Sewing when you're ill or disabled.

My life has drastically changed in the last six years. I was previously an energetic emergency room nurse who worked as many 12 hour shifts per week as I could get.

Within one month of not feeling well, I was in bed flat on my back and not knowing or understanding why. I went to doctor after doctor for months without answers other than insinuating it was psychological in origin.

Hummmmm. Not how I usually handle things. I've had no mental health history except situational depression when family members died.

I remained in bed for over a year and progressed to using a wheelchair for another year and a half. Slowly I got better by giving myself rehab and using pacing.

I'm presently back in a relapse and have no idea of the cause. I spend most of my time in bed and have difficulty doing housework, getting groceries or simply taking a shower at times. I fight to do what little I can and frequently these past two months, it's not much.

Now you know why this blog is a little slow in coming along. I try to keep my mind occupied and these past few weeks have spent hours trolling the internet and shopping for vintage machines! Not a bad hobby but it's getting a little expensive and I'll have to reign that in soon! I also want to actually sew but given the fact that at the moment, simply existing is difficult, I might have to put that off for a while. It's hard to justify spending my energy sewing when there is so much work to do here. I have to pace what I do and at times like this, ADL's take priority.

So what I'm doing in the meantime is accumulating the needed notions, patterns, accessories - and did I mention sewing machines? From my bed - as I write this.

I'm also trying to plan a wardrobe and it just occurred to me that I'll need sick day clothes as well as a normal wardrobe. Sometimes it's hard to simply shower and dress!