Winter: my old foe

Those of you have read some of my early posts may remember my intense dislike of the cold. Not just because of wearing so many layers that you can no longer bend, but because if there's one thing that agitates arthritis, it's the cold.

 (Image: Living with oesteoarthritis - symptoms - pain, stiffness, swelling, sensation/rubbing of bone on bone, crunching/popping sounds during walking, limited movement, especially in the hips)

Basically, I plan to start a petition as follows.

All people suffering with arthritis or similar, or otherwise greatly affected by the cold, should be immediately relocated to the tropical paradise of their choice. 

I think that this idea is perfect in its simplicity. No more stiff joints. No more painful walking. In fact, it's a wonder that anyone hasn't come up with this before.

Now that spring is here, we have plenty of time to get this idea off the ground! OK, so maybe we won't get the tropical paradise of our choice, but I'm flexible! How many cupcakes do you think we would need to sell to buy an Island? Like, 100?

The brain drain of the 9-5

For those of you who don't know the history of this blog, here's a little catch up:

1) I have bilateral hip dysplasia. There's no cure for this, and it means I have pain every day of my life. I am 30 and I have arthritis. Dysplasia covers a broad spectrum. Some people have it better, some much worse.

2) In my late 20s I became seriously ill due to undiagnosed endometriosis. I recently spent 9 months out of work.

So, in September I started back at work, which has been amazing. It's a job I love, with great people, and I have access to all the cups of tea I can drink and free fruit I can eat. Living the dream.

It has been a hard slog though. After 9 months more or less on the sofa, with a few stays in hospital to break it up, it's a strain to be working day after day. My brain has seemed to just wave a little flag at the sight of 5pm.

The worst thing has been not writing. I still have so much to say on the subject of disability, I literally have a page of post titles written out, just waiting for me to put my angry but well-spoken self in gear.  (I'm not always angry, but I do find it a great motivator).

For all of us doing our best with less than perfect health, I think we owe it to ourselves to expect a little less. It's ok to not be making perfect meals every night, taking up extreme quilting (turns out that is a thing), writing that novel. Sometimes just living day to day is hard enough, and anything on top of that is a bonus. Yeah it would be nice if during those 9 months I had made myself a classic 50s dress out of curtains and spare doilies, but I didn't. I was ill, and I played facebook games and watched Judge Rinder. And that's ok with me.

 And now I'm working. I'm not writing like I used to. I can't maintain the same level of sport I used to do. Hell I can't even maintain the same level of late nights.  But I'm doing my best. I'm sure you are too.

Love to all of you reading.
Lisa.

Winter can f**k right off

I have always hated winter. It's just pointless really. OK, so we get Christmas, which I adore and look forward to every year, but they only put Christmas in December so that we wouldn't all kill ourselves. I can picture the ancient tribal leaders of England and the Isles getting together.

"People are finding winter bloody hard going. They're losing their will to live."
"What about another sacrifice?"
"I think we need to go bigger. Something that will rally the people and help them to forget how crappy this country is for 9 months of the year. Otherwise, I fear we're going to see a mass exodus."

It's dark for most of the day. It's so cold you can barely move for layers of clothing. It's constantly raining or hailing, so you enjoy the great outdoors at your own risk. And then, if you're like me, your bones frikkin ACHE! It's something between feeling like my hip bones are breaking and/or dying. 

All of this is why (as soon as I find a way to make money) I'm going out to somewhere like California. I don't care if every day is the same. I will happily give up seasons if it means that I can wander around outside without a coat and the risk of severe frostbite.

It's just starting to get warm here now after being horrific since November. That's far too long to be wearing jumpers and extra socks. Plus no one can afford to pay for their heating any more. What we need is some kind of massive dome to keep the heat in. Perhaps someone can get hold of the money that Donald Trump was going to use for the giant wall, and send it this way. After all, we do have a "special relationship."