Susan Adair

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  • My Story
  • Disclosure
  • Work With Me
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Susan Recommends
    • Caregiving Products
    • First Aid Products
    • Dementia

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  • Illness

    Why Blood Donation Matters

    January 1, 2018

      There are a few things in life that you can guarantee I will shout about from the rooftops. Caregiving is always right up there at the top and blood donation comes a very close second. For as long as I can remember, I have been a huge proponent of blood donation. I grew up watching my wonderful Mum donating as often as she could and knew that as soon as I turned 18, I would be going with her. We all know why blood donation matters. It saves the life of people going through chemotherapy who need additional support via blood products. It supports organ transplantation surgery. It can…

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    Susan 5 Comments

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About Me

Hi and Welcome! I’m Susan and I am a nurse, caregiver and beach lover. Here you will find all things related to chronic illness and caregiving!

Instagram

  • I'm finding Instagram really hard recently. I feel like I should be posting something profound and life changing but there isn't much happening at the moment. We are struggling with Alex still not being his usual happy self and I'm in constant pain. It doesn't make for great pictures. Instead I'm going to throw it back to when we were in Ireland in October. We are off home again next month for 2 weeks and I'm hoping things will be much better for us all when we come back in March. #motherhood #motherhoodrising #motherhoodthroughinstagram #unitedinmotherhood #teammotherly #littlestoriesofmylife #documentyourdays #momsofinstagram #momswithcameras #cameramama #ourcandidlife #thesearethedays #livethelittlethings #choosehappy #childofig #acupofmotherhood #momentslikethese #petitjoys #dailyparenting #mumasinbloom #kindredmemories #motherhoodsimplified #ukparentbloggers #irishblogger #ipbig #kcacols #spoonie #spoonielife #fibro #innercirclerockss
  • I am so glad that this week is over. Alex has not really taken well to kindergarten and it has resulted in a week of many phone calls, tears and arguments. I wake up in the morning with anxiety over how we are going to manage to get him to school and how he will cope. Having never had a single issue for the 4 years he was in playschool, to see him like this is breaking my heart. As soon as he comes home he is back to his normal happy self, yet the second school is mentioned he is angry, crying and distraught that he has to go. So I am trying to enjoy the days of no school and today we danced in the rain, painted, coloured and sang at the top of our lungs and we are going to bed much happier tonight. #siblingproject #meandmineproject #tbcsmiles #littlefierceones #oureverydaymoments #themagicineveryday #developinglife #rememberingthesedays #standstillmychild #myfamilyadventures #mydarlingmemory #myhappycapture #heartisfull #properigblogger #happylittlebuttons #thismamaloves #capturemypositive #capturingtheday #our_every_day_moment #tribalchat #lionessmama #watchthemlearn #cherishthemoments #reasontosmile #kcacols #ipbig #innercirclerockss #ukparentbloggers #perfectlyimperfectparenting
  • Do you know what your blood pressure is? (Swipe to read more) All too regularly, when I'm with clients or friends, I am asked whether I know what a recent blood pressure reading means. A one off reading doesn't actually tell us much when we don't know about what medication is being used, what illnesses are present or what circumstances the reading was taken in. The long-term effects of elevated blood pressure can be detrimental to nearly all of our organs, and unfortunately we won't know that it is high until it is too late. A common example of this would be when you have a stroke. It is only when investigations begin in to why the stroke occurred that we find out it was due to unmanaged hypertension. A well managed diet and regular exercise are really so beneficial in preventing many illnesses beginning or preventing current illnesses from getting worse. If you have any questions, drop them in the comments below and I'll get back to you! *the above information has been provided to educate and not replace medical advice. If you have any questions regarding your health or current treatment you are undertaking please talk to your primary care doctor* ° ° ° ° #bloodpressure #healthywednesday #themoreyouknow #wellness #healthandwellbeing #chronicillness #heartdisease #ipbig #chronicillnessbloggers #ukparentblogger #innercirclerockss
  • *self-care sunday* After a really shitty week, I ended up in A&E on Friday morning. For the last 10 months I have 'coped' with the pain, the inability to walk very well or bend and the indignity of needing Michael to get me off the toilet or Alex to help me get dressed in the morning. But on Friday morning I had enough. I had two choices, go to my own doctor 45 minutes away and have the journey make things even worse, or chance A&E. Let me tell you, I made the wrong decision and still ended up needing to speak with my own doctor. A change of medication and orders to do nothing but lie on my back until Monday were given. I'm the first to admit that I'm useless with following directions. I half arse them and then wonder why I'm not feeling better. But this weekend (bar 3 hours of work) I've done nothing. I've put myself first and rested. So today I've been reading this Michael Connelly book that has been on my desk for the last year, and unsurprisingly, there is some improvement in my back. I'm doubt this is the end of the pain, but it has given me relief for today and I'm grabbing it with both hands. (And yes, that is my mop and bucket in the background. I can't bend down to pick it up so there is has to stay 😝🤣) What did you do for yourself today?
  • His tooth has been loose for a few months, and today it finally fell out. Between this and the fact that he starts big school next week, I'm feeling a bit fragile. Whilst I love him growing up and how much fun he is and the 7,982 questions I get asked every day, I would still give anything to go back to when he was born and have more time with him as a baby. It is such a cliche but time goes so quickly and I think I didn't appreciate just how quickly, when he was a baby.
  • The odds were stacked against us establishing a successful breastfeeding relationship from the beginning. After a horrendous 9 months dealing with Hypermesis Gravidarum, kidney issues, high blood pressure and losing 25kgs, I was overjoyed to eventually have my waters break 3 days after my due date. What I wasn't expecting was for my waters to be thick and dark brown. Over the next 7 hours, Emma and I had problem after problem which resulted in an emergency section. As I was being brought down for the section, I kept shouting "no formula, I'm breastfeeding". My midwife went straight to the nursery and told the nurse my wishes. The section took over 2 hours because Emma got stuck and they couldn't get her out and then they couldn't stop me bleeding. 3 hours after she was born, I was finally brought back to the ward, only to be told that she had to spend 24 hours in an incubator, as per "hospital policy". Due to the amount of meconium that she had passed in utero, the pediatrician was called but she had been given the all clear. I demanded she was brought to me, but the nurse said "why, she has had formula. There is no need for you to breastfeed". For the next 24 hours I rang the bell every 2 hours for Emma to be brought to me. My OBGyn eventually came around and asked for me to rest. Things were a little more serious than I had been led to believe. I needed blood, I had a spinal infection and an untreated chest infection had resulted in a really shitty reaction. Pregnancy can cause an allergy type response in what would be considered a chest infection in normal people. I was on piles of medication and Emma had jaundice. Formula was thrown at us at every single turn. I was told I needed to give myself a rest and just let the nurses care for her. No one understood just how desperately I wanted to breastfeed. I got no real life support. Emma did get formula but as little as possible and I just kept making sure she was on the boob as much as possible. The whole experience was traumatic to say the least but I just kept holding on to this desperate want to breastfeed this tiny little baby. worldbreastfeedingweek #normalize #wbw2018 #breastfeedwithoutfear
  • When Alex was 9 months old, I found out I was 8 weeks pregnant with Emma. I was so excited at the thought of another new baby in our lives and I just could not wait to start breastfeeding. I joined a breastfeeding support group on Facebook and I remember being horrified at the though of breastfeeding a 1 year old. There were women who were feeding 4 and 5 year olds and I was certain that would NEVER be me. I would never breastfeed for longer than 6 weeks and I would stop as soon as teeth appeared (🤣🤣🤣 how naive I was to the whole situation). What I did learn was that breastfeeding is a skill and more often then not, it's not something that comes naturally, without practice. I learnt that it is 100% COMPLETELY NORMAL for a newborn to spend hours on the boob. They are building your supply and it is NOT an indication of low supply or having no milk - a term that is favoured by undereducated health care professionals. I learnt that I needed to have a support team in place to help me through the bad days and most importantly I learnt to never give up on a bad day.
  • My breastfeeding journey with Emma actually started with Alex. Like the majority of people my age, I was formula fed and had never met a single breastfeeding mother. I assumed, again like most mums, that I would give breastfeeding a go and I would use formula if it didn't work. I didn't do any reading or research on breastfeeding I just guessed because it was natural it would work. The first problem we encountered was Alex being taken from me as soon as he was born because of 'hospital' policy. The second was he had many bottles by the time he was returned to me nearly 24 hours later. The third was lack of support in the hospital and the forth was not being educated on normal newborn behaviours. After 24 hours or so, he was on formula and all was right in the world. Until he was about 6 weeks old and out of no where I got this pain in my stomach. It was regret that I didn't breastfeed him. Over the previous 6 weeks I had learn to follow my instincts and not the books or 'experts' or what society thought I should do. But what was right for our boy. I remember sitting on the bed crying thinking that he should be breastfed and I would have given anything to turn back the clock. It was that moment when I realised that our next baby would definitely be breastfed. #worldbreastfeedingweek #normalize #wbw2018 #breastfeedwithoutfear #breastfeedingsupport #breastfeedingawareness
  • There are many health benefits associated with chocolate (mostly chocolate with a minimum of 70% cocoa). As today is World Chocolate Day we spent the morning baking the most amazing chocolate cake, giving some to friends and enjoying it for dessert. There is a link in my bio talking about the health benefits and how moderate consumption can help your heart, brain and immune system! #worldchocolateday #siblingproject #meandmineproject #tbcsmiles #littlefierceones #oureverydaymoments #themagicineveryday #developinglife #rememberingthesedays #myfamilyadventures #mydarlingmemory #myhappycapture #heartisfull #properigblogger #happylittlebuttons #thismamaloves #capturemypositive #capturingtheday #our_every_day_moment #tribalchat #lionessmama #watchthemlearn #cherishthemoments #reasontosmile #ipbig #innercirclerockss #ukparentbloggers #perfectlyimperfectparenting

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