I am so happy to have visited the beautiful Lake District this holiday! As anybody with a chronic illness can tell you, holidays are a stressful time that we often dread. With many more people around, an increase in noise, activity and an abundant selection of unhealthy food choices, it is inevitable that we will experience an increase in unpleasant…
As this year draws to an end, I have decided to start something new here on the blog. One of my favourite parts of blogging is taking part in link-ups or blog parties. If you’ve never heard of them, they are basically the virtual equivalent of a meet-up in a coffee shop with other bloggers online. Usually hosted by one…
One thing that can really cause a lot of stress for people with Chronic illness is coping with Christmas and all that it entails. For me personally, Christmas has changed so much over the years. It’s changed from huge family get-togethers when I still lived with my parents, to multinational bring-and-share gatherings of friends once I moved to London, and…
On this day last year something very wrong and so unfair came to my attention: People with disabilities, who are deemed unfit for work by doctors and occupational health assessors, are being denied benefits because of their Internet activity. They’re being stalked, not only online, but in real life too! In this post I will elaborate on some of my…
I love Facebook memories. Each day you wake up to find a lovely look back at how much things have changed over the past year. Some people find this depressing or sad, but I love looking back. I don’t find it sad, I find it interesting and I enjoy being reminded of all I’ve made it through and how far…
One of the things I love about blogging are all the community events. Things like monthly challenges, link-ups and interviews. Holiday link-ups are always fun! I stumbled upon this fun Christmas link-up on the first of December after I’d already started writing my gift guide and my brain was thoroughly fried, so I have decided to take my time with…
I’m so excited to share this third part of my spoonie gift guide, I hope you are enjoying this series as much as I am! These gifts would be great for birthday presents or a house warming gift or even Christmas too. This series will continue to grow as I think of other cool gift ideas, watch this space! If…
When people think of Christmas, they think of snow, father Christmas or Santa Claus, Pine trees and funky Christmas sweaters. We also think about the birth of Jesus and the whole reason for the season. What many people don’t realise is that people on the other half of the planet celebrate Christmas during Summer! I was one of these people.…
I know many people find such joy in shopping for gifts. They start shopping months in advance and they buy the most thoughtful, personalised gifts anybody would love, that’s not me. I’m so unorganised! If you’re anything like me, you’ve waited till the last minute to do your gift shopping. Whether it’s for a birthday, Christmas or a house warming…
This verse is often misinterpreted and then people are discouraged and think God doesn’t keep His word. It’s not saying God is a genie and will grant all your wishes, whatever they are, we know that not everything we lust after in this life is in alignment with God’s will or even part of the path He would like us…
It can be quite tricky deciding what to buy your friends with chronic illness because of all the limitations and intolerances we often have. What would be useful and not harmful in their condition? There are many lists out there, and they’re all slightly different depending on the condition they’re tailored for, so I’m making a list of the things…
It was an icy November evening in 2010, exactly 7 years ago today, when my best friend and I hopped on a plane to London from Milan. I had spent the past ten years living in Northern Italy, literally all of my adult life, and this was the beginning of a new chapter. We landed shortly before midnight. We both…
One of the most frustrating and debilitating symptoms of ME/CFS is the shaking and trembling after minimal exertion. Something that healthy people might get after a strenuous exercise. I was lying in the bath relaxing last night when I felt the shakes coming on. This is what I get for walking just a few steps to the bathroom and getting…
I absolutely believe that we are safer with God in any storm than we would be anywhere else without Him. It’s hard when you focus on the pain and suffering in this world or even your own personal trials to remember that this is just a fraction of eternity. This will eventually pass, it is only a temporary part of…
As anybody with ME/CFS and their carers will know, many doctors and health care practitioners still treat ME as a psychological disorder, when in fact it has been proven to be physiological. Patients have been dismissed for decades, disbelieved, misunderstood and symptoms ignored. The current treatment recommended for ME/CFS patients is CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, a type of psychologically based…
As you might know by now, I spend every Wednesday evening on Twitter, along with many other ME/CFS warriors, taking part in ME Awareness Hour. It runs from 8-9pm (London time) every Wednesday evening. We tweet about what life is like with this life draining illness. We tweet and retweet for an hour, hoping to to make our hashtags trend on…