Experiences as an Unwell Mother

ByAngela Milnes
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Experiences As An Unwell Mother

After 5 years as a single mother I married my sweetheart John. Both my daughter Sylvia and I had our surnames changed to Milnes so all our family members have matching names. Marrying John was the best thing I ever did after having Sylvia. Motherhood is simply the best!

Getting married John and I wanted to grow our family but I became ill within weeks of marriage. I became bed bound and wheelchair bound due to hypopituitarism in the brain which causes deficiencies in certain hormones. I have cortisol deficiency which is known as Adrenal Insufficiency and Human Growth Hormone deficiency.

In 2013 John and I moved to Lancashire in the hope of getting my medical condition controlled well enough to better manage my health. By 2014 we accepted I was too unwell and that I may never be well enough to parent more than Sylvia.

However we visited a fertility specialist anyway to discuss our options. I was told I was far too overweight and my Adrenal Insufficiency was way too unstable. I knew this was true and wanted to know what I would have to do to be well enough to have another child.

I was told to lose weight and to get my adrenal health stable. The Gynaecologist said this as if everything was hunky dory and suggested I did not return until I was at a healthy weight range. At the time I was massive. The steroids from my Adrenal Insufficiency had caused me to gain six stone and I was weighing in at around 137kg, 21 stone 7. I was huge.

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I decided to do all I could to lose weight. I was very unwell with Adrenal Insufficiency and needed to find a way to cut my steroid dose down, get my health stable and lose weight. I was referred to a weight management team. I was placed on a 800 calorie a day diet for a year and took classes at the Manchester hospital to learn about gastric bypass, something the Endocrine team said might help me.

I also started a blog called Days in Bed at the start of 2015. I wanted to improve my adrenal health but the NHS system was not helping and I needed to find a way to share my experiences and one day earn a living to pay for private treatment for my Adrenal Insufficiency.

I worked hard on the blog and at the same time I worked hard to lose weight. I combined the two and wrote about my weight loss experiences on my blog.

After a year of dieting I had lost a lot of weight. It was no way near enough but I lost 15kg and was weighing in at 19 stone 7. I was still morbidly obese although I was not as big as I’d been.

My parenting and health blog had also grown and I found myself a finalist for the 2015 Mumpreneur UK Voice Award. I attended the Mumpreneur conference in November 2015 and to my shock and delight I won the award.

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I could not believe it. How could this be? I had won an award for my blog which was ten months old. That was amazing. I was handed my trophy, flowers and certificate by Caprice an International Super Model and another mother who had gone through similar fertility struggles to become a Mother.

Caprice

I continued to write my blog, try to lose weight and fight for my health to improve but I had 22 stays in hospital between 2013 and the end of 2015 and my health was really not improving. It took 3 and a half years to get my Adrenal Insufficiency more stable and I’m still on this Journey. After years of fundraising I paid over £6000 to get an Adrenal pump which is helping me stay out of hospital. I rebranded my blog to The Inspiration Edit in October last year and so far so good. The tag line is Family lifestyle and parenting with Chronic illness.

There is much more in this story and I will share more soon.

Angela x

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24 Comments

  1. You have such an inspiring story of motivation and persistence. I can relate a bit – I had gotten a pinched cranial nerve a couple of years ago and the doctor put my on heavy steroids for a month. This of course made me gain a large amount of weight. I was also previously disabled from my military service years back, so it is hard for me to do a lot of things – especially cardio exercise. I am still trying to lose the weight I gained from this and it is such a slow process, but stories like yours help to know I’m not alone in my struggle, so thank you for sharing! <3

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  4. Thank you for sharing your story! You are a true fighter and an inspiration. You have succeeded and you will succeed! Best with all your endeavors!

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  6. What a wonderful story Angela, and you’re so brave to share the good along with the challenges of what you’ve been dealing with. I wish you much luck in achieving your goals & never forget, adoption might be the best option so you can put your energy into the child vs a pregnancy.

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  7. I will have to checkout your new blog. You are doing well with your weight loss. It is not easy to loose weight when you are healthy I can not imagine the struggle you must be having.

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    1. Thanks 🙂 It’s certainly not easy to lose weight and I feel like i’m struggling this week. It’s an ongoing battle.

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  8. It’s never an easy journey but it’s nice to see you’re going on and not giving up. I think it’s really important that we focus on our health.

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  9. Wow! You truly inspire me. I am crying of happiness for you. I can relate a bit as my daughter is also obese due to hormone issues. They finally found treatment and she is doing so much better and losing weight.

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  12. Wow your story is so inspiring! Congratulations on receiving your blog award 🙂 I wish you all the best in your goals

    Reply

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