Injections.

Let me guess.You flinch when you see that word."I have a huge fear of needles" you say.
Well in this day and age,who doesn't?

It's not from the pain, sure the doctor repeats 'its just a pinch' only about 50 million times before jabbing a thin, silver death sword into your arm.

But rather the physiology that what they are into you is in fact the actual thing that you are trying to protect yourself against!
Or maybe it is just that a complete stranger is inflicting pain on you while you just sit there, taking it,like a helpless dummy or something.

Whatever the reason,I have decided to help. It's funny how this time last year I was just as fearful as anyone else as needles, avoiding them at all costs, and less than a year later I willingly agreed to self-inject myself every fortnight. Ironical, isn't it?(and yes that is correct grammar)
Anyway, now I like to think of myself as a somewhat 'pro' at injections (even though I still loathe them with every fibre in my body - and I also still come close to fainting every time I get blood tests, but that's a different kettle of fish)

So seeing as the first of three injections for the cancer vaccine was today, I thought I'd make a 'how to not have a horrific injection experience'. (I'd say "how to have a 'good' injection experience" but let's be honest, it never is.)



step 1: DO NOT, I repeat do not surround yourself with nervous nellies who hate injections and mention them every second sentence before getting it done. Even the master herself let it get the better of her today when my best friend had me bouncing off my seat in anticipation.
Try your best not to think about it and keep yourself occupied until the needle is in the toxic bin after helping you on your way to a healthier life.

Step 2: make sure you eat a good meal beforehand and bring water for straight afterwards aswell as your fave sweeties/chocolate -you deserve them. This will prevent fainting: an unnecessary inconvenience to your day and a potential reason for you to avoid getting an injection the next time.

Step 3: bring/wear a t-shirt or sleeveless top for easy access.

Step 4: take deep breaths and relax as much as possible during the injection. Relaxing makes a HUGE difference to the amount of pain you will feel (if any.)

Don't feel like an idiot/embarrassed if you do faint/have a bad reaction to it. It's out of your control. If you feel you are about to faint, SAY IT. 
In the doctors office I was too embarrassed to tell my sister and ended up almost blacking out just before she noticed. Drink water and put your head between your knees. A girl in my class today had a convulsion, it was shocking!

Le Retour

"Le retour" (the return to school)                          Yes, I spent one month in France so of course I picked a few phrases up here and there.

Now, don't get me wrong here, I know it is every kid's (yes KID,even if I only have 44 days left of being one) nightmare to return to school after 'Le grand vacance'(summer holidays) but what makes this year different?
The Leaving Certificate.
What's that you say?
It's one big,massive,gigantic exam (well technically 8;one for each subject) which Ireland use to squeeze everything you've learned from 14 whole education-filled years into a few sheets of paper.You have one chance,and if you mess up,that's it.
Pressure is ON.
So now you understand.
It is also,quite obviously my last year in school before *fingers crossed* going to college.I was also chosen as a Prefect (a student capable of being a role model to the younger year groups) and this job includes having to mind a younger year group during lunch time.I was assigned a first year class(the adorable,tiny little terrified girls in over-sized uniforms who barely say a word and think students and teachers will drown them if they get an answer wrong.)
And with the last year comes Debutantes. Which I have no date for. GREAT.

My justifiable reason for not blogging for a month...

Montpellier

 

So I knew for a fact that even beginning to try and write a summary of France would put me off writing a blog post so instead every day I wrote a summary and if for some reason you would like to read it you can do so here. So enjoy, or just exit the blog post now to avoid wasting lots of your precious time!




Sun 17th
Got up at 7am and was brought to the airport by Ellie's mum.I had already checked in at home but Ellie hadn't so it took alot longer.we pretty much had to race onto the plane.we got breakfast on it which was alright,and it wasn't difficult bringing my medicine apart from bringing the cooler bag.We then had to get a bus to another airport coz silly Ellie booked it by accident and ended up paying €20 for it when it was meant to be free!after spending 45 minutes queueing at the airfrance customer service we still ha to pay which almost made us miss our flight!luckily we grabbed a roll just before boarding and ate it on the plane,otherwise we would've been starving!!the family barely greeted us at all,not even a handshake and the mum didn't say a word to us in the car.we ate dinner(which took 3 hours just sitting there) then headed straight to bed.I got little or no sleep because Ellie kept coughing all night.

Mon 18th

Walked to school,me and Ellie were assigned different buildings,I signed in and got an introduction.then I got a tour of Montpellier and met two other Irish students.we were put in classes but had to wait 4 hours in town until 2pm.we met Boris,Claudio and a guy who's name I forget.That's when I realised we have different timetables!my class was really really hard and there was a girl in 2nd year trinity studying french in mine!after that we hung around with the limerick girls and then went home.dinner took 2 hours (everyone was just sitting down in silence)and they also demanded that if ellie was still coughing tonight she'd have to go to the doctor coz she kept them up all night too!then we went to sleep.

Tue 19th
Today was much better,I got moved to a lower class which is a lot easier than the last one but I'm still learning new stuff and the students in it are more at my level(or higher.)ellie is moving into it tomoro which is great!and today's dinner was nice too but the woman gave out loads when I spilled literally one piece of pasta on the table while trying to serve it but she gave us a fish slice to serve pasta so I dunno what she expected!but altogether dinner was faster.I got the Internet working in the house too!

Wed 20th
Even though I didn't have to get up early I kept waking up every hour since 6.30 and at 9.30 i fully woke up.Ellie had still been coughing all night.Ellie was in my class today which was good!hay fever is getting worse..

Thurs 21st
Sunbathed at the families pool before lunch and class.Bought Hay fever meds. 

Fri 22nd
got up at 8.50pm,then slept until 9.30- better than the other days thanks to the closed shutters and hay fever meds.Went into town at 12.20 since class starts at 1 today.we were on the computers all class which was grand.had lunch then went home,watched home and away,went into the town and met the girls.we met a few Americas who convinced us the last tram is 2am.walking to the tram 8 frenchies were surrounding us which got kinda scary!then me and Ellie realised the tram had left so we wandered the city looking for a taxi which ended up costing €20!!for a 5 minute journey!!!I'm kicking myself now.

Sat 23rd
Breakfast,
We went to the beach with some friends,
Had a medium rare steak for dinner,
Went to town where we drank some vodka and lemonade,and we were all really hyper.then Ellie got too drunk,ran into fountains and started falling all over the place before we even got in to a club.so much so that I had to Try and drag her home but luckily had help from David a Spanish guy and Henry an English guy. She woke up the House Father who only saw me as I took her up to bed before returning to lock the door.And swung and banged off a few Walls/stairs.She then wanted to go toilet but we don't have one in our room so I had to make her go in the shower.she then got sick over her bed (top bunk) and I sleep on the bottom so I was praying it wouldn't drip onto mine.

We had class,then went to the Oddessym shopping centre and met up with the rest of the group.didn't stay too long and was back home by 16.50 then had a horrible sardine salad for dinner and a nice tarte citron with meringue on top.headed into town,Nobody got into Australian Cafe so we went to a pub/club thing which was alright.Anna,Henry and David left right in the middle of it to go to a party.Caused a huge bitching sesh etc.i didn't really enjoy that night much.then walked home with David,Will,Charlotte and Ellie since we missed the last tram.think David and Charlotte got it on after that. 

Sun 24th
Got up and luckily the host family were gone for the day.we cleaned up ellies shite,washed it and went into the town.
We met the others.
Ellie had said sorry for last night but she didn't say thank you.
They got lunch and I wanted a crepe after and She wouldn't even fucking wait for me!I couldve killed her!!
I helped her and waited with her all night,slept in a sick room with her and she won't even fucking wait 5 minutes for my crêpe.
Then we had a horrible salad for dinner which was made up of leftover food from the day before.since the parents weren't there, me Ellie gillsha and Simone went looking for other food and didn't touch the salad!Then gillsha put it in a bread bag and hid it in her room-so funny!

Mon 25th

Tuesday 26th
Got 5 hours sleep,sat through class and had some fruit then went swimming.the other guys just arrived as we were leaving..which was pretty annoying.went to town,got lunch,went to the park with alex then went home.

Wed 27th
Took my injection in my right leg at 6.30am which wasn't bad really ,went to sleep until 7.15,went to class, had a panini,it started raining so I hung with the group and we sat by the big pond in town.then I got a lesson about drugs from will.we went to Polygone shopping centre but were wrecked so we sat at the waffle factory and me Charlotte and will made makeshift yager bomb bottles.watched home and away and decided not to go out since Ellie had a headache.for dinner we had aubergine with meat(meatball meat) and cheese on top which was actually nice.

Thursday 28th
Woke up at 7.15, had class from 8.45 until 12,got a nice pasta for lunch and headed to the beach when it stopped raining.Had good Craic with Will and Charlotte.
Went out to O bar on the bus journey from hell (packed full of drunk people-someone got sick) and it turned out they were checking ID.I got in fine without one,Ellie used Charlottes and Will and Henry didn't get in.Kendall didn't even try get in and wanted to stay outside with the Boys anyway.Got the bus back at 2.30 and left with Will then walked home.got 4 hours sleep.

Friday 29th
Was late for class coz we thought it started at 9.30 not 8.45 and I only got 4 and a half hours sleep anyway.had another lovely pasta and hit the beach which was fun.Anna broke up with her boyfriend yesterday and was kissing David today.Went to Panama which was alright.Saw loadsa people from my class who were leaving and they were all real nice to me.Met some nice English 20something guys who talked to me for ages.Alex annoyed me all night constantly taking pictures with E and disappearing off with her all night so I said fuck it and hung with the other girls.a guy I liked wanted to dance with me but then got attacked by Kendall and Ellie on separate occasions.walked home at 3.45 after grabbing tropical oasis and prince biscuits.

Sat 30th
Woke up at 8.50 coz the fucking host family started hovering and banging around.was so tempted to shout at them for making noise like they say to us.got the tram to Place de l'europe and waited for an hour for the breens. A really long squashed car ride followed(suitcases and 5 people in the back)for two hours.We got to the campsite and had to walk ahead since it was only booked as 5 people not 7.They caught us though but I don't think there was much of a problem.we sunbathed in a really squashed swimming pool area which was packed,then went for dinner where we had to wait another 2 hours coz it was booked out.

Sun 31st
Went to the pool,went on the slides which was actually good.then we had dinner at home which was nice.Headed to the night market where I got aviators for €4 and Daniel went on the ball on water and got Churos with nutella.

Mon 1st August

Got up at 9 so we could do water aerobics at 10.had a cup of tea then headed back to Montpellier for class at 1.50pm.Ended up being 20 minutes late but it was all good.Loadsa new students were there.then got lunch with Alex and Anna who were moved house and they really like their new house.came home and had a horrible Sausage salad and ended up not going out because Will and Charlotte were staying in.Went to bed at 12.30.

Tuesday 2nd
Got up at 10 ish had breakfast and went for a swim in our pool and sunbathed even though it was cloudy.(still hot though) then had class from 4-7 had dinner then went to the park before heading to Panama.

Wed 3rd
Got up at 11.40 and the mum wouldnt let us have breakfast because we were 'too late' even though we were only having breakfast!Had classes then went to a free Open cinema to see Julie and Julia but we left early because it was quite hard to understand.

Thurs 4th

Went to the Lake with Limerick Girls which was the closest thing humanly possible to trekking in the desert.The Lake was breathtaking but ants were everywhere. Had a shower and went out for dinner with them. Went to Shisha bar with Jamie the Irish guy who introduced us to loads of other people such as Antonio the Italian who lives in Sweden and looks the image of Kevin Grant, another Irish guy, another German-Swiss and a few other randoms. We hung around the square for a while then went to Panama to get Will but ended up staying there for a few minutes.Our walk home at 3.30am consisted of me and Will car hopping, lying under the stars, throwing spider wires onto Tram wires and robbing/finding various random objects such as a shoe and a curtain top.When we parted ways he informed me he'd lost his shirt, shoes and woke up covered in cake and with a cracked iPhone screen.

Friday 5th
Les Estiales then went to Perpignan. In the car now. I thought my dad was bad but J is x100 worse!know-it-all,high pitched singing, French accent/speaking in general and horrific driver but doesn't know it. Yet they're oblivious to it!even the jokes aren't funny which at least D's are. Had pizza then slept.

Sat 6th
Had good Craic on the slides at the pool, lunch then more sunbathing. Went to the same restaurant and went out to get Churos after. Molly was dying for us to all go out together but we ended up just going to the camp disco thing which ended at 12:30 ish.


Sun 7th
Got up at 8.30 and the B's went to mass but me and Sarah didn't go because there wasn't space in the car. Went to the pool, Sarah did water aerobics but I didn't because it was too cold and cloudy.We then went to an Adventure park where we did Zip Wiring and it was really fun! I thought it'd be much scarier than it was but I just went for it. My hands were pretty sore before/during it as it was very strenuous constantly clipping/unclipping things and using your hand grip/upper body strength. We had bolognese which was alright then went to the train station. Missed the 8pm so we got on the 9.05 and it should only have taken 1 hour 35 minutes but it was past 11 when we arrived. The family had taken our key before we left and even though we told them we'd be back on Sunday night they disconnected the phone, they have no doorbell and they didn't wake up after we knocked very loudly(even though they claim we wake them up when coming home at night) So we didn't get to sleep until 1am, even though we were outside the house at 11.20pm!


Mon 8th
Had Early classes again which was nice. Got bolognese for lunch as usual then headed to the beach at 14:00 when the clouds cleared.
Had raw steak and salad for dinner.
Went to the Shisha Bar at 10.30ish with Will, and 3 other girls. Ellie felt sick and didnt come. The Shisha was nice but it was so awkward. Then they were like "oh so were going to this house party but only the four of us" so I had to get a tram home on my own at 12.

Tuesday 9th
Had the Madeira cake for breakfast coz that's all they had. Classes. Tried the salmon pasta which was quite nice. Went to Odysseum and got dad and H's present. Had dinner and went out with Jamie and all.

Wednesday 10th
Took my injection in my left leg at 6.30am which wasn't bad really ,went to sleep from 14.30 until 17.15 then went out with the new Crew but left before they went to Le Fizz.


Thursday 11th
Got up at 9am by accident coz my alarm didn't go off. Classes then beach. Had a horrible salad for dinner again. Went to Amelie at the open air cinema and went home soon after.

Friday 12th

Classes then watched home and away and hung at the pool with the other students in our house. Kinda awkward coz the family had their friends over. Went to Les Estivales and got food with the B's for my last night where we got drink and went out with the new crew + Molly. Had great Craic at the steps then went to Panama but Ellie was wrecked (which was annoying coz it was my last night and not hers) so we left soon after.

Oxegen 2011

If you don't already know what Oxegen is,these pictures sum it up.

Concerts

Camping

Mud

So this is how I spent my weekend. The picture shows some of the stuff I brought and the list has all of the stuff I brought!

Future Prospects

So if you haven't noticed already,I sort of have an enterprising mind ie. I constantly think of ways to make money/come up with ideas/think of product inventions. I also love programmes like The Apprentice and Dragon's Den.

One of my favourite books in the universe of amazing books (and believe it or not,I have read ALOT of books) is The Business Playground by Dave Stewart and Mark Simmons. Wow. I would recommend it to anyone.It is full of quirkiness,wittiness and laugh-out-loud moments.The Website is pretty cool too! While doing work experience in Modern Green Marketing Company,the lovely manager Steve Murray advised me to go and buy it on my way home on the last day and was even so nice as to give me money to buy it!

...AAAAnyway back to my point.I like thinking up business ideas and for that reason I have a whole bunch of them in the 'Notes' section on my iPhone.(Yes I own an iPhone-see why over at my other blog.)



Now,of course I'm not going to share all of these excellent, wondrous ideas with you or you'll just go and rob them!But what I will share with you is my future hopes and dreams career-wise.

Starting with college.

Just under 2 years ago,while searching through college courses that would potentially shape the rest of my life(yes,I made life-changing decisions at age 15)I stumbled upon one that sounded like it was made specifically for me.

Before I tell you, I'd like to say



-I've always had a keen interest in computers -I spend most of my day online,I have fixed my own/my mums/my dads/grannys on various occasions,and I'm doing an ECDL (European Computer Drivers Licence)course at the moment.


-I have always thought marketing would be a great course to do and I find Advertising quite fascinating with regards to the whole 'subconsciously buying products after seeing advertisements' - this stems from my love for magic/hypnosis/mind control sort of obsession I went through.




-And of course you now know from above about my idea generation/product invention hobby.


Now,the name of the course I came across was called Marketing,Innovation and Technology, which pretty much sticks those three components together into one spectacular little course.

So after completing that, I'd like to work in or run my own Marketing Company,like the one I had the amazing opportunity to do my work shadowing in.It was all so futuristic and amazing!

What would you like to do as a career in the future or are you already in your dream job?

Please subscribe,

C

The List

Last August I made a bucket list.I didn't get much of it done though.

THEN I found BribryOnTour's youtube channel.He does things to do before you die,tapes them and raises money for charity(ross nugent foundation-he started the channel to show his friend who was dying of cancer)

I also saw that logan mckay55's video about making a list of cool things to do in videos over the summer.

So I merged them together to come up with..*drum roll* The List.

It's a list of things I want to do this summer,before I go into 6th year-The year of the Leaving Cert,where I'll be studying all year.And who knows?maybe I'll even film it!

So here is the said list:

Make a movie
Act in a movie
Go out and don't come in until 7am
Camp
Make a bonfire
Do weed
Win something
Make a song
Do a body shot
Do a DJ gig

So I am in the process of doing 1. and 2. but it is proving quite difficult as people keep backing out last minute and I'm also keeping it from my friends/fam which is a task in itsself..
4. will be done next week and 7. I have no control over apart from entering so..yeah!


What are the 10 things you'd like to do this summer?

Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis

So I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at the start of this school year in September.
It has been awful,especially since I am(well,was) very Adventurous,Sporty and Independent.My life has Drastically changed.
Now I have no way of being sporty,adventurous or active because I can't apply pressure on my hands(do press-ups,chin-ups,open jars,play tennis or hockey,box or rockclimb)it's not fun.At all.

So anyway,back in September all of a sudden my feet got so painful I could barely walk and going up/down stairs was like climbing mount everest in barefeet standing on pins.Then in went into my legs,arms,back and shoulders.
I first thought it was an injury from all the constant skimboarding I did 24/7 for two weeks in summer which entails throwing a board,sprinting,jumping and landing on it,which had made my feet sore by the end of each day anyway.

My doctor said there was no way it could be arthritis because my bones are so healthy(due to the fact that I'm addicted to dairy products and drink about 2 litres of milk a day!)
But then I got blood tests(which I was DREADING soooo much since I LOATHE needles and the thought of blood being taken out of petite little me was not something I felt ok with-I need all the blood I can get!)
Anyway,rheumatoid arthritis showed up in my blood.It is different to normal arthritis since it has nothing to do with the bone,it is purely muscle.
So I went to a specialist.Another blood test confirmed the results,aswell as 2 giant syringes full of fluid taken from my knee!I was put on medication and ever since then,the pain has been only in my hands,which I suppose is great.The annoying thing is,it wasn't in my hands before that!

More than 8 months later and my hands are still in pain(if not even worse than before)and my medication has been upped numerously aswell as new medicines on top of the old ones.

I tried everything.
A fruit and veg only diet,a sacro something or other therapist,epsim salts baths,new medication,x-ray microscope injections before my Christmas exams so I could write(for 3 months I went to school and just sat there-no books and no writing) and the list goes on.

Since I haven't improved,my specialist suggested self-injection pens(HUMIRA) where you inject yourself every two weeks.
I found this ironic since the only thing that kept me going was that I only needed blood tests every 1-2 months and at least I didn't have Diabetes and had to inject myself every day!
So after bursting into tears hearing this news,I thought about it and I said to myself "which is worse-a tiny injection or the pain of this arthritis?" an so I began the HUMIRA.

The nurse came to my house a month ago.She explained what to do and I injected myself.It was PAINFUL.I mean seriously sore!The nurse had said I wouldn't even feel it,but the needle wasn't the sore part.it felt like I was injecting acid into myself and setting it alight.NO EXAGGERATION.
So me being me,I burst into tears in front of the nurse because the pain was so unexpected.
She said it would take 2-12 weeks for it to start having an effect,so I decided that I'll give it a shot(no pun intended) and if I didn't feel the effects after 12 weeks I would stop with it.
I did my second injection by myself and it was still as sore as the first but I didn't cry and the pain went away within an hour.My third went quite the same,but my fourth(almost 2 weeks ago) was bad because I started getting really worked up and couldn't face inflicting pain knowingly on myself so I got my mum to do it.And I cried.

The lesson is,don't take anything for granted because you really never know what is going to happen.Despite this dreaded arthritis I still try to see the positive side of things,like how lucky I am to have been born into a developed country and that I have been blessed with good parents who aren't alcoholics and don't abuse me,and that I still have all of my siblings alive.
I am also a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,so this setback will benefit me.I just don't know how yet.Or maybe I do; since I have had arthritis my test scores have greatly improved and I got lots of As and Bs in the christmas exam.Maybe if I hadn't got this,I wouldn't have got my desired points in the Leaving Cert.Or maybe it was for a different reason.
All I know is, I will grow stronger with this.It will help me develop into the person I will become.