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My Chronic Illness Writing Prompts for January 2021

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Every month I try to join in with Sheryl from A Chronic Voice and her writing prompts. Using her prompts gives me the opportunity to write about how my chronic illness affects me and my hopes for going forward. These are the Chronic Illness Writing prompts for January 2021

Beginning

Yesterday, January 1st, marked the fifth anniversary of when I was first admitted to hospital. I’d had a previous indication that something was wrong and my GP was arranging a scan, but my condition escalated quickly and I ended up spending the first two weeks of 2016 in hospital. I was initially diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis and was told it would take about 8 weeks to recover. I was devastated. A year later I was re-diagnosed with a progressive condition, Stiff Person Syndrome plus PERM. I have been coming to term with this for the last five years.

Last year was a strange one. It felt like the rest of the country had a little taste of what it’s like to not go anywhere. I spend most of the year going nowhere but hospital. I have very rarely done ‘normal’ things for the last five years and it’s felt like my home is my prison. I think a lot of people have felt similar but for them there is hope, a light at the end of the tunnel. Freedom. Enjoy it. I know I will make the most of every moment I get to spend away from home from now on.

Symbolising.

I used to be quite spiritual, many years ago a lot of things held symbols for me. The last year I have revisited some of this with natural healing. I feel I have got lost somewhere along the way, life hasn’t been kind, not just with my illness, but in general and I’ve taken all the negative symbols and absorbed them as my fate. Maybe it’s time to reverse this.

We cannot control our fate but we can control how we react to it. If I chose a symbol to represent my life it would be an infinity symbol. Life revolves around and there are places revisited, some good, some bad. But it goes on and the best way to survive it is to accept it. Keep revolving, keep accepting, keep learning, there is no end.

Enduring

After such a difficult year like 2020 I think most of us need a big pat on the back for enduring it. I have found it quite peaceful and calming. But, I have accepted that there is danger out there and together as a family we have worked to stay safe.

I know others have not fared so well. It’s been tough and many lives have been lost. My heart goes out to anyone who has suffered at the hands of this virus. The biggest thing I’ve found hard to endure is the ones that ignore the warnings, believe the most ridiculous conspiracy theories and have acted with no concern for others. And yes, that includes our government!

speeches made by Jacinda Adern and Boris Johnson at the beginning of the pandemic.

Revealing

The past year has revealed a lot to me, in particular about humanity. I have been humbled by the acts of people who have come to the aid of others. The kindness and caring nature of people who have looked out for others less fortunate. Helping when people have been confined to their homes due to illness, raising money to help out the NHS, showing support and generally caring.

Then there have been the revelations of people who are quite the opposite. People that have really shown their true colours. Those that have broken every rule made to protect us. It’s been a tough time for small businesses, and even big businesses have suffered. It’s not been easy for anyone, but we’ve managed to keep the cogs turning as much as possible. Sadly, if we had acted sooner and people had followed rules, we may have been able to get through this a lot better and quicker.

I won’t even go into the revelations of the lies and conspiracies on both sides of the fence. I’ll be here all day!

The biggest thing that has been revealed is that even though a majority of people have been kind and helpful, there are still some, that profess to be caring, that would deny a child a meal. No matter what the circumstances, a child is not to blame.

Gracing

This prompt I am finding the most difficult. I’m not one for fanciful and graceful things.

I guess I can use it as gracing the future with respect and hope and take all that is thrown at me with strength. Where I will find that strength I’m not sure, but I will try my best. All we can ever do is hope for the best. Maybe this year will grace me with the tools I need to get my life in order.

Thank you Sheryl for writing these prompts each month and encouraging us to reflect on life.

Thank you for reading my chronic illness writing prompts for January and allowing me to indulge a little in my illness and how it affects my life.

Finally, a very Happy New Year to all my readers, I hope it will be graceful, peaceful and as pain free as possible.

Chronic illness writing prompts for January 2021, beginning, symobolising, enduring, revealing and gracing.

Previous Chronic Illness Writing Prompts, January to December 2020

Word of the Week 1 – 2021

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Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week. A nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My word this week is ‘2021’ and you can read more about that below.

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase. But please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week. There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest board devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mix Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

My Word of the Week – 2021

New Year 2021

It’s the first week of 2021 and I am entering with trepidation. This time last year my word was ‘Forward’. It was the beginning of the new decade and a new era with us leaving the EU. I had many things to look forward to and the year started well with my eldest son’s birthday and a trip to the ballet with my friend. Then in March, along came a virus and suddenly the world became a different place.

2021 feels like a step into the real unknown. A Brexit deal has been made, changes will be dealt with, hopefully it will all go well. Vaccines have been produced to fight off the virus so maybe we will be getting back to some sort of normality this year. But will anything ever be the same again. Last year we had no idea what was going to happen, this year we enter with a little hope at least.

I wish all of my readers a very Happy New Year. I hope it goes much better than last year.

Now it’s over to you, what word or phrase sums up your week this week.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

New Years Party 2020

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A New Years party is probably the last thing on a lot of people’s mind’s this year, especially with the Covid restrictions and not being able to see family and friends.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t celebrate though. We haven’t had a party for years now, but we still have our New Years Eve traditions. We have party food that we all enjoy. We put up a few extra party decorations and we play some fun games as a family.

Happy New Year Banner

Party Food

I’ve done all sorts of fancy stuff in the past including slow cooker pulled pork and Christmas Dinner Leftover Pie One year I even made a delicious Moroccan Spiced Pie.

Moroccan Spiced Pie

We generally stick to easy to prepare food though, like mini pizzas, quiches, mini sausages, scotch eggs, spring rolls, sausage rolls, ham, salad and we always finish off with a nice cheese board with a load of crackers. I think we spend most of the evening just snacking away. We even have a couple of cakes and a tiramisu to devour. I doubt we’ll be able to move on New Years Day.

Party Fun

Just because we can’t have people around it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. Board games are always a hit. We have Monopoly Cheaters edition which is a little quicker to play that normal, especially if you are good at cheating! Or we pull out on of the consoles and play Mario Party, or Mario Kart. This year we have Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 which is causing a lot of competitiveness.

Or we may put a movie on that we will all enjoy. When the kids were younger we used to watch one of the Cornetto Trilogy, Sean of the Dead, Hot Fuzz or The World’s End. But the kids stay up now so we choose something that everyone can watch like Star Wars or a Marvel film.

Staying Up!

We always stay up until midnight at least. We will then wish each other a Happy New Year and generally go out into the street to wish Happy New Year to the neighbourhood. Usually there are fireworks, but we don’t set them off. Where we used to live we could see the big display in the City Centre, but now we just have the neighbour’s firework shows. Even if we did go to bed early the noise would wake us up! We like to do the countdown to the New Year with Jools Holland and his Hootenanny.

Then it’s off to bed and hope that next year will be better.

What are your plans for New Years Eve This year, will you be having a party even if it’s your own household only?

Balmonds, Skin Products You Will Love

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I was sent some Balmonds products for review and signed up for the affiliate program so my links will earn me a little money if you click through and purchase, but they won’t cost you any extra if you do, so thank you for your support.

Balmonds Skin Salvation

Balmonds Skin Salvation

Both my eldest son and my teen daughter have skin problems. My son has eczema around his ears which cause him a lot of distress. My daughter has psoriasis on her legs and joints. Both have been given steroids and creams from the GP but nothing has made much different. Then I was sent some Balmonds Skin Salvation and it has been amazing.

I would love to show you before and after photographs but neither of my children would consent so I’m afraid you will have to take my word for it. My son says that the Skin Salvation feels amazing on his ears and stops the itching which means he doesn’t scratch and make his ears bleed. Before using the Skin Salvation his ears were literally purple. They are so much better after a month’s use, I’m hoping that by continuing with Balmonds daily that his ears will clear up completely. Even if they don’t he is really happy with the relief he gets.

With my daughter, I have been using the moisturising cream on her psoriasis. We have had good results but I’m considering getting her a pot of Skin Salvation to see if she can get as much success as her brother.

I have been given a code for all my readers to get 20% off when you order through my links. Just use RAISIEBAY20 at the checkout.

Other Products.

As well as the SkinSalvation, Balmonds do a lot of dry skin and daily skincare products.

I also had a sample of the Intensive hand cream and as someone who suffers from dermatitis this cream is really lovely. It feels thick when you put it on but it soon absorbs in to your skin. It leaves your hands feeling soft. The intensive handcream is £10.99 for 50ml.

Balmonds Moisturising Cream

I was also sent a sample of the Daily Moisturising cream. It costs £13.99 for 100ml. I found that it absorbed into my daughter’s skin very easily without leaving it greasy. The creams she has been prescribed always leave her feeling greasy and have marked her clothes. But this cream didn’t and worked just as well, if not actually better.

There are loads more products in the Balmonds Shop. Including Scalp oil, lip balm, shampoo, scar oil, cleansing lotion and hand sanitizer gel just to name a few. There are ranges for children and babies, and pregnant women as well as products for all kinds of skin conditions.

The Balmonds Story

The story of Balmonds began with a mother trying to help her daughter’s painful skin when all else seemed to be failing. She needed something that would prevent a flare up and had none of the usual nasties like preservatives, fragrances, chemicals and irritants. What it did need to be was 100% natural, mild, hydrating, safe, effective, nourishing and protective.

Natalie Balmond mixed together a combination of nourishing oils, beeswax and skin kind herbs. SkinSalvation is a thick, rich, oily, beeswax-based salve, designed to soothe the itch, lock in moisture and protect from further irritation to break the itch-scratch cycle. It contains hemp seed oil which is very rich in essential fatty acids which eczema sufferers often lack, so long-term use will nourish the skin with the nutrients and oils needed to regenerate, regulate and repair the skin.

I’m already a huge fan of Balmonds and will be using the products regularly. I’m desperate to try the scalp oil for myself and will be getting more SkinSalvation as I’m sure we won’t be able to live without it now we’ve tried it.

Remember if you wish to try something yourself you can use my 20% off voucher RAISIEBAY20 at the checkout.

Let me know if you try anything and how you get on. I’m sure I’ll be telling you more about Balmonds in the future.

My Sunday Snapshot – Stars

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I have many stars in my life, Stars in the sky, Star my warrior child and my little Boo, who was the star on our Christmas Tree this year.

Stars on the Christmas tree

Young Carer Star

Boo was given this star because she is considered a young carer. It is difficult for a child who lives with another child with extra needs and Boo has two siblings who demand more attention. Not only that but she feels a duty in looking after me. I’ve noticed that as she has moved into the teenage years that she tends to ‘switch off’ a lot and just hide away doing her own thing. Like I would once hide away in a book, she watches videos on her tablet. She is a little star though.

Stars

Star, chose her blog name when she was five. I think it was because she liked looking at stars in the sky but it turned out to be really fitting when she had to endure a couple of years of operations and halo wearing.

I also like to think of those that have passed on become stars in the sky. When I was young I’d watch to see if I could see my Dad who left way too soon (to avoid the rush*) Then my nan passed away in 1996 just after her 86th birthday. Mum left us on Christmas Day 2008 and my younger brother a week later. We go to visit on Christmas Eve.

Photo shows a grave with lots of flowers and wreaths mostly in red and green.

*“DON’T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.”

Terry Pratchett – Good Omens
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