Five years ago I came back from an overseas trip with what I thought was the worst case of jetlag ever recorded… So began a 4.5 year recovery journey from chronic fatigue. Some days I doubted if I’d ever leave the house again, let alone travel again; travel was where I came undone, it was a risk, it was an unknown, would I ever do it again? The answer is, yes! Continue reading
Tag Archives: chronic illness
almost better…
I made it to midnight this New Year’s Eve, the first time in three years, and as I raised my glass to cheers with tipsy friends I felt so grateful to be there, to be functioning, to be happy and to be almost recovered… Read on
skiing? goal achieved!
The big news is that I went skiing last month. Yep, that’s right, me, the CFS warrior went skiing. Woo hoo! And why haven’t I shouted this from the rooftops and stamped it all over social media? Why haven’t I yelled loudly and proudly about achieving this goal I set two years ago? Well, I wasn’t sure how to explain that I did something as insanely energetic as skiing, yet I still have chronic fatigue… Read on
Using words for awareness
Hello readers, well it’s here again, CFS/ME Awareness Day and I’m absolutely stoked (and struggling to type properly because of my shaking hands) to share that I wrote an awareness raising article for the website Mamamia. Read on
Progress not Perfection
As a lifelong overachiever one of the hardest things I find with recovery from CFS is acknowledging the slow progress I’m making. I don’t want to improve at turtle-pace I want to wake up recovered. I want to progress in leaps and bounds and achieve things like I used to, glacial pace doesn’t please me at all. The thing is though, with this illness, that’s not how recovery works. Read on
Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable
I watched a video the other day that talked about getting comfortable with the uncomfortable in life. This can relate to so many areas from dating to sport to going to the doctor but it resonated with me and my recovery from chronic fatigue syndrome. Read on
Noticing The Little Things
I got caught in the rain on Sunday doing my daily walk and instead of cringing or shrieking or running to my car I just grinned, exulted to be out in the elements and feeling alive. I strode on down the path and put my face up to the falling water and felt happy and hopeful. Read on
Climbing back up the cliff
I recently found myself in a CFS setback, back to being housebound and some days bedbound. On the other side of this setback though, having returned to my baseline, I can now see that it was a good thing, that those six weeks of fatigue and confusion and pain and grossness were actually worth it. Why? Because I realised my health is actually improving! Read on
Fatigue-iversary
I had a nasty thought the other day that my entire year as a 27-year-old was just spent being sick. Wow, that’s a great way to make yourself miserable Susan, so let’s rearrange that thought little miss overachiever. Ok, yes I was sick with CFS for my 28th year on this earth, but more importantly some very good things happened too.
Read on
Grieving for the past two years
Why have I been so sad? Why do I cry watching clichéd American TV shows? Where has my motivation gone? What’s going on? Am I depressed again? Or maybe it’s something else… Something else? Maybe it’s July. And why is July significant? Well, it just so happens that in the month of July, two exhausting years ago, I got sick, and I didn’t get better. Read on
a snoozie life 