Measuring the subjective

Another post inspired by Radio 4....

I was listening to Women's Hour last week, and they were discussing heavy periods (something I thankfully do not suffer from) and the way they were classified as 'heavy'. Without wanting to freak out any male readers I may have, I feel compelled to explain this to make my point - a heavy period was measured by asking women to bring in tampons and pads and measuring the volume of menstruated fluid.

So why I am talking about a condition I don't have when I have plenty of my own to fill a whole blog?

A review of The Deepest Acceptance, Jeff Foster

I have recently read The Deepest Acceptance, by Jeff Foster, having been recommended it by someone whose book recommendations are always spot on. She had previously recommended Ingrid Bacci's The Art of Effortless Living (my review of which you can read here).

And this book was no exception. Although I can't say I enjoyed it - such books are typically no light read - I found it refreshingly honest. It was certainly thought-provoking and made some interesting points that I don't necessarily agree with but I still took a few things away from the book, even whilst I spent much of it thinking of situations that are the exceptions to, and contradict his statements!

Having read several self-help books since becoming ill, and being the recipient of much similar (unwelcome) advice from friends and family (as I am sure any patient will understand), there was a difference in this book - an acknowledgement of the situation, and of the reality of life with illness;

The Power of Twitter - Patient Power

This question was posed by Dr Black in her UCLLHL lecture today. These lunch hour lectures from UCL are often fascinating - see my post on Prof Barber's non-compliance lecture and the full schedule of future lectures here. She was talking about the power of Twitter (in lots of different contexts from fundraising to marketing, to socialising and researching), and left me inspired to be more creative with my use of Twitter. She also got me thinking about the power of Twitter and me being me, thought about it in the context of when you are a patient....

A Healthy New Year?

The saying may be just a phrase that everyone says to everyone else at this time of year . . . But wishing me a 'healthy new year' is particularly hard to hear this year. I know health is a subjective thing, but when you have a long-term condition, all the fresh starts of a new year are not going to make you healthy again! It seems a rather insulting comment from family and friends who I know haven't grasped the time-frame of my illness - I'm not going to get better! The time-frame of long-term health conditions is hard for people to understand, and their lack of comprehension and the comments that result are one of the most annoying things about LTCs. But can I find some truth or hope in the dreaded phrase - a 'healthy new year'?