The Way The Cookie Crumbles: November 2015

Recently I decided I was in need of some papering. I had been through a diagnosis, a stressful university situation and moving back home and it's hard to not try and look for the next thing to help me in the future. So as I was wading through prospectuses and PIP forms I was having trouble sleeping, which is not uncommon to me at all, and so I turned to relaxing baths.

Lush has long been my favourite brand for bath products and I always loved checking out new skincare or soaps when I had a job. As I was saving money I had to cut down on my spending and so bath bombs were not a priority, however I almost always buy something as a present for a loved one at christmas. I am still saving money but realised that the only thing that would physically make me relax (which is a major part of my recovery programme) was a bath and so I splashed out on a few lush products.

When the box arrived I instantly smelt lavender and was very excited. As I waded through the packing foam the excitement grew until I found my products, like buried treasure.

The first one I found was the 'Twilight' bath bomb.

This lavender scented delight was a beautiful shade of purple and is one of my all time favourites from Lush. It contains golden glitter and moisturises your skin which makes the bath even more luxurious as the soothing lavender relaxes you. The bath bomb gently fizzes changing the water different shades of a sunset as you drift off.

Then there was the solid bath oil 'Dreamtime'.

This is an ingenious product from Lush. A solid bath oil scented with a lavender outer shell which slowly melts away to release the even more relaxing scents and bath oils. A perfect bed time treat, to send you off to dreamtime...

The next one was the Christmas 'Yog Nog' bath bomb.

This sweet bath bomb is a novel take on the christmassy drink, Egg Nog. It smells good enough to eat and has sugary glitter on it. A yummy end to a wintry day.

Then I saw the stick of 'Golden Handshake' poking out of the foam and grabbed it.

I haven't seen anything like this before so am very excited to use it. It's a hot hand mask which relaxes and hydrates tired, winter skin. I have yet to test it but it has a lovely subtle rose scent.

Next was 'Golden Slumbers' bath bomb from the Lush Kitchen.

This one I ordered off the Lush kitchen, which is where they make a small quantity of different discontinued products each day. It is heavily scented of lavender and jam packed with gold glitter. I love this product and is one of the only things that relaxes me when I'm super stressed.

Finally I rescued the 'Magnaminty' self preserving face and body mask from the sea of packing shapes.

This mint choc chip icecream scented face mask is the item I was most excited to try. It's a clay based mask with macadamia grains to help exfoliate and draw out impurities from the skin. Its a lovely cooling formula and claims to fight spots so I am optimistic that it will help my skin.

Then I realised that the lovely people at Lush had thrown in some free samples as well and even an iron on badge!

Altogether a lovely haul and I will enjoy papering myself this winter.

Take care

Recently, I made a rather big decision of suspending my university course in order to try a year of therapy to help manage my condition. Whilst that was really difficult for me I was looking forward to my first group session. When you go through a two year investigation into your illness, you will grasp at any help you can get and this was my first leg up.
I arrived on a rather windy November morning to a full waiting room. I was instantly intimidated as I signed in and was so glad I'd had the forethought to ask my mum to come with me. Very soon after that a lady called all the CFS/ME patients forward and I was surprised how many of us there were, as we headed up the stairs to a very stuffy, warm meeting room. The first thing that struck me was that I was the youngest there by a lot and that we were all women. We learnt later on that CFS/ME affects people aged 20-40 the most and women 4 times as much as men! Noone knows why, but then with this condition you learn that noone knows a lot about anything to do with it; causes, symptoms or even management.
However, there is research being done and studies which makes me very hopeful for the future. Throughout the session we learnt about the condition, its history and how it affects us individually. I know this sounds strange, but it was very reassuring having someone nod in agreement or even say a symptom you have. I wasn't crazy after all! We had good discussions about how the condition affects social, psychological and physiological aspects of life, how others react to it and coping mechanisms. After the 2 hour long session (which was pleasantly interrupted by tea and biscuits) the gave us all an information sheet, booklet and activity diary to complete and send back. I felt so positive after going; I felt as if there is hope and I can get better. Once I send the diary off I know it will take 8-9 weeks to get an individual appointment, but I've always had to fight and I'm not about to give up now.

I think that sometimes you say you have a condition and people either think that that's it for you or that you can be magically cured. However, I know i will have to live with CFS for the rest of my life but I now know that it can't stop me. I have the power to control my symptoms and not let them control me. With relaxation techniques and graded exercise therapy I can prove people wrong and become anything I want to. I will fight universities who tell me I'll never cope; I will fight lecturers who tell me I'll never get the career I want and I will fight anyone who says that I should just give up or deal with it because I am my own person. I didn't ask for this, none of it is my fault so why should I apologize to anyone who chooses not to understand.

Take care

The Way The Cookie Crumbles

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