Go fuck yourself January

As January was such an almighty disaster of sickness and pure crap (I also managed to get a lovely stomach bug from my trip to hospital, which still hanging around a week later... although no pun intended!) I'm going to see February as the real start of the year... So fuck off January! No one likes you anyway, ya prick...









So time for something a bit more

"I'm not qualified for this" -A tale of a fragmented and centralised health system

Chapter 1.

The Clicky Hip That The Doctor Missed 

Once upon a time, there was a girl, and this girl lived in a land of infrequent and inconsistent health care. As the girl grew, she slipped through the gaps -Being told treatment was too late, there were other issues at play, she was "wonky" and they weren't qualified to help... Just beyond this place, in various reaches of the further land, many children with similar issues, and many adults too, were receiving regular health care. Surgeries, rehab facilities and specialists galore. They lived quite a different life because of this... It was only at the age of 30 that the girl finally realised the truth. The truth being: National healthcare was a lie; her circumstances had resulted from her address.

I have always had hip dysplasia. Always. Doctors may have thought I was a dumb child, so referred to it as being "wonky", or being "slanted". Many hear of it and comment "Oh yeah, clicky hip I think it used to be called?" and generally follow that up with how it's no big deal, loads of babies get it... etc., etc., and this can be the case. When found at birth or shortly after, a harness is usually fitted. Annoying for the parents and child, but extremely vital for the child's correct growth. The issue is that the hip, usually either in the womb or at some stage during the birth, comes loose of it's socket. Generally treatment begins straight away -with a harness, regular check ups and x-rays and possibly surgery starting around 2 years of age, sometimes before, depending on the patient. Some don't need any surgery or just one surgery, others need several surgeries, throughout their life spam. These surgeries are to help the hip be more stable, to save the hip from replacement for as long as possible. This can include strengthening the joint and deepening the socket so the hip will sit better in place. Now, without this treatment -as in my case (as the doctors refused to even look at me until I was older and walking funny/ limping)- the body creates

KittyLoves... re-branding

As well as getting back into my more-so frequent blogging, I decided to update my charity crafting organisation Facebook page, and pimp it up with a bit of re-branding. I've been meaning to get around to a new logo for like a year now!

Bit of back story... I started the page in 2009. I love to sew and paint and create things, I love teddies/ stuffed animals, and I also enjoy (probably more than anything in the world, tbh) helping people. In any capacity. whether directly, indirectly, on a personal one-to-one level or through a larger organisational route. I'm a big believer in social responsibility.

This said, there are only so many hours in the day, only so many physical volunteer jobs one can do and so I felt limited in the amount of people and organisations I could make a contribution too. With that thought in my mind I began a website and an Etsy account and started from there. It was simple -In my spare time I would make things, sell them and give a percentage (as high as possible) to a local non-profit organisation. I could do this at my leisure, and if it didn't work out, that was ok too.

Since then I have mostly been working from the Facebook page and scrapped the site -As the last few years have went by, audiences have moved to a more social online experience and so I've adjusted to this new climate. This helps keep costs down, too. The Etsy also hasn't been is use (although I think I will start using it again), as I've worked from the page and local markets and even tried my hand at car boot sales. Some quite successful, others (like car boot sales -Not a place for homemade goods! Folks there want everything for a quid) not so great. But I still enjoy doing it. Socialising with other crafters... crying together in the corner that we haven't even made back the €15 entry fee for that day, laughing at peoples reactions to our "over priced" items (I sell my goods for as cheap as possible, some of the teddies/ stuffies for only €3 or €5... some people unfortunately don't appreciate how long handmade items can take to make compared to factory shite)...

But I digress! As I always do, lol! Flash forward to 2016. I'm still at it, some months of the years more so than others. When I'm not making things, I use the page as a platform to share fundraiser events or news from community organisations. One way I found to spread the Kitty love even further (yeah I went there -vom) is by donating gift baskets full of handmade goodies for organisations raffles at fundraisers.

It's a small, small contribution -I am fully aware of that. Ain't curing cancer or even changing the stats of people living on the street. And I am in no way endorsing key board warriors who do literally nothing about the cause they are apparently sooo passionate about other than share shite from other on social media -But hell, sometimes on our off days, that'll do too.... That'll do pig; that'll do (yeah I went there... again).

But it is my baby. In our 7th year together, KittyLovesTeddies is one of my favorite projects. I've watched it grow from it's humble roots of "I'm not sure what the hell I'm doing", to "I'm still not entirely sure what I'm doing... but that's ok." -doing small things is better than doing zero. If the last 7 years have only helped one person in one organisation is some small way, then that is ok with me. The project's aim was never to fill my ego or even change the world -It was simply the need to do more in my spare time for my community.

...And hell, while I'm being honest, didn't think it would actually still be around by now to spend much time on a logo to begin with!

 2009 

 2011 

 2012 

 2016 

From potato to curly fries: Hair re-growth after chemo

As regular readers will know, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in December of 2013, and subsequently, shaved my hair off (video here).

When I was all baldy and potato looking, I naturally enough Googled how long re-growth generally takes after chemotherapy -and yes, obviously, everyone is different, but being human I absolutely love general guidelines. And the internet did not disappoint. Even better was hair stories with photo montages! Who doesn't love a montage? (*Que the montage song from Team America being stuck in your head for the rest of the day*).