A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to tell a story at one of the Amsterdam storytelling locations, the Mezrab. The topic of the story was supposed to be about miracles. Now it is no secret to those who know me that I have been struggling recently. I am now five weeks into a… More Little Glimmers of Hope in an ME/CFS Crash
ME/CFS maths goes something like, “one week of careful fun equals at least one month of housebound rest”. At least, that is the case in my life when the careful fun is not quite careful enough. I am currently paying what I like to call the “fun tax”. This is the time I spend crashing… More It’s Fun Tax Time Babyyyy!
Since starting to relapse, I have had to cancel many different events and pull out of various jobs I was doing. People have been lovely and understanding which I am very grateful for. However, they keep on telling me to “Get Well Soon”. My biggest pet peeve. And while it is 100% said out of care and love, it… More Please Stop Saying ‘Get Well Soon’!
I am currently experiencing a relapse, and it sucks. After two years of health improvements, about two months ago, my health took a nosedive. To be honest with you I am having a hard time dealing with this. Life was much easier when I was healthier, and now I have to face that it is getting harder again. So, it is… More I am Currently Experiencing a Relapse, it Sucks
Over the past year and a half/two years, I’ve enjoyed a time of relatively good health. Especially when you compare it to the years of being predominantly housebound that happened before that. But that in no way means that I am better and no longer have ME/CFS. It is strange, but even many of my… More The More I Can Do The More Invisible My Illness Becomes
Whilst we often hear about the fact that trauma can lead to chronic illness, something that we talk about less often is how having a chronic illness is a traumatic experience and can cause trauma. So, as today is World Mental Health Day, and I’ve just experienced a pretty traumatic health crash, what better time… More 7 Things to Know About Chronic Illness and Trauma
My last blog post was now several months ago, and I was talking about how much healthier I have been. One of the questions I posed at that point was, when should I start working? Well, the cost-of-living crisis rather forced my hand and, fed up with constantly stressing about money, I took the little… More Where was I? Freelancing with a chronic illness!
One of the hardest things I found about getting sick was the feeling that I had completely lost my identity: who I was, and what made me me. In the first years of being sick I found this really difficult. Turns out, chronic illness identity, the future and dreams, are all big and complex topics… More Chronic illness identity, dreams and the future!
One morning last week, the day after exchanging some typo-ridden, slightly feverish texts with a covidy mum, I got an email with this blog post attached. This post is her reflections on my near-miss with covid, her experience of covid, and her thoughts on my chronic illness. So enjoy! As a parent – and certainly… More Mum, Covid and Chronic Illness, a Post by Mum!
By summer this year the number of people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is expected to have at least doubled since the beginning of the pandemic due to the huge numbers of people developing ME from covid. So funding and support for people with ME, and money going towards ME research is more necessary than ever. ME… More 4 Things That You Can Do for ME Awareness Month