I’m sure you’ll all agree my advocacy for chronic pain has been extensive in my 13-year lived experience. I’ve learned a lot about who to trust, who I should collaborate with and [...]
That was my endnote for 2019. As life evolves within my 3km radius, I find myself looking back less and less and looking forward more and more. Bitter, defines the heartache of not being able to see loved ones as often and the missing perks of our previous city life. Sweet, is being defined by new friends, the gallery, our new home and the sea that surrounds us. As for confused, another year has passed and I still don't feel anyone can quite define what's going on with my body. Does it matter heading into a new year?
My endless efforts to find a way to get back into regular yoga practice keep falling on their head. Pardon my pun... but I am hopeful FeetUp may help with that problem. Prior to living in the land of pelvic pain, I lived in the land of bliss practising yoga regularly – four times per week! For 45 minutes I was part dog, part warrior, a cat, a cow, even a pelican at times. I became a tree, saluted the sun and enjoyed many various poses. To end my routine, I'd slide up into shoulder stand (8 minutes), then send my toes passed my head in plough pose (for another 8 minutes) before unravelling to a corpse in Savasana pose. That was before I went for a walk!
No one within the system has fear of prosecution - not even a fear of a single penalty! No one within the system has been or will be called to explain their actions and held to account. This makes my blood boil! I haven't even heard the support will be returned to workers who were delivered unfair decisions and had to walk away from their support. But I want my money back! Where are my years of wages after having a decision overturned unfairly at the Accident Compensation Conciliation Service (ACCS) by the Agent? And the rest...?
I have arrived! I have lived half a century. I somehow made it through the horrid decade of my 40’s. I made it through the dark forest of chronic pain. Goodness people [...]
Foam! I Found Foam! Am I excited today! As I progress this path of pain, I retain my non-negotiable pointers – one of which is my need for my custom made seating aid. I would love to ditch this damn thing from under my backside and from my clutch every time I go out for a seated event, but it's just too valuable for my capacity. Figuring out the big 'dangers in me' (remember we talked about DIMS and SIMS?) has been key to my pacing forward.
Being resourceful is what makes the difference — it is so hard working life out. But Theo and do it. We burrow down and we make it happen. There's no choice... or rather there was but I didn't want a fulltime WorkSafe paycheck. Of course, I think about that. And of course, I often call myself stupid for declining it – I was safe! I had that full-time paycheck for the rest of my life. But creativity and sharing the day with Theo is so precious to both of us. Even with the complexities and risks, it appears to be the only way Theo and I can live. For this, I am grateful! So I'll stop complaining now and go on with what I've been doing and what I am achieving. It's all good! I'm moving. Life is in forward motion after being so still for so long – a decade at least!
Ages ago, I blogged about this magic move my diagnosing physiotherapist showed me. It was the first time in 4.5 years that my pain was shut off. It was heaven and I [...]
It's an act of forwards and backwards, sideways and a lot of down ways. It's really hard work. The less it yells, the better I feel and only then can I do more and pace up. The more I poke it, the worse it gets. The worse it gets, the deeper into the hole I go and further away from coming back out! I don't just pay with pain, I pay with time – lifetime!
(Excerpt from Neos Kosmos feature story, Chronic pain: the treacherous disease that steals the lives of thousands, MAΡΙΑ ΚΑΜΠΥΛH 25 September 2019) Η συγκλονιστική συνέντευξη – κατάθεση ψυχής της ομογενούς Σούλας Μανταλβάνου, που [...]
