Skip to main content

Who am I?

Hey there, welcome to my blog. My name is Sian, I’m 28, I live in Scotland and I have a chronic illness called M.E.  What is M.E.? M.E stands for myalgic encephalomyelitis. It is also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).  How long have I had ME?  I developed M.E 2 years ago at the start of September. I was about to start college to study beauty therapy and the day before I had a headache. Ok, no big deal, everyone has headaches. By the evening it had developed into a migraine (you know, when you can’t stand the light, or sounds, and you feel like you’re going to throw up). I didn’t think too much of it and hoped it would be gone by the morning. Well, it didn’t go. In fact, I had that same migraine constantly for 6 months straight.  What did you do?  I got on with it. I started college the next day, and I attended every day I was supposed to until I couldn’t handle it anymore, which was Christmas 2016.  What ...
Post a Comment

I'm finally feeling better

I have been quite unwell for the last two weeks, something more than my regular M.E. 


You see, since birth I have had problems with my bladder and bowel, I was in hospital several times as a child and regularly saw a paediatrician. I have a diagnosis for my bladder, but my bowel problems haven't been diagnosed. Doctors claimed that I would "grow out" of these, but sadly that didn't happen. As I said, I have been quite unwell, but I'm finally turning a corner and I am about 70-80% better and I couldn't be happier! I thought I would be poorly over Christmas, but now I should be a lot better and more able to enjoy myself. I am having to rely on liquid Oxycodone regularly for an abdomen pain have had since February, but if that is the worst of it I'm happy.



I know myself and my condition a lot better than even a year ago; I know when to push and when to stop, when to keep going and when to give in and rest, and this is the most important lesson to learn when you have a chronic illness. Know yourself, know your new body and listen to it, put yourself first and don't worry what other people think, your health is important and it's your Christmas, too. 

Mr. B the blackbird has been appearing more often. Yesterday, Denys's parents came over for lunch and his dad was followed around the garden by Mr. B demanding food, but every time we try to show his mum Mr. B, he typically disappears. It has been colder here in Scotland the last few days, the birds are eating more food, trying to fatten up, and I have seen the house sparrows going into the nests they had over summer in the care home roof opposite our house. It is this time of year that they need all the extra food they can get to survive the cold. If you can, please consider buying some cheap seed to keep them going. Plus, if you have some leftover potatoes (with no salt on them) this Christmas, the birds will enjoy them. 



I hope you have a lovely, happy and pain free Christmas. 

Thanks for reading 
That ME Girl 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet up with the local ME group

I’m tired... Today I met up with some fellow ME’ers for lunch. There is a Facebook group for my local area for anyone affected by ME. I attended a lunch date once before months ago, but I haven’t been able to go again until today.  I was pretty nervous walking into the restaurant as I didn’t know any of the members who would be there, so Denys walked in with me and got me to the group. I’m not as shy as I used to be, but it’s a bit intimidating being one person sitting there compared to most of them being a couple, but I think I did ok.  I realised that I’m lucky, yes I have pain everyday, sometimes I need to use a walking stick and I can’t work, but I sat next to a lady who is mostly wheelchair bound and can hardly eat due to stomach issues, and I heard about a lady who has been unwell with ME since she was a child. My heart aches for them, I know I am fortunate that I can move around my house most days, I can eat and socialise in small bites.  I lik...
1 comment
Read more

Stupid ME

I have been looking forward to today all week, but once again ME ruins the party.  I woke up in pain and felt weak and shaky, I hoped it would ease off, instead it's just getting worse. We were supposed to be having a lunch date and then I would do some shopping, but when we got in the car I realised I wasn't going to feel better and so there was no point going out.  It feels as though my skeleton is shaking on the inside, and like I'm going to pass out or fall over with weakness. I spent an hour doing my hair and makeup just for it to go to waste. I don't often have the strength to put on makeup and go out so it was a big deal to me, but this cruel illness has taken the day away from me. It could have picked any other day this week to show up, any other day when I was already at home with no plans, but it chose today. Since becoming unwell, I have found myself wishing more and more days away, hoping for a good day, but with the good days come the bad days, ...
2 comments
Read more

We saw Snow Patrol

They were amazing!  We had such a fantastic day, everything was perfect. Getting to Glasgow was easy, we got booked in for dinner in a lovely Italian restaurant which we have been to before, we ate by candlelight and my M.E. behaved almost all day.  We were able to walk straight into the Hydro arena with no queuing, which was great. I had already emailed them to ask about disabled access to avoid standing still for long periods, but it wasn't a problem in the end. We always buy t-shirts and put them on before the concert starts, and we did that again this time.  There were two warm up acts, first it was Roe, a 19 year old musician with Ed Sheeran's style of performing, she did all the music herself, and she had a great voice. Following her was Kodaline who were also great, it looks like their music is in a lot of programmes so there's a chance you've heard them.  Snow Patrol kicked off with Take Back The City, followed by Crack The Shutters, ...
2 comments
Read more