I have managed a grand total of 8 weeks out of hospital on Monday so yippee!! I am very excited by that as I feel like finally after a year of being in hospital constantly -I am finally getting my life back!! I am still feeling rough on some days but not everyday and that's the most important thing!
I am making the most of every single day I feel OK or good and doing stuff with my day! I am hoping that soon I will be able to get back to work but there is a dispute at the moment as to whether they want the hassle of making some adjustments to my working pattern etc-we'll see... watch this space!!
Anyways I have been out everyday this week - despite the fact that its still mega slippy outside and there is still a fair amount of snow on the ground!! I only got back home on Wednesday as I spent a week with family up north - saw my gorgeous nephew and believe me it was hard tearing myself away on Wednesday but I will be seeing the family again in a few weeks. Also planned to see clarebear too in march which will be great and I cant wait!!
Anyway I am going to have to get gone - gotta get dressed and get out of my house - need some shopping and stuff from town! Till next time guys (and gals) ;-)
KitKat Xxx
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Saturday, 14 February 2009
Friday, 13 February 2009
Introducing Lucy...
My name is Lucy, I'm 22 and I've been an asthmatic for four and a half years. I'm a happy, bubbly person with a passion for reading and anything pink! I love watching medical dramas and American TV boxsets such as Greys Anatomy, Gilmore Girls, Friends (of course!) and Dawsons Creek.
I was diagnosed with asthma a few days before I went to university after having a persistent cough for two months. Whilst at uni I seemed to get more and more chest infections and my asthma became harder to control. I also have multiple allergies including food colourings, aspirin, most painkillers (NSAIDs), the anti-sickness medicine domperidone and I also have salicylate sensitivity meaning my diet is very restricted and eating out / socialising can be tricky. The combination of severe asthma and multiple allergies means that I need to take lots of medicines everyday including four inhalers, six different types of tablet and two creams for my skin. I also wear a medic alert bracelet and carry two epi-pens everywhere I go.
There is a common misconception that asthma is not serious, it's not life threatening and that it's cured by a blue inhaler. This couldn't be further from the truth and it can be very difficult to get other people to understand when you try to explain what it is like to live with asthma, particularly asthma at the more severe end of the spectrum. Uni was a difficult time for me and there were lots of up's and downs. I had a lot of hospital admissions mainly allergy related until the salicylate sensitivity was diagnosed. Being in hospital a lot meant I missed a lot of lectures but I always worked hard to catch up, even writing essays in hospital if necessary.
I graduated in 2008 with a 2:1 and now work for my local council as a Community Information Specialist. I was absolutely terrified about getting my own place to live and starting full time work. I had no idea how this would impact on my health. I started work six weeks ago and so far it's going well but it's a struggle and I'm usually exhausted by Wednesday and need the entire weekend to recover. I've had one day off so far and a couple of afternoons off but I work flexi time which works in my favour really and means that I can start late and finish early if I'm not feeling so good. My manager has been very understanding about my condition but hasn't really see the full extent of it, I hope she doesn't have to! I love living in my own house too, I don't have to worry about keeping anyone awake at night if I'm coughing a lot but again it's a struggle when I'm not well.
Recently my asthma has become a bit more unstable and I was in hospital with a chest infection just before Christmas where they found that my adrenal glands are not working properly as a consequence of repeated courses of oral steroids for both my asthma and allergies. I'm waiting for further tests before my consultant works out the best course of action but there is a possibility of trying Xolair, a relatively new treatment, to see if it would help my asthma and minimise my steroid use.
Anyone who is reading this who isn't an asthmatic is probably thinking it sounds awful... it isn't all bad though, life just involves a lot of juggling and fitting in time to take my medication or rest if I need to. In 2008 I swam a marathon in a month raising money for Asthma UK. It involved swimming a mile almost everyday between April and May and I raised nearly £300. I still try to swim regularly now as long as I don't have an infection. This year I hope to run the Race For Life in June and go on holiday in September, my first time flying and going abroad with my asthma and allergies!
I've tried to write this post so that hopefully other asthma suffers can find something they relate to but also non asthmatics can develop an understanding of the true reality of living with asthma. It's not all blue inhalers and getting out of puff in PE!
I was diagnosed with asthma a few days before I went to university after having a persistent cough for two months. Whilst at uni I seemed to get more and more chest infections and my asthma became harder to control. I also have multiple allergies including food colourings, aspirin, most painkillers (NSAIDs), the anti-sickness medicine domperidone and I also have salicylate sensitivity meaning my diet is very restricted and eating out / socialising can be tricky. The combination of severe asthma and multiple allergies means that I need to take lots of medicines everyday including four inhalers, six different types of tablet and two creams for my skin. I also wear a medic alert bracelet and carry two epi-pens everywhere I go.
There is a common misconception that asthma is not serious, it's not life threatening and that it's cured by a blue inhaler. This couldn't be further from the truth and it can be very difficult to get other people to understand when you try to explain what it is like to live with asthma, particularly asthma at the more severe end of the spectrum. Uni was a difficult time for me and there were lots of up's and downs. I had a lot of hospital admissions mainly allergy related until the salicylate sensitivity was diagnosed. Being in hospital a lot meant I missed a lot of lectures but I always worked hard to catch up, even writing essays in hospital if necessary.
I graduated in 2008 with a 2:1 and now work for my local council as a Community Information Specialist. I was absolutely terrified about getting my own place to live and starting full time work. I had no idea how this would impact on my health. I started work six weeks ago and so far it's going well but it's a struggle and I'm usually exhausted by Wednesday and need the entire weekend to recover. I've had one day off so far and a couple of afternoons off but I work flexi time which works in my favour really and means that I can start late and finish early if I'm not feeling so good. My manager has been very understanding about my condition but hasn't really see the full extent of it, I hope she doesn't have to! I love living in my own house too, I don't have to worry about keeping anyone awake at night if I'm coughing a lot but again it's a struggle when I'm not well.
Recently my asthma has become a bit more unstable and I was in hospital with a chest infection just before Christmas where they found that my adrenal glands are not working properly as a consequence of repeated courses of oral steroids for both my asthma and allergies. I'm waiting for further tests before my consultant works out the best course of action but there is a possibility of trying Xolair, a relatively new treatment, to see if it would help my asthma and minimise my steroid use.
Anyone who is reading this who isn't an asthmatic is probably thinking it sounds awful... it isn't all bad though, life just involves a lot of juggling and fitting in time to take my medication or rest if I need to. In 2008 I swam a marathon in a month raising money for Asthma UK. It involved swimming a mile almost everyday between April and May and I raised nearly £300. I still try to swim regularly now as long as I don't have an infection. This year I hope to run the Race For Life in June and go on holiday in September, my first time flying and going abroad with my asthma and allergies!
I've tried to write this post so that hopefully other asthma suffers can find something they relate to but also non asthmatics can develop an understanding of the true reality of living with asthma. It's not all blue inhalers and getting out of puff in PE!
Thursday, 29 January 2009
KitKat - update...
I have managed over a month out of hospital!! I came out on 21st December and more importantly I am still out! This is the longest that I have managed since this time last year as I spent all but 5 weeks of last year in the hotel NHS!! I can say on reflection its been a very hard 12 months constant chest infections and wheezing, then the fact that it is so disabling that I haven't yet been able to return to work. This then adds stress to the situation which then makes things worse... thus the cycle continues...
I am again fighting off another infection and judging by some others who also contribute to this blog, its a common but hard to get rid of bug that is currently living and partying in my lungs!!! I hope it does go soon... I am trying to get up early at the moment after realising I was getting myself into a destructive cycle of not doing very much! I have also been trying to walk around more - this has been difficult and I am wheezing and out of breath more as a result of it but it needs to be done in order for me to get back to work, I really hope also that remploy help with the work situation!!
As for me I'm slowly getting used to the disabling nature of brittle asthma though I am determined not to let it stop me doing things!!
Bye for now
I am again fighting off another infection and judging by some others who also contribute to this blog, its a common but hard to get rid of bug that is currently living and partying in my lungs!!! I hope it does go soon... I am trying to get up early at the moment after realising I was getting myself into a destructive cycle of not doing very much! I have also been trying to walk around more - this has been difficult and I am wheezing and out of breath more as a result of it but it needs to be done in order for me to get back to work, I really hope also that remploy help with the work situation!!
As for me I'm slowly getting used to the disabling nature of brittle asthma though I am determined not to let it stop me doing things!!
Bye for now
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)