Time has passed

I have moved on quite a lot in my illness since I last wrote about it in 2011. I went and saw a counsellor at the beginning of 2012 because I thought I was depressed about the fact that I couldn't be a good teacher with my illness. However talking to the counsellor help me to see that I was really depressed about was the fact that I was never going to get well while I was a teacher. The physical demands put on me every 10 weeks when a semester or half semester ended meant that I regularly worked myself to exhaustion and then would spend the next several weeks recovering and I saw myself repeat it over and over again. I realised that to get better I had to change jobs.

In 2012 two good things happened - I got a new job and I got an electric wheelchair. For two years I was able to race around the countryside on the wheelchair which I called my bike and one day quite unexpectedly I got better. And I do mean one day. On 1st July, 2014 I was with my young twin grandsons and. my husband and my son down at the coast. I got up at seven in the morning and dressed them watching the World Cup on TV and I realised I didn't feel sick in the stomach while doing that. I came home and help unpack instead of just going straight to bed. It took a few days to actually sink in that I was well. On Tuesday, 8th July I had a doctor's appointment. In the morning I went for a walk along the side of Lake Burley Griffin just to see if I could and I walked for half an hour. It was amazing and I knew I was was well.

It took me months to get my strength back again even to be able to walk comfortably. I spent hours working on the garden and life was pretty magical. Unfortunately, I stupidly gave up the diet or should I say I was tempted to eat a muffin which set off a chain of events which meant that my illness returned in August 2015. I was devastated and angry at myself for deviating from the diet. To express my anger at myself I haven't had my hair cut in over a year. I went back on the diet and I went back to following my four rules1) drink plenty of water 2) go to bed at 8:30. 3) don't over do it for any reason 4) stick to the Royal Prince Alfred hospital diet. I also decided that I would go down the coast every six weeks because going down the coast and walking in the cold water there always makes me feel so much better.

Recently 16th of July this time 2016 I got better again. Again it happened while I was down the coast with a grandchild. Came home from the coast and unpacked everything. I feel the strength in my legs, feel the ability to endure and to keep going rather than just weakness and the need to lie down and rest. I'm at home sick at present which is why I guess I've got time to think about this again. I have the flu. Don't know whether, at the end of the week when I get out of bed I will be able to walk again or not. However I believe that I have cracked this illness! If I follow the rules and walk in the sea (that's really important) then I believe I can be better.


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