Chelsey Prentice

Autumn is my favourite time of year. (apart from Christmas) I love it when the air gets cooler and fresher, the leaves turn brown and gold and you can start getting cosy at home. I had a slight but welcomed interruption to Autumn this year though in the form of a much needed holiday in the sun.

For some time, health worries and life stress have been weighing heavily on me and dragging me down. I was at the point where I desperately needed a break to switch off and try to forget about everything as much as possible. It had been 5 years since me and my boyfriend had been abroad together for various reasons so it was a long awaited trip for us. My anxiety was heightened before going as I always worry about things that could go wrong or anything that would jeopardise the much needed break. Fortunately, all ran smoothly and I’m so grateful that we got to enjoy an amazing holiday together and that I was able to mostly live in the present for a few days.

We booked the trip about 3 weeks before as a last minute deal through a well-known holiday provider and we paid a really reasonable price for such an amazing hotel. We stayed in the Atlantica Imperial hotel in Kolymbia and I would definitely recommend the hotel and the area. The staff at the hotel were always so friendly and attentive which made the stay even more enjoyable. The food in the buffet restaurant is top notch and there is so much choice. I particularly like the desserts and fully indulged in treating myself. There are 2 main swimming pools and some rooms have swim up or private pools that are strictly for the people staying in those rooms. We didn’t have a room with a pool but the main pools were lovely and not too busy anyway. The lagoon pool was freezing but so refreshing and I love the waterfall feature and the rocks around the pool. The other infinity pool is tucked away and only has a few sun loungers near it but it was so peaceful and warmer than the lagoon pool. We enjoyed watching the cute birds having a bath at the edge of this pool

The local area of Kolymbia has plenty of bars, restaurants and shops to explore. The beach is very stony near the shore but the water is a gorgeous colour and very relaxing. The hotel room was very clean, spacious and comfortable and we had an inland view on the ground floor. I don’t often travel abroad in mid-late October so it was a novelty that it got dark around 7pm and was quite chilly in the evenings. There are 3 bars in the hotel including a pool bar, a sky bar and a bar in the hotel lobby which also has seating outside and great views of the sea. There was entertainment most nights which we mostly listened to from our room as I feel the cold and felt too chilly to sit outside for long! The performers were all very talented though and it was nice to enjoy them whilst feeling cosy

We didn’t venture out much as we wanted to enjoy relaxing in the hotel but we did walk around the shops in the local area and went to Oasis bar a couple of times, mainly during the day and once in the evening for a cocktail. I would like to go back to Rhodes one day to see more of the island but a fully relaxing break was what we needed the most at this time. I feel much better than I did before we went and we have some great memories. This is your sign to book that holiday if you are able to

As it’s blood cancer awareness month, I thought I’d be a good time to share my health story.

I was diagnosed with ET, a type of MPN in 2021. It means that the platelets in my blood are at a higher level than average which makes my blood stickier and puts me at risk of blood clots, strokes etc. In fact, I had a blood clot on my brain in 2014 but at the time, no tests for MPNs were done as far as I’m aware. Back then, I didn’t even know MPNs existed as I’m sure many people don’t so it’s important to raise awareness.

MPNs are classed as blood cancers because they cause changes to cells within the body but they are usually slow to progress and can be treated by medication in most cases if required.

Because I’m classed as high risk I’m on medication called anagrelide to reduce my platelets and I’m also on blood thinners. The ET and blood clot seem to affect my memory so there are occasions when I forget to take these!

Living with a chronic illness and its symptoms, along with side effects from the medication and the anxiety that comes with it all can be challenging. Today I’ve been experiencing fatigue and a bit of brain fog so I spent most of my lunch break having a lie down. I’m very grateful to work for a company who are understanding and supportive. I sometimes have to take time out for hospital appointments and they’re always accommodating.

I am also grateful for the other people I have met and spoke to who have an MPN as it’s a comfort to have support from people who understand in some way what I’m going through. MPN Voice are an amazing charity who provide invaluable advice and support regarding MPNs and raise awareness aswell as organising events, some of which I’ve attended in the past.

I do worry about my health in the future, especially progression and the heart issues I now have, which may or may not have been caused by my medication. I can only hope that my health conditions remain mostly manageable and that things won’t get any worse than they are now.

Thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far

Scrolling through Instagram I’ve noticed that most influencers fall into one or more of 7 categories which I’ve identified below. Personally, I’m not sure whether I see myself as an influencer as it’s always been a hobby for me and a creative outlet but it’s a path I wouldn’t mind going down.

Disclaimer: This is by no means a dig at any influencers and it just a tongue in cheek bit of fun without any intent to cause offence.

The Hot girl summer/any other season Honey

She’s most likely to be seen posing in lingerie or a bikini, even making you consider putting down the snacks, she makes anything look fire and may or may not have a side hustle on a more risque platform. (no judgement here)

The Gym Bunny

She’s a gym selfie queen, embodies strength, lives in athleisurewear and posts about her lifting gains whilst looking like a sculpted goddess. You secretly wish you had the motivation and dedication to even do half of what she does but the pull of junk food and relaxation is too strong

The MLM Madam

Sometimes it starts off innocently enough with a DM complimenting your posts or asking whether you’d recommend a particular place you’ve posted about but it’s not long before they say things like ‘you’d be so great at what I do’ or ‘have you thought about earning money from your phone?’ I wish you all the best but please just leave me be to post the content I choose to that aligns with my interests without alienating my followers by suddenly changing direction

The Trend Follower

She’ll jump on whatever content trends are current but will usually add her own twist. She usually has quite a large following and doesn’t always take herself to seriously. I jump on trends myself at times too as those types of posts can perform well and it can provide ideas for content when inspo is thin on the ground

The Cookie Cutter Macro Influencer

She’s nailed understated elegance, can often be seen outside expensive houses in affluent areas of London, sat outside a bougie cafe or abroad in exotic or glamorous locations. Her outfit, hair, make-up and poses are always on point and immaculate, she has a huge following and she seems to live a dream life. This is the influencer I secretly want to be

The Promote Everything Girlie

She’s likely to be fairly new to creating content and wants to grow and work with as many brands as possible, even if one of them is selling coffee that acts like a laxative. She’s finding her way around the influencer sphere and will eventually find her niche.

The Girl Next Door

This is the type of influencer I identify with the most. She’s honest, down to earth and shares when things aren’t going so well, along with the highlights. She usually wears affordable clothes but may have the odd luxury accessory. Her niche may be fashion, food, beauty or lifestyle and she occasionally collaborates with brands but regularly posts things she’s bought herself. This is the category of influencer that most of the creators I follow fit into and I find you get the most engagement from a girl next door type.

Who do you most relate to and are there any other types of Influencer you can think of?

From reading my previous posts you may know that I was diagnosed with Essential Thrombocythemia in 2021. This falls under the banner of MPNs which includes other, similar blood disorders/cancers such as polycythaemia vera (PV) and myelofibrosis (MF) For more information on MPNs visit https://www.mpnvoice.org.uk/about-mpns/

Previously, the majority of people diagnosed with an MPN have been predominantly over 60 but more and more younger people are being diagnosed. I joined a group on Facebook for people who are under 40 and have MPNs and last weekend I attended my first in-person social, organised by the lovely Megan.

We started at Tank and Paddle Bishopsgate where we got to know eachother and shared our MPN journeys over pizza and drinks. It was so nice to talk to others who can relate to what I’m going through, hear people’s different experiences and not have to explain certain things because most of the people there are going through something similar. It was a nice, relaxed atmosphere and the pizza was tasty and huge (I still ate it all obvs)

We then headed to Hijingo bingo which was a novel experience! We had a good laugh but unfortunately none of us won anything, although the relief of not having to take part in a dance off on stage to win the prize probably outweighed the disappointment for most of us!

After that we went to Simmons bar in Liverpool Street which always has decent drinks and music. It wasn’t long before my feet started to ache and the tiredness kicked in (the joys of ET) but I had such a great day, met some lovely people and I’m really looking forward to the next meet up.

I’m not sure if it’s just me but it really does feel like once we hit 2020 things started going terribly wrong. The world feels like a dark, sad scary place and there are constant threats all around us. The news is full of terrible events, threats of war and pandemics. Even if you avoid the news, social media often refers to what’s going on in the world and can lead you down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. I don’t remember a scarier period in my lifetime if I’m honest.

Personally, my life started going downhill around 2021 when I was diagnosed with Essential Thrombocythemia and I’ve had further blows to my health since. Last year I got Covid in March then felt very unwell for about 2 months as my ET symptoms appeared to go haywire. I was experiencing weird tingling numb feelings, significant dizziness and extreme fatigue. Around the same time my grandad was also in and out of hospital which caused stress and worry for me and my family.

I feel like since then my health has just gone downhill and I’ve experienced all sorts of unusual feelings, twinges and pains. I had an MRI scan on my ears and head in October then received a letter in December saying that I have an arachnoid cyst and was being referred to another hospital. As you can imagine this was very scary and the worry definitely put a dampener on Christmas. Thankfully the cyst is small and doesn’t currently need treatment at the moment but will need to be monitored so that’s another worry lurking in the back of my mind. (almost literally!) I also have other symptoms that may need looking into so it does seem to be never ending with my health worries.

For those of us that suffer from anxiety these times can be difficult to navigate and feelings of uncertainty, worry, panic and helplessness are a regular occurrence. This year I’ve started reading more books to almost bury my head in another world, temporarily taking my mind off what’s going on in this one. I also listen to lively music but that’s makes me want to go out and dance which isn’t always practical, especially in January when it’s freezing, everyone is skint and my own motivation is low. I’m trying to make plans to have things to look forward to but I can’t help thinking what if something happens to ruin those plans? I do have moments where I can switch off a bit temporarily which helps.

I can only hope that things will improve and the clouds of doom will start to lift but to be honest, I’m not so sure. Does anyone else feel this way or is my anxious mind skewing my outlook? I can only try to enjoy all the little moments as much as I can.

2022 has been a strange year so far. The world is getting weirder by the day and it often feels like we’re heading towards dystopia with the planet being ravaged by the likes of heatwaves, floods and fires and launching from one crisis to the next with barely any time to breathe in between. This year has brought us the hangover from Covid, the war in Ukraine, the energy and cost of living crisis and most recently, the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II which marks the end of an era. (and we’ve still got a quarter of the year to go yet)

It’s hard not to get caught up in the doom and gloom. Even if you avoid the news, tales of woe are lurking on social media and in the conversations of people you come across. It seems like almost everyone is struggling in some way and it can be hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel, especially if you’re an eternal pessimist like I am.

That being said, I guess hope is all we have and all we can do is try to live in the present the best we can, try to find a way to cope with everything and help others as much as possible, even if its just to lend a sympathetic ear. Personally, it hasn’t been the best year for me and things have been up and down but I know it could be worse and I’m grateful for what and who I have in my life.

Healthwise, my platelets are still behaving like a yo-yo but my last count was lower than the previous blood test so thats a positive. I’ve been going through bouts of tiredness and low energy but at other times I feel almost normal. I haven’t managed to go on a proper holiday abroad this year which is disappointing but I was lucky enough to visit my grandparents in Spain back in May. I couldn’t use the pool but I did walk along the shore at the beach. Work is going well but I mostly work from home so I’m getting much less social interaction than I did in my previous job which I think may be affecting my mood, confidence and social skills. We only have a small team at the moment and the commute into the office is over an hour so working in the office regularly isn’t always feasible but I do travel in occasionally which helps break things up. During the week I barely leave the house and struggle with motivation to get out and do most things.

I was aiming to blog more this year but I’ve been lacking in inspiration what to write about. Sometimes I’ll think of a fleeting idea before falling to sleep but come the morning it’s evaporated from my thoughts. It’s coming up to my favourite time of year so hopefully I can put my worries about life, health etc aside and create a couple more posts before the year is out.

I’ve definitely been ‘bad blogger’ for some time with my lack of posting. I don’t even know whether I can even call myself a blogger anymore but I thought it was about time I updated you on what’s going on in my life. (If anyone is interested that is)

Health

Sometimes I almost forget that I have an illness, that is until Monday evening comes around and I have to find a space on my stomach that isn’t already bruised or as thick as rhino skin to inject my medication or when I have to go for my monthly blood tests. However, in around August time my platelets shot straight back up to nearly 1000 which was a stark reminder that I’m pretty much fighting a battle against my own body. Since then they have been yo yo-ing up and down so I just hope they settle and start trending downwards soon as I’m more at risk of blood clots when they’re high. Speaking of blood clots, since the blood clot on my brain in late 2014 I’ve suffered from bouts of head pain and I went through a bad patch with them recently. The first 3 weeks of December went by in a blur as I had a bad cold which knocked me over and then the head pains set in so it kind of tainted the build up to Christmas for me and made things even more last minute because I felt like a zombie for most of the month.

Work

On a brighter note, I start a new job in early January which sounds promising, exciting and like somewhere I could build a career for myself. I do struggle with change and it is very daunting but sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. I’ve worked at my current company for nearly 5 years and I have some great memories. I’ve probably never had so much fun at work and I’ve met some amazing people there, some of whom I hope will be friends for life so I am really sad to leave them. I’ve been manically trying to get stuff done before I leave on New Year’s Eve and I was so gutted when we were told to work from home as I wanted more time with everyone.

Wellbeing

My mood can be up and down really. Part of it could be my illness and medication, part of it anxiety and some of it down to circumstances and the effects of the pandemic. I often wonder what life may have been like without it and what memories we may have missed out on creating. It’s almost a collective grieving for the nearly two years that we’ve lost and the way things used to be. (and how much longer it’ll all go on for) Some good has come from it and I think it’s made many realise what is truly important in life, introduced a better work/life balance for some (although for others it’s blurred the boundaries even more or increased the time working and workload) and allowed people to hit pause on life. Personally, I miss seeing my family, boyfriend and friends as often and being able to plan things because there’s always that fear that it won’t go ahead or if it does, it’s much more stressful than it used to be. (Travelling abroad for example.) I was lucky enough to visit my grandparents in Spain in October and although the extra steps I had to take to travel made me anxious and stressed I’m so glad I got to see them after two years. I’ll get back there as soon as I can next year and hope that I can see them more than once in 2022.

That’s all I have to say at the moment but one of my resolutions is to blog more often but with me starting a new job who knows whether that will actually happen. I hope you all managed to find some joy in the past year and that you had a lovely Christmas. Here’s hoping that things will start to change for the better in 2022

There’s something about the term staycation that makes me cringe, but it’s a phrase increasingly being used to describe holidays or breaks on home soil and is something we’re likely to continue hearing even more often during these still uncertain times.

As travelling abroad isn’t always advisable or even possible to certain places at the moment, earlier this month I went for a mini break in the UK for the first time in years. I have a slight obsession with outdoor swimming pools (only when the weather permits so usually abroad) so I chose Hurst Farm in Kent, close to the Surrey border, which boasts a sizeable outdoor pool for our staycation destination. As someone who grew up in London and now lives by the coast its not often that I’m surrounded by fields and country lanes but theres something quite grounding and relaxing about that kind of scenery.

The grounds are so pretty and feature a pond, garden full of flowers and fields galore, some of which are home to animals such as cows and sheep as it is a working farm. Victoria who runs the bed and breakfast was such a friendly, helpful and accommodating host and the breakfast was very tasty. The room was generous in size, cosy and comfortable and we had use of a kitchen area for making tea/coffee, snacks and a fridge which housed bottles of tap water.

For dinner both nights we chose restaurants in Oxted, which was around a 10-15 minute drive away. The first night we chose Cucina Italian Restaurant and the second we went for Thai Pad, both of which I’d recommend but I think Thai Pad was my favourite for the food, cocktails and atmosphere. On our full day there we relaxed by the pool and when the sun made a brief appearance it almost felt like being abroad. I even managed to get sunburnt! The pool was cold but very refreshing and it felt good to have a swim, even if it was a very quick one. I’d love to go back there on a scorching day to make full use of the pool.

If you’re looking for a country escape for a couple of days or if you love outdoor pools as much as I do I’d definitely recommend Hurst Farm

Up until early February this year I was getting through lockdown by concentrating on eating healthily during the week and exercising. Apart from some tiredness and feeling slightly under the weather, I was feeling fairly well and positive then my doctor decided to refer me to haematology after some blood tests results showed high platelet levels. Despite having a blood clot on the brain back in 2014 I assumed it was a one off caused by the contraceptive pill as no disorders were found at the time, so the call from a haematology doctor one morning whilst I was working from home took me by surprise. The specialists suspected I had Essential Thrombocythaemia (or ET, which is much easier to spell and pronounce, especially after a few cocktails) but needed to run a series of tests to confirm it. ET is a disorder where your body makes too many platelets which puts you at high risk of blood clots. My health anxiety shot through the roof and I struggled to eat and sleep for over a week but thankfully, I’ve come to terms with things a bit more now.

Being diagnosed with (an albeit slow growing) chronic blood cancer in your 30s is pretty scary and is far from ideal but it’s only now classed as a cancer due to the cells in my bone marrow mutating to create too many platelets and hopefully with treatment and monitoring, I can live a fairly normal life. I guess we all have fairly uncertain futures anyway, especially at the moment but hopefully the treatment will continue to get my platelets down, won’t cause too many side effects and with a bit of luck the illness won’t progress into anything more life threatening.

The treatment is called Peg Interferon Alfa which I have to inject once a week. The injection itself isn’t painful but my skin seems to react a few days later with itchiness, redness and feeling hot, eventually turning into an attractive bruise. I’m building up a collection of them at the moment so my days of looking semi decent in a bikini are probably over. I’ll have regular blood tests to make sure my platelets are reducing then less often once they’re at a normal level. As someone with health anxiety and aversion to needles this isn’t the best news but it can’t be helped and being monitored health wise is a good thing as any changes should get picked up and dealt with fairly quickly.

There’s still a lot I don’t know about the illness and everyone reacts to things such as medication differently. At the moment I have times where my energy levels are quite low and I often feel like I have a cold but other than that and putting up with the annoying skin reactions, I mostly feel OK. I don’t know whether I’ll always be so lucky but only time will tell. As things change and I learn more I’ll keep you all updated but at the moment I’m just trying to cope with it the best I can. Things aren’t as certain as I’d like but I suppose it could be a lot worse.

update 10th April

I don’t feel like myself this week and I’m guessing that perhaps the side effects are kicking in. Some days are better than others but my energy levels have been low, I have more aches and pains than usual and just feel under the weather. I’m starting to feel like someone who has an illness now. I just hope my body gets used to the medication and things improve in time.