Sarna, wigs and lanterns

I eventually escaped from Alder Hey on Friday and I was really pleased to be back home as I had a Mabel lantern to make. I started off well but then didn't do any more until late last night, but it's nearly done now. I'm in Liverpool again now but I'll finish the legs on Friday (it has only got 2 legs so far)! Every year, our town Ulverston, has a lantern procession through the cobbled streets and loads of people make lanterns from willow and once it's dark we light them and do the walk. This year the theme is Vikings but we're ignoring that and doing a mix of bone marrow awareness lanterns and bucket list lanterns. We have cinema ticket lanterns, sharks, a big camera, my Emma Bridgewater mug and of course Mabel. They are all things from my bucket list! I can't wait because I've always been in hospital and I've missed the last 3 years. I will put some photos on here next week. We had Merseyside Police in the hospital today telling us all how to be safe. We can remember someone from the dog unit sent us a message saying that I could go and see them training and meet some of the dogs. But then we couldn't find the email and Mum said we'd look stupid just randomly phoning police stations so I never got to go. Anyway, because they were there today, they gave us all the details again and now I'm hoping to go one day. I also went to the Andrew Collinge salon in Liverpool which was amazing. Not for my own hair, I'm getting a real hair wig! I had a really nice time and I picked a nice long style in quite a warm reddish brown. I can't wait for it to come cos then I get to go back and they will cut and style it on my head! I think that mum is going to try and book an appointment at the same time. My skin has been really horrid for years because ive had so much treatment. After i started my blog, an American company called ISClinical sent me a box of creams and things. The serum is making my scars fade and get softer and I love the body complex as well, ive decided that it smells happy!. One of the things you get with Hodgkin's is itching and it's not as bad as it used to be but it does still annoy me. Well we've found something for that as well and it works. It's called Sarna and my mums American friend gave it to me try and now I'm in love with it. It makes it all cold and tingly! I have a Lush bath and then I put Sarna on and it feels really nice. A few people have been busy nominating me for an award thing and they let us know that I've been shortlisted and we get to go to London for the night, as long as I'm well enough. What is really nice, is that Milly has been nominated too, for all her fundraising and charity things. But it is all down to the votes we get. So if you would like to vote for me and Milly, please do. I'm looking forward to the night but it feels a bit like school was when they picked two teams and you were terrified of been the last one picked. The link is www.inspirationawards.co.uk but I still don't know how to put a proper link on here. Will ask mum tomorrow. I'm in the second category and Milly is in the last one. I had three tweets today from people who have just signed up to be a BM donor. Hearing that makes me really happy, thank you and keep spreading the word and posting on Twitter and Facebook for me. I'll put pictures up when I'm home on my proper computer. I don't think I can do it on this.

#GET10

It's either very late or quite early depending on how you look at it, but as I'm awake, I wanted to end the day with a message to all of my followers. This afternoon, I was busy tweeting and I was really shocked to find out that just 107 of a possible 650 MPs have taken up John Woodcock's challenge to #GET10, the campaign to recruit 10 fit, young men to the Anthony Nolan bone marrow registry. That means that, em a heck of a lot haven't signed to do it. So please tweet, email and Facebook YOUR MP, don't assume someone else will do it. There is a letter template here at http://www.anthonynolan.org/What-you-can-do/Grow-the-register/GET10/Contact-your-MP.aspx - please do this for me, it's really important! The link might not work, as I've had to nip back into Alder Hey and am using myipad, so I can't attach it the same way as normal. I realise that we all have busy lives - I had that too. But cancer doesn't stop for board meetings, lunches, dinner dates or shopping trips. It's there all the time and we've had to change our lives. But that doesn't bother me anymore because I've found out what's important and I've found a way to make a difference to lots and lots of people around the world. Spread the word and gather those donors up! I remember when we were looking for a donor for me for my second transplant, and mum kept visiting the supermarket looking for men and saying, "he's quite young and fit, I wonder if he's on the register?" and out would come the Anthony Nolan leaflet. Make a promise to ask someone new tomorrow and contact your MP. The truth is that someone, somewhere NEEDS YOU to try and save their live. Please repost / tweet and message ... we must make people aware.

Thanks Tesco :)

Wow, guess what?  Tesco have phoned my mum and I'm getting to choose a new phone and they are getting me connected again and I shouldn't be without a phone for too much longer. Thanks for all the tweets, i'm getting to be a big twitter fan, it's cool once you get used to it. So if you don't tweet yet, go and try it lol :)

Look no hair!

It's actually look no hair for the 6th time and I was a bit upset at first, but I'm fine now.  The reason it's dropping out is because I've been trying a new drug that will hopefully slow things down and give me longer - I'm aiming for Christmas partly because because it will be my 16th and partly so that I can write my Christmas list to santa.  I didn't want to say anything about it until we knew if it was helping me in any way, but that's why i have gaps away from here.  Anyway, I've been having it for about 6 weeks and it seems to be working at the moment but the downside is that I'm quite tired and also that my hair has fallen out.  Mum has been busy ordering me some new bandanas because we gave all of mine away last year to some other girls on the ward as mine wasn't going to fall out again.  Nice one mum!

I'm glad that I've now got a sim card for my iPad because my mobile phone still isn't working.  Mum and Dad bought me a top up voucher for my new Nokia at the beginning of August and it didn't work and we went backward and forward in-between hospital stays and Tesco gave us another one and then another one.  None of them worked and then the store said it was my phone and we had to call Tesco mobile and sort it out with them. So my mum rang them and spent ages on the phone and they said that it's not their fault and that it is the stores fault and that mum has to go back to the store.  Mum said that she's been driving up and down to Tesco and it's 20 miles every time and that she wanted them to sort it as nothing was getting done and I have no phone and the woman said she'd put her through to another department and then they cut mum off!  So I've had no phone for nearly a month and I can't get a different sim because it is stuck to them.  So Tesco, if you're reading this, please sort my phone out for me.

This is my big surprise.  I got out of hospital just in time to take Mabel for a photoshoot with Jason because guess what Mabel is going to be a Pet's at Home cover girl and go on the front of their new dog treat packets.  So every time you go into Pet's at Home, Mabel will be hanging up on a packet somewhere in the store.  And that's another reason I want to be here at Christmas lol.  We had lots of fun having the photos taken and trying to get Mabel to sit still with her mouth just a little bit open and her tongue hanging out.  That was my first day out of hospital and basically I've slept every day since that until today when I got up at lunch time to go shopping at Pet's at Home.  I bought Mabel and Bess a new squashy bed.

Although I've been tired I do feel a lot better at the moment and I'm looking forward to doing a few more things but I still can't really get on a plane and go just anyway so it's lovely to get nice offers from away, and I'd especially love to do the Whale watching in Alaska but it's not going to happen and I did get a cool video sent to me.  I might try to go to Scotland if Mum and Dad will take me because ages back, we did have a lovely email offering a whale boat trip and things in a seaside village.  That would be quite nice I think :)

Right, I'm going to go to bed now I'm tired but I wanted to update you all and ask you to all keep spreading the bone marrow word ... spit spit spit!

Milly's GOSH Christmas Card

Hello, I've had a much better weekend and although I'm still stuck in hospital, I hope to get out soon!
My little sister Milly did some drawings for Great Ormond Street a few years ago and in May, they asked Milly if it was okay to use them to create a new card. Her last Christmas card raised over £50,000 for GOSH, so I hope you'll all buy this one and support the hospital where she has been treated since birth. She loves her hospital and we really hope this gets them lots of money to help the kids there.
Please share the link that I'm going to put on the side somewhere - buying just one pack will really make a difference!
Oh and I'm also going to try and link to a video of Milly's Snowman card from a couple of years ago. It shows you why you should buy charity cards direct from the charity and not through a high street store!
Alice :)