Ted as usual has helped me keep my fitness up. I'm lucky our garden backs on to the park so it's been easy to take him on his walks knowing if I suddenly felt unwell I could soon be back home and safe. As I began to feel a bit better, we tried to find new places nearby, where we could explore for a change without travelling too far afield, and it's been totally surprising what we've discovered right on our doorstep this summer - lots of country walks we didn't even know were there.
I've also been quietly busy writing a few more chapters on my next book, whilst enjoying the lovely sunshine and garden. In fact, although being unwell has forced me to stop doing some things, on a positive note it's enabled me to slow down and make a good start on my next book. It's all about finding the time to make that start with writing, so that's been a real achievement to get my new book well underway. And if I've not been writing, I've been busy catching up on my reading. I always have a never ending pile of books to read, so that's been quite nice and relaxing too. So although there's been things I haven't managed to do, there's been plenty of positive things to be getting on with.
I've also been making plans for some other projects in autumn too - one of those is to be involved with a patient and public involvement panel at a university in Cambridge working with medical students. Yes - back in education, but in a very different way than I used to be. Every experience in life brings new skills though and it will be great to use my educational skills combined with my recent experiences as a NHS patient and hopefully put them to some good use.
In the meantime, my current book 'Life is for the Living' is continuing to sell on Amazon and August has been a busy month. I've received quite a few encouraging messages from readers who've taken it on holiday to read - some even for a second time around. Every book sold helps towards raising awareness of Organ Donation, Pulmonary Hypertension and raising funds for charity. If you still fancy a good holiday read or a late summer read for the garden, it's available on Amazon, both hard copy and on Kindle. (Links are on the side bar) I also had an opportunity to promote my book and the importance of organ donation on the local radio recently, which hopefully will help to raise more awareness.
Finally it's only a couple of weeks to our next Papworth Transplant Patients' Social and Support Group and we're busy making preparations. If you are a Papworth transplant patient - pre or post - then you are welcome to come along. Our meeting is on Saturday, September 3rd, 12 noon til 3pm and includes a buffet lunch, raffle and speaker. There'll be plenty of time for tea, cake and a chat too. We're hoping it's going to be another good one.
