Hypermobility Syndromes – When to seek medical help?

Living with Ehlers Danlos or any of the other hypermobility syndromes does mean you are going to get injuries at some point.  That’s not me being negative, it’s the truth. Living with these disorders is risky! Simply rolling over in bed or putting on socks can lead to ridiculous injuries. I do my best to…Continue reading Hypermobility Syndromes – When to seek medical help?

Therapeutic Relationships

Therapeutic Relationships – Getting the most from Healthcare

I’m often asked how I’ve managed to get the most out of healthcare appointments, there is no quick answer so I’ve decided to write a longer one. As always, this post is written from the dual perspective of expert patient and healthcare professional. Much of this post is written from my own personal experience. During…Continue reading Therapeutic Relationships – Getting the most from Healthcare

Exercise

Exercise with a Chronic Illness or Variable Disability.

I’ve thought about an exercise post for a while. I’ve had a couple of half-formed ideas about how to write this post but a recent article shared by the BBC has spurred me on. The article, Difficulties of Getting fit if you’re disabled by Kate Ansell, was brilliantly written and covered a lot of the topics I think…Continue reading Exercise with a Chronic Illness or Variable Disability.

Relationships, chronic illness & intimacy.

This one is a requested post and the first time I’ve co-written a post! Since this post is about maintaining healthy relationships I’ve invited my partner to share his side of the story too. I will apologise now for elevated levels of sarcasm and any unnecessary use of puns featured in this blog post. Just…Continue reading Relationships, chronic illness & intimacy.

The Rehab Saga: Goal Setting, Red Hot Chilli Pepper (Capsaicin) and Swimming

So I’m getting really close to complete my rehab stay and today was mostly about rounding up the programme and making sure I’m as prepared as possible before going out into the wide world to continue my life. I overslept this morning (I’m blaming the antihistamines) but I did get up early enough to go…Continue reading The Rehab Saga: Goal Setting, Red Hot Chilli Pepper (Capsaicin) and Swimming

The Rehab Saga: Jam Packed & Working hard!

It was all fun and games on the ward last night, we had a power cut just before 10pm…the emergency lighting came on in the ward but not in the bathrooms so I got ready for bed in the dark using my phone as a torch! The emergency lighting was stuck on until the power…Continue reading The Rehab Saga: Jam Packed & Working hard!

The Rehab Saga: Bendie Knees, OT’s and Carrot Cake.

I’m going to start this post with something from last night. I got chatting with the lovely lady in the bed next to me last night, we got on well so we added each other on facebook. After a little bit of snooping she realised that we actually have 5 friends in common! Not (as…Continue reading The Rehab Saga: Bendie Knees, OT’s and Carrot Cake.

The Rehab Saga: Last day of week 1 and temporary discharge!

Sorry this one is a few days late folks! Up bright and early Friday morning. We only had one session in the morning before going home for the weekend so it was a slightly more relaxed start than the rest of the week. After s breakfast of GF cornflakes I did some physio and made…Continue reading The Rehab Saga: Last day of week 1 and temporary discharge!

The Rehab Saga: Lazy Bum & Wheelchair basketball

I woke up at 7 feeling rubbish this morning. My right leg was a mass of muscle knots with a dislocated ankle, subluxed fibula (at the knee) and a subluxed hip all being held out of joint by spasms! After some painkillers and massage I got everything back were it belonged then taped my ankle…Continue reading The Rehab Saga: Lazy Bum & Wheelchair basketball

The Rehab Saga: first full day and awesome physio!

Today was my first full day on the ward. After a slightly uncomfortable nights sleep I got myself up and dressed. Breakfast was a total failure. The GF bread was full of poppy seeds and I’m allergic. They’d run out of soya milk so my breakfast options were dry cornflakes or a banana…I went for…Continue reading The Rehab Saga: first full day and awesome physio!