This is a photo of me and my husband Ross at my brother Joe’s wedding this past weekend. What an incredible day it was and I loved every minute!
I am so proud of Joe and Shelley, my now sister-in-law. They are an amazing couple who organised the perfect wedding day.
From a personal viewpoint, their wedding was a huge milestone for me. I originally wrote about this on my Instagram but I wanted to share it here on my blog too.
Joe & SHelley’s Engagement
I remember the night Joe and Shelley got engaged— 22nd October 2017. My brother excitedly phoned me to tell me the news.
I was in Germany ready to start my treatment at Infusio, Frankfurt the next day.
I was thrilled for them and I remember thinking I hope I’ll be well enough to dance at the wedding. I knew my recovery following treatment at Infusio would take a year, if not longer.
I set dancing at the wedding as one of my long-term goals should my health improve following treatment.
I Didn’t know WHat To Expect From Treatment
Getting stem cell treatment was a huge leap of faith. I had no idea what would happen and what my recovery afterwards would be like.
All I had was an open-mind and hope.
At the time, I struggled to even sit or stand upright for any length of time without it making me feel ill. Fatigue, post-exertion malaise and exercise intolerance were my worst symptoms.
A whole night of dancing felt like an impossibility to me at that point.
It’s been A Long Recovery
It’s been a long road and I’ve had three trips to Infusio for treatment— the most recent being exosomes treatment in March.
I have to say, I found the recovery following exosomes to be mentally challenging. It was slow progress and at times I questioned if it had been worth doing.
I’ll write about this in more detail soon.
For now, I want to say that this past week has proven that it absolutely was worth it and I’m so thankful.
Keeping Up WIth Everyone Else
The weekend before the wedding, I travelled to Newcastle for the hen do. This was a full-on but incredibly fun weekend and I was so grateful to be able to join in.
I needed to take some rest days in the week between the hen do and the wedding. However, I did managed to help with some wedding prep mid-week, which was really fun.
I felt a little anxious about how I would be on the day itself. However, the wedding day was one of those days where I could forget I have any health challenges.
I had such a great time getting ready with the girls, chatting and catching up with family and— most importantly— dancing the night away!
The wedding band– The Sleekit Beasties— were absolutely brilliant and I had so much fun dancing to floor fillers and joining in with the ceilidh dancing (which is no mean feat given the energy required!).
I am So Grateful For mY Health
I’ll no doubt need a few days of rest to recuperate but I’m so incredibly thankful and grateful to have been able to fully enjoy the day, just like everyone else.
I may not be 100% healthy and I may still have a few challenges to face. However, I think I can safely say I am a completely different person to who I was in 2017.
I couldn’t be more grateful for the health I have now. And, it just goes to show that you don’t need to be fully healed to live fully.
