I woke up today with the urge to write, about what I don’t know but I knew it was time to crack open WordPress and start typing, so here we are! Gosh it’s been a while since I did this; where do I begin?
First things first a little catch up is in order! Looking back over the past year it feels like so much has happened while also, so little has happened, does that even make sense?
Let’s start on a huge positive, shall we? Erin and I have a cat! He’s called Alan and he is a gorgeous ginger boy who fills our lives with joy. He’s my best friend’s cat but is currently living at ours and is absolutely spoilt with love from all of us, I mean what cat would say no to three owners who dote on him? Having him has done absolute wonders for my mental health and he never fails to come give me a cuddle on the difficult days. Him and Erin are like best friends, and it is so wonderful to see them having cuddles and loving each other so much.
Touching on my mental health, I am still functioning at my baseline with no major dips which is frankly amazing, and I feel the strongest I’ve ever felt. Following from my update last year I am still awaiting the second part of my assessments for ASD & ADHD which should be in the next couple of years. I had my assessment for NHS trauma therapy and was accepted! I start this week and I’m super terrified but also feeling so lucky to have been accepted and dare I say hopeful for the future. I’ve also been accepted for further trauma therapy under a specific charity for which I’m on the waiting list. I really cannot explain how grateful I am and frankly how privileged I am to be getting such support. I’m feeling so hopeful to get my C-PTSD under control and to thrive more than just survive.
I also mentioned last year that I was awaiting a sleep study which I’ve now had! To the total surprise of all of us it turns out I have sleep apnoea! I’ve always been labelled as an insomniac and my fatigue solely put down to my health conditions but as it turns out some of can be attributed to the sleep apnoea. I’ve started using a C-PAP machine and I’m finally waking up feeling at least a little more rested than when I fell asleep and I’m having more ‘functional’ hours in a day. Honestly, it’s been kind of incredible! My physical health is still pretty poor, but we are slowly but surely making some progress on my medical to do list. The aim of all my teams is to get me to a baseline where my quality of life is at least worth it. I could write a whole novel on it all but instead I’m going to pick a couple of the positives and leave it there for today. Firstly, I started intermittent self-catheterisation, now this doesn’t sound like a positive but bear with me I promise this is a good thing! This is where I use a single use catheter to empty my bladder multiple times a day. I do this as I cannot empty my bladder properly myself and it was resulting in frequent UTIs and incontinence. Thankfully since using my catheters both my incontinence and UTIs have lessened considerably, and I am so thrilled! Now onto the next: last year I mentioned my chronic migraines and that I was awaiting an occipital nerve block. Unfortunately, the nerve block didn’t work for me, but I was accepted to trial an injection (Aimovig) to prevent my migraines and it has truly been a miracle worker! I’ve gone from migraines daily to only a couple a week! I’ve now been accepted to stay on them longer term. And now for the last, and probably best, positive of them all. I have been accepted to a physical rehabilitation centre that focuses on Ehlers Danlos Syndromes! This centre works on physiotherapy, mental health, occupational health, and pain management which is simply incredible, and I am so excited. Now the waiting list is considerable but the fact I’ve even been accepted is enough to have me grinning from ear to ear! I think I’ll leave the health stuff here for now, but I will do more posts on my conditions and a thorough health update at some point, but I want to make this post as positive as possible.
So, what else have I been up to? This time last year Erin and I had only recently moved into our flat and I’m pleased to say we are finally unpacked and feeling at home here! We still have lots of photos to put up and some finishing touches to add but we are so thrilled with the flat and where we live (although we both miss being closer to friends and family). Erin is doing amazing in his job and it’s so wonderful to see him thrive in a field he loves. We both went back to our hometown at Christmas and got to see lots of friends and family which was so special. In early December we went away to Derbyshire for a little holiday which was just perfect. Derbyshire is one of my favourite places and we got to visit Chatsworth house and spend lots of quality time together. Besides that, its just been a lot of appointments and resting but overall 2022 was a much better year than the ones before.
And now to the present! What is the plan for 2023? My main goal this year is to spend time doing more of what I love. While I’ve got lots of appointment scheduled, I’ve made sure to plan to see friends and family more with them coming to visit and me going back to my hometown too. I am incredibly lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people and I can’t wait to see everyone more this year. I’ve dived back into reading and so far, have read every day which does wonders for my mental health. I’m slowly getting back to writing letters, trying to spend more time outside and practice lots of self-care. I also want to write here more, lots more. I’m planning to write awareness posts of my health conditions, book reviews & TBRs, and anything else that springs to mind! Now I’d better go and get ready for the day and crack on with some jobs. See you all soon.
365 days of Char 