It's been a while...

It sure has been a while since I updated my blog. It's been an interesting year so far... let me catch you up.

Health Issues

After not being well over the Christmas and New Year period I changed doctors and was finally listened to and heard. Basically, I was always tired, I was gaining weight even though I was exercising and eating well, I didn't want to socialise, my ankles and wrists were puffy, my eyes were puffy, I was having irregular periods, continually getting stomach bugs, waking up vomitting and going to bed with heart burn. And I wasn't pregnant.

In the end, I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, low levels of Iodine, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D as well as Candidia, some sort of parasite and Depression. Nick said if I was a horse, they would have shot me a long time ago, but because he loves me and I'm not a horse, I'm safe with him. That's comforting!

My thyroid condition had been identified in tests back in 2006 but my then doctor, did nothing about it. They focused too much on my vitamin B12 deficiency and it was my thyroid that was causing my body not to absorb vitamin B12.

I'm happy to say that I am feeling better, have more energy, my symptoms have decreased significantly and I'm on the road to recovery. We're still working out the right dosage for my thyroid medication but that's standard because everyone reacts so differently to it. Once back to working order, my vitamin B12 and D levels should be good, and my iodine levels should be good.

I'm now off my anti-depression medication as it was a symptom of my underactive thyroid and it was caught relatively early. Phew!

Moving House

As you know we moved house early June and boy was that a big move. We had expected to come into a reasonably well kept house but it was filthy. It took us a whole day to scrub and clean. I spent a couple of hours getting sticky residue off the floor boards and had to scrub the cupboards 3 times but we got there. The first 3 weeks we didn't unpack much as we had people in plastering and painting

I am now very happy to say we've settled in nicely. There are a few things that still need to be done, but that will be over time. It's difficult to try and get everything done all at once.

To see photos, please visit my photo album, Our Home.

40th Birthday

What a milestone and I don't feel like, what I thought I would feel like, at 40. I definitely don't feel 40. Maybe the saying "I only feel as old as the man I feel" is true.

It was lovely that most of my family travelled to Hong Kong to celebrate it with me. I was rather spoilt by them. I think Nick was glad that my family were here because if they hadn't have been, he would have been the only male at the party as all the girls partners had to work or were called out to work. He was in his element ensuring all the girls glasses were topped up with bubbles.

Here are a few shots from the party.







Going Forward

With 5 months of the year left, we're heading to Australia late August, early September. We'll be going to Melbourne first, then Sydney and I head to Brisbane, when Nick comes back to HK.

At the end of October we head to Koh Samui, Thailand for a 10 day detox retreat. It's the same one we did last year so there will be daily walks, massages, meditation, yoga, swimming and nightly colonics. For 7 days we will fast, and the last 3 days we'll come off the detox program.

After that we head to Cambodia for 10 days early November. We're planning on going to Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat to see the temples.

I had stepped back from my businesses while I was focusing on my health so I'm now looking forward to stepping back into them. My businesses have been ticking over and particularly here in HK where most of my work has come from word of mouth. Hong Kong is like that, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

Anyway... that's my catch up. We're staying put at least until February 2010 once we're back from Cambodia. I would love to hear more about what's happening in your life, so please feel free to leave a comment or email me.

With love, Nicole x