Raising awareness of, and supporting, young people with long-term health conditions
By Jenny Barron. Originally written as part of the Lost and Gained LUNA series. When I got diagnosed it felt like I had gained this huge weight of responsibility, like I had this massive load to carry around with me at all times. Luckily with Type One diabetes the advancement of the medication meant that … Continue reading Life with T1D: What I have Lost and Gained
What I've lost: independence. The ability to do something for myself. Yes I can still wash. Yes I can still dry but no I can’t cook my own meals and walk a few steps without falling. Spontaneity. Everything I do has to be planned,prepared and executed with the utmost precision. I can’t just pop to … Continue reading Lost and Gained: Jack
When answering ‘what have I lost or gained because of disability?’ is difficult because I don’t have one. I have not had to deal with the struggles of diagnosis, hospital stays, and always putting my health before everything else – it hasn’t been central to my day-to-day life. I’ve never had to face the same … Continue reading Lost and Gained: Ross
Having a long term chronic illness can result in feeling like you are ‘ losing’ lots of things. Being diagnosed at a young age perhaps lessens these feelings; growing up you only pick the things which you are capable of. For instance, I never really have engaged in sport, apart from climbing from time to … Continue reading Lost and Gained: Beth
Jenny, 22 Jenny: When I got diagnosed it felt like I had gained this huge weight of responsibility, like I had this massive load to carry around with me at all times. Luckily with Type One diabetes the advancement of the medication meant that it can fit in a little case, so the weight was … Continue reading Jenny: Lost and Gained
Hospital stays are a seemingly inevitable part of having a long term health condition, and can be difficult for lots of different reasons. There’s the isolation, stress, worry, missing out on things and the fact that you usually feel completely rubbish. We are writing this, Beth and Ally as both patients and visitors, and Ross … Continue reading Managing a Hospital Stay
Last weeks post touched upon just how big a problem accessibility is, and how isolating and demoralising it can be for individuals up against it, and how widespread a problem it is in a way you may never have noticed. This makes having friends who both support you with this and share the anger and … Continue reading Accessibility: Being Part of The Solution (2/2)
Hello! To finish off this month’s topic of socialising I (Ross) decided to do something a little different and ‘interview’ Ally and Beth. I asked them 4(ish) questions and they asked me a couple questions at the end, trying to gain a greater perspective on the issue. I’ve tried to highlight a few of the … Continue reading Socialising, A Conversation With Friends (3/3)
Hello! When I initially sat down to write this post it was a real struggle. I was trying to write about disability and independence from my point of view, as a friend of Ally and Beth’s after travelling with them around Europe for four weeks/spending way too much time with them at home, university, and … Continue reading Independence: A Friends Perspective (3/3)
Independence is a real buzzword when you’re a young person, to the point where growing up and independence feel synonymous, and it becomes something to aim for. With a disability, however, independence is a bit more complicated, and at times it feels unattainable. Things that are often cited as the pinnacle of independence as a … Continue reading Independence: Lessons In How To Be Independent (2/3)
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