Gin 'n' Tonic

Hey Guys,

Today I have been very silly.
I had a lovely afternoon sat in the sun, in a local pub garden with some old friends from school. It was so nice to catch up with everyone and enjoy myself whilst having my favourite strawberry and lime cider. My friend Louie then offered to buy me a gin n tonic - a drink I have never had before. There was some deal on or something which meant it made sense to buy two. How could I say no?!
I have to say, it was quite nice, a strange and quite bitter taste but I liked it.
I was at the pub for over three hours sat in pretty much direct sunlight, and I was so so hot. I was sweating and really felt like I was over heating. When I stood up I realised I was a little bit tipsy... for the first time in a long while - that gin definitely went straight to my head! I got home and pretty much went straight out on a dog walk with my Mum which looking back wasn't the wisest idea. I started to feel really shaky, a bit nauseous and headachy. The dreaded de-hydration had hit me!
I had a bottle of water followed which didn't seem to do much good, so followed it up with a Lucozade Sport. This thankfully made me feel a lot better. It was scary to realise how close I could have been to being quite poorly.
The thing is, when you have an ileostomy you need to stay extra hydrated. You absorb a lot of your fluids in your large intestine, which in my case is having a rest and not doing its job. This means that the output of Margaret has a lot more fluid in than a normal stool. I have to say, I have been doing a very bad job at drinking the required 2 litres of fluids a day. Today was the first time, however, that I really felt the effects. A day in the sun, drinking alcohol with no water or proper food is probably not the best idea eh!

Thanks to the amazing weather we are lucky enough to be having I have spent much of my time outside. Me and Matt decided to create our own make shift paddling pool. We were going to go buy one but couldn't be bothered to go walking through the shops in 30 degree heat. We started off with a piece of tarpaulin filled/covered with water, we then moved on to bigger and better things!
Matt had an ingenius brain wave and filled an old pond with water. It was freezing but refreshing and so nice whilst lying in the sun!

Jakey sheltering from the sun

I have also been baking some more.

Lovely lemon drizzle cake (my favourite) and some cupcakes. The photo shows them all before I decorated them, but it was all delicious, even if I do say so myself!

Margaret has largely been behaving herself despite the sun - I am clearly training her well! I am finding it quite difficult to cope with having a big sticky thing stuck to my side in the heat. She itches, prickles and sweats which is horrible. Luckily I have been able to judge moments when she isn't very active and I take the bag off and lie there, letting air get Margie. I can't tell you how amazing this feels. I have also been able to have cool showers with no bag on which is equally as brilliant!
I now also take Imodium before my evening meal and before I go to bed to try and stop me having to get up in the night. This is the main thing which is driving me mad, I have to really pry myself out of bed in the middle of the night to deal with Margaret; which is not fun. Although the pain is pretty much not there and I am feeling so much better than I was before the op, I am constantly exhausted. I wake up tired and am tired all day. I am not talking about tired after a long day, I mean if I close my eyes I may not be able to open them kind of tired. Fatigue would probably be more fitting. I do my best to keep going despite the tiredness but I deliberately don't plan anything until after midday because I know I won't be able to function. Hopefully this will get better over time eh!

Thanks for listening to my ramblings again, I would love to hear from anyone who has had trouble with sleep and always being tired!!

Lots of love!
XXX