It has been a while since my last blog post. It was a busy time but for most of it I took a month’s vacation with my family. I’m writing from beautiful sunny South Africa, reflecting on the past 6 months. There is no other way to describe it – NUTS (in a good way) !! I stand in awe of it all. There is a huge change in my mental health, but I am gobsmacked by my physical health. I got the shock of my life whilst driving in my car the other day when I rested my hand on my leg and suddenly felt my muscles again – I knew they were pretty dormant, but it was a pleasant surprise… muscle memory. I can honestly say that there is such a difference in the amount of pain I have. Before I started training in October my joints and muscles provided endless discomfort. Now that my muscles are stronger and I am around 8kg lighter, the pressure/impact on my joints is far less and my joints are more supported.
Determination and personal strength, but it is without a doubt that I, in no capacity whatsoever, would have been able to do all the hard work so far and face my health obstacles without God’s help and comfort. I’ve been very open about my faith from the beginning and most of you know that Jesus is the foundation in life.
Since being diagnosed with EDS, I can honestly say that I have my good days and I have my bad days. I went to bed a couple of nights ago asking myself if I have what it takes to complete my challenge and climb to Base Camp. My legs were in such pain and sleeping has left the building (like most nights). Because I’m taking blood-thinners to avoid another Vertebral Artery Dissections in my neck, I cannot take anti-inflammatory painkillers. With my joints being inflamed ever so often, it gets complicated. “Dig deep Janettie dig deep”. That is what I am constantly telling myself. “Focus Janettie, Wax on wax off. Sand the floor. Paint the fence. Bite on your lip, keep your head up and hold on to your faith!” I have days like the past 3 days where walking is painful, sitting is painful, sleeping is painful- all my muscles are in constant pain, but then it brings me back to my ultimate question which keeps me going - FEAR OR FAITH? I choose faith – the confidence in what I hope for, an assurance of what I do not see.
From the start I knew that it was going to be challenging to keep up my exercise regime and monitoring my eating this holiday. My Bootcamp instructor Dan (from Better Body Boot Camp), set me up on his app with various programmes which I followed during my time in South Africa and that helped me a lot. Thank you so much Dan for all your support in preparing me for October. I know I still have a mountain to climb before I start my actual mountain.
Oh, how I love South Africa. No place on our planet has bigger diversity, friendlier people, more stunning sunsets- and sunrises and unbelievable food – of course the food!!! We had the best 3 and a half weeks with family and friends, a wedding and a safari where we saw such beautiful animals (that’s on safari not the wedding ;).
Taking a trip to our beautiful Golden Gate in the Drakensberg Mountains was both food for my soul but also a bit of altitude training. Compare to where we live in England, there is about a 2300m altitude difference, so every bit helps. I sure felt the difference in my lungs whilst training. With my family supporting me doing my sessions outside, it was the perfect photo; me doing a plank and everyone cheering me on with a glass of wine and the red African sun setting in the background – oh I love my family lol! I have posted photos on my Facebook page: Zebra at Altitude.
I received a lot of feedback from friends who wanted to know about my personal GoFundMe page. (Karin, thank you for all your advice). I am looking into that and will keep you posted. This will be for me personally. The JustGiving page on my blog is still active for EDS Support UK.
On the Sunday before we flew out to South Africa, I received an email. It was a very personal email and I sobbed like a baby whilst reading it. It was a personal donation from an awesome family who paid for my return flight to Kathmandu. We were completely swept off our feet. Flights to Kathmandu are extremely expensive as there are no direct flights from London. I am supper blessed by your generosity and you have no idea how much this means to us – you know who you are!
"Be a pineapple.
Stand tall, wear a crown and
Be sweet on the inside"
