New Blogg Address

http://bernadettevella.blogspot.com/

This is my new blogg address site

Entertainment Book

As you know last year I was in the process of setting up a charity to help other mum's who are diagnosed with cancer when they have young children. Anyway I have finally had all of the necessary approvals granted with the tax office and office of fair trading, so I can now get it all started. The first fundraising I am going to do is selling the Entertainment Books. I will be selling both Sydney editions and Brisbane editions. If you are interested in purchasing one (or selling them at your workplace / to your friends) please send me an email (you can do this by posting a comment and including your email address so I can reply).

http://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/

Early Bird Special

Order and pay for your new 2008/2009 Entertainment Book now and receive 6 bonus offers valued at over $200 which can be used immediately. Bonus offers can be collected from Bernadette Martin when the payment form below is completed and they arrive end of February.

They’re coming… The 2008/2009 Entertainment™ Books will be available for collection end of March.

Arielle is a monkey

Sorry for the writing across the video but it was 80 mb and this was the only way I could get it smaller

Remission

Yes you read correctly - I was told today that I am in remission. How excited am I?!?!? The other piece of brilliant news was that I spoke to the nurse patient educator and Kerry about long term survival and they both said that the longer I survive post transplant the less likely it is that the cancer will come back. Apparently most people that don't make it, don't make it early on. So not only am I in remission but there is a good chance I will stay in remission. I feel like the luckiest person on earth!!

Aahh....

I am now back from my holiday at the health retreat. Oh it was heaven. Julian came with me and we spent 5 nights there. It was absolutely fantastic. I was a little skeptical about the food prior to going however there was no cause for concern. The food was primarily vegetarian however there was one fish dish and one chicken dish. The food was all incredibly healthy and we loved it. We even survived the week without caffeine (yes no Coke for me!!) and sugar (yes no chocolate!). There were lots of fun activities like a flying fox, massage, mud baths, yoga, meditation and so on. The photo of me all wrapped up is when I had a salt scrub and a mud wrap - I was in heaven!! They also had personal development sessions which were all talking about being present in the now rather than wasting time dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. It could not have been more suited to what I needed. I had had a very negative attitude about my long term survival before going. I have come back with a totally different attitude. I have accepted that there is a reasonable chance the cancer will come back but if / when it does I am determined that I will fight it and survive. I am now living in the present and not worrying about the future. I realise how lucky I am to be alive and to be surrounded by the most wonderful family and friends. My life is so full of love and happiness and I am just grateful for that and making the most of it.





















The kids stayed with mum and dad whilst I was away. They had a great time with them. It was so great to see them again when I got back. They both gave me the biggest cuddles ever.

The video below is of Arielle being a monkey!

This will be added soon - currently having technical difficulties!

On the weekend we had Ben and Rebecca's engagement party. Nunna, Johnny, Alice, Rita, Pauline, Cathy, Andrew, Jerry, Nathalie, Carmen and Joe all came up from Sydney for it. We had the most wonderful weekend together. Saturday night was heaps of fun. I had a few drinks for the first time in ages and really let loose. Most guests got a little happy and we all had a tonne of fun. I am sure Julian must have wondered what on earth he has got himself in for going out with me!! (Only kidding, he assures me he still loves me even after the weekend!)

Happy New Year

Christmas Day at Ben's










Christmas celebration with Adam and Lisa








Day at Seaworld with Jess, Tim, mum and dad


Tiernan's 4th birthday party

Day at home with mum - cooking and then playing outside in the mud and rain


New Year's eve at mum and dad's








Happy New Year to everyone - I know I am about a month late but I have been a little busy. Life is going brilliantly. We had the most lovely Christmas. Jess and Tim came over on Christmas eve and stayed the night. Jess and I were up late making sure that Santa came and left his trail for the kids to find the next morning. On Christmas morning, mum, dad and I were up at the crack of dawn but the kids decided to sleep until 7.00am. We were so excited for them and could not believe that they were sleeping in!! They had a lovely time opening the presents and even Arielle got into the mood. After breakfast we went over to Ben and Rebecca's and had Christmas lunch over there. Once again the kids were spoilt and had a great time. The kids went to their dad's for the rest of the afternoon and we partied on.

I stayed at Jess and Tim's for a few days and Jess and I had a great time hitting the Christmas sales. The credit card got a bit of a hiding! The kids were back with me for new year's and Jess, Tim, Ben and Rebecca came over to mum and dad's. We saw the new year in and had a lovely night together. The rest of January was quite busy. Tiernan turned 4 and we had a 4th birthday party for him at McDonald's. He loved it and had a lot of fun with his friends. We caught up with my cousin Adam and his family a few times and the kids absolutely loved being together. Tiernan and I did a trip to Movieworld with Julian (more about him later) and his kids. I was very proud of Tiernan - usually he gets very scared and upset on rides however he was very brave and even went on the log ride with the big dip and splash at the end. The kids had an absolutely fantastic day. Then a few days later, mum, dad, Jess, Tim, the kids and I went to Seaworld. Again we had a fantastic time. Arielle even got into the ideas of the rides and we all had such a wonderful day.

Healthwise things have been ok but not perfect. I had a little trouble the day before new year's and had a little trip into hospital (turned out to just be a chest infection) and then two and half weeks ago I managed to get food poisoning and had a one night stint in hospital. Other than those two little hiccups though things are going well. I have had another CT and all was good - still scar tissue there but no new growths - fingers crossed it stays that way. I have had some more tests on my heart and it's functioning has got a little worse but nothing to be overly concerned about. I am still on my heart medication and quite a few other tablets but I suppose it is a small price to pay for still being alive! I have gone back to being able to drink alcohol which I am starting to really enjoy. Nothing beats a lovely glass of wine with a great meal. I am going to a health retreat on Sunday for 5 nights which I cannot wait for. It will be so lovely - there are lots of wonderful activities such as kayaking, yoga, meditation, flying fox and so on as well as some lovely treatments such as massages and body wraps. I need to refocus and get some more positive energy and thoughts back regarding my health (lately I seem to be a little preoccupied by the fact that I only have a 30% chance of being here in 5 years). Hopefully I will come back a fresh, rejuvenated person.

Well I promised more about Julian... who is that you ask. Well as I mentioned in my last blog I started dating again. I used an online site called RSVP on the recommendation of a good friend. Anyway, in December I happened to meet a lovely guy called Julian. He is a 35 year old English programmer with two children (girl 8 and boy 6). We have really hit it off and we both make each other very happy. His kids are also lovely and the 4 of them (his and mine) get on well. I was not expecting to meet someone so special so soon but I suppose life works in mysterious ways.

My house has not really progressed much. The land settled and the plans were in with the architect for December and January. The architect called yesterday to say that the plans were all finished and I will be picking them up today. The next step is to take them to three builders and get quotes and then the building can finally start.

Well nothing else to report. I hope everyone is having a great 2008

Christmas is nearly here

Well it has been another month since I last updated my blogg. Here are some photos of the kids getting dressed up for some Christmas photos. Taking these was a lot of fun - Nutmeg and Basil (the dogs) wanted to be in the photos and then trying to keep Tiernan and Arielle in the photos and smiling was nearly impossible!

Tiernan is getting very excited about Christmas. He absolutely loves Santa and gets so excited he can barely speak when we see him at the shops. I cannot wait for Christmas morning. Arielle on the other hand is petrified of Santa and clings on for dear life whenever we go near him. It was very cute in the car the other day, Tiernan was telling Arielle all about Santa and that she should not be afraid of him.

Healthwise things are going well. I had a little set back the week before last. I had some chest pains and went to the doctor and they did a heap of tests. It turned out that when I was sick with the tummy bug last time, some bugs got into my bloodstream and I ended up with an infection in my blood (it had been festering for 4 weeks). I spent a week in hospital on IV antibiotics but now I am much better. I had a CT as part of all of the tests and everything is still going well - no signs of any active cancer. I had some tests on my heart as well and unfortunately things have not improved at all there (actually they are slightly worse) so it looks like I will still be on the heart drugs for a long time if not for life. I now have 4 whole weeks off without seeing any doctors which is the longest I will be going without seeing a doctor for the past 2 years!!

Socially things are going brilliant. I have started dating again and am having the time of my life. It has been great meeting some new people and it is a lot of fun. No one special yet but I am really enjoying meeting different people and being away from all of the negativity with Cam.

I am working between 2 to 3 days per week. One day in the client's office and the other days from home. In the new year I will probably try to spend two days in the office as I am really enjoying going into the office.

My block of land has now settled and I will start building on it in the new year. Mum and dad have sold their house and I will be looking for a place to rent closer to Brisbane to live in until my house is built (mum and dad have offered for me to stay with them in a rented place when they move so I still have that option open to me).

Not much else to report. I hope everyone has a very happy Christmas and New Year.