The Spoonie Mummy

So it is the time of year we start rounding up and reflecting.  I thought I would start this years top ten posts with a collection of my favourite posts which I have written throughout the year.  Hopefully you will have already read and enjoyed these, but if not I hope you have a read and let me know what you think!

Handy Hacks For People With Arthritis

There aren’t many bloggers talking about arthritis and it is something I definitely want to focus on more next year.  It is still so often associated with old people, yet I was diagnosed at just 15 months of age.  This post was really well received by my readers and led to a fantastic opportunity with Ecovacs Robotics (see post).  There are so many more things I do to try and make my life that bit easier so keep your eye out for more hacks in 2019!

Date Night Ideas For Spoonies

I have a lot of people contact me and see a lot of posts on the online support groups about relationships when you are chronically ill.  It can be a real worry – so many think having a chronic illness makes them unlovable which is just not true!  This post showed some of the ideas you can do when you are flaring and not feeling great to keep your relationships spark alive.  Me and Ste got the chance to do an Instagram takeover this month of Gutsy Dating – it is a dating app designed for people with digestive health problems.  Such a fab idea and I hope it is a great success and lots of my fellow chronic illness warriors find their someone special!

Better You Iron Spray Review

I wrote this for Jenna over at A Balanced Belly.  I feel really lucky to have made some amazing friends in the blogging world and to get the chance to write for one of my favourite blogs was amazing.  I have been really lucky working with Better You this year as well.  It is a fab company with some really amazing products which I have had some brilliant benefits from.  This iron spray and the magnesium bath salts are two of my favourites.  Definitely take a look if you are a fellow spoonie!

Back To School For £50 or Less?

Anybody who follows me on Instagram will have seen my #ootd posts.  I created the hashtag #whatostomateswear as I hope to show others with an ostomy that they can still wear what they want, regardless of having a stoma.  Pep & Co is one of my go to places – their high waisted jeans and jeggings are my absolute faves!  When they contacted me about working on a post with them, I was over the moon!  They challenged me to kit one of the boys out for the new school year for less than £50 and this post lets you know how I got on.  A blog highlight for me this year for sure!

FAQ – The Flu Jab

Having been ill for basically, all of my life, I have learnt quite a lot along the way.  I don’t claim to be an expert but I listen, read and ask questions a lot.  I really hate it when I see false and sometimes potentially dangerous information being passed around support groups and online.  I like being able to create posts like this to help people make more informed decisions about their health.

The Top Ten Things About Getting My Stoma

This post has been shared alot and I think it has helped people who have just had, or are about to go through stoma surgery.  For some reason an ostomy is still often seen as the very last option and something that nobody wants, even by many doctors.  But my stoma has given me a new lease of life, I can’t begin to explain the positive changes it has made to my life.  This post is about celebrating my ostomy and the great things it has bought to my life.

Advocacy

I was asked by my lovely friend Stephie of Colitis To Ostomy to write a piece about being an advocate for the Comfizz blog which she runs.  It was great to write about and share the pros and cons of what we do.  I love being able to help people at all stages of their chronic illness journey and it gives me such a sense of joy to be able to help them in any way I can.

Blog Tour Book Review – Leo’s War

I am going to do another round up featuring my favourite books of the year but had to include this one in my favourite posts.  I love to read and enjoy sharing what I read and what I thought of them with you.  This year we have been lucky enough to be sent some amazing children’s books as well.  Both of the boys love to read and this one was Leo’s first review this year, which made me so proud.  

Recipe – Chicken, Mushroom and Spinach Lasagne

My recipes section of the blog has been a little slow during the second half of the year but this was one of the favourite things I created earlier on in 2018.  I am a massive pasta fan (should have been born in Italy) and this was a great twist on an original.  Hopefully this section will be updated more regularly for you in the coming year.

Stinky Stanley – Coping With Smelly Output

There had to be a place for my most successful post I had written this year – this one has been viewed nearly 1000 times!  I am glad it was well received as it took a lot of research!  Every time I thought I had tried all the products available I cam across another one.  Hopefully lots of you found this helpful.  I know from my own experiences that coping with the smell of output, especially when out and about, can be really worrying so it was good to find things that worked!

So what do you think of my favourites?  Do you agree?  Are there any other posts you would have liked to see in the top ten?  Let me know in the comments below!