Hello, my name’s Lori- AKA ‘Bud to Bloom’, a UK based disability, and mental health blogger living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, ME, and a host of other comorbidities. My journey with chronic illness started at age 13, and like many spoonie warriors it appeared to come from nowhere. However after a few years I was [...]
Category: #featured
Reflections – 20 going on 40
I never thought I would make it to 20, I had developed this prophecy that I wouldn't make it through the difficulties endured during my mid teens.
Pandemic Prom
As a young girl I spent a lot of time daydreaming about the future, my future - and how perfect everything was going to be 'by then'. Watching cheesy American teen movies about the toils of high school students for rich, white, and straight cis women gave me a highly unrealistic expectation of what my [...]
Let’s end the stigma of mobility aids!
I slowly began to hate using my walking stick, crutches, walking frame, and wheelchair - I failed to invest in my comfort and sense of self-expression because I was living in a state of denial. I didn't WANT to think of a future with mobility aids; it felt like I would be giving in.
I feel it in my bones (announcement)
May 9 - "This past weekend has been rough - my body feels like it's falling apart beneath my skin, uncontrollable; fighting against itself - the epitome of connective tissue disorder." Warm weather is a rarity in northern England, so I try my very best to go into the garden whenever my PoTS and ME [...]
A Chronic Perspective of Relationships
"How have your disabilities affected your relationships?" To understand how my relationships have been affected as a result of my disabilities, it's important to understand that my conditions have caused a shift in my relationship with myself. Chronic pain is difficult - the constant struggle to get through the days, some easier to navigate than [...]
“Disabled people have sex?”
In March and April I had the amazing opportunity to write blog posts for Intimately - an accessible and inclusive underwear company. Both posts centred around sex with disability - the first about embracing one's sexuality with a disability, and the second about navigating sex with disability. Photo credit: Hannah Todd Photography This blog post [...]
From Sweats to Suspenders
I think we can all simultaneously agree that it has been a difficult few months, as we're navigating a situation which the majority of us have never experienced before. At first it seemed almost surreal, like it was a strange parallel dystopian universe - however now it's something that I am finding myself slowly [...]
When it all gets a bit much
CW: infertility Hello Blooms, It's a f*cking weird time to be alive huh? THE END No I'm only pulling your leg - however this pretty much sums up the alternate reality we seem to be existing in; almost like we're floating in space, waiting to wake up from this bloody nightmare. I'm having a bit [...]
