Tweet Today I thought it would be nice to share some secrets on living well when you have chronic illnesses. So, grab a cup of tea and settle in. Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash Image description: a golden key is seen lying amongst autumnal leaves When I first became sick, I fell into a deep depression, I had lost my health, my independence, my income, and my career. I wondered if I would ever enjoy my life again, and for a long time I didn’t. But I can honestly say, that though my health has slowly declined, and I have more pain and fatigue; I am so happy now. I have hobbies, a very pos ..read more

Tweet In this week’s blog post, I thought we would chat about how my thoughts on chronic illness have changed. So, grab a cup of tea lets chat. Photo by Elle Cartier on Unsplash Image description: an arm is seen reaching for scattered medicine bottles If you are new to my blog, I should mention that I was a nurse before I became too sick and so my attitudes were very different. As medical professionals, you are conditioned to want to heal and I often got the impression that, especially doctors, wanted to be in surgery or work with illness that they could make better. Chronic illness to me felt ..read more

Tweet This week I thought I’d share a day in my life as a disabled carer, I hope this helps everyone see that disabled doesn’t mean lazy! Photo by Jake Thacker on Unsplash Image description – two hands are seen reaching for a red rose in a garden, both hands are white and one looks older than the other. I am disabled I have several chronic illnesses; I became sick in my early twenties and spent a lot of my married life alone while my husband worked full time. He was my carer when he could be home and I rarely left the house due to chronic fatigue, and generalised anxiety disorder. My mother ha ..read more

Tweet It is Neurodiversity celebration week, so I thought I would talk about my experiences as I am still undiagnosed. Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash Image description: a rainbow heart against a dark background with rainbow plashes of paint and colour around it Now, I do not want to be someone who looks up symptoms and says I have an illness, I have never been that or done that. However, watching people who are advocates for illnesses you think you might have can help you to know for sure. For me, it was when I was scrolling TikTok and saw a creator talking about their childhood and how t ..read more

Tweet After having a baby, emotions can run high especially when you have been through a difficult journey. The pathway towards birth doesn’t always run smoothly and it can cause a lot of upset and anxiety as you recover from such a huge life event. When it comes to dealing with grief and trauma there are so many different ways to process your feelings and find the strength you need to care for your new baby. With this in mind, here are a handful of methods that may help you to find solace as a postpartum mother. Handling Complicated Births Sometimes mothers can experience unexpected complicat ..read more

Tweet Image credit When a friend loses a loved one, being there for them can be a delicate task. You need patience, compassion, and understanding to help them process the loss and cope with the heartbreak. Sometimes, you don’t know what to say in the midst of comfort. Grief has many stages and it is an individual experience everyone deals with uniquely. Some withdraw while others spiral. It is essential to show up for your friend in a sensitive manner and recognise how their grief manifests itself. While being a shoulder to cry on can be a great way to support them, here are other ways to help ..read more

Tweet It is Brain Injury Awareness Month and as this has happened in my family, this is my brain injury story. Photo by Nhia Moua on Unsplash Image Description: the head of an anatomy model is seen half skull and half head A brain injury can happen to anyone at any time, accidents happen and that is what happened to my parents on holiday. They had gone to Spain to look for property as they were thinking about moving there, they had been many times before. But when pulling out of a junction in a minivan with friends, a car that was speeding hit the side of the car and everything changed! My mom ..read more

Tweet I have not done a post like this for a while I don’t think, most of the time I try to use my life as a teaching moment here…but I’m just frustrated with fatigue! Photo by Ryan Moreno on Unsplash Image Description: a woman with dark hair and a white dress is floating in the sea Looking back, I think I always had some level of fatigue, as I always struggled with keeping up and getting everything done, I wanted, or needed to. But it was manageable, and I honestly thought I just had a level of lazy about me as this was what I was told all the time. But as other Chronic Illnesses have joined ..read more

Tweet Being a content creator seems easy right? Just write a blog post, throw out a video; job done! But after years it’s time I stop the mind games! Photo by Matthew Ball on Unsplash Image Description – a woman with long dark hair, holds open a black leather jacket, under it she is wearing a black Tshirt that says mental health matters I have struggled with my mental health my whole life; I had anxiety a lot as a child and struggled being accepted and understood by both kids and adults around me. Back in the 1980’s though, there was not much emphasis on mental health and in my whole school th ..read more

Tweet Being told that somebody close to you is never coming back can be an impossible emotion to navigate. Experiencing grief at any stage in your life is never easy, and you’re well within reason to feel every emotion as it comes to you. Practicing mindfulness when you’re trying to navigate grief is a useful tool that has helped numerous people through the most difficult times in their life. If you’re not really sure what mindfulness is, but you want to make the most of this wholesome technique, this is the right place to begin. Some of the ideas below will help you to use mindfulness on a da ..read more