Ok to stop the moaning I have put on the 1st lot of shrinking pics,

They don't look as good as there are only 3 of them on each gif.

It's the 4th of January 2009 exactly 2 months after my surgery. So I thought I would tell you what I been upto with myself & the adjustments I have had to make.

I had 2 weeks of pure liquid diet after my surgery. As my stomach & bowels were all inflammed after the surgery so nothing bigger then liquid would have fitted through. To be honest the last thing I wanted to do was eat, Was very sore & had full amounts of my liquid morphine.

Being me nothing is ever straight forward. 5 days after being home, I got really ill, (thought I was dying lol) I had trapped wind which I coulnd't burp up or so I thought. It felt like my new tiny stomach was gonna burst with expansion. I decided to walk over the road (200 yards) to the local chemist doubled up in pain to get something to ease trapped wind. Bad mistake, I got a bottle of something which turned out did nothing. Outside the chemist I got a hot flush & felt my legs start to buckle under me, the closest thing to grab onto was the public litter bin, not the best choice in the world but it was a case of grab that or completely pass out on the floor which was another option I didnt really relish. The british public are so helpful... NOT stand & stare walk past & stare but don't think to come over & see if your actually ok! Well whilst holding onto the bin I started heaving (not a good look in public) but although I wasn't being sick it did manage to bring up some wind! I was feeling so rough I honestly didn't think I was gonna actually make it home. I managed to get half way across a busy road then I got the hot flush again (which really scared the life outta me thinking please don't pass out here of all places) took a few deep breaths to try & compose myself & managed to get across the road in one piece. Only to have it happen again this time having to hold onto a road sign to keep me up & bringing up some more wind. Finally mangaged to get home but it really put me off going outside again for a while. & although I had managed to bring up a fair amount of wind the contractions on my stomach from heaving made the pain even worse!

I decided to just call up my GP & explained to him what had just happend to me & all my symptoms & its more worrying 'cos it was so soon after my surgery. I explained that I couldn't/ wouldn't go up there which normally they like to see the patient but my Dr knows me very well & from what I told him he did mention there was a nasty case of gastroenteritis going around (stomach bug/flu) So he prescribed me Antibiotics, & a strong medicine to relax stomach muscles get rid of trapped wind & stop ppl vomiting & some liquid paracetamol to bring down my fever. It took another 5-7 days to get over that & the day I got over it I then came down with flu! I'm such a lucky person. 1 good thing to come out of it was where I couldn't eat the weight really started shifting off me.

Well after 2 weeks of liquid diet I went to stage 2 of eating which is the pureed diet, 1-2 tablespoons of food blitzed in a food processor, mmmmmmm baby food, So I boiled up carrots & swede & put it in the food processer & portioned it out into tiny containers if I had done them seperately then I would have used icecube trays. I also brought some cubed cooked chicken & made some gravy & blitzed that too, & again portions it all out, for my carbs I did cheat & just used a packet of instant mash, So my main dinners were chicken, mash, swede & carrots chucked in a bowl & then 2-3 mins to ding in the microwave. Because I was still ill at this point I found I couldn't eat 3-4 meals a day like recomended but was on 1-2 meals, & you ment to drink at least 2 litres of fluid be it tea, coffee milk/juice which is also a feat at this stage. No other mjor problems at this stage apart from getting over flu lol

2 weeks later Stage 3 is the soft lumps. I was glad to get to this stage... I had a major craving for scrambled eggs, dont know why but I did, & this is when you can have them. They say you can have 2 small eggs with a touch of milk to scramble. I think my first attempt it took me 20 mins to eat 1 & 1/2 small scrabled eggs, which is a bummer as they go cold so quickly, but it felt nice to sort of chew something. but you have to stop eating when you feel full. I had felt like I had been to the all you can eat chinese restraunt where they used to have to roll me out! I did find it amusing that so little food could make me feel like that. So had a lil chuckle about it. the only problem at this stage is you have more on what you can eat list. Although its the soft lump stage you can also eat things like cheese, bread sticks, rivita, & pita bread, chic peas is also on the list.

Now I had been told all about the dumping syndrome how if you eat the wrong foods which are those high in sugar & fat it will trigger it off... ie: Icecream, chocolate etc.  1 of my favorite munchy foods used to be pita bread with humous & as I see chick peas on the list I was like yay I can have something I had b4........ WRONG it turns out that with shop brought humous not only does it contain chic peas, garlic, lemon, it has tahini & lots of olive oil & anything else they wish to add. So I had 1 pita bread & a individual pot of humous. OMG I didnt like the effect it gave me (the dumping syndrome)

They tell you that when you get this effect & your new stomach reacts to a food you feel really ill & possibley sick, your body sends any excess water to your stomach/bowel in an attempt to flush out quick whatever it is you have reacted too. & you feel really ill for a while & you spend a couple of hours on the toilet with the after effects.....

Let me explain what it actually means to have this effect.  within 30 mins of eating something the sensitive stomach doesnt like it goes into convulsions, stomach cramps, you get the sweats & a migraine, I was trying to throw up heaving big time yet nothing was coming up, you feel dizzy & faint & feel like your about to die & this lasts for about 2-4 hours, you can't do anything in this time apart from wishing you had died. best thing to do is take some morphine & knock yourself out so you don't realise how bad you actually feel! & you can feel it making its way through the bowel with all the bowel cramps as it moves down each section. then about 4-6 hours after eating said offending food you get the after effect basically pooing brown pee but not for 1-2 hours try 6 hours of running to & from the toilet all night. This is the time that if you feel a sneeze a cough or a fart coming on you do not risk it, just make your way straight to the toilet do not pass go, do not collect £200 lol Trust me. You have no control over your bowel at this point! I can't stress enough this is an experience I do NOT ever want to repeat. I also found it put me off eating any food for a couple of days as I wanted to give my stomach & bowels a rest.

I had an appointment to see my bariactric nurse a few days after this event, she was very surprised at how much I had actually lost but I did explain that I had been ill for 2 weeks & couldn't eat & she raise an eyebrow when I mentioned that even at this stage I had already experienced the dreaded dumping syndrome. She had a wicked smile & asked what naughty thing I had eaten expecting me to say icecream or chocolate, & was surprised when I said it was humous. She suggested that if I liked humous to make my own by blitzing the chic peas & just adding garlic & lemon & not the oil or tahini, & not to buy shop brought prepared stuff like that as I don't know what has gone into it which is true, but I assured her that I wouldn't be trying it again for some reason I had gone off the idea. Even though she said I might be ok 3-6 months down the line with it as my stomach is very sensitive at the mo it proberbly wont like alot of things.

6 weeks post op now on stage 4 of the eating which is "Normal" food.  They told me that roasted meat might be hard to digest but I have found if I cut it very thin & chew it very well I have no problems with it, So I can have roast dinners again which was handy & just in time for xmas! woooohoooo. I would dish my own dinner up as I still have bad life long habits I need to break. Like, I find it hard not to eat all the food on my plate even if I know by looking at it that its too much for me! The swelling went down in my stomach about 4-6 weeks after the surgery so I can now eat 2-4 tablespoons of food. I did see how I would go with a McDonalds lol I treated myself xmas eve to a chicken nugget happy meal (what the kids have) so 4 chicken nuggets, small fries & an orange juice. Well I managed to eat the food but as I'm not allowed to drink 30 mins b4 & after my meals I just put the orange in the fridge for later on, It filled me up nicely, I know if I have had a spoonful too much cos I can get servere stomach pain. I still have all dips & humous off my shopping list. I did love some of the nibbles at xmas like a onion barghee, sausage roll, & other little spicey finger foods Although they went down nicely I did spend a bit of time on the toilet the following day, & don't know which 1 gave me a slight reaction but as it wasn't too bad I didn't mind.

So now its the new year & xmas is over its time to get back to eating proper healthy foods & I have to ring up the gym 2morra to see when I can start, so I can get healthy & help loose more weight. So its lots of fish/salmon, fresh, boiled & steamed veg & chicken tiny portions of rice & pasta for the carbs. 

There are still some foods I have to avoid like Asparagus & celery also tomato & grape skins & sweetcorn as they are too fiberous & don't break down to well & can cause a blockage. The main 1 I have a problem with is bread! That was a bummer over xmas with the cold buffet in the evening looking at all the lovely sandwiches I must say I did have 1/4 of a salmon sandwich but I didn't want to push my limits. I can have toast but because bread swells in the stomach it can cause pain & blockages. but there are more then enough other foods I can eat. I'm going to try & stay away from prepackaged foods that way I know exactly what goes into my mouth. I find I still cook loads of food at once & then I portion it all out & put it in the fridge/freezer so I can just ding it when I don't want to cook or I'm short on time. I never have been a great fruit lover & they do tell you not to over do it with fruit as the sugar content in it can cause the dumping syndrome but I find I try to have at least 1 glass of fresh apple or orange juice to help me there. You need to have alot of calcium but I find I'm not a great lover of milk but I found by putting in a sugar free "crusher" milkshake mix I can drink it. But you have to find what works for you!

So here we are 2 months down the line I know you wanna know my weight loss so far (this is including the 4 weeks of liquid diet I was on b4 my surgery!)

50lbs, or 3 stone 8lbs, or 22.4 kilo's. I think its a good start, yes I still have a long way to go but everyone has to start somewhere!

I don't regret having the surgery as I know in the long run I will be much healthier, slimmer, & in less pain. Since my surgery I haven't needed to take any diabetic medication & my levels have gone back to the normal range now! But then its because I can't eat naughty things no more & I needed the deterrant of the dumping syndrome not to eat them. lol It shoud take about 2 years to loose 60-90% of my excess weight & I have now started saving money so I can but myself a new wardbrobe well not the actual wardrobe but the contents. I believe it will restore my fondnest in shopping for clothes again! I also hope in 2-3 years when I have hopefully lost all my excess weight I will (fingers crossed) be allowed to have reconstructive surgery ie: tummy tuck, breast uplift with reduction or implants (if I loose too much boobage) the excess skin tightend on the arms, thighs & hips & bum! Well that what I hope for I will see what state my body is in when I get there as to what is reckonmended for me!

Well I hope this gives you a bit of an insite as to what the 1st 2 months have been like for me after my surgery. I would still reckonmend it to anyone else who wants it done. I have already gone down in my clothes sizes, but i'm ok until I hit a size 16/18 as I have tons of clothes all different sizes after that I will be borrowing clothes from friends & family as I wont be in 1 size for too long & can't see the point of wasting money on clothes which will only fit for 4-8 weeks then onto the next size down! & I want to save as much money so when I finally get to what ever size I will be & hopefully after the reconstruction surgery then I will have a massive spendy up on all the nice clothes I could only dream about wearing & the sexy undies! lol

I will try & give an update once a month of my progress & whats happend for anyone whos interested?? Catch ya laters!

Hi All, Thanks for the well wishes,

I just got home out of the hospital so I gonna quickly do the rounds b4 I knock myself out with some drugs & go back to sleep again.

Ok The operation which normally takes an hours & 1/2 to do took them 2 & 1/2 hours on me. I wasn't sick after surgery (I think i was given about every anti sickness drug available!) lol.  Well to cut a long story short it turns out that I also suffer from sleep apnea. Where ya stop breathing when ya sleep. & when I had come round I had partial lung collaps as the bottom of my long didcided not to work so I kept loosing the % of oxygen in my blood which in a normal person its 100% in me at my worst it had dropped to 58% so I was put on extra oxygen & nebulisers to stablise my condition. I was also off my head on morphine most of the time to trying to call/text ppl was almost impossible as when I was awake it was like it was in some dream state & just couldn't function. lol

Well I have been on liquid morphine but cos its a "controlled drug" they wouldnt send me home with it. I got stupid soluble paracetamol or I can crush up my own pills into powder & have then which is what Im going to have to do until Monday when I can get my dad to take me up my dr's who will give me my new liquid Morphine! :)

So far food wise it takes me about 30 mins to drink a small cup of milk, & I can manage about 10 tea spoons of clear soup b4 I'm full.  It's so weird not having the hunger feeling! That is 1 thing I think is great. I just ain't thinking about food anymore unlike b4 when it was at the for front of my mind. I have what I want then I say no when I start to feel full. I dont want to over do it & be sick so im being very good.

Well I'm off to watch some TV & get plenty of rest & relaxation which I so badly need! It was like 100 degrees in the hospital with no fans. So I have just to get a confy position in bed then I will be ready for some sleepies. I will try & get back on later or 2morra but you have to remembre i'm still quite poorly at the momoent & I will try to get round to everyone as soon as I'm feeling a bit better.

Thankyou, Loves ya all.  Nicola.

So most of you know I am finally after a total of 3 years waiting I'm in the same position as last year.

Tis the day b4 surgery, I'm running round like a headless chicken trying to clean up my appartment, (yeah I know I leave everything to the last minute) get all my washing up to date, clean out the fish tanks, mop, hover, polish, change bedding, throw stuff out. What with so much to do I don't know which to start on 1st lol. So I'm doing the jobs I arrive at 1st & walk away & do something else. Hopefully It will look half decent by the time I finish. Although I must say my bathroom is immaculate I have even mopped the walls & ceiling with bleach (to get rid of nicotine stains) so it was literally top to bottom in there. lol

Keeping myself so busy stops me thinking about whats actually gonna happen 2morra (gastric bypass & #15 in my surgery listing) I know I gonna feel really ill (as i'm always violently sick after general anasthetic) & it will probably hurt a bit too, but this is what I have chosen for myself & hopefully the end result will not only make me nice & slim but more importantly reduce my weight so I have less pain in my joints & muscles from all the different conditions I suffer from like Arthritis, a very rare form of Cronic Compartmental Syndrome, Mitrochondrial Myopathy. to name the main ones. lol

I have spoken to Rena & got her number & hopefully I will text her Wednesday/Thursday to let her know how everything is & she will keep ya upto date. I hope to be out of hospital Sat/Sun all going well & will try to get online even if it for a few mins to give everyone an update.

So wish me luck, I hope to see you all after the weekend at some point..... If not:

Have a safe bonfire night on the 5th (or whenever you having it) for those who celebrate it.

Happy Thankgiving to those who celebrate it,

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all! lol

Well I gotta get them all in just in case... oh & Happy Birthday to anyone who's birthday I might miss. I think that about it?? lmao

Well ciggy break over it's time to get my chicken head back on again & get back to work!

Take care all & hope to see you on here again very soon.

Nicola.x 

Hi all,

Sorry I aint been around much, It has just been manic this end what with work & hospital appointments etc.

Well on Friday the 25th Jan, I finally went to hospital to have my biopsy. My appointment was at 12pm. So me & my mum arrived at 11:30am to be there in plenty of time! Booked in & filled out the forms etc. Then had the fun of sitting around for 3 & 1/2 hours on really uncomfortable soft sofa's, So after 30 hours of no sleep my back & legs were really hurting, so much so that I had to take pain killers.

3pm showed up & I finally I got a bed, I had been sent a letter explaining all what was gonna happen, only 1 problem which confused me was I was sent a letter out for a nerve biopsy, when in fact I was down for having a muscle biopsy! So it was the 1st thing I asked the surgeon. (Yes I got a muscle biopsy)

Well I got pushed down to theatre & it was so busy down there it was like a queing system 1 out 1 in. lol. Finally I got into theatre & got told that he would be taking a 1cm square bit of muscle from my thigh. So they asked if I was allergic to anything which I am, I'm highly allergic to: "Yellow iodene" which is what most surgeons wash up with & steralise the area with. So he had to go & rewash his hands in a different soloution. lol They covered me up with the sterile sheets & drew on my leg where he was gonna cut. steralised the area & then proceeded to use a bottle of local anaesthetic with a bloody big needle! omg did it sting. He asked me if i could feel him touching to which I replied yes so another bottle of local went in.

The he waited a couple of mins for it to take effect & then got his knife out & made his 1st cut, which unfortunately I still felt, so he was holding my leg to reduce blood loss whilst getting a 3rd bottle of local pumped into my leg. Finally the outside went numb so he could carry on cutting away, & then he got out his lil souldering stick to quarterize the blood vessles, Unfortunately again the deeper he got the more I felt. So in went a very stingy 4th bottle of local. Finally he got to the muscle & again I could feel him cutting the 1cm square out & this time I just gritted my teeth & put up with it as the needle going in was just as painful.  Then I had 3 rows of stitches at different depths, the 1st row was fine, the 2nd row I felt, & the 3row/top stitches my skin was just loosing its numbness so i sort of felt it but not too bad, then he got to the end of the operation (which I sighed with relief) only to make the final knot then as he was cutting the excess off the silly sod cut the last knot off which ment he had to unpick all the top stitches & redo them, This time I felt it & it stung, I got an apology but it ment I had to put up with another 10 mins of pain. I have a 3-4" scar on my thigh, the stitches are dissoveable so at least I wont have to have them taken out & i have lots of butterfly stitches/sticky strips ontop of the scar which have to stay on for 10 days.

I just hope I wont have to go through that again, & if I do I will ask them to put me to sleep next time! I told my mum all what happend then she told me that my brother had had local anaesthetic when he broke his arm as a kid & it didnt work on him either! I was like that information might have been more useful b4 the surgery lol.

Well I'm at home, my leg is still sore but I'm hobbling about a little bit easier! I am hoping that I will get my gastric bypass b4 april (fingers crossed) So I want to apologise that you haven't seem me around of late I have just had loads of stuff going on in my life! I hope your all keeping well! & I hope to catch up with you all soon!

Nicola.x

This is so true & funny as hell!! Watch it!

Well I had my long awaited appointment today with the neurologist.  I have never seen a consultant kiss ass as much as she did today, even though she could hardly look me in the face as flicking through my notes was much more important to her when answering my questions.

I not only surprised my dad but I actually surprised myself how cool, calm & collected I was. I  had done my study/research into the condition & I think it actually took her by surprise how much I had actually learnt. (My dad says I played her like a pussy cat with a mouse) lol.

I was actually correcting alot of her statements about the condition (she even blushed) which my dad had a bit of a chuckle at. As she was trying to play it down & I was throwing facts back at her so she kept having to recant what she was saying. In the end she got the hint that I was not a person who could be played or fobbed off with bull. lol She even commented on how surprised/impressed she was about all the studying I had done. To which I replied that I find knowledge to be a powerful thing & if there is something wrong with me then I want to know the in's & outs of it & have a full understanding so that I know exactly what all the terminology means for when I hear dr's/consultants talking about it. lol (& so I know when i'm being palmed off or having it played down.)

She told me that she thinks there is only a 15-20% of me having this rare condition & that my positive biopsy's I had as a kid might not be right. As they found "Ragged Red Fibres, enlarged mitrochondria & a bizzare arrangement of cristae. (lol not that this would mean anything to you but basically it means I have all the main tell tale signs of the condition). but she was saying that on my records that she photocopied, the diagnoses was in question. But she soon went red faced again when I happend to quote from memory that the only thing in question at the time was weather the condition was primary (was I born with it) or secondary was it brought on by another extremely rare condition I was born with, which is a rare form of compartmental syndrome which only comes round once every 20 years in the UK.) But in the end they concluded that it was in fact a primary condition that I was born with!  She tried to tell me that ppl with that type of biopsy can also come from "normal" people! (Which I know to be bull)

She made a point of getting all the paperwork/letters she had sent out to everyone ie, my surgeon, dr, requests for a biopsy, & got them all copied & brought down so that I could have my own records of everything! 

Lets just say I had a descussion with her about my recently cancelled operation & lost count of how many apologies I got off of her. She was trying to defend herself but doing a very poor job of it. While I sat there stoney faced & just raising my eyebrows when I heard bull & I had to then correct her with facts. I found my approach made her feel VERY uncomfortable but I didn't swear or hit her which I prolly would have done last week. But I found myself to be in a very powerful postition as I knew she didn't want me in her office, So I made a point of asking her loads of difficult questions just to drag the time out & make her cringe, which I must say I rather enjoyed.

She was hoping that I would have also had my biopsy by now?? I was like well I haven't heard anything about it & I want you to enlighten me on that situation as my surgeon will not proceed with my bypass surgery until I have had the biopsy results you requested for me! She told me that she would write an urgent letter & even when I do get the biopsy, they do the standard testing on it which takes upto 2-3 weeks to get the results back, but If it does come back as positive for Mitrochondrial Myopathy then it would take alot longer as they would have to also do further genetic testing to find out what sort of strain it is & if it is an unknown strain which is always popping up! As conditions go this is a fairly new discovery only 1st being recongnised in 1967. but in the last 15 years alot of research has gone into the condition & they know tons more about it now & are finding new strains of it all the time. As the condition has so many different adverse symptoms/reactions & degrees of serverity that its hard to pin point it.  & cos alot of the symptoms can be very common in the population ppl get misdiagnosed all the time but can get treated for the common side effects as it own individual conditions.

So at the end of the day she is now rewriting off to & phoning my surgeon, the orthapedic consultant, The person doing the biopsy to get it rushed up. lol she even had the nerve to ask me to ring up the biopsy receptionist & book myself in, as she said she didn't have her own secretary.  She didn't like it when I mentioned that yes infact she does have a partime secretary who works mon-wed 9am-3pm & I was aware that they are trying to find full time cover for when her normal secretary wasn't there so that all the letters wouldnt go missing again as they get farmed out to anyone to type & they get lost. The reason I knew that was because I spoke with her secretary & the secretary's suprvisor last monday when I was trying to save my operation. & the fact that the only way my biopsy/bypass operations could be sped up is if she contacted them directly herself. As she being the consultant neurologist her voice carries more weight with the different hospital departments. & as i'm a patient I shouldn't be having to chase up all the diferent departments on her & her secretaries behalf as I wasn't getting paid for it like they are, & after all the resent cockups which have gone on in the hospitals then she should be going out of her way to resolve some of these issues! As I tried to get them resolved last week but because I have no letters after my name or doctorates everyone just chose to ignore what I had to say.

So its left as she will getting in contact with everyone as its all ment to be in the pipeline & I will give it till next tues/wed & if I haven't heard anything then I will be on the phone to her to give her a kick up the ass! As she left it that I could call her anytime with questions & she would make a point of ringing me back with answers! lol I sharply replied "I will believe that when I see it as you wasn't happy to talk with me for a couple of minutes last week when I came down & I never recieved a phonecall from you explaining y everything went wrong last week! & y the operation I waited 18 months for getting cancelled! hmmmmmm"

Well thats all the news I have for now! I just gotta wait now to see what happens! Yawn!

I know I haven't hardly been online of late, this is due to my gastric bypass surgery being booked for 2morra/ 27th Nov.  I have been mega busy with work & cleaning up my home so I know that when I have my surgery I can just rest as I know everything is all done & I arranged to pay a friend to come in once a week after my surgery to do the keep up cleaning of my home when i'm unable to do it myself.

Well I finally found out today at 5pm that my surgery was to be cancelled/delayed all cos my neurologist.

As some of you know I have been having tests done for a condition called Mitrochondrial Myopathy.  As I only found out 6 months ago after recieving all my childhood medical notes, that I had it & I had never heard of it b4.  Well I was due to have a muscle biopsy for this in Jan/Feb next year, after my big surgery.

Well the surgeon & anaesthetist have both refused to go ahead with the surgery until the biopsy is done & it is prooved for a 3rd time that I have the condition. As I had tests done when I was a kid aged 12 & 15 Which both times said I had the condition. As it is a mutation of the Mitricondrial DNA it means I was born with it & it is a perminant thing & no drugs can change this.

Basically my neurologist has told them that she's not sure if I have it unless all new current tests are carried out!  Which has resulted in them stopping my surgery 12 hours b4 I was due to leave home for my surgery. As until they have cast iron resent proof that I have the condition they are worried that I "Might" have something like respriotry failure whilst i'm under the general anaesthesia.  The fact that this would have been my 14th surgery & so far I have never suffered from that on any of my operations doesn't matter. (my only reaction is to be violently sick after each surgery, which is turns out to be a common side effect for people with my condition) She has worried them enough to halt my operation as their excuse is if something does happen & they have no recent proof that I suffer from the condition that they would be the ones infront of a court if something happens to me.

Hell I even said to them that ontop of signing the consent form which everyone has to do with surgeries I would also write & sign a letter letting them know I am fully aware of all the dangers & if something does happen then its just tough luck & not the surgeons fault but they still wouldnt accept this!

It's a killer for me as I have been suffering with the liquid diet I have been on for 6 weeks so far & to now get told I might have to wait another 4-12 weeks for my surgery as they want me to have a biopsy & recieve all the findings of that b4 they go ahead with it.

So out of spite, temper, depression I went out & got myself a big chinese takeaway & I enjoyed every single mouthful of it. lol Granted I couldnt eat all of it but dont worry its not going to waste as I gonna warm up the leftovers for lunch 2morra. I don't feel any guilt in eating crap food cos for them to cancel my operation at the last minute I think is bang out of order & if they think I'm going to be on a liquid diet for the next 4-12 weeks they can think again cos I will be eating a big xmas dinner instead of a bowl of soup!

As the last 6 weeks has seen me go through so much stress what with work, cleaning house, getting broken into by some kids, Getting harrassment from kids, Trying to move home, the liquid diet, & top top it all off they have cancelled/delayed my surgery for the time being at the last minute I feel like my brain is about to blow up! So as you can tell i'm not in the best of moods or very sociable at the moment.  So now you have a clearer idea as of why.

I  thought it would be easier to put the explaintion on here rather then paste it all throughout thre threads. So just to let ya know I am still alive & I will have to change all my plans & arrangements about because of all this! When i'm in a better mood I will be able to get on here a bit more now that my home is immaculate & wont take to long to up keep it as it was a long time coming. Thanks to all my friends who still pop in to see/chat to me when I have managed to get online for a lil bit. Thinking of you all.

Take care

Nicola. x

Yay I finally got around to updloading some more photo's of my 4ft Aquarium & attempted to do some close-up pictures of my fish.

Sorry if some photo's look a bit blurred but its hard to stop a fish from swimming long enough to take a picture lol. I don't have any clear photo's of my guppies as they swin too fast & all I seem to end up with is a blur of colour & you can't make them out at all.

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These are some photo's of my Albino Corydora's. I have 6 of them & they live at the bottom of the tank & eat anything going,  So they keep the tank nice & clean. They have Barbels by their mouths so they can sift through the sand for food. Their Eyes are like tiny pink jewels & reflect in the light.

I Also have 4 baby Panda Corydora's. They are the same as the Albino Corydora's but just have different markings/colours. My pictures were too blurred for you to see properly so I borrowed 1 off the net!

I have a couple of types of Tetra's which look totally different from each other.

1st the Black Widow/ Black Skirted Tetra. I have 8 of these in total. They live in the Mid areas of the tank. They leave the other fish alone but they do like to chase each other round the tank.

The Other Tetra's I have are the Cardinal Tetra. Very much like the Neon Tetra except the red stripe goes all the way to the tail in the Cardinals. They like to shoal & their blue stripe changes colour depending on what angle you look at them. It ranges from a bright Blue to a Green/Yellow. This is a very pretty fish.

I have 8 Marbled Hatchet Fish. They live mainly just under the water surface unless it's too bright then they will go deeper. They have big bellys & fins like wings at the top. I have to make sure I have both my lids tightly on, as they fish are famous for jumping/flying out of the tank. Unfortunately that doesn't bode well for their health lol. (I've had NO escapee's, Yet!)

I have 1 Male Betta Splenden/ Siamese Fighting Fish. Unfortunately the Photo's don't do his colouring the justice it deserves. As he has a metallic shimmer to his long fins. It changes between: Rusty Pink, Blue/Green. I also have 2 females who fins are much shorter, I have a red one & a blue/lilac one.  But they were hard to keep still for a photo.

Male Fighter with the Blue Female

A Couple of mixed photo's:

A Black Widow & Cardinal Tetra:

1 Hatchet Fish at the top right, 11 of 12 Cardinal Tetra's & 4 Albino Corydora's

Here's a photo of the full length of the tank. You might be able to make out some of the fish in there?:

If you look closely under the piece of slate to the right can you make out 1 of my baby Panda Corydora's?  There Is another 1 to his right. I have ringed them in the next photo so you can see where they are!

Well that all for now, I hope you enjoyed looking at my aquarium & fish.

Although its much better to watch them swimming around & see their true colours!

If I get anymore fish I will try & show you what they look like too!!

As you know I have been sorting out my manky aquarium. I have spent quite a bit of money & alot of effort cleaning it all out myself! (to the detrement of my back! ) lol

Well I managed to get hold of my dad's camera to give you a sneeky peek at it!

This 1st picture there is NO water in the tank I had just put my big orinments & a couple of the big plants in to get it the way I wanted it, You can see the background paper is of plants & wood:

 this is after I planted the rest of my plants & turned on my hydor4 pump (which i put inside the ruin on the left) It has a blue light & a nice ring of bubbles.

I turned the main light off & the blue light gives a beautiful glow over the tank so it has a night time effect & I will still be able to see the more shy/nocturnal fish. It looks brighter only cos the flash of the camera.

Ps: If your actually looking for fish you wont see any yet. As it's a brand new water in the tank. So it needs a couple of weeks to mature properly b4 putting in tropical fish. I have put in some chemicals which will make it alot quicker. As putting new fish in a brand new tank It hasn't got enough of the good bacteria to sort out the waste levels & the fish will die! So Although I think it looks pretty I also want it to be a safe envoroment for my fish!

So give it a month or so & I will take some more pictures With fish in it!