What does being healthy and happy mean to you? Perhaps you feel it’s got something to do with your outer appearance, or maybe you’d like to be less sad or anxious. Whatever your interpretation of those two words, healthy and happy, I’ll guarantee the answer isn’t as simple as you think it might be. Life doesn’t work like that because if it did, as soon as the ‘gift’ you wished for had arrived you’d no longer be looking for the next thing to make whatever ails you better. Let’s face it happiness isn’t delivered by Santa or by the latest gadget or must-have look.
Health
7 day drink more water challenge
I know I don’t drink enough water during the day, particularly when I’m working. I set out with the best of intentions to do so, but even with the glass at my side I forget it’s there because I’m so absorbed in what I’m doing. And sometimes, it can be 2 or 3 hours before I suddenly realise I’m thirsty.
Seeing through the illusion of illness
I realise the title of this post is likely to raise a few eyebrows at the very least, and perhaps it will even cause some to say ‘illness, an illusion? I think not!’ in some indignation so I’d ask you to hold off on a reaction while I put the statement into context.
Things I know to be true – We are all walking miracles
Back when I was child I genuinely believed that when my mother kissed my knee to make it better, she did actually do that. And as I grew older although that belief faded away in the light of the obvious ‘fact’ of the medical model, it never truly disappeared. Time and again I would reflect on what it meant to be healthy and when my own health challenges began in my mid-teens, some part of me always knew that my mother’s kiss held meaning.
Life, the universe and medicine – part 1
Like everyone, I assume I’ll live forever. Although I often wonder whether anyone would come to my funeral and who would wear black, it never actually occurrs to me that there is an endpoint. It’s almost as if I would come along too to watch proceedings running smoothly and along the lines I wanted.
The hidden side of poverty
Poverty, alongside topics like coronavirus, Trump, and climate change, is a pretty constant topic across the media these days. We endlessly debate the ethics of allowing children at home and abroad to go hungry, or what society can do about homelessness or the highly visible need for food banks. But one area of poverty we rarely hear about, and consequently regularly overlook, is that of ‘period poverty’.
Richa’s post surgery miracle drink
I was sent this recipe from Richa who says “I have had this drink throughout my recovery after having hysterectomy and It really has helped me so much especially with the initial constipation I had post surgery.”
I never thought I’d be awake during my hysterectomy – Jill’s story
Hi I’m 53 years old and have three children, here’s my hysterectomy story. After giving birth to my second and third children in 1999 and 2005, I had problems with my pelvic floor and had received NHS physio sessions to improve it, which it did a bit. In my late forties I took up running after discovering the NHS Couch to 5K and loved it.
Hysterectomy for men – Richard’s story
My wife (now 65) has had a number of minor medical problems, both mental and physical, especially after reaching 40, and when she started having panic attacks, for which no-one could provide a positive reason or cure, she finally resorted to drugs, such as sertraline, much against her natural inclination.