Sunday, 11 August 2013

My Journey To This Blog

Hi there, how are you? Good I hope! Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Sheen. I am a British expat wife currently living in Singapore with my hubby. 

After ten years in a career that I was lucky enough to enjoy, I've been forced to take a career break due to health reasons :o( About a year before we moved out to Singapore I was diagnosed with my third and most debilitating chronic illness, arthritis (psoriatic arthritis to be precise). Having suffered from psoriasis and migraines since my teenage years I was now faced with a condition that affected me in a way that the other two had not. Whilst I suffered from quite horrific migraines, I wasn’t suffering from them continuously (although it did feel like that at times), and whilst the psoriasis was there all the time there were times, albeit very occasionally, that I would forget about it, but this arthritis was there all the time and there was no way this disease was ever going to let me forget who the boss was (not me that’s for sure!).  

Eight months after we left all our friends and family and everything that was familiar behind to begin our Asian adventure I hit one of the lowest points in my life. My arthritis was very aggressive, I was in constant pain, I gained so much weight due to the steroid medication I was taking that I no longer recognised myself in the mirror, I was suffering from regular migraines that were so severe they prevented one of my eyes from opening fully, my psoriasis was going nuts again but most alarming of all, I felt complete and utter despair – I was sooo unhappy! So at the end of 2011, with the support of my amazing hubby, I made the decision to give up work so that I could gain some sort of control over my life and most importantly my health – both physical and mental. 

I spent 2012 getting healthy again and it sure worked a treat :o) My migraines have practically disappeared (more on this later). My psoriasis is the most controlled it’s ever been in the last 17 years and my arthritis, whilst it’s still very much ‘alive and kicking’ it is no longer making me as miserable as it did in 2011 (even though I now have more joints affected). You see, I’ve learnt to live with it in a more ‘harmonious’ manner. It no longer feels like the ‘boss’ of me, rather we have developed an understanding, and now it feels more like a long term ‘companion’.
This year (2013) has been spent exploring and contemplating about what I want to (and can physically) do with my life now that going back to my old career is no longer an option. And so here we are! I’ve decided to use this blog as outlet for my lifelong passion... colour, in its many different manifestations, because colour is the one thing that has ALWAYS made me happy and I want to be happy because life’s no fun otherwise! No doubt I'll also be talking about the ups and downs of living life with chronic illnesses, especially arthritis. I will probably throw in a few other bits and bobs for good measure like aspects from our lives in Asia and anything else that takes my fancy. So why don’t you come along for the ride for you never quite know what’s around the corner –ooooh how exciting!!!
Love Sheen xxx

P.S. I love looking at photos on blogs (it makes them so much more interesting) but in inevitably there will be posts where photos are not really relevant, in which case, I will probably add photos of nature / sights (like I've done here) just so that there's something colourful to look at ;o) 

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