I’d like to share with you that I’m feeling just a bit cock-a-hoop happy at the moment and positive vibes are radiating from me like a million sunbeams. There is a spring to my step and life is good. It’s going to take a lot to bring me back down to terra firma and  I’m really hoping that I’m going to carry on floating for the forseeable future.

There are three reasons why I’m wearing my happy face. The first is the arrival of my beautiful grandson, Oscar, just over two weeks ago. He is utterly adorable of course and I’m totally in love with the little chap.Being a grandparent is such a joy and to be part of a grandchild’s life is such a privilege and of course an opportunity to spoil them rotten!

The second reason is going to sound a bit weird but after three and a half years I can start wearing dresses and skirts and have a bath! Before you reach for a nose peg, I can assure you that I have showered in all that time!

In early October 2013 a small, hardly noticeable spot on my right shin erupted overnight into a rather nasty sore. More followed and within days I had a huge ulcer that took up a large portion of my shin. I took copious amounts of antibiotics for months and had to live with dressings that got soaked within hours of being applied because my leg was literally leaking. My GP eventually sent me to my local hospital and after some tests it was decided that I had a rare auto-immune condition. A diagnosis that I don’t to this day believe to be right. People with it are often disabled by it and needing frequent hospital stays. Neither which has applied to me. I haven’t had to take a day off work, let alone needed to be admitted into hospital. 2014 was a horrible year as I was constantly in pain and had to live with this horrible, sometimes smelly, ulcer that looked horrific. The lowest point was when I had to endure living with bulky, three-layered bandages that meant I had to wear ugly  velcro sandals three sizes bigger than my normal shoe size. I hated those sandals so much. I became grumpy, short-tempered and just horrible to be with. I even made my best friend cry by being a horrible cow.

 

Then I met my practice nurse Lindy who just radiates positivity and has gone out of her way to help me.She got rid of the gruesome bandages that wrinkled and gave me itchy rashes to on top of the pain. In their place came compression stockings that meant I could take them on and off myself and best of all I could throw the hated sandals into the bin and wear my own shoes again. For over two years I have had twice weekly  dressing appointments with Lindy and apart from a few set backs the ulcer has slowly healed. Over all this time we have got to know each other really well and most of my appointment time has been taken by having a good old chin wag. All that was missing was a cuppa and a biscuit or two !

Two weeks ago the ulcer that had caused me such grief finally healed completely. All that is left is a tiny red mark. I find it hard to believe that I don’t even have a scar. My legs still swell so I’m still wearing compression stockings, but I can take them off if I feel like it and the best thing is that I’ll be able to wear flip-flops again. Oh how I’ve missed my flip flops. It’s been a long hard journey that I thought at times would never end, but it has and I’m incredibly grateful to the wonderful nurse who has cared and supported me week in, week out for so long and worked her socks off getting me better.

So finally moving on to my final reason why I’m happy and feeling positive. In two weeks after joining Slimming World I have lost a whopping 9lbs ! I have a really (and I mean REALLY) long journey ahead of me, but I am feeling so confident that I can do it that my general outlook about myself has changed even though I still look the same old fat me at the moment. I’m feeling excited, yes that’s right, excited about my future. I want new challenges, show everyone that I’ve got something to give, be ambitious and start feeling fabulous instead of just frumpy. I’ve started  looking at lovely clothes and instead of thinking, “I’ll never wear that” I’m thinking “one day I will wear that”. I’ve even started buying new make up ! I’ve been worried about meeting lovely friends I’ve met on social media because of being fat, which is really stupid because real  friends don’t care what size you are. I now want to meet them all, although that might be tricky if they just happen to live in Australia. But hey, never say never!

So there you go. Now you know why I’m a happy bunny. I have a gorgeous grandson to love, flip-flops that can be dusted down and worn again and a new-found confidence. How bloomin’ brilliant is that!