Charity Work

About a month ago, my mum and I had a stall outside a parent’s evening at my school trying to raise money for CHSW, the charity we support. After selling some CHSW merchandise and forcing unfortunate teachers to donate, we raised £108. Also for CHSW, my family recently did a 7.6 miles sponsored swim (as we are the Frome and Warminster friends group, and the distance between the towns is 7.6 miles). We were swimming 2 at a time for about 2 and a half hours, each of us swimming between 150 and 200 lengths of our pool. Between eating the Jaffa Cakes (for energy of course), it felt good to be doing something beneficial for charity. We raised about £645 which we were all very proud of.

Another CHSW Collection

A few weeks ago, we did our third collection outside the local farm shop for CHSW. Like other collections there (and this being Britain), the weather wasn’t very good and we had to stand outside all day. Yet again the farm shop and their customers were very supportive and we raised £208.

Rowden House 1 Year On

It’s now been a year since I started visiting the residents at Rowden House, a residential home for the elderly. At first it was a bit awkward as I didn’t know any of the residents and I was uncertain of how to talk to them and what about, so I took my saxophone in and have played every time ever since. I go in most weeks, and they sing along to their favourite songs. It’s strange how most can remember all of the words to the songs, but can’t remember a conversation you’ve had a few minutes before. Most of them are women, most likely in their 90s, who, as well as memory problems often walk with Zimmer frames or sticks. They appear to be well cared for and happy there, which is nice to see especially due to articles I have recently read in the paper about poor care in homes for the elderly. After a year, they now know me well and are very pleased to see me with my saxophone (even the cat!).

Referrals

Recently, I have been having a lot of stomach problems, so I went to my local GP, who thought that it might be a gall stone. He then referred me for an ultrasound at one of the nearby hospitals, so, a few weeks later, I went for one. It was really fascinating! I saw things like my liver, gall bladder, stomach, spleen and kidneys, after the doctor has applied a pre-heated jelly, which made it much more comfortable than it would have been if it was cold, although it did tickle a lot. However, they concluded that I did not have a gall stone, so I was put on Lansoprozole to try and calm my stomach. Initially, this appeared to work, until the stomach ache reappeared after about a week. Upon returning to my GP, he then referred me to a paediatrician at Yeovil District Hospital. I went up to floor 10, and was weighed and measured by a nurse, then sent through to see the paediatrician. He was very friendly and immediately put me at ease, although he too could not see what was wrong with me. I then had to have a blood test. Unfortunately, when the nurse put the needle in my elbow after applying cold spray, the vein moved around the needle, then, when the needle was in the vein, the vein collapsed. Next, she tried the other elbow, and it went well in the beginning, until the blood stopped and we didn’t have enough for a blood test. Upon returning to the other elbow, the vein decides to be unhelpful and moves again, so the nurse tried another part of my elbow, and we finally got enough blood. Luckily, I don’t mind blood tests, and made jokes to show that I didn’t mind and I knew that it wasn’t their fault. Now I’m just waiting for the test results to come through to see what’s wrong with me!