Just a small update to reassure everyone that I am fine – this is being posted by Emmie due to the hospital network being extremely mean and barring me from pretty much everything including my own blog. I am not impressed. I can sporadically access my email (most frequently working one is webmaster (at) pwcf.net one) however and also this link http://calm.adventcalendar2006.co.uk/home.php which a friend sent me and is keeping me sane (in particular hurtling Santa across an icy abyss is most therapeutic). It is strangely nice to see everyone again - all the staff who I got to know fairly well over the summer - especially as they all keep commenting on how well I look compared to last time! When I left in October we thought I may only manage a week or two at home, but instead managed to remain an outpatient for 2 months which is rather good going really.

I went on a daytrip over to the other building this morning for an echo of my heart, as they are still trying to work out what is causing the dizziness which makes me feel like a small drunk pink firefly. It was nice to get a breath of fresh air (well as fresh as London air can be) and all went very smoothly. I lay on the bed with the lady rolling what to me looked like a children’s microphone you get on karaoke machines on my chest, (something to do with ultrasound) and attached a little suction cup which apparently amplified my heart sounds, and reminded me of that strange health craze I have read celebrities and people go for. I tried to peer at the screen over my shoulder with a look of intensity and understanding, despite only being able to make out what appeared to be grayish black blobs and movements reminiscent of pond life. There was one angle though which was incredibly clear, I could see my heart valves moving and everything, which I found fascinating and quite hypnotic.

During this little excursion I also got “recognized” – a very rare occurrence but on the times it has happened it is rather fun. The lady asked if I was Emily and then congratulated me on the Hydro active 5k which I took part in back in September. This was I think due to me featuring in this months issue of the staff magazine at the hospital, with a photo of me on the front cover, arms in the air triumphant having crossed the finish line. Amusingly the rather misleading caption underneath infers that I walked the entire distance, rather than just the final 500 metres. Whilst that would have been a feat indeed, I think both me and my team would have asked for a review as to whether a transplant is really all that necessary.