NHBPM Day Seventeen: Health Playlist! My Condition in Song!

Welcome to the 17th Post for the annual ‘National Health Blog Post Month’ – and the prompt I have chosen for today is a really fun post!  We have been asked to make a playlist for our health community!  I thought I would include some songs which tie in with the symptoms I experience (as I will find none relating to the condition itself!), or lyrics that I am able to relate to.

1. Tommy Roe – ‘Dizzy’

This is quite obvious why I chose thing song, as it’s plainly obvious by the blog and previous posts, that dizziness is the main symptom that I experience on a daily basis, and can really relate to the lyrics “I am so dizzy, my head is spinning, like a whirlpool it never ends…”  None of the other lyrics really apply to my life, but those lyrics really describes my daily life!!

2. Tenth Avenue North – ‘Worn’

I found this on another fantastic blog, I read, and when I listened to the song, I immediately fell in love with song and its beautiful lyrics and downloaded it straight away!  It can really apply to any illness or condition, and can really relate to the lyrics, which include “I know I need, to lift my eyes up, but I’m just too weak…”.  Great song!

3. Katy Perry – ‘Part of Me’

Although, many pop lyrics pertain to relationships and love, if you look beneath the lyrics, they can really be applied to any situation.  In the song, Katy sings “This is the part of me that you’re never going to take away from me”, and this really applies to all of us battling chronic illness, no matter what form that takes.  We may wish that it could be taken away, but with a condition, like me, it is a part of me, something that cannot be removed…

3.  Les Miserables - ‘I Dreamed a Dream’

I watched the musical from its 25th year Anniversary at the O2 Arena in London about a week ago, and found it to be the most beautiful and breath-taking musical, most of us are familiar with the song ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ thanks to Susan Boyle after she famously sang it at her audition on Britain’s Got Talent.  I instantly fell in love with the musical and its songs, and ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ can be one in which chronic illness sufferers can relate – well kind of!  All of us battling illness everyday, am sure is a million miles away from the ambitions and life they had imagined; dreams which because of illness hasn’t been able to come to any fruition.

4. Kelly Clarkson – ‘Because of You’

I mentioned this song in a previous post about the song; how I related the lyrics to the dizziness and how it males me feel.  You can read that particular post here.

A Little Playlist to remind all chronic illness sufferers how special they are and to encourage them to keep strong!

1. Bruno Mars – ‘Just the Way You Are’

2. Kelly Clarkson – ‘Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)’

3. Avril Lavigne – ‘Keep Holding On’

4. Christina Aguilera – ‘Beautiful’

5. Gavin DeGraw – ‘I Don’t Want To Be’

6. Lady Gaga – ‘Born This Way’

My Inspiration…

Over at WEGO Health this month is ‘Health Activist Inspiration Month’.  The purpose of this month is to celebrate what drives health activists to empower themselves and others as well as the inspiration behind what makes them carry on the important work.  As part of the celebrations, I have decided to share the inspiration behind the blog and what inspires me personally.

My inspiration comes from the loneliness and isolation that I felt after my diagnosis of a long-standing brain stem lesion and spastic paraparesis.  Like most other people, I turned to the internet – searching various search engines for any information about the condition, and organisations or blogs where I could connect with others exhibiting the same condition.  Imagine my disappointment when I found that there was no such information or support networks out there, adding to the loneliness and isolation I already felt after a long battle with trying to get diagnosed, as well as how different I felt from others my age due to the symptoms I was experiencing.

After inspiration from a close friend and fellow blogger, I decided to start my own blog and so it was born in January 2012 so that no one else who may in the future be diagnosed with the same condition will go through what I did – feeling as if they were the only one going through this and that no one else understands what it is like!!

I have now begun supporting the ‘Invisible Illness Awareness Week Project’ and the inspiration behind supporting the cause as my neurological condition qualifies as an invisible illness – by looking at me you would never though that there was anything wrong.  But that isn’t the case as my days are filled with constant dizziness, frequent attacks of vertigo and visual disturbances, as well as the stiffness and weakness in the lower extremities.  Many people underestimate the effects of invisible illness or dismiss them entirely, claiming that the person is lazy or “that it’s all in their head” and so on.

It is due to these common misconceptions that inspired me to write about my life and journey with this condition – as many doctors for years blamed my symptoms on anxiety.  In want to be able to express the truth about invisible illnesses as well as dispelling those myths that many people hold.

And now I find that although non-one else I have ‘met’ has the same condition or disability that I have, nevertheless I have come across many other patients and bloggers out there that I have been able to connect with and gain understanding and friendship.  And the inspiration that keeps me going?  Receiving messages of support during a bad day can mean the world…

HAWMC Day 22: The Things We Forget…

Welcome to a brand new post on ‘My Brain Lesion and Me’ it’s now Day 22 of the ’30 Days, 30 Posts Challenge of WEGO Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge.  Today’s challenge is a nice and short one day, perfect as I’m not feeling the best today.  The prompt reads as follows:

The things we forget…Visit http://thingsweforget.blogspot.com/ and make your own version of a short memo reminder.  Where would you post it?

The site ‘Things we Forget‘ is a series of photographs depicting thought-provoking quotes and other uplifting messages on post-it notes and then placed and photographed in public places all around the world.  If I had to contribute one then I would share this:

I find the above quote inspiring, and was written by an American author, historian and Unitarian clergyman Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909).  It reminds me that even when I am feeling really bad, when the dizziness is so intense, and my legs are very weak and virtually unable to stand that I am still important, and still have something that I can contribute to society at large, or my community, or even a little job to help my parents.

It is also important to remember, and the quote reminds me of the fact that the struggles that we may face shouldn’t stop us from achieving what we want from life, or things that we may want to do like travel or further our education, and so on.

Where I would place the memo reminder? Well, I would definitely put this in my bedroom, sticking it to the computer – a place where I would see it everyday and remind me to battle on through all my struggles and illness.  I may also share it in the Mental Health Centre, a place I volunteer at once a week, to remind others going through major difficulties and ill-health, something to inspire them to achieve their goals and to travel their long and hard road to recovery…