Saturday 16 March 2013

Doing Something Unfunny For Money

Well I have to say it, that was the unfunniest two hours I've ever spent watching 'comedy'.

Sadly with Comic Relief I barely raised a smile let alone laugh at anything. In fact the funniest moment for me was seeing Lenny Henry hug Ed Miliband and only then because of the expression on Lenny's face. By the time Davina arrived I had to turn off. I can't stand her at the best of times but when I'm bored to tears it's even worse. In the end they managed to raise 75 million, which is an impressive sum, so somebody must have liked it.

Andrew is home and full of stories about his four nights on the Ambulance. It seems they get more false call outs at night than they do during the day, so he spent most of the week scraping drunks off the pavement or putting old ladies back into bed. He's not impressed and is hoping for more excitement when he starts days later this week.

I've woken up today with a slight cough and a runny nose. I knew it, I just knew it! Now the race is on to stop it developing into anything more. So it's honey and lemon and lots of steaming. I figure the high temperature of the steam might just kill off the bugs before they become settled. So far I feel fine, my chest is nice and clear and there is no effect on my breathing. Let's hope it stays that way, the last thing I need this week is to be ill.

Tonight we are going to kick back and enjoy a film night. I might even treat myself to a rare glass of cider. With a bit of luck this will not render me unconscious on the settee and I will get to watch the end of the film.

However first to come is the sheer excitement of Wales versus England to decided the Six Nations Championship. As it stands Wales only needs to finish the match eight points ahead of England to take the title, not unachievable by any stretch of the imagination. I suspect it is going to be an epic match, hard fought and well played. My only hope is that both sides play fair and no one ends up in the sin bin. For this epic afternoon I have assembled crisps, cakes, hot chocolate and a variety of fresh fruit, well a girl's got to keep her strength up. I will try very hard not to get too excited but I suspect I will be on oxygen by the end of it.

Today I posed a question for my fellow PH sufferers, 'if you woke up tomorrow completely cured what would be the first thing you'd do?' Almost to a man the answer came back 'go for a walk.' I didn't know what answers I actually expected, maybe a few marathons or rowing the channels to be thrown in here and there, so for everyone to chose such a mundane,  everyday activity shows just how badly this illness takes away the simplicity of life. As one lady put it, ' I think that has been the greatest gift my illnesses have given me, knowing what is truly important and not worrying about the other stuff.' I can't add to that, that one sentence says it all.

In the news hope has been given to those waiting for liver transplants.

A new machine has been developed that keeps the liver alive outside the body by feeding it blood and oxygen. The device is portable and can keep the liver in good condition for twenty fours hours or more. So far two patients have received organs kept alive by this machine and both are doing well. In the past livers were kept on ice which could cause damage to the delicate tissue causing some operations to fail. The new machine also means that damaged livers can be repaired before transplant freeing up organs that would normally go to waste. Obviously this is good news for the 8000 Britons waiting for a new liver. It also means that we may soon see a reduction in the 100 deaths a day of people waiting for a match.

I always think that this sort of news is a bit of a two edged sword. Yes it is marvellous news that more transplants will be carried out because of this new device. However I wonder whether it will make potential donors think that the announcement means that there is no longer going to be a shortage of organs as a result. What they fail to realise is that the device cannot do it's job if there are no donated organs in the first place.

If you gave money to save a life last night then please, do something to save a life today that won't cost you anything and sign up to the donor register.

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