When I first thought of writing a blog, I had a romantic picture in my head of an indie café up in London with chalk-board menus, an acoustic playlist and three different kinds of flat white. There a less slouchy version of me with neater hair would sit serenely with her cup of coffee and a notebook typing up her First Blog after some early morning shopping.
So I gave that a go- since I was staying at my parents house in Greater London for a bit longer than anticipated (more on that later), and after receiving an encouraging email from the lovely team at Arthur’s Place, I decided it was the perfect time.
Unfortunately, on the day I’d planned to go in to London, find my dream café and produce some A* literature, it took me almost two hours to pull myself out of bed and in to some clothes. Feeling slightly annoyed but not put off, I adjusted my plans a bit so instead of going in to London I’d just get the bus to the slightly more up-market town half an hour away, where I was more familiar with the shops and so could take the shortest route. So I set out, made it on to the bus with no major incident, and made a beeline for shops I needed.
Cue the Afternoon Crash.
Within 20 minutes my body may as well have been made of lead, and my joints wobbled more and more precariously with every passing minute. Meanwhile my brain went in to a fog and I ended up traipsing like a zombie back to the bus stop. I got home with a lump in my throat. All the ideas I’d had for writing my blog, answering my emails or even replying to texts were sliding across my brain and disappearing. I’m not really proud of this, but I’ve got to hold my hands up here: I fell on to my bed as soon as I got in, not even having the energy to get under the covers, and it was a fair few hours before I got myself back up.
So not the best start. But after a great chat with one of my oldest friends (in the fortunately close comfort of her bedroom five minutes from my parents’ house) I started to feel a bit more optimistic. And sure enough, this morning the sun shone, it only took me half an hour to get out of bed and I’ve made it to my Perfect Spot. It’s not London, and it’s definitely not the morning, but I still have coffee, a notepad and a semi-coherent set of ideas, so here we are.
If you’re wondering who this person is who’s managed to turn a café hunt in to a six-paragraph saga, my name is Izzie, and I’m a 21 year old with Rheumatic Arthritis and an Arts degree, which should probably be explanation enough in itself. I’m currently experiencing my worst flare up since I was about fourteen, which started just before my final year exams at university (thanks RA), but before this blog post becomes entirely melodramatic, its worth saying that it all turned out pretty well. I’ve held down my job all summer and I’m starting an MA in modern history in a few weeks, so things could definitely be worse.
So what’s next? The closest thing on the horizon for me is my hospital appointment tomorrow, which is why I haven’t gone back to my own house in York (where I go to uni) yet, as I wasn’t doing too well at looking after myself there, and it’s a lot easier to get to hospital from my parents’ house. I’m being assessed for an injection of steroids in to my knees (yum) which will mean no activity for this girl for a couple of days. I am absolutely bricking it; it sounds pretty painful and I am not good at sitting still for extended periods of time, but I’m trying to brainstorm some sedentary activities to keep me occupied while I rest up. Currently I’m stocking up on books, films and Sims games like a little goblin.
If you’ve stuck with me this far, you’re a star- or possibly just a really good skim reader. For more exciting reading, come back next week where I might actually pick a coherent topic, or just end up describing my knee injections in the most graphic detail possible. Or if that’s not really your thing, head to chronicallyizzie on Instagram, where caption length conventions should stop me from rambling on so much.
Sending good vibes to you and your immune systems,
Izzie x
Meet Izzie and other friendly folk on Arthur’s Place Social, our Facebook Group
(Any opinions expressed in Izzie’s blog are not necessarily shared by Arthur’s Place. Nothing that you read in Izzie’s blog constitutes medical advice.)
