phew……..

Good morning and a very happy Monday to you all. It has been a while since my last blog as the timetable of assignments due meant that my head space was pretty much full !!

So, what has been going on in my world?

All of my assignments are now in with the first marks due this Friday. Planning has been essential throughout given my hectic life outside of University. We now have a family of 3 from Ukraine living with us, and they have been here for 2 weeks. They come from a village just outside Kyiv, and fled to the Carpathian mountains when the war started, mainly for safety but also to protect their eldest son as he has cystic fibrosis, which as well as meaning he cannot fight, it also means that if they were to come under fire he is unable to physically move very well. Mum, Yana is amazing, and although we do not know each others language as yet, her oldest child speaks very good english and as such we have a way of communicating. Younger lad started at the village school last week and is really enjoying it and is being made to feel very welcome. Older lad is being admitted to hospital today for 2 weeks where they will assess, monitor, create a treatment plan and give IV antibiotics for the duration. Back in Ukraine he had no access to drugs that would help him, often having to share drugs with fellow CF sufferers which were out of date. As such I contacted the CF specialist centre in Birmingham and they fast tracked his assessment last week which led to his admission today. Mum is worried, little brother gave him an extra big hug before school this morning which made mum cry, so it’s a very emotional day all round.

So, now it’s a waiting game for the hospital to see if they can improve his health to an extent that he can try and lead as normal a life as possible whilst he is here. They are always smiling despite their situation, mum misses dad and boys miss father, heartbreaking for them to have to leave them behind.

People in the UK have been so very kind to us as a family, when they find out that the guys are from Ukraine we have experienced money off food at restaurants and free desserts, which is so lovely but aways makes mum cry as they have not felt such compassion for a long time.

As for me, assignments done and hubby and I will finally be going on our holiday to celebrate our silver wedding next month. Vancouver and Alaska here we come !! It’s quite a weird feeling though finishing uni for the year and having no assignments or deadlines until October and I’m not quite sure what to do with myself today.

Have a lovely week.