Scoliosis Sign Off

As you may know, if you ever read my first blog post back in 2012, as well as my Cystic Fibrosis , I also suffer from Scoliosis. Scoliosis is a medical condition that consists of a curvature of the spine from side to side resembling an S or C shape rather than having a straight line like any normal spine. I have suffered from this for quite a few years now, since my doctor in London spotted a curvature of my spine on one of my annual x-rays. Since then I have been going to see a spinal specialist at the Evelina Children's hospital in London. 

About 2 years ago, the specialists said they didn't expect my spine to curve anymore as I had mostly finished my growing and it wasn't going to cause me any harm (which it only does if i've been slouched around). So to come back in two years and they would sign me off.

Yesterday was my 2 year appointment since the previous one, so dad drove me and mum to the Evelina. We arrived about 9:50, one hour early to my appointment, as dad had to get to work. Luckily, when we got there, the nurses were really helpful and sent me off for my full spine x-ray which was done quite quickly. We then went back to the waiting room and my specialist saw me at 10:30, which was handy as it was 20 minutes early so me and mum didnt have to wait around. He said my spine had curved 7 degrees more since my last appointment 2 years ago, so now I had a curvature of 25 degrees. But he did not expect it to get any worse as I am now 17 and have finished growing. So has signed me off but if I have any problems to just call the hospital!

Good news, that's got me down to 1 hospital only for my care! Where at one point I was going to about 5 different ones! Yay :) 

New Job!

I haven't posted anything about my CF/health in a while as I haven't had much to tell. I did go for my annual assessment a few weeks ago but it wasn't really much of an assessment as I only let mum take my bloods-which we did at home, the hospital couldn't do a glucose tolerance test (testing for diabetes) as more of my blood is needed and Jo the physiotherapist was on holiday so I couldn't do any of the fitness tests either! So it was basically a normal checkup appointment where I saw the doctor and dietician. I am booked for another appointment on the 6th August so will blog after that one. I also have an appointment at the Evelina in London this Tuesday about my scoliosis which I can hopefully finally get signed off for as my spine is not going to curve anymore now as I've stopped growing. So I will blog the news on that too.  Apart from all of that I have been feeling okish I guess, not my best though. I have been up the past 3 nights having coughing fits which is not good and I need to do some physio :(! I keep telling myself I'm going to do it, but you CFers will know what it's like! 

Getting to the actual post anyway, I've got good news...

I HAVE A NEW JOB!

Since starting college in 2012, I wasn't really enjoying it but carried on anyway to get some AS levels. After we finished our AS exams we had to go back to college for four weeks to begin our second year and during those four weeks, I knew college was no longer the place I wanted to be! 

So once we split up for summer I got on to an Apprenticeships website straight away and began looking at local childcare apprenticeships for me. I found one in a nursey called KidsUnlimited in Chineham which included going up to Twickenham once a week to do some training aswell. I quite liked the sound of this as I would be getting a qualification in childcare at the end of the 18 months and I could get to Twickenham easily with dad working up in London every day. So I applied for the apprenticeship the same day as the closing date was 2 days later (Friday 19th July). 

On the Friday when I finished work at Primark, I looked on my phone to find I had a missed call and an answer phone message from Hawk Training (the place in Twickenham where you get the training) so I called back straight away but the lady who had called me, Natalie, was away from her desk so I wouldn't hear from her until Monday. Anyway, on Monday she called me back and asked if I could come up to Twickenham on Tuesday (the next day) for a group assessment day as they had, had so many applicants! So I said yes! Before the assessment day I had to fill out some applications, take a maths and literacy test and find out some information on KidsUnlimited! So instead of spending the day with Max before he was going away for 3 weeks, he helped me with my preparation for the following day. 

Mum drove me up to Regal House in Twickenham on Tuesday morning to arrive for my assessment at 10:30am. When I got there, I was really nervous as everyone looked a lot older than me. We got into the assessment room and Natalie started talking about the different apprenticeships and what they offer, which was when I found out I was the only person who had applied for a level 3 higher apprenticeship and for KidsUnlimited! This took some weight off of my shoulders as I felt I had less to worry about if the rest of the candidates had applied for lower level apprenticeships, but I was worried I would have to show good knowledge about childcare and KidsUnlimited to get an interview offer with the nursey! We took part in some activities in small groups where we discussed what an apprentice employer looks for especially in childcare and an activity we would give to children in a nursery which would be both fun and educational. Our group decided to do a treasure hunt which I explained to Natalie but let others speak too. Then at the end of the presentation she asked if we had any more questions so I asked 'what actually happens after today?' And she told me she would be phone calling everybody the following day to let them know if they had been successful in the assessment and if they had she would contact the employer (mine being Kidsulimited) and get you an interview and trial day. 

I thought my assessment went really well and couldn't wait to hear back. On the way home from Twickenham that day, I received a phonecall from Natalie who said she was really impressed with me and had got me a trial and interview with KidsUnlimited on Thursday! YAY!! 

Abbi took me to the nursey on Thursday to arrive at 10:30 for my trial. When I got there I filled out another application form and I was taken into the toddlers room where my trial would take place until 3:30pm. I wasn't told anything and was just left in this room with the toddlers and staff so just did what I thought and got involved. I read the children stories, helped with lunch, played picnic games and did some colouring with them. I really enjoyed it! After the trial I had a short interview with Amy who asked me about why I am interested in an apprenticeship in childcare and how my day was etc. Then told me to expect a call tomorrow from Natalie about whether I had been successful or not.

Yesterday when I was at work, I had missed four calls from Natalie again! I was gutted I had missed them and it had gone 5 o'clock so I guessed the offices would be closed. So I emailed Natalie asking her to contact me on Monday. Within 2 minutes my mobile was ringing and it was Natalie to say I had got the job! YES! She said the staff at KidsUnlimited really liked me, I got really involved and showed a good interest in childcare. She also told me I was up against another candidate that same day so I was even happier about getting the job! I am due to start the 5th August but Natalie is going to call me back on Monday with some more information. 

YAY HAPPY NONI :)!!

(Oh and sorry for the really long post hahah) 

Rescheduled Skydive Date

As you may have realised I haven't blogged any photo's from my Tandem Skydive back on 22nd June. That is because it unfortunately got called off due to bad weather! That had to be the last weekend of bad weather we had before all this sun didn't it! I was so annoyed as not only now have I got to carry on feeling nervous for another few weeks until I actually get to do the jump, but because Granny and Auntie Al had come for the weekend from Cornwall to watch!

Anyway, It has been rescheduled to August 10th at 12pm at Swindon jump centre so if you would like to come and watch please do so! But in the meantime, I would be very greatful if you could donate a small amount of money to the CF trust to support my skydive. I have raised my target of £1000 but the more money I can raise the better!

To donate please visit:

www.doitforcharity.com/NaomiJ

or

hand it to me in person

Thanks :) x