Old ghosts and how to deal with them

A few years ago I made the decision to have nothing more to do with my mother; She'd betrayed my trust for the last time and hurt me in the worst way imaginable, then instead of an apology I got a lecture about forgiveness and how I should consider her feelings..

At that point I decided there was no way I was wasting any more of my valuable time and effort on her. For 30 years I'd made excuses and rationalised away her abominable behaviour but that incident broke any hope of a change; I realised if I ever had kids I'd not trust their feelings in her hands and that I certainly did not trust her to keep quiet about things I'd rather they didn't know; it was that realisation that gave me the courage to cut off all ties.

Now I have a child of my own I am thankful whenever she crosses my mind that I made that choice - which is unfortunately almost daily as it's hard not to make comparisons now I'm a mum; at least one thing I know to be true is that she definitely taught me how NOT to behave around my child - I just pray any poison I unknowingly inject into my daughters psyche is of a far less malignant kind.

When I made that decision to cut away the stress she engendered in my life, suddenly I lost at least half of my ME/CFS symptoms and funnily enough it's usually incidents from my past butting into my day to day life that bring about an unexpected flare up and crash - I can handle work stress to a point and can manage my exercise and work load the same way; emotional stress is another thing entirely - it wipes me out completely and I have no defence against it.

..So you can probably imagine my 'joy' upon receiving a letter from the woman who bore me asking for a picture of my family and a hope for reconciliation.

I've had an agonising few hours of self doubt and second guessing, where I wondered if now was the right time, if she'd changed.. Swiftly followed by a mental slide show of all the times I've had this same mental run down in the past and gave in with rationalisations and excuses for her only to be put through the wringer again and again.

I have more to lose now; I have a tenuous control of my health, a daughter to raise and a future planned out so there can be only one response:

NO.

Never. Not on the life of anyone I hold dear - and that definitely excludes her.

It may seem harsh to anyone without the necessary background information but I'll put it to you this way; if a 'friend' lied to you, told anyone who would listen your secrets and then repeatedly caused you emotional and financial difficulties - would you continue to keep them as a friend?

I pity the fools who do.

So what if she gave birth to me - for years I lacked self confidence and direction because of issues she caused; I don't need to see a psychiatrist to know those issues are still there and that the last thing I need is to bring them back to the surface and wreck the life we've built here.

So the letter will be destroyed unanswered, the request unmet and I'll do my best to ignore her existence again and hope that the blip in my equilibrium will not last longer than today.

..Now if I could only convince well meaning family members to butt out perhaps the threat of similar missives would be removed (..someone had to have passed on my address to her; she's not web savvy enough to check the whois)

FECKING ARSEHOLES! ..or why the slc suck great big hairy donkey bollocks.

I kid you not - trying to get this sorted is almost as bad as applying for DLA!

Last year they finally paid me in a lump sum AFTER the academic year ended. This time I thought it was all sorted but NO.. That would be too easy wouldn't it?

After paying my first expected instalment, they've now sent me ANOTHER 'final' notification stating that i'm to be paid less (not getting the parents allowance or adult dependants grant now for some reason - maybe I lost my partner and daughter in some freak accident and nobody told me yet?)

..on top of which they are also now paying £3220 in tuition fees - despite the fact that this years fees were already paid last year because study was deferred on health grounds so the fees have rolled over.

I'm SO looking forward to calling them on Monday (not!) to speak to 3 different people who will each tell me that this or that information isn't showing on the system now - despite it obviously being there before seeing as i've already had a payment from them!

I'm fed up. My housing benefit and council tax benefit all get based on the expected amount from the SLC, every change has a knock on effect and i'm sick of always having to juggle the house finances to compensate - my other half has no income because he's at home looking after me and bella - because I get student loan he can't get income support and because he's not looking for work he can't get jobseekers - my income is IT for the 3 of us.

Considering going up to darlington and burning the place down. ..except that'd set the process back for everyone by about 2 years again.

Fecking idiots - why do all paperwork places hire idiots? They lose items sent by registered post, ask for information they have previously told you they don't need and delay asking for something important until you've already sent in 5 copies of the stuff they don't need but have asked for AGAIN.

I HATE THE STUDENT LOANS PEOPLE WITH A PASSION.

..and breathe.

Temper temper..

Ok, so she's 2. it's not like there isn't any warning that this will happen - they're called the terrible two's for a reason it seems. She's just infuriating me all the time - it's a constant battle of wills 'dat mine!' 'NO!' 'go'way mummy' 'want it' 'me do dat'

..and the tantrums! Any response contrary to her desire is met with screaming, kicking, pinching, biting.. The other day she got to me so badly that stef had to take her out of my sight so I didn't pick her up and throw her across the room in a rage.

It's hard enough to cope with her being like that when I feel well but the me/cfs has kicked in with a vengeance and so lately i'm either fatigued, in pain or completely brain dead (or all three) and it's really hard to keep a lid on my temper when I'm tired or in pain.

I KNOW she's just testing her limits and in the process pushing me to mine but i really feel sometimes I can't cope with it - and this is a child that 'everyone else' says is 'just a normal kid'

I KNOW that. ..But 'everyone else' doesn't have to deal with the kicking and biting and pinching on a body that is so worn down through illness that even the slightest knock feels like it's been administered by a baseball bat wielded by a giant.

I've managed to mostly stop the biting by dint of biting her back when she does it, pinching back doesn't seem to have the same effect sadly because then she thinks it's a game and pinches back even harder

..and hitting is out of the question (though she does get a slap on the fleshy part of her leg if she pushes me too far when I'm fighting with her to change her nappy and there's shit going everywhere - roll on being potty trained!)

Stef took her out of the room because I had to turn my back, clench my fists and literally hold on in silence until the red mist left me - if I'd had to speak or do anything it would have been something i'd regret.

it's possible that part of the reason i'm so bad at the moment is just down to being a parent - stress and bottled up emotion play havoc with your system and i'm so angry so much of the time at the moment - at bella, at stef, at myself.. it's hardly surprising i'm sliding back into a pre-relapse state.

Just need to get through this next 2 years - that's what I keep telling myself; get my degree and have a year out to recover.

If I can.

Arsing cuntybollocks!

I've really enjoyed the last month or so. It's been great having no work deadline and being able to not think about coursework or 'THE FUTURE' for days at a time; Instead I've been a mum. I've spent quality time with my daughter and Stef and just crashed around family time instead of crashing through it before locking myself away to work.

It's made me realise that I don't really want to get the job I know I need to get. Not because I don't want to work; I do - I love being around people who treat me as knowledgeable and competent as opposed to ill and weak and pitiful and I love feeling as though I'm doing something constructive with my time.

The problem is - I have enough energy to be a part-time mum OR a part-time employee; as soon as I'm working I'll be back to being too tired to do more than lie on the couch and watch my daughter play; I won't be able to go out to the play centres and home visits with her and Stef like we have been because I'll need to conserve that energy for work.

I don't want to live to work; People are supposed to work to live - that's the whole point!

I'm already half dreading the return to structured classes in January because I'm afraid I'll lose this rapport we've been building. My daughter always pushed me away and cried for Stef before; I love that now she cries for me too when she's hurt or in need of assistance; I don't want to go back to being useless or unavailable mum - but there is no way of avoiding it if I don't want to waste all my hard work up to now.

Why can't there be a compromise with the CFS? why do I have to choose one thing over another? I would give ANYTHING to be normal again; to be able to come home after a 4 hour work day and still have the energy to play with Isabella.

But it's not going to happen. Stef keeps telling me not to get down about it - to remember that it's only another 6 months. But what happens then? I get a job and give up any hope of being a real mum?

We might get the home we need but at what cost? Why am I doing this course? when I started it was to get out of the benefit trap, but that was before Bella came along and I didn't have any other claim on my time. Now she's there and if I work I don't have the time or energy she needs from me.

Stef is right, I have 6 months to work on it at least, worrying is a further waste of energy that I don't have to spare but it's REALLY hard not to fret.

I'm so lucky.

I've been reading back through the early postings on this blog and I have to say that I'm probably one of the luckiest people alive.

I no longer have the majority of the symptoms I suffered through back then; now all I have to deal with is fatigue, brain fog and pain (and the occasional bout of menieres disease) some people may say there is nothing lucky about that but when compared to those early days I thank my lucky stars that, awful as they are, these things are all I have to worry about now.

I have coping mechanisms in place and yes, I lose around 30-50% of my waking life to these symptoms but that's a damned sight better than the 80-90% of waking life I was losing before.

I have learned through this illness to prioritise and structure my life to get the most out of it - I know many people that seem to gain nothing from all their hours of perfect health so this makes me a winner in my eyes.

I manage to spend quality time with my daughter and partner, I am slowly finishing my degree (and yes I'm on track for a 1st class honours) and the job prospects following that are incredibly hopeful - even despite my health issues.

So yes, I am very lucky. Things could be a lot worse, things HAVE been a lot worse; the fact that they are always improving (albeit slowly) is something to be very thankful for.

My main goal when I became ill was to get well enough to find work and come off benefits - this is a goal I may finally realise once I have completed my degree. It's a very satisfying thought to know you can actually achieve your goals.

My next goal is to earn enough to buy the house I've been dreaming of forever - the house I'd saved enough deposit for when I got ill and had to watch that money dwindle to nothing as my income vanished.

I'm lucky because I didn't buy that house before I became ill, if I had I'd have been homeless and most likely dead by now as I wouldn't have met the man who changed my life and gave me my daughter and the strength to keep going.

Everything happens for a reason - never forget that.

The future's so bright.. I gotta wear shades!

Principles and applications of web Services (technology): A3
Digital Entertainment Systems: A1
Web Application development (design): A3
Professional Issues in computing: A3


You see those grades? they're mine they are *grin* ok, ok so what if it took me an entire academic year to do it!
..Considering I've had 74 days (that's right, just over 2 months) bedridden by fatigue (and that's not counting any crashes prior to the diary count starting mid January otherwise it would probably be at least three months considering I lost most of November and December which necessitated the deferrals in the first place) and god knows how many other days I lost to the joys of brain fog (I'm never mentally aware enough on those days to think of keeping count!)

I'd say I did really bloody well.

Lets put it this way - I'm on track for a first class honours in my specialist degree subject so it's worth the blood sweat and tears of studying with ME/CFS and a toddler.

As Chris said on my Facebook page: Vicky rocks!

So, what now you ask? Well, on top of actually being a mum again instead of a snappy, stressed out work beast;

• I'm working on several websites (mine and other peoples)
• updating and improving my knowledge of wordpress for this very reason (so a fair bit of reading)
• I'm researching and organising ideas for my final year project (which funnily enough involves the need to understand wordpress VERY well)
• I'm creating several 'how to' videos for the ESCAPE project at uni.
• making time to re-read my notes and try to keep what I learned to get those A grades fresh in my mind (important to do when you have CFS memory to contend with)

I know, you'd think I'd kick back and relax wouldn't you - but I really don't dare to. One thing I learned this year is that I can pace, but I can't stop;

If I stop I lose any headway I've made.

So, gotta keep the momentum going because I REALLY, really want to be able to get a job at the end of all this.

Musing

Ok, deferral form and supporting evidence has been submitted - I am officially taking the entire of this semester again next year (assuming the panel ok it)

I'll be honest, having to split my final year like this makes me feel like a failure. Lofically I know i'm not but emotionally.. I just really hate being this mentally weak, having to acknowledge that I can't cope.

..But the worst part of it is that this is a further indication that any hope I harbour of being able to work a full time job is just a pipe dream. If I can't cope with almost part time hours on a flexible course then a full time job will kill me.

..possibly literally if the reported occurrences of a weakened heart in ME/CFS sufferers is true. I'm not giving up my hope completely though - I was able to just about manage a full time course AND the cable project before bella was born.

If I can slowly build myself back up then one day I'll be able to work full time. I have to believe it otherwise what's the point of pushing myself like this?

Why put off until tomorrow..

Once again I am putting in for deferral. There is no way I'll pass the semester B wad and paws exams, I've missed too much class because of the fatigue/ pain and general crapness of menieres and me/cfs.

The truth is, i'll alsobe lucky to pass my DES deferral assignment, I've not even started the last of the filming, I need to get my arse in gear big style - the problem is, i've got myself so stressed about it that I shy away from thinking about all I need to do because it brings on a crash.

Pathetic eh?

I'm averaging 3 crashes a week - that is ones bad enough to keep me in bed for at least half the day and mentally unfit for anything for the rest of it.

When I'm not stuck in bed it seems i'm having to look after bella or clean house and that's given me even less energy/ enthusiasm/ inclination to work.

It doesn't help that she's down with a chest infection and Stef has some kind of flu bug. *sigh* and I don't know what's wrong with me but I need help; I'm being plagued by bad dreams and unpleasant memories.

My mind just keeps regurgitating all the bad stuff that's happened to me since as far back as I can remember, then when it's done reminding me of things I'd give anything to forget, I get slammed with the nasty dreams about things I pray never to see or go through.

To be honest, i'm glad we got the eye massager - 30 minutes on that before bed seems to be the only thing that can send me off these days, I just wish I could stay asleep instead of succumbing to these dreams..

DSA - every CFS/ME student NEEDS this!

I just wish I'd applied for it at the very beginning instead of thinking it would be as torturous and stressful a process as DLA. It isn't, not by a long shot!

It was actually a rather swift and painless process thanks to my needs assessor, he was lovely!

I've had my provisional needs assessment sent off to be approved by the LEA so fingers crossed that will happen before my course ends (since I'm still waiting for them to stop asking for information to assess my maintenance grant this could be a while)

..Assuming all goes well and it gets the big green tick though i'll be the happy possessor of an ergonomic chair and footstool and some software called mindview that I'm convinced will make my revision process a lot more constructive than it usually is!

With 5 exams to revise for this is of the highest priority! I'm actually seriously considering downloading the free trial to try and make a start on all of that now - I've only got just over a month before the exams themselves so time is of the essence!

Why people with ME/CFS should never become famous

I've had an interesting few weeks. Someone up there either REALLY loves me or is just 'avin a laugh at my expense.

I won an award to help pay off some of my ridiculously large student loan and the person handing over the ceremonial cheque was non other that the princess of pop herself; Kylie Minogue.

The whole thing started when I got an email through from a site I'd signed up to telling me that I needed to contact Kev on this mobile number asap as he had some good news for me. I had a sneaking suspicion I'd won something as i'd been getting emails through saying the competition deadline was approaching.

The thing is - it all seemed unreal, I'd thought the whole thing was a bit of an advertising scam 'sign up to this site and be entered into a draw for x prize' I've seen loads of 'em and never known a single person who has actually won anything so when I was told i was a £2k winner i was incredibly paranoid sceptical.

We thought perhaps it was a practical joke or a scam, we could find no mention anywhere other than on their site that Kylie was in fact affiliated with them in any way, there was little information to be found online about the charity that wasn't self-generated so 'just in case' we organised a house sitter while we journeyed down to the offices for the event.

We needn't have bothered - as you can see from the picture it was all on the up and up, the people were lovely, the village was idyllic and the 2 days were a bit of a blur.

The only problem was the me/cfs rearing its ugly little head to mar my enjoyment of the whole thing.

As any of you who've been reading here for a while know; I no longer function well in crowds - small groups of 3-5 are my absolute limit after that it gets to be a little too much for me to handle and I retreat into myself or go and find somewhere to hide and regroup.

This meant i missed out on loads over the 2 days. During the 1st evening everyone went to the pub, firstly there wasn't much seating so after a tiring day of chatting and travelling I was having to stand around and talk to strangers - an ordeal in itself.

Then I didn't get much sleep because in the night, on top of the headache I'd been fighting off all afternoon, I developed a really sore throat and couldn't breathe. we were then up early the next morning to check out of the B&B and head back to the offices for more run-throughs of the event to come.

We got to the office and it was bedlam, I elected to help out in the office rather than with the others in the reception room; 1. because I got a chair and some net time and 2. because I just wasn't feeling up to dealing with more than one person at a time.

Eventually everything started to calm down but then more competition winners started to arrive, these guys hadn't won any cash prizes but they were dying to meet Kylie, I just stuck my head down and made a bracelet with my ever present bead kit - twisting wire helps me calm down and gives me something obvious that forestalls a lot of conversation when I'm feeling mentally fatigued.

..I know I probably came across as rude or anti-social but I just really had trouble coping with all those people - a bloody joke when you consider the 6 years I spent as a bouncer but there you go, one of the delightful side effects of CFS, for me at least.

That was the last chance I had to sit down until Kylie left.

The lady of the moment arrived and the photographers went nuts jostling for position and us students crammed into the space behind them like sardines.. Not ideal for someone who doesn't like crowds, but thankfully I was the 2nd person called onto the stage so it wasn't for long.

However being on that stage felt like an eternity - as the bulbs were flashing and the guys were shouting 'top left, top left, can you look right please, now down, down, over here please Kylie' I said out of the corner of my mouth "I have no idea how you put up with this"

I really felt intimidated and under siege, it was a struggle to keep the smile on my face and look suitably thankful/ grateful to be there, how celebrity and public figures stand such an invasion so much is beyond me - the few minutes I was part of that focus was enough to deter me for life.

The picture shows Kylies response to my comment, she just looked down (yes down. In heels she's taller than me, just to add insult to injury she's also slimmer and more gorgeous *sigh*) and gave me a hug and told me not to worry it'll be over soon. She then looked back up and gave her professional smile for a couple more minutes then said 'that's enough guys' and led me to the podium to give my speech.

Yes, it was torture. I suck at public speaking - my strength lies in the written word, I'm let down greatly when it comes to speaking those words aloud. ..but I stumbled through it then fled the stage in relief.

I had to get back up there for group photos but once Kylie left I grabbed some food and tried to hide in a corner again - but reporters kept grabbing me for interviews; why, I don't know because not one of them used anything I said. But it went nice and quiet as the band started setting up and every photographer scrambled to get set up with laptops and net access in order to upload their shots.

I went and stood against one of the pillars in the corridor, thankful for the cool breeze and the lack of people trying to talk to me, I felt completely wrung out. It was just at that moment that the stinky curly haired ogre shambled past and told me 'you were rubbish by the way' as he walked through the door.

I was pretty much gob smacked to be honest, that came literally out of nowhere; I'd not spoken to the guy and beyond a little joking earlier with some of the other folks about journalists in general had said nothing that could possibly have upset him.

I told Stef about it and then put it out of my mind, all I wanted to do was lie down somewhere - I was really at the end of my limits, finally Kylie left the building and I could head into the reception room and sit down.

..Which is when I burst into tears. Stef then told Sara and Kev about the rude oik and they obviously assumed he was the cause of my upset and started getting all irate about it, which made me even more embarrassed and agitated so they left me to calm down.

After a while they asked if the associated press lass could just ask me a few questions, I answered them (apparently in too much depth according to Stef, but then I always do - I'm not a natural soundbite lass) and finally the day seemed over.

I would have loved to have stayed and enjoyed the after party, but the need to pick up Isabella from his mums combined with my oncoming crash meant that would never have been possible.

I met some lovely people and the studyvox foundation deserve kudos and all the help they can get to realise their dream; sadly I don't have the energy to help much, I have battles of my own to fight and their passion is incredibly tiring because it ignites a passion of your own when you are around them - I can't afford that kind of passion these days, it wipes me out for the best part of a week with the after effects felt for several days more.

I can only really concentrate on one thing at a time outside of my family and currently that one thing is my course.

Which is a shame because they are exactly the kind of people I would love to work for; intelligent, caring, passionate and fun loving folks.

Maybe one day i'll have the energy to share in something so full of possibility but for now it's just head down and slog my way through the year and pray I get enough credits to make the extra year worth it.

Facing reality

This is a kind of good news/ bad news post.

I've been keeping an exercise/ food chart for the last 2 months in an attempt to track my 'recovery' from the latest ME/CFS relapse. Basically it's not good. I have spent almost 50% of the time in bed since starting the diary.

I've sat down today and had a real hard look at what I need to do with my course as opposed to what I want to do.

I WANT to get my head down and plough away at this work and graduate with the rest of my year - preferably with a decent grade but, if I keep on like I am this has zero chance of happening.

I'd thought that by carefully timetable maintenance and pacing I could do the catch-up I needed on last semester while maintaining the work load for this semester but just a glance at the red crash dots on my chart shows me how sadly mistaken I was.

Looking at the crash chart, I've worked out that I can manage AT BEST 4 hours of solid work a day - so long as I also get in at least 2hrs of rest immediately afterwards, otherwise I'm comatose for the next 2 days, some days I can manage only a solid hour, especially if I have to look after Isabella/ clean/ cook/ travel etc.

..and this is just an estimate, it may be that I can't even manage that without triggering a crash.

When Sylvia (the support lass) first brought up the suggestion of deferring my project I immediately said NO! but that's now under the heading of want not need. It sucks. REALLY sucks.

I don't know if taking an extra year will be financially possible, I know I can't get funding from the SLC for another year (this is my 4th year of student loan) so that could cause problems, but.. i guess I'll have to cross that bridge if or when it happens.

Just by deferring the project as she initially suggested will remove not only a large amount of course stress but will allow me to schedule in proper rest breaks and allow me to recover from the daily exertion of thinking/ walking/ dealing with baby/ housework and numerous other things that people without my conditions can do without needing to think about how and when they can afford to do it:



This was the schedule I was trying and failing to keep, as you can see there's not a rest break in sight:


So, just by losing that one module, I get adequate rest, I can devote the full weekend to my family instead of using those days to do homework/catch up on work I've been too ill to do in the week and will be able to gain the grades I need for a decent degree instead of struggling just to scrape a pass.

The other plus side to deferring my project is that it is based upon elements i'm studying in the other modules this semester - deferring until they are complete will leave me in a position to create an even better web application than the basic one i'm currently looking at - hopefully.

so.. disregarding the finances, it's win-win and the decision is made. here's hoping the exam board see it the same way.

Optimistic misery

Sounds daft but it's true. I've been feeling pretty down for ages yet at the same time I'm feeling quite optimistic about the future because things keep happening that are good.

Let me explain.

The ME/CFS made a reappearance quite a few times between October and December of last year, then the Menieres made my life hell over the 3 week christmas break because I ran out of the betahistine tablets.

I couldn't get any more because of first the snow and then because I was too incapacitated to write and take in the letter to the receptionist for my prescription (couldn't find the printed repeat and my surgery asks for a signed note asking for a repeat in those circumstances)

After the Menieres kicked in, it triggered a full on ME/CFS relapse then just as I started to get over that my daughter had the flu jab and gave me a stinking head cold that once again set off the Menieres and the ME/CFS

So for the best part of 3 months I've been stuck in bed unable to do my work, stressing about my inability to do work and getting ill - vicious circle.

I missed 2 exams, web application design (WAD) and Professional issues in computing (PIC) and despite being told I could have an extension on my digital entertainment systems (DES) assignment I've been unable to do ANY work on that as I had to concentrate on my Principles and Applications of web services (PAWS) exam and the portfolio for WAD.

SO, I managed to attend my PAWS exam, I think I did enough to pass despite leaving a few of the questions unfinished (started feeling a bit pants so left the 3hr exam after 1.5 hours) and I've got about 50% of the portfolio done and an extra week from now to finish the rest - which ME/CFS allowing is doable.

My support worker and the individual tutors have been great, assuming I can get the relevant documentation for my Dr (and I can't think what reason he could have not to give it) I can defer the 2 exams and the DES coursework until summer so that I can get the new semester over and done with without the extra worry of legacy work.

On top of which, I've been approached to do a conference workshop in the summer with the 2 project leaders from the CABLE group I was involved with last year - so despite my crap health, I obviously have useful knowledge and experience which leads me to be hopeful that I will be able to find a job at the end of this!

Lets hope so eh?! I'd hate to think I was killing myself for no reason!

Push on through to the other side

That's basically all I'm trying to do right now.

Despite everything last year, I managed to come out with one of the highest grades in our Foundation Degree class - this is an achievement of which I will always be proud!

However, this academic year has been a complete bust so far as the ME/CFS and Menieres is concerned. I had a very emotionally charged piece of news back in October/November which led to a rather hefty relapse, trying to come back from that with a ridiculous course load and a very active toddler has proven to be a task of herculean proportions.

My recovery was further hampered over the Christmas period when I ran out of the Betahistine prescribed to me to help control the Menieres - any doubts I had about their effectiveness have been firmly silenced having spent the best part of 2 weeks bedridden with dizziness, ear pain and nausea yet 3 days after restarting medication I'm back to ME/CFS 'normal'.

I've managed to obtain an extension for one piece of coursework but even so it will be tight, one exam has passed and I'm unsure as to whether I've made it on to the next module despite studying as hard as I possibly could for it, the other 2.. well fingers crossed eh?

Next semester should be better, according to my timetable I'm only in for 3 hours a day, 2 days a week which means I'll be able to actually pace myself and have set mealtimes again; regularity and a decent schedule are half the battle in managing this condition I've found.

..so lets just pray I've managed to get enough marks to pass the current semester because if I have to re-take anything I may as well give up now.