Monday’s procedure of stretching my wee shoot to help alleviate symptoms of Overactive Bladder (OAB) went well. The technical name for this procedure is ‘Urethral Dilatation’. No slicing, dicing, or removal of anything involved. Just go up my pee shoot,…
I’m having surgery today. Yet, I’m not worried about the procedure itself; I’m worried about the anaesthetic. Here, I explain why …
I rather stupidly thought I’d gotten away with it. ‘It’ being our trip away to see friends. Tut tut. Silly me.
Chronic illness can be a massive threat to our identity. So, what happens when everything that makes you ‘you’ goes missing? … You channel your inner lizard.
Chronic illness and happiness. Here I discuss how Severe ME and POTS has influenced the joy in my life now my health has improved.
M.E ‘warriors’. The term grates on me on a visceral level, and makes me wanna scream until I puke. But, why is that?
Plastic plates. Who would have thought they could be a useful piece of equipment for anything other than camping and small children? Certainly not me. Well, not me before M.E. … Nowadays however, I think they’re bloomin’ fantastic!
If you went walking up on the Yorkshire moors today, you might have stumbled across a body. Twice. A motionless, random body … just laying there like a corpse.
Unless you blatantly ‘look’ disabled, then Disabled Parking Permits are both a blessing and a curse. The blessings are obvious. So here, I discuss the curses.
My son was looking at pictures of Lego the other day, when suddenly his face lit up, his eyes went all wide, and he became very excited. Read on to find out why. (Hint … it has something to do…
Social Media: people often talk about the negatives … but what about the positives? Imagine the ‘olden days,’ before the advent of social media. A time when chronically ill and/or disabled people had to rely solely on nearby friends and…
For me, one of the hardest aspects of becoming unwell with ME is not knowing whether I’m wholly to blame for the situation I’m in.
Severe M.E, TV and a Side Order of Jealousy: A Memory: Back when I was housebound due to Severe M.E and POTS, I could only handle watching TV for 10 mins a day. Any longer than this would be sensory…
Disability benefits. Let me just go and prepare my acceptance speech …
This weekend marks my 6 year anniversary of getting sick and never recovering. It was Mother’s Day weekend in 2017 and my mum had travelled up to spend a long weekend with me. I lived in the city, so we…
In the same way our bodies need food for survival, simple pleasures are essential for the wellbeing of our souls.
Fitbit – thumbs up or thumbs down? POTS is a form of dysautonomia (autonomic nervous system dysfunction) which affects many bodily systems, but especially heart rate. Simply standing up can send our heart rates into outer space. As such, many…
M.E can mean – regularly questioning whether I’ve been imagining the whole thing all along … for SIX YEARS.It’s got to be one of the biggest head fucks out there, and goes a little like this: I feel pretty good…
I used to spend so much energy I didn’t have researching every little thing, in the hopes I would find a solution to my M.E – and ultimately, my suffering. It was fucking exhausting. Read on to find out what…
Post-exertional recovery with M.E. It goes a little like this: Healthy person: ‘Hey friend, fancy meeting up today for a coffee and a catch up?’ Person with M.E: ‘Hey you, umm I would really love to … ‘ Healthy person:…
Brain fog is a brutal symptom of ME and POTS, and one of the hardest things to explain. But I’m going to try anyway. Using a brick wall instead of fog.
POTS and ME can both mean Overactive Bladder (OAB) No-one under 75 really expects to have bladder issues. I mean yeah, those of us who have given birth might accidentally piss ourselves whilst jumping on the trampoline with our offspring,…
Is your past self proud of you? How about your future self – do they get a high-five?
What Would You Like For Christmas? I can normally answer this question from Pete, my other half, pretty easily. There’s normally SOMETHING I’d like under the tree each year (shiny and pretty, ideally!) But this year is different. This year…
I took my son to see Sleeping Beauty in panto yesterday (as you can see, we were pretty excited!). The performance was fantastic. Afterwards, I got thinking about the everyday pantomime that is parenting with ME and POTS. And here…
Life with M.E and POTS: “It’s really hard but I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m struggling a bit – but I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay.” (Has a massive…
Presents You would think after being chronically ill with M.E and POTS for nearly six years that I would learn to tailor my present wish list for the life I lead now … not the life I used to lead.…
With the festive season fast approaching and people’s social calendars filling up – I just realised I can’t remember the last time I went ‘out’ out. What I do know is … it’s been many many years years. This blog…
You know those annoying insects that never die? Like, no matter how many times you whack it, it just wobbles around with missing wings and limbs – refusing to die. Cockroaches I think. Anyways, between the chronic illness, infections and…
ME can mean – recurrent infections OR superhuman immune system. I’ve been both. The only perk to my ME so far over the years has been my superhuman ability to never (well, very rarely) get a cold or any other…
ME can mean – Difficulty speaking. I can normally find analogies to explain most of my symptoms of ME, but I really struggle to find one to explain what happened to me this morning: losing my ability to speak. It’s…
My Lovely Day Off Everyone needs a ‘me day’ from time to time. Yesterday was mine. I was right looking forward to it. It got off to a great start. For the first time in 6 weeks (!!), I finally…
I’m showered! Thank fuck for that. Thought I’d update on how I’m doing today – and the answer is: much better. Not completely back to my version of normal (my stomach still feels very delicate) but certainly heading in the…
Really struggling – Day 5. I’m used to my symptoms fluctuating from one day to the next, and also within the same day. I’m used to my symptoms flaring up for several consecutive days after over-exerting myself. Sometimes it can…
Happy birthday to me! And this is a VERY special one. For those who don’t know, I was a HUGE gym junkie before I got sick. I was in the best shape of my life – radiating health, strength, and…
The physical aspects of chronic illness can be brutal. But so can the cognitive aspects. Here, I discuss how brain fog causes my written communication to be so darn difficult.
From June 10th 2022: And here’s the thing with chronic illness – you can’t just go for a trip away, with a worry-free mindset. Not even to spend a few days with family. Excited – definitely! But not worry free.…
From June 4th 2022: It’s been a rough 11 days since wedding dress shopping day. Health has been up and down, but mostly down. However, while that’s been going on, we had some chrysalides that hatched into beautiful butterflies a…
From May 25th 2022: Oooof, I feel rough today. As was totally predictable, my health is now paying the price for my big day out wedding dress shopping yesterday. I feel utterly hungover – except minus the alcohol, and utterly…
From May 24th 2022: Today was such a momentous occasion for me (and my mum!) I’ve been waiting 4 years to go wedding dress shopping. Myself and Pete got engaged at a point when I couldn’t even get dressed –…
From May 12th 2022: It’s been 4 years since Pete travelled to London with my trainers and stood up to tell our story at Millions Missing (while I was at home, pregnant, and too ill to go with him, my…
From May 6th 2022 Is it nearly bedtime yet? I mean, my evening bedtime. Not my afternoon bedtime. (Anyone would think I’M the three-year-old in this anecdote). When I go for my afternoon bedtime, my son usually has some quiet…
From April 19th 2022 And here’s today’s chronically craptastic awareness raising anecdote: I took my son somewhere new to play today. He loved it – lots of variety with toys, sensory and messy play. It was fantastic for him. And…
