Like many people around the world, when you are immunosuppressed it means you are more at risk of suffering when you are unwell.

Back when the Coronavirus Vaccines became available I had the Astra-Zenica for my 1st and 2nd jab. 12 hours after the 1st jab I came down with side effects:- shakes, aches, washed out feeling and just wanting to be tucked up in bed. No side effects after the 2nd Astra-Zenica vaccine, the only thing I did feel was tired but to be honest when you live with a Chronic Illness you do feel consistently tired anyway.

Then 6 months after 2nd Vaccine had my 3rd Vaccine which this time was Pfizer and the same side effects as the first Astra-Zenica vaccine. Managed to do my shift in work while going down hill then spent 12 hours in bed after getting home at 6pm.

This week out of the blue had the call to go and have the 4th vaccine as not in work for a week, my thought was this is a perfect time after the experiences had with the previous vaccines. Moderna was my 4th vaccine and luckily the only side effects at present is fatigue along with a sore arm.

Since we had our birth daughter back in 2014, at the time we didn’t know that we would put me at risk by having another child. Having a chronic illness and dependent on medication to help it all, going through another pregnancy would put me at a very high risk.

So back in 2017 we took the decision to adopt a child as we always knew that we wanted to expand our family to have 2 children but the hurdles we faced in previous years made us realise that there are children out there who want a loving home were they know they are safe and that there is someone there who not only loves them for who they are but wants them to have a family as part of their identity.

Along this journey we have faced some hurdles which have caused high emotions and made us stronger not only as parents but as a couple. We have been turned down by one agency but battled through, went with another agency who saw us for how we are as individuals, a couple and as a family unit. They realised that everything we do is for not only ourselves but for a potential child to join our family.

Fast forward to Christmas when we saw a potential match with a child that had all of us wanting to inquire about more information and go forward with this. Here we are now awaiting to hear the more information and to get that all important decision that it would be an ideal match where we are able to proceed further with.

Will update on the journey more in due course……

Since the pandemic things have been uncertain with everyone – lockdown after lockdown causing issues to mental health and well being.

Has to be said these last 2 years have shown me something – family life is precious and memory making is crucial.

Back in July working the hours I did with my job made me realise that I was not seeing my family much and missing out on the quality time altogether. Things had also become quite stressful with numerous work loads and being heavily relied on. So as it goes something had to give and unfortunately it was the job.

I took the almighty decision to not only go for a new job which was more beneficial for me and my family but also a demotion for me. People that already know my history and what I have battled with living with a chronic illness would know that nearly 7 years ago I had to take a demotion from a job I loved as my health had to come first.

Things are always sent to challenge us and sometimes those challenges are what we need to make us realise as individuals what we need to do for your self to be happy with everything.

With the new job I have been able to work from home and be in the office until the Welsh Government made it a legal requirement just before Christmas that if you could work from home you had to be otherwise would face a penalty.

7 weeks working from home before the legal requirement changed to being able to be back in the office working. The thought of being able to see your work colleagues in person, having a conversation which did involve a headset or a screen was a thought most welcomed.

It is safe to say that with everything in life, you need challenges to be thrown at you to make you realise that there is more to life and that these challenges do make us question as individuals what we need to do to overcome them and fee better in yourself as an individual.