Week 13. Surely our luck will turn

On Wednesday we had yet another sad day. Oscar, our 7 year old Great Dane passed away suddenly. He went missing for a while in the garden and Ray went out to find him and returned with a very sorry looking and distressed dog. His abdomen was distended to such an extent that we contacted the vet and took him to the surgery straight away. He had immediate surgery for a twisted stomach and they also had to remove his spleen which was badly damaged and give him a blood transfusion. When the vet rang us at 10pm that evening he was holding his own but at around 8:30 in the morning he sadly died.

They always say dogs are like family members. Well Oscar certainly was: not only for his size but for his personality. He was a wonderful dog with great character. Benjamin absolutely adored him and I remember when we first brought him home from the hospital weighing just over 4lb, Oscar's head was far bigger than our little premmy baby. We used to joke that Oscar would come in with 2 slices of bread in his mouth for a Benji sandwich! A bond was formed on that day! We've also had many infant visitors to our home who have laid with Oscar on his bed, using him as a sofa. Sleep tight old man xxx

We were due to go away on Thursday to Blackpool and decided that it would do us the world of good to get away for a couple of days. We enjoyed the break but lets just say our trip was 'interesting!'. We took our trainers though and managed a 6.5 mile walk to Blackpool prom and back before breakfast on Friday followed by an aqua aerobics class afterwards!!

Mum also came out of hospital on Friday although if I'm honest, I'm not sure she should have come out so soon. She still really isn't well so I've been staying with her at her house since I got home. We've had the Doctor out to her and her wound is infected so now she is on more antibiotics! Bless her she'll be rattling soon with the amount of tablets she's taking.

At weigh in this week I lost another 3lb!

I'm thrilled with it as I haven't been filling in a food diary since Wednesday - I have just been conscious of what I'm eating and doing. It's obviously worked and I can't ask any more than that really at this point.

It was also lovely when we went away as everyone had noticed my weight loss and commented on how well I looked. Its nice to start noticing it yourself but when other people do it really does give you a boost and makes you feel good about yourself and life. Lets face it I need something to make me smile at the moment!! Thank you all xxx

Love

Ellie

xxx