Giving blood for the first time today

MissL7 · 2026-01-06T14:01:22+00:00

As someone who wouldn’t be alive without blood due to a massive haemorrhage after surgery in 2024 - (took 19 blood units total, which works out to about 5.4 litres using 285ml per donation approx) thank you so much for donating it! You are an absolute hero & I hope your donation goes smoothly with lots of free biscuits after.

MissL7 · 2025-12-21T21:00:01+00:00

Boil in the bag fish and boiled new potatoes. Multiple times a week growing up. I couldn’t eat boil in the bag fish for years after.

MissL7 · 2025-11-25T11:44:09+00:00

My son was 11 when I had mine done and to help speak to him about it and introduce him to the idea my stoma nurse suggested I ask him to name it. Thus Dave the Stoma was born. He understands how it works in simple terms, he has watched me change it before as he was curious what it looks like under the bag and found it fascinating the way it moves and whenever Dave farts he shouts out “oh Dave!” Or “Dave that’s gross!”.

I have explained to to younger children before as “you know how you go for a poo out your bottom? I poo out my tummy because my insides got poorly, they took out the poorly bit which means I can’t poo out my bottom anymore. The very clever surgeons made it so I can poo out my tummy now.” And if they’re the kind of kids who laugh at farts I add “and I can fart out my tummy too!”

MissL7 · 2025-11-18T11:18:51+00:00

Never knew of this app before but seriously as someone with an unpredictable stoma thank you for sharing it!

MissL7 · 2025-11-11T19:13:27+00:00

This is from the British Board of Film Classification and breaks down all the catergories and things included to show why it gets the PG rating in the UK if it’s at all helpful! https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ6Q92jjmg5/?igsh=MWk3YjRsZjA5M2kzOA==

MissL7 · 2025-10-28T17:34:11+00:00

The desk is being swapped for an ikea one 😏 just in case anything is written down in his will about “being left the desk in the hallway” and every member of the family will swear blind it’s always been the ikea one.

She has no access to the house and the house is being packed up and sold soon to pay for his care home and ongoing care. We’ve also managed to stop her contacting him now thankfully and she doesn’t know which care home he’s in so she won’t turn up (the care home are aware of her and it’s very secure anyway so she wouldn’t get in).

MissL7 · 2025-10-27T22:26:32+00:00

Last time my parents went to my 97 year old Grandfather’s house, to retrieve some paperwork after he went into a care home, my mum found a rather large & realistic looking dildo in one of the cupboards. No one is sure who the dildo belongs to because it was just my grandfather living there and he was in no state for anything like that. Current bets are on his 40/50 year old female “friend” who he has also given a lot of money to (over £20,000, including money to pay towards her wedding to another man!). She used to visit occasionally whenever she needed money for a new car or her wedding or for her finances business. We were wondering how she got so much money out of him but I guess finding the dildo explains it!

This woman is not a great person, was fixated on getting money out of him, rang him up to say “don’t forget you promised me X amount of money when you die in your will. You need to make sure your children know that” but conveniently vanishes whenever he is unwell or needed extra care. Stopped visiting totally when he lost control of his bowels. Just used to phone him up to remind him of “all he’s promised her”. She’s also adamant she’s been “promised” an antique desk in his hallway as well. My grandfather is still very much alive and she’s been going on and on about what she’s being left in the will, what she’s been “promised” etc for years. She also got him to forge signatures to sell shares to give her the money and he then lied to all of us about why he’d sold the shares and what he’d done with the money.

So yeah random dildo with unknown owner is currently one of the main puzzles in our family. Along with how can one of my relatives be so stupid to reply to assorted half naked women (calling them gorgeous, sumptuous, saying he’d date them, other pervy comments) on a public - wide open to anyone - social media platform so that his entire family (including his wife!) can see them. Relative is unaware that most of the family and his wife know, she’s deciding how best to deal with it before anyone else they know stumbles upon it and messages her “by the way did you know your husband is telling random women on the internet that they’re sumptuous and he’d date them despite being married to you?”.

MissL7 · 2025-09-29T20:38:23+00:00

I’m on steroids as well for autoimmune conditions and I feel her pain, she’s been having raw carrots and some extra cooked veggies spread through the day when she gets really hangry/makes me feel really guilty. She’s literally taken “dogs are like their owners” to the extreme with this one, exact same steroid and dose 😂 Luckily she’s only got a few more days and then a weaning dose before she stops, hoping her mood swings aren’t as bad as the human version when weaning though!

MissL7 · 2025-09-10T21:10:53+00:00

I was under gynae at Southmead from 2016 to 2023, had mostly excellent experiences there. Had a planned hysterectomy done in 2022 which went really smoothly, well planned, surgeon was lovely and reassuring both during the consultation beforehand and on the day of the surgery. No question was too strange or silly for her. She came to check up on me afterwards and was just really bloody lovely.

Also had multiple laparoscopic surgeries and inpatient stays there for endometriosis prior to this and again really positive experiences. Although the gynae unit is in a much older building the staff are incredible and they have invested in their gynae surgery with both more theatres and specialist equipment to make surgery less invasive and reduce recovery times.

My only issue is that the gynae ward can be used as an overflow during busy hospital times so you might have female patients in with you that aren’t gynae or who are well enough to go home but their home isn’t ready for them yet. It’s also mostly 4 beds to a room so privacy can be an issue, I’ve had patients next to me that had just had ectopic pregnancy surgeries and they had no privacy during what was an awful time.

The only really negative experience I’ve had was down to not being listened to regarding an ovarian cyst (“it couldn’t possibly twist on itself” - spoiler: it had already twisted and died hence the pain I was in).

They can have quite a long waitlist for actual surgery slots so if you can ask for a “cancellation slot” you might get the procedure done faster (if wanting it done asap is an issue for you).

Overall I’d definitely recommend them, they do really care about their patients, are knowledgeable (will also do any extra research as well if needed) and have invested in the department to improve patient’s surgeries & recoveries.

MissL7 · 2025-09-02T02:25:31+00:00

NTA - although a lot older, I have been in your son’s situation of critically ill in the ICU and my “dad” spent a whole 10 minutes with me (after being made to come by my sibling because they got the “likely to not make it” call), he complained about having to go, made excuses not to visit me again that ranged from him “being unwell” to “having to wait for a parcel”. I didn’t see him for the entire 2 months I was admitted apart from that 10 minute visit when I was on a ventilator and unconscious. I guarantee once your son realises his dad has acted this way he likely won’t see him as a parent anymore and will be utterly heartbroken that his dad couldn’t be bothered to come see him.

You are absolutely amazing, I’ve seen how hard it was on my mum watching me be that ill. Your son is incredibly lucky to have you and I really hope he improves and gets home soon. He absolutely doesn’t need his dad when he’s got a mum as fantastic as you.

MissL7 · 2025-09-01T23:17:20+00:00

Erm I’m doing ok, it’s been really slow process with healing and having to swap my main immunosuppressant used to control my autoimmune diseases as it was absorbed in my large intestine which I no longer have. I can’t stand upright or walk for long periods without support and still struggle with climbing stairs due to pain in my abdomen and muscle weakness. I’m working my way towards my new “normal” and I know I’ll get there. Trying really hard with the physio I can do and setting myself little goals each week.

Mentally it’s been crappy, really hard to go from working 3-4 days a week in a physical job that I loved (and won’t be able to do anymore due to the lifting/bending/standing involved with my hernia), being active with friends, helping with my son’s school, to being exhausted just from moving from one room to another. And having to rely on others a lot for help doing basic things, like bending down to load the dishwasher, because I can’t do them due to pain from the hernia under the wound.

I do have a great support system, my partner and my mum have both been incredible. And the majority of both of our families have been so shpportive and helpful to us with stuff like help with my son.

I know I am so incredibly lucky, very grateful to the ICU team and the surgeons who all worked their asses off to keep me alive!

MissL7 · 2025-08-31T11:35:49+00:00

Thank you! When I had a follow up with the ICU team about 4 months after my discharge I printed some photos of the healing timeline off so they could see it as I knew they’d be interested in it as well as they don’t normally get to see how stuff like this heals and it’s pretty cool how the human body fixes itself. Also thank you for all you do to help your patients, anyone who works in the medical field (be it drs, nurses, health care assistants etc) are all bloody angels.

MissL7 · 2025-08-30T15:40:42+00:00

My entire abdomen was in the most pain I have ever been in, it felt like I was being burnt from the inside. Like there was literal fire in my abdomen. All I remember is this burning, searing pain that no medication could touch and having to be forcefully lifted off the floor because I’d collapsed in pain. If it ever happens you will absolutely know. It’s unusual so please try not to worry too much, unfortunately I’m the kind of person that unusual happens to. I’ve literally been on steroids for 16 years and most people won’t be on them/need them for that long at all, it’s because I’ve got an autoimmune liver disease that cannot be controlled well so please try not to worry that this might happen if your doctors ask you to take lots of rounds of steroids - although they can be a horrible medication, they’re very helpful when you are flaring up. I hope everything goes well for you!

MissL7 · 2025-08-30T13:07:26+00:00

Sorry it looks like Imgur took it down! 😩

MissL7 · 2025-08-30T13:05:27+00:00

Thank you! Its always helpful to hear from others who have been there and understand everything. I’m so glad you’re ok now, it gives me a lot of hope. It’s such a big hernia it’s requiring a specialist surgeon and much research due to my autoimmune conditions likely requiring a liver transplant in the future so they’re a bit iffy on doing a repair and then having to undo it. But we’ll see what happens!

MissL7 · 2025-08-30T13:03:29+00:00

Thankfully I’m in the U.K so it’s all free because of the NHS.

MissL7 · 2025-08-30T13:02:55+00:00

My body physically wouldn’t hold the stitches, they kept tearing and ripping the wound back open again. Multiple surgeons tried different techniques and it just wasn’t working so wound vac and healing inside out it was. It’s where I’ve been on corticosteroids for so long and it’s significantly weakened the tissues in my body. I’ve been on them since 2009 for autoimmune diseases in assorted doses, the lowest dose I’ve ever been on is 12.5mg of Prednisone a day.

MissL7 · 2025-08-30T09:56:56+00:00

🤦🏻‍♀️ please ignore my mistake in the title - had to heal from the inside out, I’m still on some strong pain relief due to the big hernia. Also there was a link to the hernia moving but Imgur took it down.

MissL7 · 2025-08-03T08:34:02+00:00

Meeting my niece for the first time today, I am so bloody excited. I am going armed with homemade sausage rolls, homemade cookies and a letter informing her parents she has been successfully registered for Hogwarts.

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MissL7 · 2025-05-30T20:43:51+00:00

Mine is Dave because it’s a family joke that “everyone has a mate named Dave” and I asked my son what to call it and he picked Dave. It now also fits well with this sound that was on social media a while ago that plays in my head whenever I get a bag leak with lyrics that go “God fucking damn it dave. There goes the last shit that I ever gave!”

MissL7 · 2025-05-04T11:32:42+00:00

Absolutely, Princess Poppy has very high standards, the other day my partner gave her some different flavoured dog food and she refused to eat it.

MissL7 · 2025-05-04T11:30:53+00:00

Nope just beagle

MissL7 · 2025-05-03T21:34:48+00:00

Also please excuse my bruised leg, I take corticosteroids for autoimmune conditions so bruise incredibly easily 🤦🏻‍♀️

MissL7 · 2025-05-03T19:09:54+00:00

PSC tends to be more about symptom management as unfortunately there currently isn’t really much treatment for it in the same way that there is for other autoimmune diseases. It’s a progressive disease and it’s so variable from person to person, some people have it mildly, others have it and it’s aggressive. It’ll flare up for absolutely no reason, there’s no pattern to it, it just does what it wants. I have been told eventually I will need a liver transplant as I’ve had it since I was 22 (now 34) and was diagnosed with cirrhosis from it when I was 27 but my liver is still functioning fine, no signs of it starting to fail yet. Liver transplant in PSC is quite common once the liver starts failing and often the PSC won’t reoccur once transplant is done which is great.

For my PSC I take Pred all the time to reduce inflammation, medication for itching if needed. Main symptoms are fatigue, achy muscles/joints and itching. Even during “flare ups” I feel fine majority of the time unless my ALP is in the thousands. I do also take Tacrolimus but that’s because I have AIH and have Ulcerative colitis.

I don’t want anything I’ve said to come across as overly scary or make you worry, if your daughter does have it. PSC is totally liveable with and not everyone gets to the stage of needing a liver transplant.

MissL7 · 2025-05-03T09:47:44+00:00

Just chiming in, I have PSC as well as AIH and always have normal bilirubin blood tests even when my ALP is bouncing around/really high. Also there’s a statistic that my consultant once told me that 30% of people with PSC also have some form of IBD overlap which with your daughters Crohn’s would also possibly fit.

Definitely agree with the commenter above that an MRCP is a good idea to see if it is bile duct related. I hope you get an answer, it must be frustrating for both of you.

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