A Hickman line is a small silicone tube that passes through the skin on your chest and enters a main vein in your neck. The aim is to give easy long term access to your vascular system for infusing fluids or medications. In 2010 I developed gastroparesis and lost the ability to eat food, or […] The post Hickman Line #3 appeared first on A Reluctant Contortionist ..read more

Recently on Facebook I’ve been seeing adverts for AI (artificial intelligence) software that claim the software could write blog posts for me. I’m not interested in replacing myself with software, but I was a bit intrigued. I went to the ‘ChatGPT’ website and made this request: ‘Write a blog post about living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome’. […] The post A blog post written by AI software appeared first on A Reluctant Contortionist ..read more

I started 2022 planning to write one blog post per month. I posted one in January, but then I got side-tracked by another EDS project, some building work done in my flat, turning 50 years old ??, the World Cup, Christmas, and here we are 14 months later and I’m finally writing my blog again. […] The post TPN and Blood Tests appeared first on A Reluctant Contortionist ..read more

Thankfully, so far in this dreadful and tragic pandemic I haven’t contracted Covid-19, which is a big relief. However, the actions I’ve taken trying to avoid the virus have changed my life a lot. Due to being fed intravenously and being chronically ill from EDS / POTS I’m considered to be ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ to […] The post COVID-19 Update appeared first on A Reluctant Contortionist ..read more

Did you enjoy the lovely hot weather we had a few weeks ago? I enjoyed the sun but unfortunately I became dehydrated, which led to a kidney infection and a couple of days in hospital. I should have managed the situation better, but controlling your hydration levels in 80+ degrees heat when you can’t drink […] The post My Summer Holiday …in Hospital appeared first on A Reluctant Contortionist ..read more

I’m writing this article feeling dizzy, hot, and sick, plus I’m shaking, sweating and feeling a bit confused. The cause of these unpleasant but temporary symptoms is rebound hypoglycaemia. I doubt many people have heard of that term, so despite my confusion I’m going to try to explain it, and how someone who can’t eat […] The post Rebound Hypoglycaemia appeared first on A Reluctant Contortionist ..read more

November 2020 was the tenth anniversary of when I lost the ability to eat. It was an odd landmark in my life which I didn’t mention to anybody, but it has been on my mind so I thought I’d try to write a blog post about how I feel about it, and how my body […] The post Ten Years Without Food appeared first on A Reluctant Contortionist ..read more

Are you enjoying the coronavirus lockdown? Surprisingly, I know quite a few people who are. For some it’s given them unexpected time off work, time with their family, and they’ve been doing activities they haven’t had time for for years. But for others it’s been a truly awful period. Many people are miserable and scared, […] The post Coronavirus Lockdown appeared first on A Reluctant Contortionist ..read more

In 2015 I was diagnosed with osteoporosis, which is a common side effect of living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. EDS causes joint pain, which makes it difficult to exercise, and inactivity over many years can lead to weak bones. I was diagnosed after a bone scan, which is a brief non-invasive process that measures a person’s […] The post Dem Bone Scans – Update 2 appeared first on A Reluctant Contortionist ..read more

This article is the 33rd I’ve posted on my site, but the first for nine months. I wrote sixteen posts in the first year, but progressively fewer in each year since. So what happened? Did I lose interest and motivation? To some degree yes, but mostly I got very distracted. Article number nineteen – ‘Could […] The post 5 Years of ‘A Reluctant Contortionist’ appeared first on A Reluctant Contortionist ..read more