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It's been a busy time...

  • Writer: Roly Peck
    Roly Peck
  • Jul 7, 2020
  • 4 min read

As you can see, Bob is looking delightfully smug, and just a little sphinxy these days.


Not only does he get to have both his parents at home, all the time (well except for the past 2 weeks while I've been in Norfolk, sorting some bits and pieces out at my parents' bungalow to get it ready to put on the market), but he gets to dream of French mice to chase.


It has been a busy and emotional time over the past year. Firstly, I finally got diagnoses after a lifetime of health issues - many of which I still haven't entirely come to terms with (I'm thinking of you, autism and ADHD!) It has also been difficult coming to terms with the idea that nobody ever noticed all the things that now seem so patently clear. The hypermobility and constant strains and sprains - but very rarely breaks of bones without extreme external force. The allergies, skin issues, digestive problems which all seemed to flare up at the same times - even though I was using the medications offered (which did virtually nothing). the constant weight gain, even though I have spent more of my life on a diet than off it.


It has been hard not to be angry with parents, doctors and other healthcare professionals who never seemed to put 2 and 2 together, or to look closely enough to care. I have experienced so much gaslighting over the years. I fear going to the doctors more than pretty much anything in the world because of it. I have been made to feel that I was imagining all the fatigue, the aches and pains, the allergies and other triggers that made my body a living hell.


But I am one of the lucky ones. Thanks to my volunteering to take part in a research study I got the answers I have been looking for my whole life. It narrowed down where I needed to focus my attention, the specialists I needed to see - so I could get the help I needed to actually live my life again.


Sure, I still have a few crappy days, mostly if I don't take my medications - all my medications - properly, and if I massively overdo things - but in comparison my life has improved so much, in ways I had given up hoping was possible. I am really hoping that it will mean that we will get to enjoy a really great life when we get to France - that I will be able to take a really active part in the renovations of our new home.

Because it is official, this gorgeous little stone house on the Millevaches Plateau is now officially ours. The compromis de vente has been signed, diagnostiques received, and the searches are being undertaken by the notaires as I type!


I can hardly believe it is happening, but am delighted to say that it is. It truly is a dream come true, and I am so excited.


I love refurbishing furniture, and decorating. I have so many ideas - and the changes in my health will hopefully mean that I will get to be a part of doing the work needed to make this little house a home, something that not so long ago I would have thought impossible.


A year ago, I had accepted that I would be pretty much confined to my home, mostly in bed, due to the pain and endless MCAS symptoms I battled every singel day. I was permanently exhausted, barely slept, and often had to crawl to the bathroom. I had to use walking sticks if I did walk anywhere - and probably should have been using a wheelchair if I am honest.


Now, I can do so much more. I can clear out my parents' bungalow. I can work in the garden, and I've been able to refurb a couple of bits of furniture ready to go to our new house. I am able to drive myself pretty much anywhere, without fear that I will crash for weeks afterwards. I can actually judge how much recovery time I will need for most activities.


I feel like my life is finally starting. I never thought that I would get to do the things that normal people take for granted - and I am thankful to the specialists that have helped to make this happen. For a girl with medical PTSD, this took some serious courage and effort to go and see the doctors I needed to get me to where I am now. All the years of studying, trying so many different therapies, nutritional approaches - even training in over 16 complementary therapies didn't get me to where I am now. I will always value where they took me, and how much they helped to improve my quality of life - but it has been the medication that has truly changed everything for me.


I wish everyone I care about with these same issues could find their answers, and get back their lives, too. I will never have a normal life. I will always have to rest more than everyone else, and will probably have to stay on my medications until the day I die - but at least I will finally achieve something.


To prove how much things have changed, I could barely drive to the shop down the road (about half a mile away) more than once a month last year, but last weekend we drove all the way to Devon and back in a day. Aidan and I shared the drive down there, and on the way back I had to do the whole thing, because we spent a bit more money!


Yup, we have bought a left hand drive VW transporter, which will be our removal van, as well as a workhorse for materials while we renovate, and will finally be converted into a campervan so we can explore our new home in comfort!


I've always wanted a VW campervan - I won't lie, I always imagined it being a splitty, or at the very least a bay window old one - but this will make a comfy, and much cheaper alternative!


I'm praying there will be a few bits and pieces left over from the house renovations to create a cool interior for this lovely bus, so we can camp in style as we make our way around France, checking out everything it has to offer (and having sufficient storage for wine and cheese to take home as we go!

 
 
 

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