Thursday night I went to see Miranda Hart at the O2; I have waited 1 year and 1 month for this. (I am hoping that some of you reading this are Miranda fans too, or you may go in a minute!).  You see, Mike bought me the tickets for Valentine’s Day last year. Mike is a wonderful boyfriend (he’s reading, I may get a present for saying this!!) but he is not ‘outwardly romantic’, he shows his love in the things he does but is not one for grand gestures. This is fine by me (most of the time!) as sometimes it’s all mouth and no trousers as my Nan would say. Anyway, last Valentine’s day, he hid my card in the cutlery draw (I was bound to use it at some point) and then I was told my present was hidden. I searched all day until I finally had to give up, as said present was lurking behind the iron!!! The IRON??? I didn’t even used to own an iron, I pay someone to do my ironing, how would I ever have looked there?!?!?! Turns out it was tickets for Miranda, so Mike can be romantic after all! I am a huge fan of Miranda, I love her sitcom and her book, “Is it just me?” is hilarious. In fact, I think she is my role model. She is unashamedly, resolutely proud of who she is and makes no apologies for herself and I just love that. I remember reading her book on the train and I was laughing out loud,  I could relate to it so much. If you haven’t read it, go and do so.  I could write a whole blog on her book and what I could relate to, but I won’t – it would take too long! But I will say that when I had finished reading it, not only did it inspire me to do a forward roll (you’ll do one too if you read it), I felt like it was better than any self-help book you could ever read, it isn’t a self-help book, but somehow it made me feel ‘normal’ and that life is there to be enjoyed.  Miranda also got me through some tough times. Many a Friday night in a hospital bed or ill at home and I would watch Miranda on TV and be instantly cheered. I remember after my op, my fabulous Mum, moved in with me as I was so weak and needed so much help, but we watched a lot of TV. There was one episode that made us hysterical with laughter, not good when your tummy has been slashed just one week earlier but great for feeling mentally better! We kept rewinding the part that made us laugh so much, even though it hurt to laugh, it was too funny to stop watching!

Anyway, I digress (clearly a Miranda fan!). Pre-stoma and with my UC illness, a trip to somewhere like the O2 would have been horrific, in fact I tried to avoid those sort of situations, but now, it is really easy. I know I am travelling and going to a venue so I eat light and foods that won’t make the stoma too active (you learn what works and what doesn’t for your body over time) and take a couple of Loperamide. Loperamide is basically Immodium, it slows the small intestine down and the idea is that I am not ’emptying’ too often. The small intestine works all the time, it’s not like when you have the large intestine and you go to the toilet maybe once a day, it constantly works, there are periods where it is inactive but you don’t always know when this will be. But, like anything, you get used to it. So a trip to somewhere like the O2 is now a good experience. Well aside from suffering from Vertigo – how high is that place!!

The night was “what I call fun” and a really great present, Mike was even sweet enough to get aisle seats for us. When I was ill I couldn’t sit mid-row, what if I had to get up suddenly to run to the loo? But even now I am, “what I call better” in my head I am still the girl that needs an aisle seat! Something’s just never leave you.

I was going to write this blog yesterday, I was planning on being very efficient. I had the day off work so I had decided I would get up and got to a class at the Gym which is at 7 am, then I would get home, shower, breakfast and still have the whole day ahead of me, smug in the knowledge I had already been up and exercised. I would write my blog in the morning and then efficiently go about my day. The reality was that after too many glasses of wine at the O2, I was feeling a little worse for wear, so I lounged in bed watching crappy, American sitcoms until about midday, when I finally surfaced, took a couple of Alka Seltzer ‘just in case’ and then ventured out to meet my mum and sis for lunch before returning home for more lounging! One day, I will be that person that just has a small glass of wine, gets up early and gets lots done, but until then, I will just continue to lounge thinking what I would do if I was that woman!!