Cats, Crafts, and Chronic Illness
Hello and welcome!
After a long break from the Blogging world I have decided to start my blog back up again. I feel now is a great time to share my experiences, document my achievements- high and low and hopefully be a mental wellbeing diary for myself if nothing else.
So a little about me - my name is Clare and many people call me Clarebear - from that lead to "Clare and the Bear" which has been my branding for my artwork and fashion for many years now. I'm 32 and live in the Midlands and work Freelance in Fashion design and Manufacture.
The main incentive behind starting this blog back up is due to the fact I have had a stressful few years suffering with a Chronic illness - struggling everyday with chronic pain, trying desperately to be diagnosed and be treated, as well as trying to live a so called normal life, has been difficult to say the least! 2018 was a very trying year for me and I swore that I would make 2019 better - and so far so good, my health is improving and I finally feel life is getting back on track. Hence the reason to reboot my blog, to give me the chance to reflect and discuss my experiences, share with fellow sufferers how it has affected my life personally and professionally, and to also show more about my work within fashion; sharing crafty tips and personal projects. There maybe one or two posts related to my cats also :-) who are the absolute loves of my life.
The backstory: In 2017 I was finally diagnosed with a condition called Endometriosis. I had been suffering with chronic pain for years prior to being diagnosed. I was constantly in and out the Doctors surgery and Hospitals, having tests and examinations on me with no clear result - even though I persisted I had Endometriosis - no-one believed me. Endometriosis (or Endo) is predominantly a female condition, and is where menstrual like blood grows outside of the uterus (womb) attaches itself to organs, fusing them together, creating adhesions and cysts, it can affect your reproductive system and fertility but can also grow anywhere within the body. I will go into more detail about my personal Endo experience within a separate blog on a later date.
Living with a condition which people don't understand or can't relate too is hard, as most of the time you physically look OK so people don't understand how you are in pain, or why. People think its just bad period pains and you're being mellow dramatic. My endo doesn't just cause pain it causes fatigue, which both obviously impact on my ability to work. Thankfully being freelance has benefited from this as I can pick and choose when I work, but it has still made a huge impact on me and my career, as I've had to decline work opportunities due to feeling too physically weak to fulfil them.
After my second surgery in December 2018, my health has improved which has lead me to accept new work opportunities - which I'm exciting to share more of. And also given me a piece of my life back - that I had potentially thought I had lost. I feel I have a new zest for life (I don't want to go do anything crazy like paragliding or anything silly like that) but I want to go out and do things, I want to get dressed up and go out, whereas before I was too tired, in too much pain to do anything and lived in cosy clothes (aka pjs lol). So here I am, again, ready to tackle the world. And here is my wee blog, my journal of Cats, Crafts and Chronic Illness.
Clare x
After a long break from the Blogging world I have decided to start my blog back up again. I feel now is a great time to share my experiences, document my achievements- high and low and hopefully be a mental wellbeing diary for myself if nothing else.
So a little about me - my name is Clare and many people call me Clarebear - from that lead to "Clare and the Bear" which has been my branding for my artwork and fashion for many years now. I'm 32 and live in the Midlands and work Freelance in Fashion design and Manufacture.
The main incentive behind starting this blog back up is due to the fact I have had a stressful few years suffering with a Chronic illness - struggling everyday with chronic pain, trying desperately to be diagnosed and be treated, as well as trying to live a so called normal life, has been difficult to say the least! 2018 was a very trying year for me and I swore that I would make 2019 better - and so far so good, my health is improving and I finally feel life is getting back on track. Hence the reason to reboot my blog, to give me the chance to reflect and discuss my experiences, share with fellow sufferers how it has affected my life personally and professionally, and to also show more about my work within fashion; sharing crafty tips and personal projects. There maybe one or two posts related to my cats also :-) who are the absolute loves of my life.
 |
| 2019 is bringing a whole lot of smiles |
The backstory: In 2017 I was finally diagnosed with a condition called Endometriosis. I had been suffering with chronic pain for years prior to being diagnosed. I was constantly in and out the Doctors surgery and Hospitals, having tests and examinations on me with no clear result - even though I persisted I had Endometriosis - no-one believed me. Endometriosis (or Endo) is predominantly a female condition, and is where menstrual like blood grows outside of the uterus (womb) attaches itself to organs, fusing them together, creating adhesions and cysts, it can affect your reproductive system and fertility but can also grow anywhere within the body. I will go into more detail about my personal Endo experience within a separate blog on a later date.
Living with a condition which people don't understand or can't relate too is hard, as most of the time you physically look OK so people don't understand how you are in pain, or why. People think its just bad period pains and you're being mellow dramatic. My endo doesn't just cause pain it causes fatigue, which both obviously impact on my ability to work. Thankfully being freelance has benefited from this as I can pick and choose when I work, but it has still made a huge impact on me and my career, as I've had to decline work opportunities due to feeling too physically weak to fulfil them.
After my second surgery in December 2018, my health has improved which has lead me to accept new work opportunities - which I'm exciting to share more of. And also given me a piece of my life back - that I had potentially thought I had lost. I feel I have a new zest for life (I don't want to go do anything crazy like paragliding or anything silly like that) but I want to go out and do things, I want to get dressed up and go out, whereas before I was too tired, in too much pain to do anything and lived in cosy clothes (aka pjs lol). So here I am, again, ready to tackle the world. And here is my wee blog, my journal of Cats, Crafts and Chronic Illness.
My main topics will include
Creativity + Crafts
Health + Wellbeing
Vegan + Animals
Fashion +Lifestyle
 |
| Crafts + Cats |
Clare x
Comments
Post a Comment