By Ally (she/her), 19 You can listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2AoKwfGWkohH7q0W8bocFV?si=e967735cce1f4928 I think that a year ago, if you had asked what I had lost and gained I would have struggled to think of what I had gained, and two years ago I would wonder why you were even asking. Now though, I feel able …
By Ross (he/they), 20 Listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0n21OTO6NgO4XdE6yJYu1m?si=d34a84f8ae604c23 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 …
By Beth (she/her), 20 Listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ewwYrpaxo9hN2AuL0U1Zj?si=f6fa584744af435a 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 …
by Jenny Barron (she/her), 22 You can listen to this here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5wemmePztIhPbhl2yZ3oL2?si=27c149f730e94564 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 …
By Beth Dillon (she/her), Ross Tanner (he/they), and Ally Lloyd (she/her) 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 …
By Niamh Adams (she/her) When you are diagnosed with a chronic illness you think the fight is over, you think you will get the help and support you need. Little did I know that this was only the start of my journey in becoming my own advocate and fighting for the support I needed. I …
By Ally Lloyd (she/her) The loneliness that came with epilepsy is one of the things that has taken me most by surprise and that I have found the hardest to manage. I feel we all know the difference between emotionally and physically alone, but it feels an important difference to emphasise. Especially because I would …
By Mirren Buchanan (she/her) Hi! I’m Mirren, I’m 19 years old and I’m a Gaelic student at the University of Glasgow. I suffer from seizures, usually a few times a day, and while my doctors believe they’re caused by epilepsy they are still not sure. It’s been a year and a half since I was …
By Beth Dillon (she/her) and Ross Tanner (he/they) Loneliness is something that we tend to talk about purely in relation to elderly people, but it is something that can affect young people too. All young people experience feelings of loneliness; growing up involves lots of challenges: moving from school to university, changes in your support …
By Laura McCafferty (she/they) I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) at the age of 16 after falling ill with my first flare. UC is a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and is an inflammatory condition that causes ulcers, which can bleed and produce mucus, to form in the large intestine. It is currently …