I've lived with Chronic Migraine and Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH) since 2014. I’ve also had to manage Anxiety for many years.
I was a Primary School Teacher, Early Years Specialist and Mentor before I became disabled and mostly bed-bound from cruel and constant pain.
I share my experiences and provide tools and strategies to help Mums manage their live with invisible illnesses.
I live in West Sussex, UK and have 2 teenage boys with my husband Joel. I'm an experienced Primary School Teacher and Early Years specialist. I’m also an annoyingly positive disabled, bed-bound mum, coping with chronic pain.
I was diagnosed with migraine in 2009, which became chronic in 2014. Months later I was diagnosed with a rare brain disease called Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension or IIH, which has been life changing for all four of us.
I live with constant chronic pain as a result of the IIH, which is a condition that affects the amount of fluid that builds up in my brain and skull due to constricted veins. My other main symptoms are poor mobility and light and sound sensitivity.
I began blogging to document my journey with chronic illness, disability and mental health problems as a way of coping with the huge changes we went through; in my other blog Laughing While You’re Crying.
After each of my six brain, skull and spine surgeries, I was able to communicate better. writing with honesty and humour about family life and the truth of living with pain. I was then asked to write as a patient advocate for Teva Life Effects.
The impact of coping with chronic life on the whole family was immense so we sought help and had family therapy. During this time we built on our family dynamics learning to communicate effectively and build a strong team.
This inspired us to develop our own strategies which have helped us all maintain better physical and mental well-being. By sharing some of these well-being and parenting tips, I realised I could empower others mums.
I’ve worked hard at chucking out the mum guilt and have learnt to look after myself better. The tears flowed often at first, but I think each drip took some negativity away and gave me strength to keep fighting.
I realised I needed to nurture myself to be able to support others and be the best mum I can. If you’d like to read more of my journey then read my blog - Emerging Strong From My Chronic Pain Conditions Challenge.
If you’ve made it this far, I’m impressed. It sounds scary at first but everything is in easy step by step formats as I know chronically ill mamas don’t have much time or energy.
I’m a trained mentor from my work as a teacher where I also learnt how to coach my peers to help them be solution focused. I’m a mental health and patient advocate, raising awareness about coping with chronic illnesses as a mum.
I love being able to help others so I use my experiences as a mum, and my teaching knowledge to support you with your well-being, parenting and family communication
Laura 💜
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