#SSS - March 29

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!! 

It's my little brother Ben's 22nd birthday today, so I hope he is having a ball in the Dam with lovely Kathryn!!! (Bring me back a cookie) 

Well it's been a fun couple of weeks! I was hovering over my laptop last weekend, but I thought I might as well wait and do a post fortnightly rather then every Sunday. I have much more to talk about in a two week time span. Plus it's been an exciting couple of weeks in Rugby!

So what's been going on with me. Well, I had my pre op! My actual operation is TOMORROW!!!! I'd like to share pictures of my 'before and after'  with the construction that is going on. So if you'd like to see it, stay tuned ;)

I probably won't post them on here. If you or if anyone you know is going through a similar type of operation, and they'd like to see what is it's like, feel free to drop me an email to ... me@kellyssmile.com and I'll show you the before and after pics :)

I'll no doubt look a bit odd, but it may help someone out there searching for information on this procedure of reconstructive surgery, just as I was searching the web when I was first told about it.

Yesterday was so lovely! I went down to Elstree with Anna to a 'Meet up' with LimbPower friends and other amputee friend I hadn't actually met before! It was so nice to see them all, and to make a few new friends. It's a shame they're all so far away, I would love to have a meet up with them all more often,. It's a good job theres a few events throughout the year where I might catch some of them. It was cool to meet a lady who had a Genium leg, the new cool prosthetic that I've been eyeing up! I know I shouldn't really look into getting new cool legs at this stage, with my months of operations ahead of me, but  it's always nice to see what options are there for me, once I am ready to do more.

Adam, from the Hare & Hounds, kindly gave me a room at the pub for me to hold a fundraising event. I was planning on throwing a little gig there, where all friends could come along, pay for entry (which tickets would go to my fundraising pot) and we could all have a fun night together. I thought this would be a great idea to help me raise a bit of money for my Genium. But really, I should put all of my focus into my current situation. My operations need my full attention. Alex is my little angle, she does look after me so much. If I'm honest, she has always been the more mature one between us, but she is so good at helping me improve, I must be very annoying when I get told I should do this, then I forget and do that.  She set me up with a list of priorities, I have typed them up and printed them out to follow them rigidly.  It's a list of 1 to 8 things I should focus on. 1. being my operation,
2. being the volunteer work I do for BCNA. I literally can NOT do the next one on the list until the previous one is complete. So I can't go looking for a job, a car and a leg until my operations are finished with! I can't move in with Alex until 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 are all complete! I do try to do all things at once, so this list is vital for me to stick to and to improve.
I can NOT and will not be doing anything like booking rooms and various other fundraising activities for the new leg, until my operations are finished with, my memory & volunteer work has improved, I'm walking confidently on my new suction socket leg and I'm driving again. There is no point in jumping the gun and causing problems,  unnecessary stress and potentially damaging the improvement made so far.

Priorities:
1. Operation

2. Memory - volunteer work

3. Walking - suction socket leg

4. Driving/memory - focus

5. Fundraising - new leg

6. Car

7. Job/studying/memory?

8. Move in with Alex - when 1 to 7 are complete :)

Before op (CAN DO):

Twitter - BCNA

Blog 

Write ideas down

WALK

Memory games /aids

Before op (CANT DO):

DVLA

Look at cars

talk about jobs

no recruitment people

no fundraising - no acting on - just write ideas down

Bless her! She has set me these important reminders of what I can and can't do before my operations are finished with. I'll hopefully stick to them! :) Thank God the blog is in my cans! 

So I go in tomorrow morning, at like 7am I have to get to the hospital! Wow that is early! At least I'll just be hopping onto a bed and going back to sleep! They can't expect me to have a conversation at that time in the morning! I'll be looking forward to going back to sleep! 

I think I'll be in the Q.E for a few days after the operation, so if anyone is free for a visit, please do pop in with some skittles or something. 

Errmmm well, I have to admit, for some reason, I'm a little nervous about this one! I'm not normally. I think it's all of the anticipation and stress of it being previously cancelled. It's such a massive relief to have it moving forward! I was so stressed about having to wait longer and longer for this day to come that now it's actually here, I'm a little scared! 

It will all be fine, I know it's just physiologically built up inside me. I will be fine, it will be fine and It's a positive move forward. there is nothing for me to worry about at all! I'm fine!  

Until next time, have a lovely Easter and peace out. x

#SSS 15th March - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there! Especially to mine, over in Ireland! I wish I could fly over to see her today! 

It's lovely having Mother's day on the same day as the St Patricks Parade too, it would be lovely to be necking back a few Guinness's with my mom! 

It was my grandads birthday on 12th, so a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Paki-Joe
And it's beautiful Alice O'Riordan's birthday today, so massive happy birthday to that little lady!

Hmmm. so, there must be many Hozier fans out there? He's wicked! I love him! Alex first introduced me to him, before he hit the charts etc. We both loved his song, Take me to church.

He's a cool guy! 

Anyway, I found tickets to see him in May, and as a surprise birthday present for Alex, I bought 2 tickets! You can see below the price I paid for the two of them. 

Alex, is actually away that weekend, so she can't make it, I would LOVE to go, but I can't really handle going on my own, plus I don't know what will be going on with my ongoing reconstructive surgery, I will probably be unfit to go.
So if anyone wants then, they're up for sale! If you know anyone who likes him, will you please pass this info on to them. I'd really like to sell them and get my money back, so I can look at getting Alex something else for her birthday,

If you want to come with me, let me know, if you want to buy one of them or both of them, let me know! Drop me an email to me@kellyssmile.com

Did you all watch the people strictly?

I was tuned in especially to watch Cassidy Little on it. Check out his story and his performance here. 

He won!!!

Soooo, what else has been going on with me... I spoke to Rebecca from Pitch Consultants, a lovely lady who I knew from my time working with One Black Bear. It was nice just to catch up with her and update her on my current situation.
I'm not quite ready to get back into work just yet, with ongoing surgery etc, however I'm itching for it! I can't wait to just get back onto the ladder and work a normal 9-5 again! Fingers crossed it won't be too far away from me anyway. I do have plenty of time to at the moment to focus solely on my recovery, hopefully in about 6 months time I'll be ready to get back into work. 

The DVLA still haven't got back to me with my amended licence, their 3 week window closed on Friday, so I am set to harass them tomorrow! :) I have looked at a few cars I can get with the needed adjustments made etc, the Fiat 500c is what I'm after. A cute little car to get around in, it will do the job and will be a good way for me to start off with something small and manageable.

I've been advised to get a bigger car though. Easy to get in and out of. I think the fiat will be fine though, I need to go and practice getting in and out of the drivers side, I will do that as soon as my licence is posted back to me! Fingers crossed that will be this week! 

It turns out, I should have been seeing a therapist at the QE called Sally. She is a therapist who will help me use my face in a way that will benefit the damaged nerve/muscle on my burnt side. Sally will hopefully help me get my smile back even more :) 

I went back to the QE  last week for a check up on my pouch, all was fine. I'll need to contact them weekly before the operation on the 30th. I guess the strain from the pouches could damage the skin, we can't have damaged skin on damaged skin!  

Things are all on the way up anyway! I'm very pleased with my progress and the continuous  improvements. I'll keep you all posted with it anyway.

Until next time, peace out!

 x

#SSS COME ON IRELAND!!!

My  dress has arrived! My darling friend Alice, kindly asked me to be her Maid of Honour! I was so so happy when she asked me.

The idea of planning a hen weekend excited me the most, I hope she doesn't regret her choice!
There is a slight possibility of this being the case when she see's what I've got planned for the hen weekend! She is certainly in good hands for this sort of mischief ;)

Just look at it!  It's amazing! I love it!!!!

I'm going to get my ass in to gear and make sure I look hot in it!
This is the image Alice first sent me. I think it is gorgeous, however I did think it was a little too similar to a wedding dress. She found a cute blue version of this though, so I'll be wearing this but with a light blue underline of the lace.

I'm pestering my prosthetist to get me dancing in heels for the wedding! April 2016 is roughly what we'll be working towards!
It's an exciting and achievable goal to go after too.

I'll start off on a 3" this year, build up my confidence in it and then by the wedding in 2016, I'll be dancing all night in a nice pair of 6" heels :)

I can't wait!!! It's all so very exciting. I will hopefully be looking a lot better too, following my face reconstruction surgery. You never know, I may even have myself a date for the wedding ;)

My operation was supposed to have been done now, the original date was like 2 weeks ago, since then it has been moved to the 16th March AND now it's the 30th March!
I hope it doesn't get moved around again. It's very disheartening when you build yourself up for such a big and positive change and then it gets canceled on you.

I can't moan though, it is just cosmetic, there must be someone who needs the hands of the surgeons more than I do, like I probably pushed back a few operations with surgeons the day I was rushed into hospital. I can't moan about them not being free for me on the date they provided when they could be helping someone or even saving someones life, as they did with me.

I've applied for a job!!! 

Well, I noticed that Channel 4 were hiring for work in the production side for the Paralympics, it's perfect for me!

I enjoyed working in media/marketing so I'd love to go further with my current skills and even more so, to be helping with the production of the Paralympics! It's just perfect for me!

Fingers crossed they'll like my application and get back to me with positive feedback.

I had to do a youtube video talking about the reasons I'd like the job. It was very new to me, this youtube recording! I'm no Zoella!

So hopefully I will hear back from them! It's only been a week since I posted it and I'm sure they have plenty of applicants to go through. Oooooo fingers crossed for me people!!!!

Also, I have been chatting to a lovely lady, Ezinna, who is the Charity Services Manager for the KPFoundation. I met this lovely lady at a workshop Katie Piper held at the QE last year. She is going to be back in Birmingham this month and would like to have a catch meeting with me. She's looking for help with the social media strategy for the foundation, and also interested in having a guest blogger connected to their site. Of course I am now an expert in both of these fields ;)

Ezinna would like to chat about how I could help with launching the foundations online peer support service and any other ideas I could help them with. It's a very exciting prospect and I'm very much looking forward to catching up with this lovely lady! Being a guest blogger on the website would be so cool too! It will hopefully help others living with burns if I can share my progress and positivity.
I will be sharing before and after pictures of my scars and reconstruction, which I hope will help others in my shoes - or shoe ;)  

When I was first told about this pioneering treatment for my reconstruction, I searched the web looking for people who had dealt with this. I wanted to see how well it looked and what to expect. But I couldn't find anyone to follow. I guess a lot of people are more shy and insecure about their injuries/burns. Hopefully my before and after pics shared in my blog, will held someone out there looking for this, just as I was.

I'm going to see my surgeon this week. On Tuesday I have a meeting with him to show him how my pouches are doing, with the added pressure from the strain and time I'm waiting for the final operation. I'm praying that things will all go smoothly and it will all be worth the wait.

I'm (not so patiently) waiting for my licence to be sent back from the DVLA. They are making the necessary changes to my licence before I can get back out on the road! Hopefully, the way things are all going for me at minute,  I will hear back from them soon enough and then the world is my oyster!

Anyway, Ireland and England are playing today in the 6 nations.
COME ON IRELAND!!!! 

I'm half and half people, I support England in Football and Ireland in Rugby.
(I don't really like nor follow football, I'm a rugby girl! My opinion on the two countries are similar too)

Peace out x

#SSS - 8th Feb

I've had a brilliant week!!!
As if by magic, everything is starting to fall into place. My operation, to remove the current shoulder boobs and reconstruct the burnt side of my face, has finally been booked!!!
It feels like I've been waiting for this day to come for years! It has been an uncomfortable and slightly painful couple of months.

Things are finally on the move now. I will soon be driving again, with my face back to normal, working again, visiting friends. Things are really on the way back to normal for me.  YAY!!!!

I'm also looking for a nice new leg! The one I've got now is ok, it does the job. But I want more than just a leg I can walk with! I want one I can dance with! I want one that I can wear out in high heels and shake my butt in.
Also, I want one that looks like a leg. Of course I have the cool Alleles cover on this leg and I will proudly get it out in the summer when I want to show it off. But I also want one that looks just like a normal leg. One that is comfortable and unnoticeable, so I can wear it out in the summer with a nice skirt on and not have people giving me unwanted attention. This cool one from I.S.S in France looks really nice and comfortable! Click here  to see the various video clips of people wearing this prosthetic.

I.S.S - a leg that I think is just brilliant and I really want one! It would be lovely to fly over to France to see my Aunty Eve, Gerome and little Jack too! I'm planning on making a little holiday out of it! Obviously when my surgery is finished with. Hopefully that will be soon enough.

So, I've had a page in this magazine, sharing my story and my positivity. It's nice to share how you're dealing with something as serious as an amputation and facial disfigurement. If anyone had told me this would happen to me a few years ago, I wouldn't think I could deal with it as well as I have done. I'm not brave and courage for it though, I've just had such good support from my friends and family, that I have no reason to moan about it.
What could I moan about? I'm not missing out on anything, I have the same life as I did before my accident, just not as stressful and careless.

I'm very grateful to be sharing my story and having young girls read it and be inspired. It might help someone out there feeling sorry for themselves for having an ugly spot on the end of their nose, just as I would have done pre crash! ;)

The true meaning of "beautiful" is something most people in the world will never know nor understand.
As the amazing Katie Piper said
“Don't wait until there is tragedy in your life. Don't wait until you lose somebody. Don't wait until it's too late. Appreciate the beautiful people that you have in your life now.” 

#SSS - Sunday Smile Sermon 25th Jan

Hello!

I've had a great couple of weeks since my last post. 2015 is just getting more and more exciting!!!

I'm not sure if you saw my post yesterday? The youtube clip about an amazing organisation I have found called Why Not People. The are a group of people who are drilling for society to change the way in which people with a disability are treated. They will be holding events, which will enable people with disabilities to enjoy a show, gig, festival, with their friends, without being plonked into a little safe space for wheelchairs etc. It is a great idea!

I do feel a little nervous in crowded spaces, with my prosthetic leg. I haven't quite conquered my balance with it yet so being in a big crowd of people at a gig, will be a little nerve racking!
But that was my life before the crash! I was always going to gigs and festivals at every opportunity I possibly could! The idea of missing out in all of that was very upsetting! The fact that Why Not People will be holding an event for people to enjoy a gig together is just brilliant! It's amazing that this sort of thing hadn't yet existed really, I'm glad it does now though!

 If you didn't see my post yesterday, here it is again :)





Why Not People - I'm now a member of this new cool organisation!
If you'd like to check them out, you can see a video clip on their page here where you can become a member or request various cool things with a donation, like a shout out on stage and things! Have a look and get donating. Also, their website is here.

If you are disabled or you know someone who are, please share this page with them. They can become a member, get involved with gigs and things, it's a really cool organistion that is founded by the super cool radio1 presenter Jameela Jamil.  

Check them out and become a member. It's a really cool organisation and it's prospects really excite me!! I hope it does for you too,  click & join here!

Last week I went to the QE to see what the next moves were for my ongoing surgery. Yet again, it's a time that requires patience. Oh dear. Hmm, good luck with that one Kelly!

They did however explain to me that the face nerve has 5 branches to it, only 2 of them are currently in my face. I could work on these two and get them growing and developing into another 3 to make up the 5 or I could ask them to take another nerve out and put that in. I will just have to wait until the rest of my operations are finished with. It's going to be a long haul, but it will all be worth it in the end!

In the mean time, I will be doing these little exercises. I found them on Youtube by a lady in America who suffered Bell's Palsy, I know it's not the same, but it's worth the shot anyway. So I will be doing these daily exercises to try and get this smile of mine back!

 Also, I am now a nutribullet owner! It came with a book of lots of different cool smoothies and soups to make! I'll be stocking up on things to blast in no time! Hopefully, this will make me more alert, fresh and vibrant. It's got to be good for me and my year of planning for a more active and healthy lifestyle. I'm going to have to start blasting daily if I want to climb snowdon and cycle Cuba with LimbPower this year!

That's all for now anyway, I'm going to get myself out for a walk today! I need to start building up my strength for all of my plans for this year!

Until next time, peace.

Why Not People

#SSS Sunday Smile Sermon 2015!!!!

Happy New year everyone!!!! A bit late I know, but my first blog post of 2015! It's crazy really, so different to my first sermon of 2014! My first blog post back in February 2014 was really pushing for my nerve to work so that I could smile again! I wanted the nerve to start working more than anything!

I hated not being able to control my smile, it was more upsetting then loosing my leg. Seriously!

So, my new nerve, replacing the burnt one in my face, was taken from the back of my leg,  was given a 1% chance of working. I thought I was going to have a lop sided smile for the rest of my life!

Here is a pic of my smile back in February 2014.

It has definitley improved slightly since then. It has a far way to go though, but at least it is on its way back.  

And here is a picture of my smile from a few weeks ago, an even smile which I am very please and relieved about. I'm hoping this will improve more and more each year! I'm going to ask for them to take a nerve from somewhere else, I don't mind where they dig at me next as long as it helps get my smile back.  

So fingers crossed, this time next year, the comparison will be amazing!!! I'll have my dimples back in no time! That would be amazing, to have full control over the left side of my face again, fingers crossed!!! 

My beautiful baby cousin Urban, was 6 on the 1st January! Happy Birthday to that little beauty, Urban! 

My New Years Resolutions are; 

1. Get driving again
2. Get a job - paid 
3. Overcome ongoing surgery 
4. Get my book finished & published
5. Get a running leg 
6. Go for lots of runs - Marathon maybe? (hmmm 26 miles, good luck with that one!)

These are all fairly achievable, I have them as plans for the year and hopefully they will all be achieved!! It will be good to look back at this post next year to see how well I've done! You've all seen them, now I must do them !!!  I've got another driving assessment tomorrow actually, so hopefully number 1. will be achieved soon! I can NOT wait to be back behind a wheel again. Be able to get    from one place to another on my own.

Number 2, is also more likely to be achievable once I'm driving again. I'm currently doing voluntary work for a charity, Black Country Neurological Alliance. Which is great as it can all be done from home and isn't stressfully time consuming, as it is a voluntary role. I do miss getting a wage in though. I will need to be earning my own money to pay for all the petrol I'll need from driving around! 

Both 1 and 2 need to wait for the number 3 to be finished with too. I can't wait for the injection and surgeries and all of it to just stop! It seems never ending for me. Im not complaining, I was gagging for it all to start for so long, I am glad to be going through this as it is all for a good ending. I just can not wait for the ending to come!

Number 4, this little book of mine….it would be very cool for it to be finished and published on May 19th, my 2 year "ampuversary".

Number 5 and 6 - It would be SO COOL to get a running leg. The blade!!! I have spoken to a few people about this and I'm hoping that this resolution will be sorted. By the end of the year I will have ran around like a headless chicken on a blade. I will be running and raising money for the charities that have helped get the blade.for me.  It will be a really satisfying achievement and I'm really looking forward to it. 

I'm going to start building my fitness up now, I am a little stumped at the minute as to what I can do. Like even going for a long walk, I'm just too nervous at the moment with my pouches. Falling and hurting them might slow my progress down and I can't let that happen. I have however, bought a weighted hula hoop, that is fine to do in the meantime! In my warm room with soft things around me if I do fall! As well as a the weighted hula hoop, I purchased a pedometer, so as soon as my pouches are out I will be going out and measuring my walks & calories! I'll be a slim little thing by the summer! 

I'm hoping to get involved in a few events this year too, like LimbPower are going to be doing a some cool events this year, you can see them all on their website here http://www.limbpower.com/events/ 

I really want to do the Cycle Cuba! I would LOVE to go to South America anyway, it was definitely on my list of places to see!!!! Although, I had initially hoped to go and eat the gorgeous food and smoke their cigars, while in Cuba, it's a must really! A cuban cigar, a bottle of Cuban wine and live music! 

Wow…. but it's not going to be like that. It will be fun to cycle through Cuba with my LimbPower friends though, I think as a reward for it, we should all have a cigar waiting for us at the end of the cycle! 

This cycle in Cuba is up on the website for October this year, the date is yet to be confirmed. There is also, with LimbPower a talk of a Snowdon Walking Challenge. I saw this posted by Kiera today on Twitter. I'm up for that one too! It will be good to do this walk in the summer some time, boost up the energy for the cycle in Cuba to follow, which I think is in October? Well the Cycle Cuba one is down for October on the LimbPower website, the date needs to be confirmed anyway so that may well change .

Anyway, enough of my pipe dream plans with no solidarity, due to unconfirmed dates and unconfirmed health. I'm glad to have these things in my diary for 2015 as I do really want to do them. I want to have a great year full of achievements and accomplishments! I'm sure it will be a great year for me. 

A little poem I found & love...

I asked for wisdom & God gave me problems to solve,
I asked for courage & God gave me brawn and brains to work,
I asked for patience & God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait,
I asked for love, & God gave me troubled people to help,
I asked for favours and God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted,
I received everything I needed.

Until next week, peace x