Filled with vigour and enthusiasm (if my physio is reading this I was honest it was just quiet and well hidden enthusiasm) from my big dose of real life yesterday I decided to be much more active today. So when my physio came in in the morning to see if I needed any help we decided to go for a morning walk (I usually wait till the afternoon as my lungs being rather old and cantankerous take that long to wake up properly) and off we set. I talked less which unfortunately demonstrated how much I usually prattle on, as I managed the first stretch with much more ease. We then did the entire left hand side of the ward, then instead of doing the other stretch, I decided to do a few step-up-step-downs to work some other muscles, managing four, yay! The comedy walking is going really well too, I can now do several steps in a row on my tiptoes and pretend I am a prima ballerina for 10 seconds.

This afternoon, a lovely friend N arrived armed with bags of shoes. This was a fab idea concocted when my mum and two friends were sitting chatting to me, they are all members of Emily’s Angels, and we were discussing how I was going to find appropriate footwear. On discussing sizes, N and I realised (with the help of holding up feet together in a slightly bizarre cult-like footshake) that we are the same size, so the brilliant idea hit them for N to be my personal shopper, to stick to strict criteria (which are very complex – “suitable for walking in” and “with pink on”…actually scrap the first one, the latter was the only one of prime importance) and bring different styles for me to try, then take back what is not required. Not only ingenious (well done ladies smart thinking) but also made me feel somewhat like J Lo, as surely only she would choose her personal shopper on the premise that she has the same sized feet as her necessary for purchase of footwear.

First excursion brought back a widely varying selection of styles, all of which were also cooed over by several passing members of staff, and I decided that actually I really want a trainer style shoe because it made me feel somewhat sporty and athletic (even though I am clearly neither of those things). Also I road tested this pair with my physio in training session no.2 of the day (YAY!) and they were fab to walk in. With this in mind we narrowed it down to one possible and N set off again to seek further comparisons, resulting in what I think will turn out to be the shoes, the winning factor being the cerise laces which are just soooo pretty! Have decided that I will need leg warmers, not because I have in mind a certain sparkly pink pair I have seen, but because I am worried about my legs being cold. Honest. So outfit nearly sorted, accessories almost selected and ready...just the tiny detail of lung reinflation to go then! 11 days and counting!

Oh yes, and lung wise (less exciting) another good day, I didn’t have an X-ray today (day off, time for another yay) but we are hopeful and confident that the lung is stably floating in its “3/4 inflated but not any more is far too much effort” position or heading in an upwards direction. My inflammation markers are at last on their way down (which makes me wiggle with glee) but they are adding in an antifungal just in case, so I am now on pretty much everything I can be on, treating for lungs, bloodstream, bacterial infections and fungal infections – the team are determined not to leave any stone unturned!