the highlands before heading home.

Something for the memory box

In one village we went for a short walk and I was wearing the wrong shoes so my feet were getting wet walking through the puddles from a down pour that had occurred just before we arrived.  How fortuitous then to see something for our memory box that will forever remind me to check my footwear before leaving the van.  I know some of you manage to wear footwear similar to this type and I take my hat off to you.  Yes they are beautiful but not for me, I would break a leg in them.  These miniature  ones will remain for me the only form of high heels I shall own!  

Where I  breath a huge sigh of relief.

My daughter and Chris went on holiday with Izzy to Turkey just days after the coup.  I was horrified and begged them to get their money returned but Thomas Cook would not and also would not even move their holiday to another destination.  In fairness they were on the other side of the country but I was still so worried all the time  they were away.  To make matters worse as I had said before we had very little telephone signals we found it difficult to catch up with how they were doing.  I scoured papers daily to see if there were any more problems but to be honest it wasn't until I managed to find out they were home and safe did I breath a huge sigh of relief.  They said the hotel was amazing as was the service received and they all had a fabulous time which of course I was pleased about but I pray they never again go to a country that has so many problems.  That said Belgium, France and America have had so much heartbreak with their terrorists so quite where one is safe nowadays who knows.  Anyway they are home safe and well and we are having Izzy daily from tomorrow for a week so no doubt she will tell me all about it. 

Didn't get to post this yesterday so,we learnt from Izzy all about how,she can now jump into the sea from a very high pier.  So proud of her.  

Stacie Pridden

Most  of you will have heard of Stacie who after waiting years for her transplant was given one just in the nick of time. She became a celebrity of sorts and could be seen on many tv channels initially after her transplant.  The speed of her recovery was huge.  She surprised the doctors taking care of her and all we with ph too, as well as of course her family and friends.  She was invited to Wimbledon  where she enjoyed at first hand all it had to offer, a dream of a lifetime for her.  Stacie then went on holiday for the first time ever abroad with her lovely boyfriend Mark, she was so excited.  Well things are not going so well now unfortunately as she has been told her lung function is seriously low and they are considering another transplant if the medicines they are giving to try to turn this around do not work.  She is a lovely young girl who I know personally and has gone through so much in her short life.  She has done much to bring to people's attention of the need for more organ donation.  I know Stacie is sleeping a lot now as her strength has gone.  One can only hope that the meds do their trick, another transplant would be such a huge blow.  Please keep her in your thoughts and wish her well. 

PLEASE. Don't tell us we all die!!!!!  

Pulmonary hypertension and Serena Lawrence.

http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fpulmonaryhypertensionnews.com%2Fblog%2F2016%2F07%2F12%2Fthe-worst-advice-you-can-give-to-a-pulmonary-hypertension-patient%2F&h=dAQG1Cx4J&s=1

Serena wrote an article a few weeks ago that I saved knowing I would want to repost it for anyone reading my blog to read and digest.  She puts into words much better than I could ever write about things NOT to say to a ph patient.  How many times have we heard these same things said to us, how many times have we wanted to scream in the faces of the people saying these things to us so easily.  Ph is so hard to live with, knowing what we have each day, waking up to another difficult day and hearing such crass remarks sometimes gets just too much.  Thanks Serena for this.  I think I will copy it and hand it out to the next person that says such things to me.  It just may make people think twice before they open their mouths.  Here is what Serena wrote.  

In the papers today

I was saddened to read of the death of a young man in his 20's who was hit by a train when he leaned too far out of the window of the train he was in.  Some who saw the incident said he was beheaded   the police said he wasn't but he was so badly damaged by the incident.  I am so sad that a young life ended so quickly due to a tragic accident.  I pray others take note of this.  I was always terrified of my children when they wished to lean out of the train.  Fortunately on most trains it is now impossible to open the windows far enough but some still have the capacity on the older trains.  My heart goes out to the family of this as yet unnamed young man.  

So touched

On one of the very rare times we managed to receive messages I opened one that pleased me more than any of you could know.  It was from a vey special guy Tony who asked if I was ok as he had not seen my blog for a while and wondered if all was well with me.  Without you needing to know the whys and the wherefores this guy means so very much to me.  Though he is often in my thoughts I could never be sure I was  in his so to see that message meant so much to me.  

I also received a birthday message from my son.  Doesn't sound much I know but believe me my son is rubbish at sending messages such as these which is why I treasure so much a Mother's Day card he gave me around ten years ago, they come so infrequently.  I am one of these moms who saves the cards from my children for years.  I have many of the ones they did for me when they were very young.  My daughter picks the most thoughtful cards ever, I never seem to be able to find these myself so she gets a rather boring card from me though I do personalise them.

My pulmonary rehabilitation exercises begin on the 17th August for eight weeks, twice a week.  It will be interesting t see if they help me with my breathing.  Oh I do hope they do as I know my breathing is getting shallower and shallower.  We shall see.

The injections into my vertebrae seem to have helped a little though not as much as I had hoped.  The spasms appear  to have stopped which is a blessing as they were horrendously painful but I still suffer some pain and I had hoped that would have eased rather more than it has.   Well we cant  have it all can we so I am grateful for the relief I do have. 

Time to see about getting this blog posted.  I have responded to requests to join the pah society and answered facebook messages so this is the last thing I need to do, tomorrow then I will reply to e mails as I have got behind with all my computer things and I need to do this a.s.a.p. Sorry things have taken so long but I should  be back on track now I have a signal.

Oh one message I did receive was from somebody who wished to join our closed,pah group.  He was a member of 667 groups already and admitted he did not have ph but wanted to join as he was "curious". When I said we could not admit him he told me we were foolish he told me we were mad to not have it open so people such as he could talk to people with this disease.  The exchange of messages went on and on whilst I tried to explain why we wanted it closed, in the end I was not getting through to him so told him I was blocking him.  He had told me he liked talking to people who were dying!  How sick is this guy.  Anyway we are all LIVING with this disease, we stay positive. 

One little girl will be arriving around now so I must get organised.  Go well everyone, thanks for reading and if you click like a huge thank you for that, you can have no idea just what a simple act such as that means to me.  

Carole. xxx