hello!

sorry for such long gaps in between posts. if im feeling really crappity crap (like this week!) i feel i will just be all moany and as that is not the aim of the blog i just email my mate tina instead for a good old symptoms whinge!

this week i have felt so tired, achey and fed up (because i am tired and achey!) and had to cancel everything planned. i only managed a couple of blog posts here and a teeny weeny bit of knitting for an upcoming craft show. except a couple of days ago i had to venture out as my cat biba was ill and had to get taken to the vet. even though it was a short bus ride and a short wait at the vet hospital i was so utterly exhausted when i came home i was back in bed right away. poor biba was so frightened of leaving home and was very brave when get injections from the vet. she has antibiotics to take and should be on the mend soon. tomorrow is my birthday and i hope to have enough energy to celebrate just a little bit!

i will try and be back next week with more regular posts. in the meantime here is a picture of my sweet beautiful biba in her pumpkin bed. happy halloween!

struggling along

i am struggling along this week. yup coping with cfs is hard. been feeling a bit sorry for myself. there is so much i want to do but can't. aaaaaagggghhhhh! i keep telling myself maybe tomorrow. and i have to keep reminding myself that i am one of the lucky ones. i hate to think what it is like to be in a wheelchair all the time.
i have been to see a new neurologist who is going to send me for a mri scan, just to rule any other nasties out. he was so nice and seemed to know a lot about cfs and fibro. he advised going on the wellbeing course that is run for cfs sufferers at glasgows homeopathic hospital. i told him i was already signed up for it in january. i felt he was one of the first doctors to really care about helping me. anyway i still have many things keeping me happy this week. watching this is one of them and here's another.

confused?

i have already mentioned all the recent news regarding the latest findings on the possible causes for cfs and fibro. are you as confused as me? what is XMRV and what is a retrovirus anyway? most importantly what does the discovery mean to us? i found this helpful on adrienne dellwo's blog.

inspiration

apart from lying on the sofa i have been meeting some very inspiring people this week for a coffee (and a virtual coffee!) firstly i met with vicki who has recovered from cfs and is now teaching the gupta technique, that helped improve her symptoms. it was a joy to speak to her and hear her story - she had been affected for many years. i hope she will do a little interview for this blog in the future.

i was also contacted by a couple of very amazing creative women who have managed to set up businesses from home against all the odds. i will be talking more about them in another post.

if anyone has inspired you this week i would love to hear about them.

a little bit of hope

jane, one of my american relations, sent me this article from the new york times. you can also read another similar article here. you may have read/heard about this yourself by now. this is good news for all of us that are affected with cfs/me, as surely if science is closer to finding the real cause, then it will be closer to finding a cure or at the very least better treatment of the symptoms.

having a laugh

i picked up a leaflet a couple of weeks ago for a laughter workshop. I really do believe that laughing is the best medicine but at £8 per session, plus a trip across town in the evening to take part, sadly it will not be on my list of things to do.

apparently 'fake' laughing works just as well as real laughter as the body can't distinguish between them and releases endorphins into our blood stream anyway!

however it did get me thinking what could really get me chuckling my head off for free (or nearly free). my cat orla playing 'fetch' with me always works, joking with friends, watching the peep show or a really funny movie can do the trick.

please let me know whom or what makes you split your sides.

here is a very funny clip found by my friend emily (ta mate) to get us all chuckling away for free.......