Monday, March 24, 2008
Busy bee
Hi All,
I've been puting off writing this post because I had hoped to come back to regular blogging. But I have been and will probably continue to be run off my feet with uni and life in general. Yes - this means I am doing fairly well at the moment. I guess I think less about CFS when I am well-ish and so I have less to say too. While it's good for me to get some CFS-free headspace, it's not so good for maintaining a steady flow of interesting blog posts.
Which is why I have decided to take a proper break for a few months. Normal transmission will resume in July, but until then I will be focussing on my work and then taking a month-long break in Europe.
I wish you all improving health in the meantime.
Catch you in July!
Labels: blogging, break, CFS, chronic fatigue syndrome
Posted by Ellie at 6:36 PM
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tired but wired
Haven't been sleeping well. Don't know why, but suspect this might have something to do with it. My favourite author as a child has just released the 5th book in a series she has been writing for over 20 years. I started reading the book about 19 years ago, and have been hanging for this book for about 7 years now. I bought it finally a few days ago and I think maybe it's gotten under my skin. Seems I have been reading every second I can sapre (and an awful lot I shouldn't have) and have (coincidentally? perhaps not) not been sleeping well. Now it's finished perhaps I can resume normal(ish) sleeping habits.
Sweet dreams.
Labels: CFS, chronic fatigue syndrome, reading, sleep
Posted by Ellie at 3:48 PM
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Heath Ledger
As fan, and as a young Australian of a similar age to actor Heath Ledger, I was shocked and very sad to hear of his death. Assuming accidental death by overdose or adverse reaction to a drug (which is jumping the gun a bit given the coroner's report isn't conclusive yet), it's also a frightenning reminder of how dangerous over the counter drugs can be.
I first saw Heath Ledger in Two Hands - a great Australian movie (see it if you get a chance, it's shot in my old stomping ground - the Cross), then fell in love with him in 10 Things (a favourite for me because of the sisterly relationship in it). I've avidly followed his career since then and have a heap of respect for his acting. It's so sad to see such a talented young man die with so much still to live for.
RIP Heath. I'll miss your smile and presence gracing the silver screen.
Labels: death, heath ledger
Posted by Ellie at 9:54 PM
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Good doctor, bad doctor
I'm sure I've harped on before about the importance of having a good doctor. Even if you're a relatively healthy person, a good general practitioner is a must. I have seen a number of different doctors since I move cities almost 4 years ago. While I was a healthy person (ie before CFS), I never really worried about the quality of the GP I was seeing for the minor health problems that inevitably crop up occasionally.
All that changed when I had glandular fever and later chronic fatigue syndrome. The doctor I was seeing at the time has turned out in hindsight to have been a bad doctor. I ditched her after she sent me to a psychologist because she thought I was depressed when I was not recovering from chronic fatigue syndrome. She also never bothered to investigate why I suddenly became iron deficient after having glandular fever, brushing off my concerned remarks about the fact I had never been iron deficient before, despite going through a 2 year phase of not eating red meat. And one day, before I had realised I had chronic fatigue syndrome, she brushed of my suggestion that my tiredness etc might be caused by food intolerances or coeliac disease, saying "Oh, no, that's very unlikely".
And now I am furious, because I saw my new, wonderful, inquisitive GP yesterday because I have been having unusual abdomenal aches, and she was shocked that no one had bothered to investigate why I was iron deficient, and also raised the possibility of coeliac disease being a potential cause for the anemia and possibly other things. So, I'm off to have a suite of tests and then we'll see what we see, but I tell you what, if it turns out I have coeliac, I swear I'm going to throw a brick through the window of that previous doctor. Well, not really, but I feel like doing it already.
Get yourself a good doctor. And if your doctor isn't inquisitive, get rid of them even if they haven't proved themselve to be bad yet.
Labels: CFS, chronic fatigue syndrome, doctors
