A touch on the poorly side.

So, my immune system has taken a nice little nose dive again.

I’d like to think it’s just bad timing and bad luck being Winter and all, but having the flu-like symptoms (Including an evil reoccurring cough)  from the end of November till now kind of hints at a more sinister underlying problem. I’ve been in remission from ME/CFS for nearly ten years now, it only tends to crop up for me to catch colds and bugs a lot easier than others. It’s quite obvious that I’m not the healthiest person, despite my efforts at a balanced diet and exercise. I’m always the “diseased” one, or the “unlucky” one. It doesn’t take long to see that if there wasn’t the drugs there are today, natural selection would have come for me a very long time ago. All I can do is fight, the problem is that at the moment, every day is a fight. I think this is why I’m writing this blog post, a few friends have recently pointed out that I have a “cold”, not to sound over dramatic, but it’s anything but a cold.

Lately, every morning I wake up and struggle to get out of bed, let alone get moving. I keep myself buzzing by a shot of caffeine and sugar and foods throughout the day for energy.. and by about 4pm every day I’m about ready to crash into bed. I’m lucky I last that long really, I make myself. I miss feeling normal otherwise. There was once upon a time when I couldn’t even manage that. Getting out of bed and having a shower was about it for my day. My Mum would have to help me with everything else. Being bed bound, day in, day out for a very long period of time is not a fun thing.

I’ve been to the doctor; she says there’s nothing she can do after two sets of antibiotics.. It’s viral. No amount of antibiotics will cure. It’s a case of looking after yourself. So, instead of my normal bouts of exercise, I find myself laid up in bed with another book, or in the bath trying to stop my bones from aching so much.

It’s not doing my morale any good. No exercise makes Jen a grumpy girl. I feel fat, depressed and lower with every evening that passes. Every time I go to bed thinking, “Ah well, tomorrow is another day, I’m sure I’ll feel better in the morning”. Every morning I wake up the same: cough cough, splutter splutter… urgh! Every morning I promise myself that night I’ll go to the gym, or for a swim and then it gets to the evening and I’m wiped out on the sofa. I’m going crazy, I’m desperate to get fit, but knowing how lifeless I feel, physical exertion is the worst thing I can do.

I’m keeping positive and hoping this isn’t the beginning of a relapse.. Staying positive is the way forward. Just a blog post to say bear with me, really.. I hope now you see that it’s not just a cold. I’m not a hypochondriac, I’m genuinely trying to battle with my immune system.

I’m just going to think that in a few months time I can look back on this post and think, hell… I’m so glad I’m not like that anymore! In the meantime, my bed is my saviour. If you want to know the best way that M.E can be described... Pease check out this link: 

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/wpress/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

I've spent years trying to explain M.E. Conversations that lasted for hours...  This wonderful person managed to sum it up in a 5 minute piece.

Aldis vs Waitrose

 

 On twitter tonight:

"@freelanceliz: Discussion on aldi coming to Herne Bay & whether waitrose would be better. @jennieledwards says she doesn't want snobs in HB but normal folk"

Please let me explain the context, I spoke with Liz after and she fully agreed it did not come across the way she meant it to. When the subject of Herne Bay having an Aldis, there were suggestions that we'd sold ourselves short as the original plan was to have a Waitrose. Well, as much as we wanted Waitrose, they didn't want us. Unfortunately, you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. 

When Aldis vs Waitrose came up, certain Councillors and others around me started to murmur things like:

'Aldis!?? Bloody awful, I would never shop there' and 

'oh, I only shop in Waitrose, Aldis is disgusting Herne Bay could have done so much better'

So when I stood up to be positive over Aldis, I first mentioned the fact that I'm pleased, Aldis is actually excellent, it was voted Supermarket of the year and I for one am quite pleased that Morrisons will not be monopolising Herne Bay as it's main supermarket anymore. I could, once again hear very snobbish comments from all around me. It was then that I looked around the Guildhall as I spoke and made my comment about snobs and normal people.

To be honest, I think I've been into a Waitrose three times in my life. Not by choice but quite simply as there isn't one near me. My brother buys his cheese from the Ashford store and says its pretty awesome for day to day stuffs. If there was one near me, I'd probably use it. I tend to use my local independent shops for my meat and veggies etc, then the supermarket for the staples.

I did not intend for that comment to sound like I was snubbing all Waitrose shoppers as snobs, any more than I would look down my nose at Aldis shoppers.

Hope that clears it up a bit. Not something I can get into a couple of tweets!