Day 15 – Listen to your body

“Listen to your body”. I’ve heard that from the MND specialist nurses and from people in the MND support groups.

I didn’t quite take it seriously until after this weekend….

Saturday: I went to an engagement party where I was standing for hours. This meant pain in my back and my legs.

Sunday: I met with friends for a walk with the dogs. I fell over on uneven ground but my friend was there to help me back to my feet.

I walked nearly 6 miles over the course of the day. 12,000 steps which used to be my daily step goal and also used to be an easily and consistently achieved target.

Monday: I booked back to back appointments. I opted to snooze my alarm for another 20mins instead of having breakfast, even although I got my 8 hours of sleep in.

10:30-12:00 a meeting with my MND specialist nurse.

12:30-1:30 a meeting with a private physio (I’m too strong for NHS physio but this person didn’t fill me with confidence and I wasn’t really impressed by their methods, so I won’t have any further appointments there)

1:30-2:30 I returned some clothes in town and collected something for lunch.

2:30-3:00 inhaled 3 cooked chicken thighs with salad, the first meal of the day.

3:00-6:00 a visit with a dog trainer to help my dog overcome anxiety with new people coming to the flat. With my MND there will be more visitors to the flat than we have ever had.

We also walked around the park twice to help me, help my dog around his triggers eg. Joggers, cyclists and black labs etc

The dog trainer was excellent and really helpful. But by this point my body was aching, my head was pounding. I felt nauseous and lethargic.

When the dog trainer left I slept on the sofa for 2 hours. I’ve definitely learned from that. I need to plan my days better. Conserve energy. Eat properly and don’t skip meals. Prioritise me and my body. “Listen” to my body.