First couple of weeks done!

I keep forgetting to blog about weight loss/exercise plan!  Oops
Both are going really well.  I'm only two weeks in and have lost 5.5 lb, maybe next week I'll be back at weight I was beginning November.
I attended a kids birthday party at the weekend and nibbled away on food for my lunch and could do this guilt free as I was guesstimating my points using my weekly allowance too.  I do like weight watchers plan as I'm keeping track of what I'm eating throughout the week, and keeping aside my weekly extra points to use over the weekend.
The exercis is going well.  At the moment I'm just using the gym as it's freeeeeeeeezing outside and I hate exercising in the cold.  Most of my time in the gym is spent on the exercise bike, where I'm noticing a difference in what I can do now compared to a couple of weeks ago.  I also pop onto the treadmill for a brisk walk, onto the stepper and the arm cycling thing for a wee blast too.  Aswell as the cardio I'm doing the leg press for 3 sets of 10 to try to get the strength back in my legs.  I'm only pressing 70-80kg just now, and my ex tells me I used to be able to press about 200kg when I was kickboxing and doing weights previously.  I really don't mind getting muscley legs as I have naturally big legs anyway, so better that they're fab than flab!  The strength there will definately help with the cycling.
Once the weather gets a bit warmer I'll venture out on the bike to see just how I'm doing on it.  Isla will appreciate it as she loves sitting on the seat on the back, and the added weight from her is good for me too (all 13 kg of her)!
Speaking of Isla, she gave me a little scare last week.  Last Tuesday evening we'd been out aurora hunting and Isla feel asleep in the car on the way home and missed bath time.  On Wednesday morning I gave her a bath.  While getting things ready Isla was standing looking into the bath when I noticed a 'lump' on her back.  I say lump as I don't know how else to explain it at the time.  While trying to act normal with Isla I managed to take a photo with my phone and upload it onto facebook so my neuroblastoma family could offer advice to me.  I sent the pic to hubby too, and waited to hear what people thought while all the time screaming inside 'please, don't let this be a sign of relapse!'  I phoned our local children's ward as Isla used to have open access during treatment.  I don't know exactly when this access ended but she's been off treatment for a year now.  Their advice to me was to phone the GP.  I was dreading this being the opinion by the ward as I really wanted a paediatrician to look at her.  When Isla was out of the bath I got onto the computer to send an email with the photo to Isla's consultant asking for advice.  Then I phoned the GP who of course had no appointments left by this time, but they did say they would get a doctor to phone me back.  We got asked to go to the GP, and hubby was home in time from work to come along too.  The GP felt that it was muscle and her back did seem to be a little misaligned.

Although this diagnosis was fine, it didn't reassure me that it was not something more sinister.  I needed my mind put at rest.  She offered to write a letter for a referral for an urgent scan, and said that was the soonest she could do it.  Really I wanted her to refer us to the children's ward that day for another opinion.  I did feel that it was probably muscular too by this point.  A NB friend whose daughter has scoliosis had informed me of a bend to do to see if there may be a curve in her back.  It did appear there was a slight curve, and I was coming to this opinion myself, but still I knew I wouldn't sleep until a paediatrician or Isla's consultant looked at Isla.  On returning home from the GP, with no reply from Isla's consultant I phoned the hospital and left a message for Isla's consultant to look at her email and to get in touch with me when she could.  I had decided that if I hadn't heard from her within the hour I was going to a and e to request an x-ray.  There is no way I was going to keep waiting.  I needed to know she didn't have cancer again.  Luckily her consultant phoned within about half an hour and told us to come to Aberdeen so she could look her over.
Isla's consultant too felt it was muscular but that there was misalignment, nad reminded us that the radiotherapy may have damaged the site.  This to me made sense.  It wasn't that Isla had a lump, that part of her back was normal, the other side lacked the muscle.  We were sent for x-ray so they could see if she has scoliosis (curve in the spine).  We are awaiting the result, that was 6 days ago.
Just now as I was writing this I received a phone call from the local hospital about the scan.  I told them it was no longer needed.  Hopefully we hear soon about the x-ray.  Isla will be getting an ultrasound in a months time.  Her back doesn't look too bad, infact looks almost normal.  The light caught a shadow last week, otherwise I may not have noticed it.  We'll just wait and see what the future brings, but just now I think she's still in remission.

New Year - New Me?!

It's been over a month since my last blog, and about a week since I started writing this one!  My last blog was written at an anxious time.  Waiting to find out about when scans for Isla would be done, and hoping for good results!

Isla had a great time in London, and still mentions Big Ben nearly everyday, and also keeps asking when we're going back on a plane to see it!  Ross and I also enjoyed the visit to London, sharing Isla's story with people at the annual SSAFA carol concert.
The week after our trip to London, we were in hospital for four days for Isla's scans.  Isla has forgotten about staying in hospital, which is a great thing in a way, but also meant she had difficulty staying asleep all night.  The first night she was keeping the nurses entertained with stories of a monster mouse with big teeth and claws, until I received a phone call to see if I could get her back to sleep.  The following nights she woke during the night again and both times she climbed into her pushchair to go to sleep.  I only took the pushchair with us, as it's easy to bring her back through the long walk from nuclear medicine when she's sleeping in it.  We did manage an afternoon and evening out of the hospital to see Happy Feet 2 in the cinema, followed by Nandos.
We got home from hospital on Friday evening and within an hour Isla had a high temperature.  All weekend she spent lying on the couch for cuddles burning up.  Paracetemol and Ibruprofen were not managing to keep her temperature down.  She had just recovered from a cold before the hospital visit and managed to pick something else up.  We did end up taking Isla to the GP again where she was prescribed antibiotics for a nasty throat infection.  I'm glad she got them as she started to improve after a few days, her last dose of antibiotic was on Christmas Day. 
The Tuesday following the scans, Isla's consultant phoned to give us the good news that she was still in remission.  The liver was the same as last time.  That's definately the quickest we've ever had results. I'm putting it down to hospital staff getting as much done before Christmas.  Christmas was a lovely day, Isla was particularly impressed with the pink balance bike and snow white house from Santa.  We had family round for dinner, so Isla was very happy to be surrounded by lots of loved ones.
As you could probably have guessed, I gave up on the diet, and I'm not bothered by it.  But now, it's time to get back on it.  This time I have also set myself a challenge to help shift the pounds.  I looked at different charity events for charities we support. I kept being drawn to cycling events, as I do like to cycle, although it's only been occasionally in recent years.  I was quite interested in the idea of the London to Paris cycle, but after considering it, I wasn't keen on the idea of trying to get my bike down to London or raising lots of money just to be spent on accommodation and travel back to London from Paris.
I've decided to complete a 100 mile cycle around Moray (where I live) in September this year.  It will be over a weekend with one nights camping, so I'm not having to pay out.  All sponsor money will go to charity.  I've decided to raise money once again for my daughter's appeal.  I do hope one day we don't need to use it for Isla's treatment and that we can give it to research for neuroblastoma.
The route is based on a new walking route called 'The Moray Way'.  I will leave home from Elgin on the Saturday morning following the national cycle route 1 to take me to Forres, where I will then complete the Dava Way to Grantown on Spey, followed by completing the Speyside Way to Garmouth and then back onto the national cycle route 1 to take me back to Elgin at some point on the Sunday.  Some parts of the route will be by road, and other parts paths. 
Here is a link to the moray way for walkers -  http://www.morayways.org.uk/routedetails.asp?routeid=202

I've looked out a training schedule, and have started going to the local gym for cardio to build up my fitness, shopped on ebay for some cycling clothes, and today I went back to weight watchers to begin the diet.
It's been 12 weeks since I went, I really didn't think it had been that long, and I've managed to gain 7lb.  I'm jsut glad I'm not back to my starting weight. 
So here goes again, my main goal is to cycle 100 miles for charity, with the added bonus of shifting some weight at the same time.  If you would like to join me for my cycle, please get in touch.  You could do it for a charity of your choice, or if you would like to sponsor me you can do it with the link at the top of the blog.  Thanks