Hello! I’m Nicola, a chronic illness fighter and music lover from Wales in the UK. I hope to share the joy that music brings me while also showing the highs and lows o life with chronic illnesses.
My Latest Posts
- My Experience attending a gig at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena part two – attending the gig.This is a follow on to my other post, so if you haven’t seen part one I would recommend reading that before reading this one so it all makes sense. On the day of the gig, I made sure I got up at a reasonable time, I didn’t set my alarm ridiculously early meaning thatContinue reading “My Experience attending a gig at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena part two – attending the gig.”
- My experience attending a gig at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena part one – preperation.I have always loved music, I grew up surrounded by it, I was very fortunate to go to schools that heavily encouraged it and have parents who introduced me to so much great music while encouraging me to pursue my own interests in it. Before the pandemic, I attended quite a few gigs with myContinue reading “My experience attending a gig at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena part one – preperation.”
- Health update – GallstonesAround 6 -7 weeks ago I started experiencing worsening stomach pain that didn’t feel like my usual crohns related stomach pain. After a week of the pain getting slowly worse and very nearly giving in and going to A&E I decided to book an urgent appointment with a GP. The GP was really great, heContinue reading “Health update – Gallstones”
- The burden of proving you’re “Disabled enough”Something I don’t think people who aren’t chronically ill/disabled understand is the constant burden of having to prove you are sick or disabled enough for the various types of help that you need to be able to exist in society. Many people assume that if you are sick or disabled, you will get the helpContinue reading “The burden of proving you’re “Disabled enough””
- Diagnosis story – Coeliac DiseaseCoeliac disease is an auto-immune condition where the immune system reacts to gluten in the foods we eat, causing inflammation in the digestive tract. There is no known cure, and the main treatment is a strict gluten free diet. I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease after a couple of years of vague symptoms, this isContinue reading “Diagnosis story – Coeliac Disease”
- What are dynamic disabilities?If you spend a lot of time on the internet and particularly looking at chronic illness and disability social media, you may have seen the term “dynamic disability”. Dynamic disability is a relatively new term used to describe disabilities that change from month to month, week to week, day to day or even hour toContinue reading “What are dynamic disabilities?”
- Alternatives to “Get well soon ” for people with chronic illnesses and disabilitiesWhen we hear that someone is unwell, our first instinct is to wish them well, and hope that they recover quickly. This means a common response to someone saying they aren’t feeling too good is “get well soon” or ” I wish you a speedy recovery”. For most common ailments like the flu or aContinue reading “Alternatives to “Get well soon ” for people with chronic illnesses and disabilities”
- What I wish I knew when I first became unwellThey say hindsight is a wonderful thing, and this definitely something I think applies to life with chronic illnesses, so I thought I would talk about some of the things I wish I had known when I first became unwell. 1 – Doctors can be wrong Yes, you read that correctly, doctors can indeed beContinue reading “What I wish I knew when I first became unwell”
- Why sentences that start with “at least” are generally unhelpfulWe’ve all been there, someone is having a difficult time or they tell you about something hard in their lives and you really want to comfort them. It can be hard to know what to say when someone is going through a hard time, but sentences that start with “at least” are often the oppositeContinue reading “Why sentences that start with “at least” are generally unhelpful”
- How to ask about someone’s chronic illnesses/disabilitiesHumans are naturally curious beings so when we come across something we aren’t familiar with its only natural we want to ask questions and learn more. The problem however is that sometimes when dealing with sensitive topics questions can come across as nosey, insensitive or even down right rude. As someone with a long historyContinue reading “How to ask about someone’s chronic illnesses/disabilities”
Chronic musician 