Learning To Take The Good With The Bad

Today has been a very confusing day. I've been up and down like a yoyo and for some reason I'm sitting here telling you, the folk of the internet, all about it and I'm not entirely sure why but here goes.

I had three appointments today, one with a nurse, one with a doctor and one with my consultant (the guy who sorts my belly out).

The first one with my nurse went very well. Boom. (1/3)

The second one with my doctor also went well. (2/3)

The third one, which is I suppose is the most important also went swimmingly. (3/3)

Except for during the last one, my consultant recommended that I visit a specialist for the problem I am currently seeing my doctor for, just to be on the safe side. That's all good, right? Well, apparently not. For some reason I left the room at the end of my appointment, walked out of the hospital and burst into tears. The sheer thought of going to see yet another doctor for some reason, at that moment, just seemed way too much. 

The truth is, it all gets a bit much sometimes. And that is okay. I sat there for a few minutes with my mum, got pissed off, cried it out and then I was okay. I reminded myself that for the most part I am lucky. At least I physically managed to make it to three appointments today. I managed to get in and out of London feeling okay. Hell, I've been to Amsterdam and back this month. I got my grades back from my first year of uni today and found I got a 2:1. Most things are going pretty damn well and this is just a bump in the road.

It's not always bad, but it's okay to be sad when it is. Remember that. 

University With a Chronic Illness (It's Possible!)

I am fast approaching the end of my first year at university and I as I'm typing I can't quite believe I've made it here! Minus a few blips along the way, it's been amazing. I've made some fabulous friends, learnt so much more about myself, gotten to know a new city and opened up so many more creative doors than I ever knew possible. 

Many of you know I suffer from a chronic illness and that was one of the things that scared me most about going to university. How was I going to handle it? What if I got ill? What if people didn't wanna be friends with me? All those worries seem crazily insignificant now and I've made a short list to reassure and help anyone with a chronic disease who is thinking of applying to university because even if the tiniest part of you thinks you want to go, do it and don't let your illness hold you back!

Don't be afraid to ask for help.

If you've not been well and are finding it hard to hand your work in on time ask for an extension. My experience from this year is that staff are incredibly understanding and want you to succeed. I've not been well personally for the last few weeks and have had to ask for a few deadlines to be extended and felt bad about it... I have learnt that I shouldn't. Staff would much rather give you an extension and get to mark a good piece of work than have you hand in a pile of crap and leave you knowing you could have done much better. As one of my friends said to me the other day 'Extensions were created for a reason' so don't feel bad about asking for one. 

Take time out if you need it. 

I am someone that absolutely hates missing class. More than anything. Honestly, I feel really guilty if I don't go in. But I have learnt that if I can't make it to class sometimes - it's okay. It really is. Having an illness is a legitimate reason to not always make it in so don't feel bad about it, don't stress about it and don't push yourself to do things you can't physically do. As long as you catch up with your work when you're feeling better, you will be okay. 

Be upfront and open about your illness.

This applies to both the university itself and your friends. Before I arrived at university I told them I had an illness and they responded with reams of support. They told me how to apply for disabled student allowance, who I could talk to if I ever needed any help and that I shouldn't worry about coming to university. When I arrived, I was also very upfront about my illness to new friends. One of the major factors for me was that I cannot drink very much with the drugs I am on, so it was a pretty easy to thing to slip into conversation. I found that telling people in a straightforward way allowed them to feel they could ask me questions if they wanted to better understand how it affects me, and now they know, it's less of a mystery when I can't always do things.

Find good friends (or let them find you).

I mentioned before that being open about your illness (I find) is important because it allows your friends to understand that if you're not feeling well, you're probably really not feeling well. And, well, if they don't understand then they really are not worth your time. I've been pretty damn lucky with the friends I've made here because they're really understanding when I'm unwell. Instead of pressuring me to go out, they come over to my flat for a cup of tea instead. Ent that lovely? I really do appreciate it more than I think they realise. 

Don't overdo it.

Right, this is probably the shittest one. You might have friends who go on a five day bender and honestly? You're probably not gonna be able to keep up, and if you do, you'll probably end up paying for it for a long, long time afterwards. But then again, that is me speaking from personal experience and knowing that my body wouldn't be able to cope with that. Listen to your body. That is one of the most important things. If you're feeling really well and up to going out and then straight to your 9am lecture, screw it; go for it! But if you are a bit under the weather, it's not worth tiring yourself out and making yourself feel worse. There will be plenty of other times and like I mentioned before, if you make great mates, they'll understand.

I think I rambled on a little more than I meant to there but hey, ho. There's my advice for going to university with an ongoing health problem. It is possible and it is bloody worth it. Stay happy!

xxx

Why the f*** should I vote?

With the UK general election fast approaching, we're constantly getting told to "vote me!" "vote me!" "VOTE ME" by different political parties and the honest truth is... many of us don't why we should even bother to vote at all.

I wasn't interested in politics until around a year ago which is when I realised that it is important. It affects everything to do with our daily lives. For example: you're a student, do you want to have a government that raises or lowers tuition fees? If you're in full time work and think you're being taxed unfairly, or that the tax you pay is being spent on inappropriate things let your voice be heard. Do something about it. 

I think the reason a lot of us young people don't vote is because it's a daunting subject to approach, especially for those of us who don't know where our opinions or values lie when assigning ourselves to a political party, but there are easy ways to figure it out.

A friend of mine linked me to the website www.voteforpolicies.org which is a brilliant site to determine your political standpoint. All you have to do is select the issues you are passionate about and pick the policies you agree with the most. At the end you have a fancy little pie chart showing which party you agreed with the most. Although this takes a little bit of time, it's so worth it. Whether you do it on the journey to work, while you're waiting for a friend or whether you just have some time to kill anywhere, it is worth it. 

I also follow parties I am interested in voting for on Twitter, so that I can have a little taster every day of what they find important and see if I agree. Watching things on TV such as the leaders debates or the news, even if it's just on in the background, will also help to gage who you would like to vote for. We are privileged enough to live in a country that allows us to have a say in our government and I believe we should take that opportunity and never look back. Those suffragettes didn't protest for nothing, you know. 

Remember! : register to vote! 
Registration to vote closes on the 20th April 2015 and if you don't get your name down, you won't be able to vote. All you need to do is visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and have your National Insurance number handy and it'll all be done in less than 5 minutes. 

Happy voting!

Hello! (Again)

It's been a long time since I've blogged and the reason has been my internal battles with myself;

"Do I want to set up another IBD blog?"
"...but then I want to talk about other things, where do I do that?"
"Should it be the same blog?"
"Should I make two blogs?"

And on and on and on until I decided to just shut up and blog about anything and everything!

So HELLO!

Welcome to my new blog where I will talk about whatever tickles my pickle!! 

I'll be posting an actual proper blog post soon!

Rhi

x