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

Morning all.
Overcast & 19⁰c here with a breeze

@TeaAndStrumpets oh crumbs. None of that sounds good.
Can you get a shower stool?

Well done @TodayIsabetterone it can feel overwhelming with so many house jobs but a lovely friend fixed a couple of niggles which felt huge to me but was so easy for him. He was only round for half an hour or so!

I'm feeling happy with my slow gardening attempts, having been let down by actual gardeners so many times. I fixed my cordless strimmer and managed to chop most of the 'lawn' back bit by bit. If I stay in this house I'm considering killing the grass and doing a drought garden. Probably won't happen but I love sea holly and lots of other drought tolerant ones and don't have any borders much at the moment so it would be nice to have more plants rather than parched grass!

Thanks I think I'll be donating the rest to my youngest dgs. At 12 he needs a lot of hosing off due to being a muddy boy, but is not yet wanting to smell lovely!

The man is coming to fix the oven on Monday, that's a relief. Honestly we hardly use it, it's still quite clean from when we put the house on the market and I paid someone to clean it 😂 - day to day we use a Sage mini oven which is plenty big enough for the two of us.

Wow that is amazing progress!

It's often the simple fixes that make an impact, like getting your taps changed. It gives a bit of momentum. Yes we've had rooms full of clutter at times and it feels better once it gets moved out. At the moment we have a tip box and a charity box (or two) parked next to the back door, ready to go on their next journey!

Those cordless strimmers are great, we've got a hedge cutter that uses the same battery. Black and Decker I think. They went on loan to DD1 some time ago and haven't come back! Her DH has heavy petrol powered machinery but she can't lift it...these battery ones she can nibble away without pain!

Thanks yes I've got a shower stool but I have to lift it in every time and out again. I was determined on a quick in and out this morning but misjudged it slightly! It is lovely to sit on it wrapped in a towel though, so still worth having.

Ooh 19° sounds chilly to me, we've got 27° at the moment 😎

Thank-you. I'm sorry you had a pain night and glad it sounds like you're getting a break. Maybe you can sleep after your tea? I would love a little dashound or bichon to snuggle while a summer breeze wafted in as I drank tea.

Afternoon all. Sleepy sausage dog snuggles sound lovely. I've just been out to the park where there was one running really fast after a ball, I've never seen such a fast sausage!

Finally collected my library card and had a little wander in there, can see me visiting fairly frequently. Borrowed a couple of books including one about giving up reading the news because it's bad for you 😀 Then walked downhill to the lake to watch the ducks and swans for a bit. Back uphill was less pleasant and I got a bit out of breath and angsty. Lunch and a nap now, then I might do a bit more unpacking - I've got an ottoman stool just waiting to be filled with things that can be hidden away.

Weather is much nicer and cooler here although the house is still quite stuffy.

We definitely missed a trick with our ottoman stool, it would have been so much better with storage! It was home made and I was more obsessed with making my one metre of posh fabric fit with the pattern looking correct!

Little dogs are hilarious when they run, my friend sent me a video of her puppy and swore the film hadn't been speeded up!

Well, I managed to jam it with long grass previously then I had my wonderful gardener for a while so now he's retired and I struggled to find a replacement, I've given it a go myself again. I managed to sort the jam out and get it working.

I must be thick but didn't realise you nibble as you say ..I think I used to cut at the bottom which would just jam up! My new 'technique' is working 😊

I may have painted a misleading picture as shes since been a very naughty sausage indeed!
We moved into to the garden just at the very moment the postman arrived and she barked like a feral dog and dived at the closed gate which flew open shocking all 3 of us. Poor guy literally dived onto his trolley thing and just sat there legs crossed whilst I retrieved her apologising profusely! So embarrassing! 🙈
Luckily it was the nice postman and he was fine about it and she came back to me immediately so I could secure her in again quickly.
Did make me wonder if him diving on the trolley was instinct or they actually have postie training. It was incredibly sensible either way! She’s just vocal not aggressive but he doesn’t know that.
So yes chilled morning didn’t last long 😂

Glad you’re making progress with the gardening @MewithME The bit by bit technique definitely works!

Think we started the shower declutter in January ( new years resolution - again 🙄) but obviously illness hit so got put on hold but both DH and kept grabbing 5 items to sort and like you @TeaAndStrumpets we have a tip box/ charity box/ sell box.
Then this week we got excited at seeing the floor again and DH just moved everything else out so we had to finish sorting!

It seems a bit hotter now. 28.8°. We never did get the promised rain.

Yes 28 here too and feels it. No breeze anymore 😕 Hopefully cooler at 25 tomorrow 🤞

@martha79 I love our local library. I'm hoping as I am hoping to not go back to work to spend more time in there. DD loved it this morning when I had to scan my card to get into the building as it was outside of manned hours. Just need to finish my book I'm currently reading which is taking a while with my inability to concentrate for long periods nowadays.

@TeaAndStrumpets no rain here either. Think we are sitting around 25 at the moment. It's quite the novelty that our inside thermostat is reading higher than the outside temperature.

Kicked my ass into gear today and went for a run before DS swimming lesson. Still came back dripping with sweat and really didn't want to go. However whilst I'm off chemo I really need to stick at it. Build myself back up a bit and keep the head squirrels at bay. Once out I was quite enjoying myself, I'm still erring on the side of caution with fatigue so was managing 1k and then 90 second rest. Managed 3k until my stomach decided not to play ball so ended up walking part way back home. Took a quick shower and then took the other child to the library and then got a charity shop haul of next size clothing for DS. I was very proud of how much I picked up for £10 so probably should make it a habit once the kids are back at school. I'm looking at also visiting the food pantry as well. I'm trying to think of how many ways I can potentially save money as I'll be losing half of my salary each month on SSP.

In other news last week DWP called me last week to how I want to do my assessment as I am on chemo. I'm now waiting on an appointment for face to face however I did then receive a text saying my application is now being assessed by a handler and they'd inform me if I needed an assessment so who actually knows.

It’s 29 in the house. No idea if it’s warmer or cooler outside because I haven’t been out. This heat has been really bad for my fatigue, it isn’t great anyway but it’s just felt relentless since May

Fingers crossed for no assessment @Oioiqueen that would be great 👍

This too. Hope it goes OK.

I suppose a combination of free from work but less money to go round is a challenge with growing children, but you've had a good haul at the charity shop by the sound of it.

DD1 buys things like football boots from Vinted, they are often unworn. She's been stuck at home this week and she's been listing odds and ends, people buy anything! So far she's sold some random china and outgrown shoes and made £70. It is helping to declutter both our houses as I'm passing her my stuff too!

Hope you are coping @JewelleryCat it can be so depressing being stuck inside.

@TeaAndStrumpets it can be but I’m used to it lol. It’s just a shame that the fatigue is like this all the time at the moment

I hear you! Just keeping plodding on here, it will be nice to feel cooler 🌧

@TeaAndStrumpets I think we'll be OK once PIP kicks in and we do have savings that we kept aside for 'loss of income' as DH earns considerably more than me. It's just the initial drop that'll be difficult, I have also been doing a lot of batch cooking over the holiday. I regularly look at Vinted and have sold quite a bit myself on there. It's the hassle of having to post it as the nearest locker / Evri drop off is 3 miles away so when you take out fuel you've really got to be invested in selling a lot.

@TodayIsabetterone fingers crossed, I have heard of some people getting it without assessment for metastatic cancer.

Took DS for lunch and felt so ill since I got back. I've had a nap but I still feel awful. Headache, nausea, weakness....urgh. got to go and make his dinner now. I can't face anything for myself. I'll just force myself to do his and come back to bed.

Are you still feeling ill after your holiday? Hope you manage to catch your breath soon, this fatigue can snowball. Take it easy 💕

Yes I think so. Thought I would manage lunch out today as I can park close by and it's usually easy enough but I think it's still pretty hot, it was noisy and busy today so took longer and I just feel awful. I need to see my mum before I go back to work but that's a 500 mile round trip.... I'm fed up of the pressure.... This illness is going to make me snap and become a hermit eventually. 😭

I just don't want to have to always push myself for other people. I don't feel I have a choice though.

Will try not to do much at all this week. It's my birthday in a few days. I would like to somehow enjoy it on my terms for once.

God I'm a grump... sorry... just feeling crappy and in pain.