Awareness. NET! Our story.

Instagram gives us tiny snippets.  Little windows into other peoples lives.  Some snippets are very well curated, you will only see immaculate make up, tidy rooms with perfectly positioned props and manicured pets. The odd child, with just the right amount of hair ruffle going on,  and marbled tables with flower arrangements to die for.  The iPad or iMac, sitting in the corner of the room, showing the time in a cool, flip clock, retro format, always accompanied by the correct green plant in a dishevelled 'basket style' pot. Moroccan uber cool in summer, Danish (or Swedish) Hygge in the wintertime with a turmeric coffee on the side.  It is all lovely and I do relish images like this.  I know it's not necessarily real life but it is not meant to be.  I can see that.

My posts are directed at the 'what the f*** should I wear today?' element who peruse instagram for some, dare I say, fashion and style, inspiration.  I use it this way.  I have saved an enormous amount of images on my private page and use them daily to decide what to wear. I use a tryptic format because my mirror is not wide enough to give me a decent shot in one.  It is that simple. I like to do selfies because I have complete control and, after years of doing the damn things, I am quite adept at them.  I can do my photos and run an instagram post, including all the hashtags and blurb, in under fifteen minutes.  If I used a small photographer, or clickers, I would be farting about for an awful lot longer. They are honest and effective.

Instagram posts can, however, hide the real truth of many daily struggles.

A few months ago we were due to travel to Yorkshire to visit my Husband's family.  I was really looking forward to a few days away.  I love visiting our Yorkshire contingent.  I had a phone call in the middle of the morning.  The Husband couldn't make it.  He was in abject agony.  I feared a stomach ulcer and insisted he book in for an appointment at the surgery.  He must have felt pretty grotty as I encountered no resistance at this suggestion. He got so bad I urged him to go back the very same day. He did, without any quibble.  The only action was for him to visit a gastroenterologist.  This he did, two weeks later, and a CT scan was organised with some haste. His symptoms had been similar to the cramping that you can experience with, for example, IBS or constipation.  He was also experiencing night sweats,  and flushing can occur,  like a menopausal woman! (This is very important, as you will find out later....)

It was worse than a stomach ulcer.  He had two Neuro Endocrine Tumours in his small intestine. The information took a while to digest (excuse the pun!)

What the hell were Neuro Endocrine Tumours? Well they are rare but not unheard of and terribly miss diagnosed.  Often not found until post mortem. They are not life-style related and, apparently, can occur at any adult age.  I had never heard of them before and the gastroenterologist explained to my, shellshocked, Husband that if the tumours were plain bowel cancer then he could be sent to one of a hundred consultants.  Due to the rarity of his condition he could see one of two specialist. Scary stuff. Luckily his specialist seems to be a bit of a world authority on this type of cancer.

We are now six months down a very long line. He has had many appointments, which have included at least three scans, two of which were PET scans which sound gruesome. An MRI, shed loads of blood tests and, eventually, a four hour small bowel resection and the removal of, as it turned out, six tumours.  sixteen days in hospital, home for a week, suffered with anorexia and extreme nausea, back in hospital for a four day stay, intravenous nutrition, weird hormone injections and finally allowed home again.  He is now two stone under his normal fighting weight but at least he is eating normally and gaining strength each day.  It is amazing how quickly a human body can loose condition.  The loss of fat and muscle mass is astounding.

What scared me were the symptoms.  The GP, I have recently found out, was astounded at his final diagnosis.  It shouldn't be this way.  After much googling (I know it is one of THE most dangerous things to do) we have come across quite a lot of information.  My greatest concern is that it seems many women do suffer from Neuro Endocrine Tumours (NETs) but are diagnosed far too late. The symtoms are spookily similar to menopausal ones (remember me mentioning the hot flushes!!!) The symptoms are also similar to bog standard IBS!  I would suggest pushing for further tests if your IBS symptoms pop up far too regularly.  If caught earlier enough it can be cured or managed.  As the name suggests the cancer is closely linked to the Neuro Endocrine system (hormones.)

It is rare (only 1600 cases in the uk last year)  but it is important to raise awareness because it does happen.  I had never heard of it before and I am surprised at the vague, wishy washy symptoms. It is shocking in it's similarity to many other complaints.

The NET patient foundation have an Instagram page.  I want to raise awareness, we didn't expect this to darken our doorstep!

I am linking up with my friends at Cheshire Pressed.  They sent me this fabulous T Shirt, as a bit of fun at the launch of my Hashtag.  I asked if it could be produced to raise some funds and awareness.   John, at Cheshire Pressed, thought it a good idea.  I am grateful for his generosity and kindness.

The #rockitdaily T Shirts will be available in women's and men's sizes and will be priced at £19.99
100% of the profits will be donated to the foundation.  Thank You, in advance. Visit cheshirepressed via Instagram.  I wear mine A LOT!!! It is the perfect T Shirt shape, which is a huge bonus.

I don't want to put the wind up anyone.  God forbid but, like anything, knowledge is power. If you feel something is not quite right, keep going and get further checks done.

 Information, about the Tee shirts, will follow soon.   I wear mine with pride.  I am 50 and I can honestly say that I am 'rocking it' more now than I did twenty years ago!  It is never too late or, indeed, too early to start.

Keep safe, please don't worry, but be aware.

Love Helen XxX

You will find much more information at

www.netpatientfoundation.org
and on Instagram
netpatientfoundation

Instagram cheshirepressed  (Sustainable clothing made from organic and recycled materials)

www.cheshirepressed.com

Facts and fillers. A vague beauty post.

I have pondered about writing this post because I have waffled, a bit on this subject, on my Instagram stories.  I have kept the 'fess up' monologue, it's tucked away in one of my highlights (about me.)

People, in the main, are extremely kind and polite when commenting on Instagram.  I have had many women saying very complimentary things to me, so I thought it important to be totally honest and say that it ain't all completely un-aided.   I am no Katie Price either!!!!

I am aged 50 and 7 months.  I am 5 foot (nearly) 7, but I guess I will start shrinking soon!  I have always weighed  somewhere between 9 stone 3 and 9 stone 12.  Fluctuation is the name of the game. I am about a size 10 but judging by some of the sizing changes,  in our wondrous high street shops,  I can be anything from XS to a Large. Go figure? Literally.

I had nothing done before the age of 40.  I think this quite important.  I dread to think what some girls will look like who start on the injectables way before they even hit 30.

I started with a bit of botox.  I then had my nose to mouth lines filled.  I have had that done twice and the last time must have been a good 5 years ago.  It has not been repeated.  I ceased botox injections last year and I haven't had anything for a good 7 months.  At the beginning of 2018 I lost quite a lot of weight after exceeding my normal range by a stone!  I. Felt. BAD.  I went on to the Cambridge Weight Plan and dropped all the weight I needed and have not put it back on again.  The best thing,  to come from this plan,  is the amount of water that I now consume every day.  I am convinced it is the key to wellbeing.    Anyway, I digress, I decided to have a bit of filler in my cheeks to combat the hollow look of weight loss.  It did the trick and, again, it is something that I have not felt the need to repeat.

I must say that also, at the beginning of 2018,  I changed my dentist.  This was a revolution as he opened up the arena of whitening and teeth shaping.  I believe that my new dentist improved the look of my teeth greatly.  I need to whiten, again, and I will get round to it as it does look fantastic.  It does, however, fade too.  I am sure that, subconsciously, all my treatment activity was due to my looming 50th,  in the September of 2018.

After seeing the 3 point rhino procedure,  on Lydia Millen's You Tube channel,  I took the plunge with it in June of last year.  I thought the results looked phenomenal.  It is a magnificent innovation. At the same time I bit the bullet and went for a smidge of lip filler, a procedure that I had previously resisted on a couple of occasions.  I was more than chuffed with both.

I reckon I am about as vain as anyone else.  I'm not obsessed with my looks.  I am, however, very keen to reduce the amount of time I spend 'faffing about' in front of the mirror in the morning.  I am afraid I am not the type to bung on any old shit, scrape my hair back and go.  It is just not me. I like making a bit of an effort.  I don't want to be sluggish. Anything that I have had done reduces this 'faff' time enormously.  I have lash extensions (no mascara, praise the lord!) I've had my eyebrows micro bladed (no fucking about trying to draw the correct shape on.)   My nose is good to go and my lips don't need much more than lip salve.  A light dash of BB cream,  a bit of contour shade and blush and I'm good to go.

We are all different in our approach.  I am not a slave to creams, lotions and potions.  I never have been.  I am a simple wipes, Olay with an SPF 15,  type of woman.  I use a mild retinol serum at night, if I can remember, or I bung on a bit of St Tropez purity to give me some colour in the morning.  I do not sit with pots of expensive anything.  It is a waste of money, in my humble opinion.  Drink more water, that is better than anything else that you can put on your skin.  I slather on Nivea lip balm.  I hate dry lips.  Perhaps I need educating?  Perhaps I should be slavishly slapping on £100 a time creams?  I prefer to spend my money on other things.

Anyway, here are the photos........ A trip through time.........

The Mr, in the photos, is my very adorable big Brother.

Rocking mustard, even at aged 3!

18. Say no more. 

Portugal. Yes,  we slept on beaches!

Older and thinner. Aged about 28. I think I was going through a divorce. 

My gorgeous Aunt and Mum. Look at me, green jeans?

NOSE of the large variety and lips of the small. 

Hmmm I look knackered. 

I just look pinched and severe.  Grumpy, even. 

New nose and lips

and new nose again

Much perkier!

 I never liked my nose.  I didn't hate it but I never particularly liked it.  I am now so happy with the shape it is untrue.  It is a small but massive change.  If you feel like it, go for it!  All you have to do is check out Dr Ayad Harb's instagram and you will be blown away.  I guarantee it. The lips are a bonus.

If you would like to know any further information feel free get in touch.  I will help all I can.  And if you have any potion and lotion advice please do share.

Love

H XxX

An mildly upholstered 50 year old.   :0)

Followers for cash ........

I have expressed my thoughts on this before.  In fact, I bang on about it quite often.

I have a question and it is one word... 'WHY?'

It makes no sense to me. I have had a presence on Instagram for 5 years now.  I have, admittedly, dipped in and out and I am by no means a serious 'blogger' or 'Infuencer' (Shite term if ever there was one.)

I started when a lot of the now 'Insta Royalty' began their Instagram journeys.  I am not remotely bitter as they have all worked their socks off.  All credit to them.  What makes me balk is the number of accounts that amazingly gain thousands of followers, seemingly, overnight.  Well, ok, not overnight but over a slim few months.  I post regularly.  I use stories, heck I even do the odd sponsored post and I am still a good 1200 away from the holy grail of 10K.  I may never reach it but, if I am being totally honest, I am not devastated about this because I know a large proportion of my followers are genuine.  I am followed by some great accounts and I am thrilled that we interact in a witty, kind, generous way.

I use an analytics tool to check on my status and growth.  I do this because it interests the nosey sod in me.  It also tells me that not all of my followers are genuine and I know this to be fact.  It is easy to tell the robots out there and they fall by the wayside pretty quickly.  They do this, of course, unless you happen to be paying for their presence.  I believe that companies use real accounts but ones that have been set up to hike figures.  A women, who shall remain nameless, once contacted me to say that she could spike my likes on my previous days post.  Before I could respond she then prompted me to take a look at it.  The likes had gone through the roof and I told her to stop, immediately.  She did but the extra likes took a couple of weeks to disappear.  I was incredibly cross. Bloody cheek.  It is not my style and anyone who does it should be ashamed of themselves.  It's like buying a husband, well not quite like buying a spouse but you know what I mean.  These 'pushers' can be quite forceful and borderline aggressive if you turn them down.  NOT ON!  I also observe that these types have followers in the hundreds rather than the thousands??? Confused dot com.

So how do you spot the fake/dodgy accounts.  Easy, they love flowers. They like using nothing but emojis, although I am guilty of using many of them too. They comment with stunners like:- hey beautiful or lots of bunches of flowers, did I say they adore flowers.  You can sometimes get a solitary 'hot' flame or a huge sentence in a foreign language.  A kiss and the tulip are also favoured. I could go on but I think you have more than likely seen them.

Sore thumb springs to mind!

A nice array of dodgy accounts

This bee will always buzz round my bonnet I'm afraid.

I'll just keep posting and commenting and, generally, having a lot of fun with this platform.  I have to try and ignore some of the dishonesty and blagging.  I am surprised that retailers don't look into individual accounts with a bit more scrutiny. You will notice engagement drop when they try and run a 'competition.'  Bots don't understand competition instructions and rules.

 Get using genuine Instagram accounts with real followers!!

Here is a bit of a roundup of my favourite outfits.   I have to say that I am still very much enamoured with GrungeMama.  I have also been very pleased with some recent purchases of jeans from Zara and my brown Mango boots are so useful.  A BIG thumbs up for them.  I don't like shopping in H&M stores but adore the online experience.  I am about to try on some tops that arrived today.  My Mothers Day gift, to myself, was the latest in a line of Holland Cooper blazers that love living in my wardrobe.

I have also decided to start an Instagram hashtag, the details of which are on my Insta profile page.

It is just for fun because at my age I really do try to 'ROCK IT' everyday.

Love and Peace.  Helen. XxX