Home, Parenting & M.E

7th February 2009 | 10 years | 1 decade 10 years ago today, the man I was (& still am) crazy about, finally asked me ' out .' I was so young, but even then, knew he was the one for me. ♡ Little sidenote : this day 4 years ago, our baby took his first steps. ♡ I dreamed about our future together; I dreamed about the children we'd have (trying to take comfort in the fact we at least have 1) , I dreamed about the day we'd get married (still waiting) & I dreamed about so much more... One thing that never crossed my mind, was that, about 4 years into our relationship, I'd become chronically ill . We've been through our fair share of standard relationship issues, but none of it compares to the strain chronic illness puts on a relationship. When I fell ill, not only were my dreams shattered , but Sean's were too. The life we pictured having together, suddenly looked a lot different . The guilt I felt was unreal. A man in his twenties sh

Hey , As you might be aware, I haven't blogged since May last year (aside from a guest post I did in August), which wasn't intentional- the longer it's gone on, the harder it's been to get back into it. Scope guest post But here I am now... You see the thing is, I let my anxiety spiral out of control, it got to the point where it affected every aspect of my life, again . I spent most of last year silently struggling with it, telling myself it would get better. Other times considering how much better off everyone would be without me. Of course it wouldn't just 'get better' on its own, which is why in December, I finally admitted to myself that I needed help & I went to the doctors. I was told to self refer for CBT. I put it off. Why?! On January 1st, determined to make this year the year I really focus on my health, I went online & completed the self-referral. I'm still waiting for correspondence, but in the mean time, I'm pra

Let me fill you in on 'Blue Sunday'...  If you've read my  About Me , then you'll already know that since becoming chronically ill, a large portion of my support has come from the online community .  Some of those 'online friends', I've actually been lucky enough to meet in person, all thanks to 'Blue Sunday.' What is Blue Sunday? Blue Sunday is a truly wonderful event, that the lovely Anna ( @theslowlane_me ) hosts every year, to raise money & awareness for M.E. Despite her own ill health, she puts so much into organising an annual Tea Party, which falls on the Sunday during  M.E awareness week . The more, the merrier. For anyone local &/or able to travel, to attend the tea party in person, Anna hires a hall & puts on a huge spread of cake . All she asks in return, is that you make a donation for the sum of which you'd expect to pay for Tea & Cake in a coffee shop. If you aren't able to attend the act

I'll be honest, this is one of my planned posts that I'm least excited about writing, but it needs doing, & now's the perfect time... Everyone's road to diagnosis varies quite extensively. I'm one of the  fortunate ones, as I didn't go through the ordeal of fighting for medical professionals to believe me. In fact, for me, it was quite the opposite. Background. Summer 2015 I was taken into hospital with stroke like symptoms- right side paralysis. Cut long story short, the brain scans came back clear & I was diagnosed with hemiplegic migraines. (Classic migraines + weakness/paralysis) The diagnosis seemed to fit my symptoms, except as time went on, there was one little thing that couldn't quite be explained- the persistent weakness . My right side was, & still is, predominantly the weaker side, but I also had this general weakness all over, that never went away . Fatigue was also an issue, but I put that, as well as brain fog

Let's talk, lactose intolerance... In case you aren't already aware, Cian is lactose intolerant, & has been since birth (diagnosed at 3 months old). *You might want to skip the next paragraph, unless you're  geeky like me & interested in the biology side of things... The body digests lactose using a substance called lactase. This breaks down lactose into two sugars called glucose and galactose, which can be easily absorbed into the bloodstream. People with lactose intolerance don't produce enough lactase, so lactose stays in the digestive system where it's fermented by bacteria. This leads to the production of various gases, which cause the symptoms associated with lactose intolerance. Taken from  the NHS website. Science lesson over...  For us personally, a lactose free diet is second nature; it's all Cian's ever known. It isn't a big deal, it pretty much just means avoiding milk/any foods containing milk... Although admitt