Back After A Lovely Break

Just a quick blog entry to let you know after a LONG 6 weeks in hospital I managed to get away to The Barrs favourite place in the World (Center Parcs) It was so nice to get away with the family for a while and just to chill out and the weather was FANTASTIC. However all I really managed to do was sit and drink Starbucks (who's complaining lol). We got back on Tuesday and I ended up back in hospital the very same day, however things aren't too bad and I think a few days of good physio and rest and I will be flying. On a postive note my weight hasn't budged which is good and now it is starting to go up again. We are getting oh so very close to the necessary 39kg.

On the school front there isn't really much to report other than we are still waiting for them to begin building which we are hoping will begin really soon.

Sorry for such a quick update

Char
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Back on This Again

Oh my goodness I have just looked back on my blog and it has been a month since I have updated. Oops. There has been a lot happen in that month but one thing that hasn't changed is that I am STILL in hospital.
I came in orginally feeling generally unwell and therefore knowing that I needed rest and a change of antibiotics. However, the doctors and everyone thought it would be best to keep me in here to get my weight up to a suitable level so that I could get back on the transplant list, as I had been sitting steady for like the past 6 months with no progress being made. I agreed to this just because I'm just sick of sitting with nothing happening so I knew if I stayed in it would give the team time to look at different ways in which I could put on weight. This is where the problems started! You may remember way back in October the time I had the abcess after my Portacath got infected I had a PICC line put in my arm for easy administration of my antibiotics, well the doctors thought we could use this to put through TPN which is basically just nutrition that goes straight into the blood stream. This worked well for all of em 48 hours and then my PICC line decided it had had enough and that it would pack in. GRR!!! So I then had to come off my IV antibiotics and I swear I must be addicted to them because the minute I came off them my chest started to go downhill so quickly.

So then last week the decision was made to put in another Portacath but until then they would try and get a long line into my arm so that I could recommence with the IVS because by this stage I was feeling yucky and my weight gain just wasn't happening. So I waited and got my new port in which surprisingly went in with no problems at all (lets just hope it stays there). This means I have been able to have IVS again and the difference is unbelieveable I feel so much better than I did when I was off them. However we had to dump the idea of TPN as the infection risk with a Port is too great. This means I have stepped up my feeds through my peg tube so that I am getting about 2800 calories through it a day and also they have increased the dose of the tablets they give me to stimulate my appetite because before this I was eating nothing and just feeling sick. So finally the weight is starting to creep on and I am now at 37.2kg which I know is still a good bit away from 40kg but its a step in the right direction. It has been hard being in hospital for so long but they have let me go home overnight for one night every weekend and to be honest I think it is those litte trips home that have kept me going and back in to the crazy ways of the Barr household lol

On the project side of things, it is progressing really well with our total now being just over £80,000 WOW. Also a meeting was held with Fields of Life both in Portadown and Uganda (the joys of technology egh?) and originally they were going to build the primary one to three block and then the rest but from the meeting the decision was taken to build it all together in wait for it... TWO MONTHS!!!!! This means that we should hopefully see a nice new Hidden Treasure Primary School in as little as FOUR MONTHS!!! WOOHOO. Its all very exciting. Thank you so much to all of you that have contributed to the project it is truley amazing the response that I got.
Anyway I think that is all of the news from the last month. Promise to update the blog sooner next time and hopefully from the comfort of my own home. HAPPY EASTER everyone
Char
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Back In

Just a quick blog to let you guys know that I have been back in hospital for the last week just generally feeling rubbish and my weight down to 35.9 kg . However I was able to get home for the night last night so that is always a positive. Don't really know when I will get out however they are talking of keeping me here until I put a sufficent amount of weight on so that I can get on the list. As much as I dont like that idea part of me is telling me to go with the idea because at the minute we are sitting in limbo with my weight not going anywhere. So if it was to move things forward I might just do it for a while. Anyway I will keep you all up to date anyway and thanks again everyone for your continuing support and prayers

Char

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Hello

Sorry for lack of updates.

Things are going well. I am just out of hospital yesterday after just being in a week. I just hadn't been feeling great at the end of last week so with some precusion from mum and dad I rang and they were able to see me rather than waiting and maybe getting worse therfore having to spend longer in hospital. So all and all it worked out well and I even managed to get out for a wee while both on the Sunday and the Wednesday. So I can't really complain :)

Everything is remaining steady with the main issue still being my weight but we are working on it. I am still on IV antibiotics but to be honest I think that is just going to be a way of life for me at the minute because as soon I come off them I just go down hill rapidly and to be honest I want to be able to stay as well as I can so that I can work on gaining weight and getting on that list. So now my new hobbie is just going to have to be to eat all around me lol :)

Seriously though thank you so much to you all out there who I know are remembering us and praying for us. I actually do not think I could get through any of this without you, God or my amazing family. Trust me as I have learnt in the last few months it's times like this where you really feel God's hand upon you.

Project wise things are continuing along nicely. We are still pushing towards the £100,000 and I firmly believe that we will reach our new target. Also we are in talks with Fields of Life in Uganda to begin the building of Hidden Treasure. It is actually so exciting and I would defintley say that with in a few months we will start to see the new school coming together!!! Isn't God good?

I Can't believe I'm Posting This!!!!!

Ok I'm not going to waffle (probably the first time ever :)) but what I do want to say is never in a MILLION years could I have seen myself writing this post in January 2010. Let me just tell you a little of how this came about. As a lot of you know my health has detoriated greatly over the last eighteen months or so. April/May 2009 was a particulary bad time and the whole transplant issue had just been brought up (something which I personally really was not expecting) So anyway one evening mum dad poppa david and the girls came and took me out to Nandos @ Victoria Square(seriously in the Barr household food makes everything better!!!) and basically the topic came up of building a school in Uganda for the kids out there that don't have the luxury of going to school. Well let me tell you I went back to the City Hospital that night and could not sleep at all I was that excited about the plans.

July 2009: I was unable to go to Uganda with the rest of the family and instead spent a lovely summer in the city hospital. This is where they found the school Hidden Treasure and between facebook, emails and telephone calls between us we knew that this was the right school to build. I mean just take a look at the classroom

So I then started this blog at the end of August with a view to keep people up to date with my progress healthwise but also with the fundraising efforts and the building of Hidden Treasure Primary school.

So at present I am just home from hospital today after just a ten day stay and am feeling really good. Thanks to everyone on this blog it is thanks to you that I am feeling as good as I am because I was coming home to the news that....

Charlene's Project has raised the necessary £70,000. I actually do not know what to say apart from a MASSIVE thank you to every single one of you for your prayers, donations and support I could never in all my life have imagined that we would have the money in in the space of just five months. Isn't God great. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

So what now? Well we have been in talks with Fields of Life who are ready to start building right away. However we have been advised that it is best for the school to have a well so that the children and community can have an outlet for water and also teachers accommodation so we have moved the goal posts and are now aiming for £100,000 to meet these extra requirements and I know we can do it.

Thanks Again to absolutley EVERYBODY

God Bless as the Ugandans would say God is good all the time All the time God is good.

A Quick Hello

First of all thanks to my dad for finishing the blog that I had started before I went back into hospital.

I am indeed back in for a little while but cannot really complain as I enjoyed a lovely 2.5 months out of the place :) My best record in well over a year. Unfortunately I had to come back in as after just a week off IV antibiotics my lungs decided they didn’t want to play that game anymore and enjoyed the way the IVs made them feel. I was quite hopeful when I came off them but unfortunately my chest declined rapidly without them which is a bit disappointing but I guess it just means I’m going to have to stay on IV antibiotics pretty much until I get my transplant. Also in that week that I was unwell I lost a load of weight so I have been working on that and am as determined as ever to reach that 40kg.

I do have to say that the time I enjoyed out of hospital was fantastic and I had the BEST Christmas ever with my family even managing (as dad has said) to get to Center Parcs which right up until we were due to go was looking doubtful but I managed it and had a fabulous time.

The school project is just going from strength to strength with the total at around £62,000 seriously a MASSIVE thank you to each and everyone of you out there when I was starting this project I could have never imagined it would come together like this. God truly works miracles. We recently had a meeting with Fields of Life with the view to start building pretty soon. I am seriously so excited and just have a mental picture of all these little children walking into a proper building of a school for the first time ever and its thanks to the generosity of you guys.

Ok its probably time I headed to bed but as I leave you tonight I ask that you please remember the people of Haiti. These people had nothing to start with and there country has just been turned upside down by such disaster. Just please pray that they will continue to find more survivors. Thank you and goodnight

Love

Charlene

Christmas and much more

Firstly I am SO sorry that this blog has not been updated in what seems like forever.I promise with the new year that my blog will be updated more frequently. However the reason for this is not that I have been in hospital but that I have been busy with Christmas and that.

I am just looking back on the blog and realising that my last entry was the night before the Dolly Walk.

Well what a success that was with 150+ women turning out to walk around Lurgan at midnight with over £12,000 being raised on the night.Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the walk and I think it is safe to say a good night was had by all. Also a big thank you to Lurgan college hockey teams who on the morning of the Dolly Walk postponed their scheduled matches in order to the their own walk. Thank you.

Waringstown Primary school also hosted their own successful walk which rasied over £5,000. Amazing.

So many other individuals, schools, churches and businesses have supported me and sent donations or done fundraisers.
Christmas has come and gone and we had a lovely Christmas at home.

I was even well enough after Christmas for us to make the trip to England with the family. We all love Center Parcs and the weather was brilliant with plenty of snow making everything beautiful. We had a great time.

I cannot thank you all enough for all your support.
All your help in so many ways is appreciated more than I can say. God bless you all.

PS Charlene was readmitted to hospital after writing most of this. She had her longest spell out of hospital in well over a year - 8-9 weeks. She only had about a week off intravenous antibiotics after being on them 3 months and unfortunately was getting more chesty again and all the hard work of getting her weight up was quickly being undone. She is back on intravenous antibiotics so hopefully will pick up again quickly. Thanks for your ongoing thoughts and prayers. Dickie