Betsy update.

Just a few photos as promised, I would of done them yesterday but I was unwell. Its really starting to take shape and maybe next weekend she will be ready.

It is taking shape, will have the final photos soon. Thanks Mum for all your hard work.

Update on Betsy.

Things are coming on a lot quicker now our days are not spent dealing with hospital trips.

Here are some photos with the pelmets up, the rest of the fabric interior should be finished by Thursday evening (thanks to my mum). It still needs lot doing to her but there is definite progress.

More photos at the end of the week, I am off tomorrow for a night away to go and pick my daughter up who has been away for 7 weeks in basic training. So hopefully mum will have done everything when I return. 

Hope I never see you again.

Yesterday was one the happiest yet the most emotional days ever. I do not think if someone had told me I had won the euro millions I would off felt happier. 

I was driving myself to the hospital yesterday and I had not even got a few miles down the road before the tears started. Now I have a blog friend called Annie who is really into music and finds profound ( I think that's the right word I just checked it in the dictionary) songs to describe her feeling and emotions. I feel embarrassed to say especially to her  but it was "Take That" that set me off and the song was " The Greatest Day". It is not a good idea to drive while in floods off tears, but once I had started I could not stop, it was proper sobbing. The last time I cried like that was the day of diagnosis. I did not cry in the hospital I was very composed with the doctor, it was when I got back to my car I sobbed hard for a short time. Then I told myself tears will not help, I need to get on with this, get through it and get my life back to normal.

So yesterday was my final session of radiotherapy and I was grinning like a cheshire cat in the waiting room and the treatment room. When I was called through and I lay on the bed getting zapped I had the biggest smile on my face, I thinking the whole time this is the end of this journey for me . I said goodbye to the team and patients I had come to know and told them "I hope never to see them again" . It's funny how such a negative comment can be positive in another situation. I walked back to van happy but tearful yet again. This was yet another battle in my 38 years off life that I had fought and won and I,m really chuffed with myself. Plus I was getting e-mails through on my phone to say people had donated for my charity run and left some lovely messages with their donations, they made me cry too.

I celebrated over lunch with Hubby and a bottle of beer, which I couldn't actually drink in the end, he had to finish it. Still it was a toast to the end of everything and the start of a new chapter.

So today I awoke and feel this is the first day off getting back to normal, I do not want Cancer to be in control of my life any longer. I have already made the plans to gradually get back to work, starting this week. I shall start seeing a few clients a week and build it up till I feel strong enough to be back full time (its a very physical job even when you are healthy). 

This blog was created to show Vintage items and my love of caravans but it has been so brilliant to use as a personal diary for family and friends. I am so thankful for the support the blogging community has given me over the months and hope we remain blogging friends for a long time to come. I am actually a very shy person who can be quite guarded, but not when I,m blogging! Its so weird how you can express yourself so differently on a blog.

Thank you all for your support.

Marie Curie Charity

This is a post asking for your help. I will be running a very difficult 10 km race across country and up mountains in 4 weeks. I was myself recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer and still going through treatment, so this will be a huge challenge for me. I am running it to help raise money for this brilliant charity"Marie Curie" but you all know that its brilliant anyway. If you would like to donate no matter how small it will go to help someone when they most need it.

If you would like to donate please follow the link

http://www.justgiving.com/pollydolly58

Thanks

I just wanted to show a few photo's of the work in  progress on the "Betsy" the caravan. Its a before and after shot of the kitchen cupboards and some samples of the fabric I am going to use. It is starting to look the way we want it but still a bit of work to do.

I cannot believe I have only 3 days left of treatment then I am left alone for 2 or 3 months with no hospital visits that I am aware of. I think you are left alone to heal and get your life back to normal, which is great but a little scary. There has been so much attention from different medical departments and then there is nothing. I know there only at the end of a phone if I need them but its still a strange feeling. 

Felt exhausted today, it could be the treatment or the effects of all the physical exercise I have had recently. As well as the running I went to a Zumba class yesterday which was great. I could not manage the whole hour as my arm became very sore, but there was definately more movement in my arm this morning so it did some good. This evening my friend invited me to her Tia Chi class she runs and it was great. Its actually very physical especially on the legs. I have a review every Tuesday with my Radiographer to make sure everything is OK, I told her I feel the fittest I have felt in years, its mad considering the situation.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a gift from a blog I follow "Stuff' n bits" and this is the lovely handmade gift Jodi sent me, thank you.

I did it!

I cannot believe it but I have just ran 6 1/2 miles. I have never in my entire life ran that far, so I now know I can cover the distance of the 10km I just need to start running up some hills now. I had planned to run it last week but things changed so I made sure today was the day. It was awful weather, cold, windy and raining but I kept running through it. I was in pain, even the tightest sports bra can't stop the pain. I just have to think about how lucky I am and the money I raise will go to help people with a not so good prognosis as me. Thats if the sponsors forms ever turn up!! I must make some enquires.

I watched some movies yesterday (and 3 hours of Gold Rush on the documentry channel, its very addictive) and made a very rich chocolate cake. I made chocolate butter icing and there was too much so I went to put it in the bin, but dropped some on the floor. I shouted Cupcake to come and eat it, she entered the kitchen looked at the mess and cowered in the corner of the kitchen. It was then I realised it actually looked liked dog mess and she thought she was in for a telling off, bless her.

Thankfully the end is near, I only have 1 week of radiotherapy left and its a relief. I am really struggling with the journey, the tiredness, the inconvenience but most of all the pain. I am burnt, itchy and tender and the only products you can use that have zilch chemicals in them are useless. It looks as though someone has stuck an iron over my breast its actually the same shape as an iron and hurts as much. I just want it all to be over now so that I can completely heal from the 2 surgery's and this. 

I made a decision yesterday to get the work finished and give my house a blitz so that today I have nothing to do except what I want too. I plan to make a chocolate cake and watch movies. More work will be coming in today from holiday changeovers but it can go in the van and stay there till tomorrow. I need a day without work or hospital. The weather is awful too, its one of those days when you just want to cosy up inside and do nothing, Perfect!!

The caravan project is coming along, she's stripped, sanded and the first coat of paint has been applied. The fabric has been bought but there is a few weeks delay on one of the rolls as they did not have enough. Its amazing how much fabric a caravan needs, I have chosen Clarke and Clarke because there fabric is so pretty and its cheaper than Cath Kidston. 

The running is going OK, but each run is getting harder and slower. I know there are very good reasons for this. The main one being my appetite is not good at the moment so I,m not taking on enough fuel. I do not know if this is because of the treatment but I just cannot eat anything after lunch time with out feeling sick. I will pop to the supermarket today and see if there is anything that really appeals to me to break this cycle.

Hopefully in my next post I will have some photos of the updated caravan, so you can see a difference.

Betsy has arrived!!

I have finally got myself another vintage caravan as a new project. There's no exact date but we are guessing early 70,s and she is a sprite like "Polly Dolly". She has a fantastic shell but the the inside is less desirable, but that will make it even better when she is finished. We have a vision of what she's going to look like, just not sure how we will get there. The good thing is I'm project manager and hubby is happy to do what I tell him, he's rather excited actually (he's out there now stripping her insides). The sad thing is though I know I will fall in love with her and she is too be sold on. I would love to keep her but we do not have the space and the whole point of buying is to see if we can make a small business from this.

So you can look at the photo,s below, but please bear in mind "Polly Dolly" did not look great when she turned up either.

Watch this space for a gorgeous transformation!!!

Radiotherapy is going well, the skin is sore and itchy and I am sleeping more but all this is to be expected, yesterday marked the halfway point which is great, more so for the cost of petrol we are using going back and forth.

We went to look at another caravan the other day, she was on paperwork perfect. She was a 1950's vintage caravan and I loved it as soon as I saw it but it was not meant to be. Structurally she was damaged at one end, which really annoys me why people let them get in this state. I am sure someone with knowledge of caravan restoration would know what to do but its not in our capabilities. The guy was even dropping the price to a steal but to get the caravan to a state which I would of felt happy to sell her on would off cost a lot of money. I know Darren initially thought I'd had paid too much money for "Polly Dolly" but he now says he can appreciate how solid she is for her age and what good condition she is in.

The running is going well, I,m enjoying more than I ever have. I have always ran before because its a way of getting fit but it was a real effort. Suddenly now I cant wait to get my trainers on and go, so I had a good think about this while running this morning and I can only come to one conclusion. Running is the only thing in my life I have control off at the moment. I choose when and where I go, no one is making me do something I do not want to. Since march I have felt like my life has been turned upside down, I have become sickly and ill when I felt fine before diagnosis. I have six weeks to get ready for this 10km and I am determined to do it. I know my radiographer is worried about the fatigue but i feel just as tired if I don't go for run. I can understand why hes concerned because the majority of patients he see every day do not look too healthy which is not there fault. I am young and I am healthy than some healthy people if you know what I mean.

Today is treat day, we are going to go shopping in Shrewsbury after my hospital appointment and do some shopping. So I think a trip to the Vintage shop and a few other boutiques is in order, just some little pretty things I think.

Festival weekend

What a brilliant 4 days away and the weather was perfect from the time we arrived till we left. Everyone was in bikinis or topless (the men I mean) I had to be covered up so I now have a fantastic T-shirt tan, which goes against all my rules of tanning. We were first there and last to leave as we worked our stay around the hospital, it was so great being so close for a change. 

The people who attended were so nice, everyone mixed with everyone, we were surrounded by friends in our area, we had such a laugh together. The bands were really good, everyone was dancing and singing.

Polly Dolly stole the show and had people in and out throughout the weekend, you could seeds being planted in some peoples minds. It was just so much fun staying in her that I just want to travel all over with her now. 

I am home now to catch up on the works laundry, I keep forgetting I have to go to the hospital everyday this week, its a pain really because I really do not have the time. That's what happens though when you have a few days off. I meant what I said though I have forgotten about the cancer and treatment, this weekend has allowed me to do this it was just what I needed. I was going to have a run this morning before going but I am too tired, the after effects of a long weekend, maybe I will tomorrow.