Taking control…

I have had a couple of weeks of difficult challenges in my life, relating not only to my health, but also to my work environment. Working in a challenging and stressful role can sometimes become overwhelming.

So too, with my health. There are many things that I cannot control about my health. Much as I might sometimes wish to, I cannot change the fact that I have Parkinson’s. I cannot change the fact that I have arthritis, which seems to be particularly troublesome at present. Not just with the well documented knee issues, but also in my fingers on my right hand, which make doing a number of things difficult and painful.

These things I cannot change. So, I must try my best to accept and take the medication prescribed to manage my cocktail of conditions and to address the pain issues associated with them.

One thing that I was diagnosed with in the last few years is ‘fatty liver’ which can have a number of causes. I know that one of the things that does not do my compromised liver any favours is drinking alcohol. Previously, I had met with my GP and had stated that I would cut back my drinking. Not that I by any means drink every day, but I undertook to be more mindful and reduce my alcohol intake for the sake of my liver and general health. This has proven to be more challenging than I had thought.

Probably, because of the stress of work lately I have perhaps taken to more frequent glasses of wine than I would normally consume. Many of us use alcohol as a way of relaxing and unwinding, especially when things are stressful. Not to say that I have got to the point where I drink every day, but I used to only drink any sort of alcohol weekends. This is not an excuse, but because my husband works shift work and his ‘weekends’ can be any three days of the week, I have found myself joining him in a glass or two. Now is the time to take a step back and review what effect that might have on my general health and wellbeing. I don’t want alcohol to ever become a problem or a crutch to prop me up when things get tough.

Also, I have found that I have found increasing solace in food, baking more and eating more sweet treats and snacks, ever since our UK holiday. Due to this, I have found that I am the heaviest I have been in a long time and again, this is not good for my health either. It is certainly not helpful for my poor knee that it has to support more weight than it should!

So, I had an appointment with my GP this week and I have come to a couple of decisions:

• I am going to stop drinking alcohol as of now. This will give my liver the best chance of recovering fully and being healthy. I may at some point have one glass of something on very special occasions, but at this stage I am saying a big ‘NO’ to any kind of alcohol consumption for the foreseeable future. This is likely also to help me to lose weight.
• I have made an appointment with a ‘health and wellness coach’ at my GP Practice. She specialises in assisting people who need to make lifestyle changes, including weight loss for better health outcomes. Hopefully, with her support I can get back to a healthier me.
• I will try to be more focussed on the exercise that I can do, which is using my static bike. No excuses. I need to do this for me.

As I said to my GP when I met with him, ‘there is so much about my health that I cannot change. If, by not drinking alcohol and losing weight I can improve my health outcomes, then at least I am doing something positive’. It is a change that I can take control of and ultimately improve my health and wellbeing. It is in my hands to do so.

Ultimately, the only person who can make things better is me. But I will seek the support of whoever I need to, to get back on a healthier path.

I only have one life to live and to get the best out of it, I need to take control!