GO DIVA DOLLz

How can you teach with no voice? The answer is......you can't!!  I managed 2 1/2 days until I was sent home with no voice. Do you realise how frustrating it is? I had to call the MS team yesterday about reordering some tablets and several times the response was 'I am sorry, I can't hear you'. I am now on self declared bed rest hardly talking in the hope that I feel better. I did wonder if it was just another 'MS quirk' to lose my voice but last night I was struggling to breathe through my nose as well as my throat soreness which reaffirmed to me that it was a normal person winter bug!

I had a check up with the MS nurse last week to see how I was getting on with Gilenya. My bloods were all good, they expect a drop in lymphocytes (maybe wrong!!) and mine has dropped to 0.4, but they allow it to drop to 0.2 so all is good in the hood. I explained that I appear to be sleeping a little bit more than I previously had and she suggested that I have a blood test to check my Vitamin B12 and thyroid levels. The trouble is that as an MS sufferer you always assume that it is an MS symptom when actually it could just be something that anyone can have. So blood test is booked in for next week, failing that it probably is good old MS fatigue BOO.

Hopefully the video above works, it looks like it will. ONE PROUD MUMMY. So, mum, Ava & I went on a road trip to the ITDA (International Dance Teachers Association) Freestyle Nationals at Winter Gardens. We set off straight after work/school last Friday on the train. We had 2 changes where we had to hope someone met us with a ramp to get us off the train and take us to our connection....and they did. You have to book assistance (https://passenger-assist.org/assisttravel/TravelAssist.aspx?LAYOUT=BLANK&TOCCode=DLkP6_p3jo9SUbFl9cJ_ZQ==) at least 24 hours in advance. I was surprised by the amount of men that offered to lift, tip or push me off the train, didn't really need assistance ha ha!! We were excited for our trip to Blackpool, none of us had been (mum was born there but left at 3 months old) and couldn't wait to get there!

So we arrived in Blackpool in the dark and had to locate our hotel using the iPhone maps (and yes I did set it to walking before you ask!). Have you ever tried to use it? How does it know what direction you are facing when it says turn right onto Kings Road, it might be our left! Anyway we played the game of 'Locate the dropped kerb' and boy it was a tricky one. There weren't many and if they were 'dropped', I am a brain surgeon. I hit most of them nearly ending up on the pavement. We found the tower lit up and that was a bit of a 'wow we've arrived moment', after a photoshoot we set off again.  Eventually we arrived at the hotel and hit the sack ready for the long day.

Alarm woke us, operation dance mummy. Hair curled, little bit of make up (she doesn't like me doing it incase I poke her in the eye!) and glittered up, off we go. Wow just wow, Winter Gardens is a spectacular and the amount of people and feathers and fake tan and..... I don't know where to look.  We found Ava's dance group and put down our belongings. There were rows of seats that they were sat on but they were inaccessible to me. I felt a little isolated from the group. I didn't feel part of it. Anyway it wasn't about me, it was all about Ava. She did 2 solo's and got a call back for each of them. Unfortunately she did not progress any further but just to have a call back was enough for her. She also danced with the Diva Dollz (the video above - she starts on the left). They danced their hearts out and came 7th in the country. Although it was last in their group, looking at the breakdown of scores 2 judges had actually placed them in 4th place. This is amazing and gives great hope. Just amazing, WELL DONE DIVAS!! Mun and I had to catch a train back before the end of the day (Ava was going back with her dad), again everything went smoothly and I was home in bed by 10pm.

Have a great week,
Em xxx