Terrible migraines ruined a weekend away

We had a good natter and caught up on each other's news before going our separate ways.

I cycled into Lancing and called in to see my friends and colleagues at work. I am feeling quite apprehensive about returning to work and received confirmation today that my return date will be May 4, subject to me seeing occupational health.

Just before bed I became very vague and was unable to write or take in anything Tom was saying to me. I knew all wasn't well and during the night I had the most terrible migraine with vomiting.

It was extremely frightening and I feared the worst. My mum and her husband David came over in the morning and took the boys off to school then stayed around all day to make sure I was OK.

My usual strategy came into play and I slept for most of the day. Mum had cooked dinner for everyone and I managed to get up and help the boys with their homework when they got in from school well Lewis's anyway as Jacob's is much too hard for me!

We then had a long drive up to Manchester where we were to stay for the weekend. Tom had purchased tickets for the whole family to attend the football semi-final Chelsea v Liverpool. We stayed at Tom's sister's house in Warrington. My head was still not right from my migraine and I slept for most of the journey but I was starting to function a bit better by the time we arrived.

Then wham, on Saturday it hit me.

Standing somewhere on a station waiting for a train in Manchester, I got that oh-so-familiar feeling of vagueness, disappearing vision and numbness in my hands and mouth. I knew the migraine was coming back with a vengeance.

I quickly took a couple of Migraleve tablets but sadly things just got progressively worse. We stopped off to eat before the match, when I couldn't manage anything and kept falling asleep or passing out, I am not sure which. But I know at some points consciousness was disappearing.

We decided to get a taxi the rest of the way to the football stadium but I was still pretty pathetic. I am the only person I know who can sleep throughout a whole football match.

Towards the end of the match I went and sat out in the medical room. Tom and Lewis told me Chelsea had lost, which is particularly sad as that's the team they devoutly support. Jacob supports Manchester United so he was really pleased.

The pain in my head had become unbearable and once we were on the train I could no longer hold back. Luckily I had a sick bowl from the medical staff. I don't suppose I was the most popular person with the other passengers.

Tom's niece picked us up from the station. I continued to vomit throughout the night. I hope I have lost a bit of weight out of all this discomfort and inconvenience.

We left Warrington around noon and called in to see Tom's niece Siobhan and her husband to say goodbye. She had cooked a meal for us the night before but I was oblivious to the whole thing. I managed to sleep almost the whole way back other than being woken up by the odd hot flush.

Once home we got unpacked really quickly. But Jacob is a nightmare at bedtime. He loves to draw it out as long as he possibly can and I had to be so strong because I actually enjoy his company so much and it's like torture making him go to bed when I cherish every waking moment with him.

Mind you I am equally feeble with Lewis and his sweet tooth. It's so frustrating because Lewis loves anything sweet and no matter how much I explain how bad sweet things are for his teeth, it doesn't take away the fact that he loves them so much and I don't want to deny either of them any pleasures.

But I know I still need to be a responsible parent and it's not in their best interests for me to give in to everything. Mind you, a few treats and as many fun experiences as we can possibly cram in together shouldn't hurt!

At 5.30am Tom left for work. Both boys had woken up and climbed into bed with me. There would have been a time I would have complained about disturbed sleep but I felt like I had won first prize in a competition as I lay in the middle like a crucifix with outstretched arms around both of them.

I still felt a bit washed out with the migraine so I played my lazy card and called my friend Mandy to help get the boys off to school safely.

I got up slowly and went off for a walk on the beach. It was lovely and what I consider to be my luxury time alone with my thoughts looking out across the beautiful ocean. I love to walk so much. It's such a simple pleasure yet brings me so much joy.

Jacob, Lewis and I went to see some kittens after school. I have been promising the boys a new kitten since we lost our lovely cat Gizmo in October after having her for 14 years. I am still convinced that she picked up on me being ill because her health deteriorated at the same time and, ironically, she died of cancer.

I have already had to work out a care plan for the new cat which we haven't even got yet in the event of things not working out after my death. I feel confident that it will help the children to have a pet around. I grew up with lots of pets and I consider them to be a real asset to a family.

It's amazing how therapeutic it can be just stroking a cat. I think just looking after and nurturing another life can benefit your own.

Nothing went according to plan today as I had a call first thing from the hospital to see how I was feeling as my blood tests still weren't looking particularly good. They said to come straight in when I advised them of how I had been feeling over the weekend. I had to have some more blood tests and see a doctor.

In the evening we met up with my lovely singing teacher Jordan Adams at Will Matthew's recording studio in Hove. We didn't get off to the greatest start as Tom was running late and Lewis started to feel unwell.

When Lewis is unwell he likes to be left alone and to sleep (sound familiar!?), so he curled up in my jacket in the corner of the studio and slept it off. He felt better in time to sing his part. It was so much fun and I am delighted with how it's turned out. We have an original and Will is going to do some fine tuning before we receive our masterpiece.

We sang Thank You For The Days, by Kirsty MacColl, originally by The Kinks, but with our own words for a personal version. It's perfect for the boys' memory boxes. I am so grateful to Jordan who made all this possible.

Lewis was chatting to me while he was in bed and said "I can't wait to be a grandad" so he can tell his grandchildren all about his mum and what he did when he was little. I told him that was lovely but not to be in any hurry to wish his life away.