What Challenges?

I've been at completely different stages of my life with T.O.S now, each stage throwing different challenges at me.

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When I was in school, my biggest challenge was sitting in chairs in class which were awful for my posture, so doing exams that were hours long and classes that were 3 hours long, killed me. Luckily I had the best support from the occupational health at school. They arranged for me to have an ergonomic chair in all my classes where the seats weren't adequate, and allowed me to have as many breaks as I needed to stretch and stand for a bit. We also had a school nurse that would let me sleep off the pain if it ever got that bad. I also got extra time in exams and the chance to have as many breaks as I needed. 

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Heading to university, I decided to do Geology, which included going on lots of trips, lots of hiking and lots of standing in the rain. This also meant that I had to pack everything to be able to complete a day in the field to complete my course. In an attempt to carry as much as I could, I decided to buy a bumbag that would hold everything I needed, this meant all the weight would go onto my hips and not my back. You can also buy hiking bags that will do the same if you're on a long walk some where or going around a city! As for a fashionable bag that doesn't hinder me... yeah I haven't found that yet...

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I am very lucky to have friends and family that understand my disability, they have seen first hand what T.O.S can do to me. At University, my mapping partner carried all the heavy things, such as our geological hammer; now my boyfriend carries most of the heavy bags when we go shopping, and he always carries the backpack when we go hiking/camping. 

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My main tips for heavy day to day lifting:

• Practise at home/the gym walking up and down, holding <10kg weight/bag. This will get you more used to carrying items with T.O.S.

• Practise lifting with your legs, not your back! (you must know this from the million health and safety videos you've been made to watch...)

• Park as close as you can to the store entrance.

• Don't be afraid to ask for help when lifting bags.

• Don't do that thing we all do, take one bag in the house at a time! You're not a Camel! 

• Only pack the essentials on a day out... Do you really need that extra jumper?

• Always carry painkillers! - I try not to take painkillers if I can, but if you're out in the middle of timbucktu and your T.O.S/disability starts kicking off, you're going to wish you had them then!

• If you're going on a walk/camping trip and it's going to be cold (or even just a day around town or watching a football match), pack an emergency heat patch for well, you guessed it... emergencies.