What are you up to today if you have a chronic illness 🧵10! Summer Edition 🌞

[MewithME]

Getting ready..,. But you know the score.... Let's be good and fill thread 9 up first 😁

Link https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5542135-what-are-you-up-to-today-if-you-have-a-chronic-illness-thread-9-summers-coming

Yes definitely a long haul @TeaAndStrumpets just frustrated shoulder seems to have flared up again and I’m back to painkillers after doing so much better but hopefully I’ll get there.

Take it easy today @MewithME and don’t worry about keeping up with the thread…no one expects you to, you're on holiday Mrs!! 😬 The thing that jumped out to me was wearing a hoodie… I thought oh how lovely to feel it’s needed 😂

Hello all! Have been awol mostly due to my phone going on the blink and holiday packing and travel! DH has resurrected an old phone for me and we are now fully installed in our holiday cottage, so I should be around a bit more ☺️

Going to catch up on the many posts now ... 💕

I just was thinking this morning @Swanhilde is quiet so glad it was just the phone on the blink and not you!
Enjoy your holiday cottage 🎉

Have a lovely holiday @Swanhilde !

I am having fun online today, tracking down a comfortable armchair because I really struggle. At the moment I'm using one of those fancy reclining garden chairs because I can get it at just the right angle for my neck and shoulder, but need three cushions for bum and lumbar comfort.

We have 2 large sofas which are rock hard and give me sciatica so here I sit on a garden chair! I am going to dispose of the sofas soon because we only ever use them for visitors.

Edited to add, the three cushions are one for lumbar support, two on top of one another to sit on, not one for each buttock 😂

@martha79 Ooh a table top dishwasher sounds ideal, good thinking.

@TeaAndStrumpets sciatica is horrible, good luck with the chair hunt.

Today I have renewed my library card, a job I've been meaning to do for about 2 months. And this afternoon DH and I went to visit some dear friends. It was lovely to see them. They are both unwell as well, so its a rarity that the planets align and all four of us feel up to a visit, do not have medical appointments and there is enough daylight to drive there and back and have a couple of hours chatting.

Exhausted now though, so a restful one planned for tomorrow.

We did part of the Lighthouse trail round town. Its in aid of the local hospice.
I've posted this pic on another thread, but think it deserves an outing here.

Not on hols, I live here.

@martha79 yes definitely get a dishwasher! DD2 is very pleased with her tabletop one, and even more pleased to have found room inside a cupboard next to the sink so it doesn't take up worktop space.

@danglethedingle it's the oldest best loved friends that are the most tiring I find! When we see ours it's non stop chatting because we have so much to catch up on...texts and emails aren't enough, it's nice to sit and have a cup of tea with them. I get really hyped up and am exhausted for days with all the talking...but worth it!

BTW I have found a cream leather recliner on Gumtree for £50, also found the same make/model but in black for nearly £700 on eBay, both in excellent condition. I do like a bargain.

Obviously got the cream one 😁

That is lovely! You are very lucky.

@FuzzyPuffling looks lovely, a nice theme. Ours are usually penguins, elephants that sort of thing.

I'm so fatigued today. Idiot met up with a friend at a NT with our kids. Didn't think to pace myself and now I'm paying the price. I keep thinking that now I've dropped the chemo that my energy levels will return. Forgetting that the immunotherapy does come with fatigue side effects also.

That looks absolutely beautiful

Lighthouse trail looks lovely @FuzzyPuffling. We have lions at the moment!

@danglethedingle you've reminded me to renew my library card too, thank you.

Enjoy your new chair @TeaAndStrumpets

After feeling brighter this morning from decent sleep and it being a bit cooler, I had a rough afternoon. Very frustrated at the unpredictability.

On the plus side, got my lightbulbs changed over to smart ones so I can dim/ change colour/ put them on timers/ switch lights off from my phone if I can't be bothered getting up 😂

I love your lions @martha79. What a handsome pair!

Ooh well done, that's a brilliant saving.

Those are amazing lions as well!

Oh dear so you are double tired! That seems unfair. 💐

Yes I'm very pleased. The cheap one on Gumtree had no brand name listed, but I used Google Lens and it told me the maker (Danish) because it found lots of pictures of identical ones. Sometimes AI is really stupid but of course it only repeats what it finds on the internet.

Morning all!

Another week gone, maybe it's the weather but the days seemed to merge into one this week and I spent a few days thinking it was the next day 🤔Luckily nothing crucial has been going on!

I spent an hour supervising some kitchen decluttering last night, standing for an hour was too much and I felt dreadful, heartrate up and feeling faint. I've been in a prolonged crash and it was a stupid thing to do but wanted (needed!) to help. Adrenaline was surging and I was in agony with my gut cramping, so off to bed with my trusty hot water bottle.

I slept OK fortunately and will try to rest more today. I was reading that belly breathing is good for calming adrenaline so I keep trying to remember to do that.

Anyway we found a lot of stuff in the kitchen cupboards. It's the corner ones that lose things! I found enough Christmas napkins to last us for years, and loads of expired pasta and herb tea bags😊

Hope you all have a great day!

Well done on the kitchen sorting @TeaAndStrumpets, take it easy today.

My dishwasher arrived half an hour ago! It is indeed small, but also quite heavy so am having a sit down now I've got it set up. Just waiting for a grocery delivery that includes dishwasher tablets so I can give it a try.

Got breathing rehab class today but otherwise no more plans. Might potter down to the park if I feel up to it later.

That is so cute! And I can see you'd get a lot in. The pain about the full size dishwashers is it takes ages to empty them once a day (for us), but this size you can do it frequently and quickly. Like a bowl full at a time but no effort and no stuff drying on the rack.

Yes the kitchen is mostly done, just need to recycle contents of the outdated food packets. We've recently been given a council food waste bin and I'm now fanatical about using it! Then the cupboard under the sink (another black hole) and stored cleaning stuff from the cupboard under the stairs.

I realise now I need to keep everything in one place because I have found so many duplicate boxes of scourers etc. I have obviously being replacing stuff that was lost, rather than actually used up. At least dusters don't have a use-by date!

Is it a countertop dishwasher? Looks very smart @martha79

It is a countertop one - fits nicely in the space between my sink and the wall. You can plumb it in/ attach to the tap but I've gone for the option of just filling the water tank with a jug. And there's a hose to drain into the sink. I had a full sized one in my old house and it would take me a few days to fill - this is supposed to take three place settings so I should be able to run it once a day.

Got it on a test run at the moment and am a bit mesmerised watching the water splashing about 🤣

I've just looked at the weather forecast and want to have an ugly toddler tantrum with feet stamping and all. I'm done, it's due to be 32 at some point next week. We've got DH's parents staying and I can't deal with fatigue, grumpy kids that can't sleep in the warm weather alongside hosting. I just want to slob in my pants with all the windows and blinds shut. We've had one day where it rained for a couple of minutes and that's it.

It's all too much! It's been about right this week, and cooler at night. I daren't look at the forecast here in case it also tells me 32° 🙁

Good luck with the visitors. I am expecting a friend to stay for a day or so later this month, she's looking forward to being back in the UK for a while because summers are unbearable where she lives in southern France 🌞

@martha79 I keep thinking a mini dishwasher would save on having dozens of cups and mugs, too! Will mention to DH for future reference!