-
·
The Covid Jab – a surprisingly emotional experience
The whole world is talking about it. Charts graph its progress. Touted as one of the greatest achievements of mankind. Yet many people reject it and seem to fear it even more than Covid-19. The title of my blog is a bit of a give-away. Yes, this blog is about the Covid-19 vaccines, or rather…
-
·
Vulnerability, a word for our times
Recently I took part in a clinical trial to help establish how my medication might affect the course of a Covid-19 infection. To start I needed to give a blood sample by pricking my finger and putting a few drops into a tiny vial. After reading the instructions and laying out the equipment, I pricked…
-
·
Another Patient Journey: 2019 was a good year
Picking up the story from my last blog Was 2019 really that bad? my doctors advised that I should stop the TNF blocker drugs, that had enabled me to live a normal life for the past three years, before undergoing cancer surgery. That made sense. These drugs work by dampening the immune system. I could…
-
·
Was 2019 really that bad?
If you’d told me in March 2019 that I wouldn’t write another blog on “arthritis and me” until 2020, I would have laughed and said you didn’t know me! I had started two new drafts. They will be finished one day, but first I have to write about breast cancer and get that off my…
-
·
A new F-word: FASTING – Love or Hate?
Next week is Ash Wednesday when the Christian fasting period called Lent begins. I’ve never fasted. It always seemed rather uncomfortable and difficult. Until now I couldn‘t see any benefit and feel that managing AS I have enough to do. The more I read and try things out, the more convinced I am that diet…
-
·
Am I really what I eat?
In the bad old days when life seemed to be filled only with pain, I used to comfort myself and find moments of peace with the thought: „I am not my body!“ If I could see myself at a level of consciousness where my soul and not my body was in charge, then the pain…
-
·
What keeps me healthy?
In Switzerland we believe that foxes are clever. Near the village where I live there is a family of foxes living on the border between the woods and a corn field, and in Spring the young foxes come out and play in the evenings. Last year I managed to get a picture, which I’d like…
-
·
Fatigue, Friends and other F-words
It’s been so long since my last blog. What happened to my intention to write every two weeks? What’s being going on? Well, I’ve been busy – read on and find out! – and if I’ve not been busy, I’ve been exhausted and dragging myself from one task to the next. Those who suffer from…
-
·
Back home
Reflections on life since the mountain tour to Monte Rosa. The final day was so long: we’d started well before dawn and arrived at the Gornergrat railway to head home in the early evening. But surprisingly, the first three days after the tour I was still sort of high, and full of energy. Then on…
-
·
16 x 4,000m summits in 5 days
Only 18 months after requiring a wheelchair at the airport, I have accomplished my dream of climbing several of Switzerland’s highest peaks – 16 in all – in only five days. I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) two years ago, and wrote about coming to terms with the diagnosis in a first post, and…
A life free from the burdens of rheumatic disorders
