M.E Awareness week

Ive only just realised thast it is M.E awareness week and wish to share this great informative article based around fact versus fiction.
M.E article

It really is silly just how many people do believe M.E is all in the mind. Time for a mini rant.
All my life I have enjoyed being VERY active. Up until 7 years ago I cycled or walked almost everywhere within 15 miles. I worked 12 hour shifts as a nurse, I enjoyed decorating my home, loved gardenning and loved nothing more on a weekend off than to pack up and go to the Lake district, camping and hiking, pushing myself to the limit and climbing more hills each time. Life changed a bit, I moved, got divorced and changed jobs, but continued to be very active right up until the week before the M.E hit me hard, hiking and snorkelling on holiday on Bali. Then suddenly I could barely make it up one flight of stairs, I often had to stop twice, or ascend a couple of steps at a time on my bum. I couldnt dry my hair with the hair dryer, struggled to hoover one small room or prepare a meal.
I did not take this lightly. It took 7 months before my GP  agreed with me that it may be M.E and I was not referred to a specialist and got very little information, my doctors were pretty poor to be honest. It wasnt until a good couple of years on that I actually had a consultation with a specialist, resulting in several further appointments with an Occupational therapist. Overall the amount of input from the NHS has been negligble and pretty poor. I have learned more and helped myself more by researching the condition, keeping up to date, talking to other suffers and by learning how to pace my activities.

The single most frustrating thing about having M.E for me is not being able to be active, I miss cycling, hiking, swimming, pushing myself to my limits by trying to cycle a route faster each time. Now, although I have adapted, I still get frustrated as I have learned new skills and have new dreams, yet because of the M.E it is incredibly difficult to make those dreams come true. i have so many wonderful ideas that I want to bring to fruition, but I can only manage them very slowly and often with some assitance from friends or family. If I did not have this condition then life would be so different, my determination would take me far and I know that I could achieve so much. As it is I still have that stubborn determination and will just have to plod away slowly at my goals.

I openly welcome anyone who does not believe that M.E is a physical illness to come and spend time with me, see me on my good days and my bad days. See the sheer determination it takes to get through just half a day of what any well person considers an average day and then observe the effects over the following days, then look me in the eye and tell me I am lazy!

rant over for now.....

My silver lining

Well I didnt mean to leave it so long between blogs, but life happens.

One thing that helps me get through having M.E and is also the "silver lining" from the whole experience is that I have discovered a new hobby. I was bought a camera about 3 and a half years ago by my partner and decided to learn how to use it on manual settings only. I also combined another hobby of mine - keeping reptiles and frogs, so over the years, when I have had enough energy I would practice photographing both my pets, and other macro or close up subjects such as flowers, water droplets, and insects at home. I would leave all my gear set up on a table so that I didnt need to waste energy setting up each time and I could spend a few minutes doing something I enjoy easily.

My love of photography has grown and although I often only fit in one session a week at present, I have come a long way. I have gained two qualifications - ( LSWPP -Licentiate of the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers  and LSINWP - Licentiate of The Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers) and last year I was runner up as Pet and Architecture photographer of the year with the SWPP. I dont just enjoy photographing reptiles, I love landscape, architectural, wildlife, abstract and people photography, but my ability to practice these is limited due to the severity of the M.E at times and due to the fact that I cant drive to locations.


Over the last year I have tried hard to practice photographing models once a month, which has helped me to learn a great deal with lighting. I was introduced to the Bristol and south west modelling and photography group and have made lots of lovely friends that I collaborate with. Luckily there is a hall on the street where I live that I can share with other photographers, providing a super cheap location for portraiture and providing opportunities for us all to learn from each other and share equipment. I have also joined a local camera club which I thoroughly enjoy attending each week.

This week I had the opportunity to photograph a model, on location in Bristol, for a designer. Now although I struggled energy wise on the day, even though we only spent around 90 minutes in total taking images I am quite pleased with the results. We had a few things go wrong, what with lighting blowing around, getting lost, forgetting my main lens. But the end result was that Vogue italia website accepted two of the images from that day, which, myself, the model and designer were all thrilled with. One image was also given an editors choice award on Ephotozine aswell.

 

The down side is that whenever I spend more than an hour or so doing photography, then I suffer in the following days. So I am still recharging my batteries from Saturday.

Welcome to my blog

Hi guys

This is my first blog about my life since having ME.

I have had M.E for almost 5 years now, it came on fairly suddenly following a holiday abroad where I had cellulitis in my leg following a spider/insect bite. I’m not saying that was the cause but I experienced the symptoms following that. But I had experienced milder symptoms that were very similar in the preceding 2-3 years. Anyway, I can go into it more in depth as I blog more.

Presently, I manage to get out and about and do a few things that I enjoy, although I do suffer the consequences of even mild activity that lasts longer than an hour or two. The important thing is that it does not stop me doing the things I love completely, I just need to plan carefully and take things easy.

I have a very supportive partner who truly understands how the M.E affects me, and my young daughter is incredibly helpful on difficult days when I am less able. My family and friends are all supportive and understanding as well.

I have attended appointments with an occupational therapist who specialises in helping people with M.E, this was helpful as she taught me how to adapt and pace myself, although there was not a lot she could do to help with the physical symptoms, she did help me to focus positively on the future. I have tried graded exercise and this did help at one point, but I find that I need to approach this very gradually, and even minor illnesses can set me right back, causing me to start with very little spells of very light activity again. I did manage to get fairly active for a few months, a couple of years ago, walking up to 3-4 miles in a day, 3 times a week, but that is the best I have managed since the onset. Currently I get exhausted from a ten minute slow walk to the local shops and back.

Well that’s enough to start with, I will write regularly. Hopefully this will act as a record of my life with M.E and how it affects me, and hopefully it will help others to understand.