I’m sorry there hasn’t been much blog activity lately. The good news is this isn’t because of a relapse, but because life is so busy. I am working on my pages about meditation, but I’m finding my time for writing is seriously eroded by all the Christmas activities and shopping, so they’re not ready yet.
I thought it might be useful to compare where I was last December to where I am this December, particularly for anyone struggling at the moment.
December 2012
After improving over the summer of 2012 I declined as the weather got colder and the days shorter. Last December I caught Bronchitis, and this caused me to relapse to housebound for several weeks and bed bound some of the time.
A particular low point was when my daughter was crying in her room for me to help her and I could not get out of bed to go and comfort her, let alone help her. I can remember sobbing to my husband that evening that I couldn’t cope and I needed more help. I can’t quite remember how we muddled through that time. I have a brilliant set of friends who took my children to and from school and various activities and cooked for us every Friday. As usual my wonderful husband somehow held everything together – I think he must have come home from work early quite a lot. He did all the Christmas shopping, cooked the Christmas dinner as well as the myriad of household chores he has been responsible for since my illness.
On Christmas day I managed to get out of bed for two short periods to watch my kids open their presents, and then again later for dinner. The rest of the day was spent in my bed, alone. I found the noise and energy of the family too much to tolerate for long.
As I recovered from Bronchitis I made a determined effort to increase my activity slowly. By February half term I was doing some school journeys on my electric bike, and I slowly increased this until I was doing all of them. Since Easter 2013 I have reasonably consistently managed the school run, and now I can’t remember the last time I’ve had to call a friend and ask them to bring my kids home.
December 2013
This December is a huge contrast to last year. Here’s a list of some of the activities I’m involved in, but I’ve probably forgotten some:
- Singing in a choir concert – extra rehearsals and the performance.
- Taking my children to extra Christmas activities
- Attending various Christmas events at the school: Christmas Fayre, an assembly and, next week, a carol concert.
- Arranging household repairs. We’ve got a leaky roof. I’ve been dealing with the insurance company and various roofers giving quotes. Hopefully that one is fixed now.
- Christmas shopping – Using the local shop mobility service my Husband and I went shopping for over 2 hours, and I’ve also done plenty of internet shopping.
- Having relatives visit: Last weekend my lovely nephews, brother-in-law and sisters-in-law visited. I managed to socialise with them most of the time they were here.
- Planning to visit relatives: This year we are spending Christmas with my extended family – there will be 14 of us at my parents house.
- Planning a trip to London. I plan to take my daughter to the theatre for her Christmas present. This will be a huge challenge, but I’m confident I can manage it, otherwise I wouldn’t have booked the trip.
Between all these activities I’m still making sure I eat the right foods, as well as do regular meditation and yoga. Now you can probably see why the blogging has had to take a back seat!
I hope that if you are going through a bad time at the moment, this post boosts your belief that things can improve.
I am so grateful and appreciative of everything I am able to do, even the mundane tasks like arranging roof repairs. ME/CFS shrinks your life to a very small core. As I recover and my life expands I truly appreciate every extra thing I can do.