Five fast facts about Dysautonomia

October is Dysautonomia Awareness month. I wanted to do a post to raise awareness so I thought I’d share with you all five fast facts about Dysautonomia.

1. Dysauto what? Dis-oughta’-know-me-uh. For those of you who have never heard of it, Dysautonomia is the medical term for  a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS)or autonomic dysfunction.
2. Dysautonomia can impact many different organs, resulting in many different symptoms and can impact the whole body.  Think about all of the things your ANS is responsible for. Breathing, regulating heart rate,  regulating body temperature, going to the toilet. the list goes on.
3. Symptoms may include tachycardia, bradycardia, hypotension or hypertension, dizzy spells, orthostatic intolerance (symptoms which occur when standing up), inability to regulate body temperature , nausea, vomiting, incontinence, a dry mouth, dry eyes and even brain fog.
4. There are many different types of Dysautonomia including ; Neaurally Mediated Hypotension(NMH), Neurocardiogenic Syncope (NCS), Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Orthostatic Intolerance (OI), MSA (Mu;tiple System Atrophy), Familial Dysautonomia (FD), Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy (AAG) and Pandysautonomia (Pandys).
5. The international awareness colour for Dysautonomia is turquoise.

If you haven’t read my previous post from last year on how you can show your support people living with Dysautonomia and help  raise awareness  you can read it here.

https://coolncreative.wordpress.com/2017/10/24/how-you-can-support-people-living-with-dysautonomia-and-help-raise-awareness/

I would love it if every one of you who reads this post takes a step towards raising awareness by wearing a turquoise coloured ribbon and sharing these posts on social media.

 

 

 

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International Coffee Day

Yesterday was World heart Day and today is International Coffee Day. There seems to be a day for pretty much anything in the world but for all you coffee lovers out there, today is International Coffee Day. Started only three years ago in 2015, it is a day to promote and celebrate coffee.

I thought I’d share a photo of a coffee I had the other day which had a heart in it. I always marvel at coffee art and how baristas manage to get pictures in their coffees. I’ve seen some pretty amazing designs over the years on the internet and on TV but I have never actually purchased one with coffee art so when the coffee came to the table with a heart in it I got a bit excited.  While I can’t drink a lot of coffee I think that coffee brings people together as people often catch up and go out for a coffee.

I’d love to know, what is your favourite coffee? Mine is mocha, although technically that’s not exactly a full coffee and chai latte and how do you like your coffee, black, no sugar, latte?

So to all you coffee lovers out there, go and enjoy a warm cup of coffee and Happy International Coffee Day!

Today is World Heart Day

Today (29th September) is World Heart Day. I know this is not exactly creative but I would like to share some simple things you can do not just on world heart day but everyday to look after your heart.

For those of you who don’t know, World Heart Day is an international day where everyone is invited and encouraged to make a promise to live a healthier lifestyle to prevent heart disease.

1.Eat healthy. Try to eat fruit and vegetables every day, cut down on excessive salt, that means not adding extra salt to your food and eat less sugary foods and remember to drink water rather than sweet, sugary drinks. Why not try cooking your own healthy meal. That will tick of number 1 and number 4 from this list.

2. Be active. Just 30 minutes of physical activity day has been shown to reduce your risk of heart disease. it doesn’t have to be intense, vigorous activity like running or climbing stairs (I know I can’t do either of those things), but walking is actually the best way to look after your heart.

3. QUIT smoking. This one is only for if you are a smoker. Smoking just one cigarette per day doubles your risk of heart disease.

and most importantly

4. Remember to look after your whole body. Yes, that means not just your physical health but your mental health as well. Make sure you take time out of your day to participate in at least one leisure activity whether it be reading a book before bed, going for a walk, doing some colouring in or listening to music.

What do you do to look after your heart?

For more information and ways you can look after your heart visit https://www.world-heart-federation.org/world-heart-day/look-after-your-heart/

Happy World Heart Day everyone!

New Mad Mattr dough

It’s like a combination of Kinetic sand and play dough except it doesn’t make as much of a mess as play dough as it’s not as sticky and it isn’t as soft as Kinetic sand so you can actually mould things from it. Available in six different colours; red, pink, purple, blue, green and teal you can squeeze it, stick your finger through it and watch it fall apart (crumble), pull it,  stretch it, mould it into shapes, use it to build things, mix colours together or even flatten it out and cut out shapes from it like play dough.  It’s very therapeutic and one of those children’s products that is heaps of fun even for adults.

Some of the many things Mad Mattr can be used for include:

• Mad Mattr can be used as a fun way to strengthen hand muscles, fingers and wrists.
• Promotes development of fine motor skills.
• Provides sensory exploration.
• Can be used for relaxtion.
• Encourages creativity and imagination.
• Promotes cognition when used to build and create things.

Check out this video at Relevant Play! http://www.relevantplay.com/MadMattr/

Image and videos from Relevant play (2018). [Website], Retrieved from http://www.relevantplay.com/MadMattr/

Roald Dahl Day

So Thursday 13th September also happens to be Roald Dahl Day as Heather and Dizzy from dinosaursdonkeysandMS reminded me. You may have read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, George’s Marvellous Medicine, Fantastic Mr Fox, James and The Giant Peach, Matilda or the BFG just to name a few of the many Roald Dahl Books.

So what better way to celebrate than to share one of my favourite Roald Dahl quotes and start a new blogger competition…the wierd word competition. Sorry no prizes, only recognition on my blog. The rules are simple, post your weird word below in the comments or start a new post on your blog. Mention my wierd word competition, thank whoever it is for nominating you to participate, then nominate one other blogger.I’m going to nominate Alyssa from fightmsdaily and Heather from dinosaursdonkeysandms because she and Dizzy reminded me about this day. I’d also like to know which Roald Dahl Book is your favourite? As you would know if you’ve ever read a book by Roald Dahl her comes up with some pretty strange words like snozzbangers and wangdoodles. Speaking of weird words. I’d love to have a competition as to who can make up the weirdest word with the best definition. To start off I’ll start by sharing my weird word… vovered. Vovered is when you’re covered in a tinkerbell mess. aka. A shower of Glitter. I actually discovered it by accident when I made a typo instead of the word covered I wrote vovered.

Happy Roald Dahl Day! And may you all be vovered.

Today is R U OK? Day

Today is R U OK? Day. Everyone has bad days but for those of us who live with chronic illness we all know some days are tougher than others.

Firstly, before you check in with others, check in with yourself. Are you OK? Then remember to check in with your loved ones and those around you!

It only takes four simple steps. Be sure to listen and not to judge and if someone is going through a difficult time and isn’t OK then show your support and let them know you are there if they would like to talk.

You can ask these same questions with children but rather than asking them if they’re OK by instead asking them how their day was at school or what they did today.

I was lucky enough to walk into the workplace today to find this feast on the table for R U OK  Day.  I am a a foodie.

But just because today is Are you OK day, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask the question every day. Everyday can be R U OK Day if you choose. It is important to check in with our loved ones throughout the year to see how they’re going and let them know we’re thinking of them.To all of the chronic illness bloggers out there and to anyone else who may be going through a difficult time you are in my thoughts and I am sending love and support. I hope you are all well.  🙂 And remember if you are in need of support, don’t be afraid to reach out. You are not weak, taking the next step and seeking support is BRAVE and COURAGEOUS.

 

Midweek Motivation

Last week (3-9th) September was National Stroke Awareness Week  and I was fortunate enough to attend a forum where I learnt many interesting things and met so many brave Stroke survivors and carers. I only wish there was one out there in my country for my conditions where I could meet people like me. One of the presenters who really stood out to me was a mother whose daughter suffered a stroke when in utero and whose presentation brought me to tears, included this quote in their presentation by Erin Hanson. Today is an extremely difficult day for me  and I will need all the support, love, positivity and encouragement I can get and so I just wanted to share this quote with you all. I think this quote speaks for itself.

We all have  bad days where we feel like giving up and falling feels like the only option but what if we could all fly? Often we just go straight to the negative and rather than thinking about all the good what ifs like what if today is going to actually be a good day?  What if we in fact don’t fail but have fun? What if something good is actually going to happen?  We think of all of the things that could possibly go wrong. No matter how small our achievements are, take the time to celebrate every small step. And remember even if we do fall, we are only human and we can pick up the pieces, get back up again and try again. We can’t leap before we take a step and we can’t fly before we leap. Think I CAN do this.

Please keep me in your thoughts. Xx

 

Blogger Recognition Award

So Positively Alyssa nominated anyone who reads this award and wants to participate so I thought I’ve never been nominated for a blogging award before so why not?

1.Thank you to Alyssa who writes an amazing blog, fightmsdaily for nominating me. Otherwise I am never nominated for awards. Not only is she an amazing writer and I think she takes after her poppy, but she also has a beautiful heart. Whenever I am having a bad day she is someone I am able to vent to and she always gives me advice and even if I don’t always take it or listen to it, although I’m bad at giving my own advice she is very thoughtful and wise. Alyssa has lived with MS for 18 years but she doesn’t let her MS take over her body, she has a very positive outlook on life. She always responds to all of my comments. I always look forward to her Motivational Monday and Pick Me Up Thursday posts. She has shared some amazing quotes which have really lifted me up some days, some of them are so cute and she writes straight from her heart what she is thinking. Alyssa, you really have achieved your goal of wanting to spread POSITIVITY. We share the same goal, I too also hope to spread hope and positivity but I don’t think I have been very successful.

The link below is to her website and I think you should go and check it out.ttps://fightmsdaily.com/

Give a brief story of how your blog started.

This is a bit of a sad story actually which I’m being brave and sharing for the first time. I really hope none of the staff members are reading this.My journey with blogging started when I used to volunteer with an organisation which had a a blog page for all volunteers where we could blog about our experiences etc and from that time I became addicted to blogging. Whether it was posting up something positive to start the day, sharing my happy experiences, sharing an art and craft activity, the rules for a new game or introducing polls and quizzes on songs or which contestant is going to win The Voice, MAsterchef or X Factor. I was a positive and bubbly person and so I used to always like to post positive quotes every month on their volunteer blog page and eventually became champion of the positive quotes group (created by me). Everything I posted was always positive. As some of you might know I live with a chronic illness. Now one day I happened to be unwell while volunteering and to cut a long story short basically I was terminated after I stood up for my rights and no longer allowed to continue contributing. 😦 For a while I couldn’t move on and I lost my interest in positive quotes but a year and a half later I decided I would try andstart my own blog. Of course I have had a lot of difficulty getting an audience because I originally started out being a blog for children and children at heart. One of my interests is working with children and so  CoolnCreative,  was born, a page about all the latest children’s and family movies, books, craft activities, ways to spend the holidays and games. Cool and Creative is not only a blog for children and parents with children, but also for adults who are young at heart.I am of course still passionate about working with children and continue to post about the latest movies and games but since then more recently I started writing my own original quotes and reflections to add some hope and positivity  to your day and now my blogs seems to be a bit of everything. I hope to spread hope and positivity in all of your lives. 🙂

Give two pieces of advice to New Bloggers

So I am a new blogger myself and don’t have very many followers so I don’t have much advice I can give other than just be kind to others. If someone follows you or likes your blog, spread the love and follow them back.  Please Be Kind.

The bloggers I’m going to select for this award are firstly all of the fantastic bloggers who follow me and take the time to read my posts and comment on them or like them, except for the ones that have award free blogs:

• Christy Istrate from Miraculous Smile. She rally does have a lovely smile. She always encourages me to blog and continue doing what I love and I love her posts with quotes and hope. Your prayers are much appreciated.
• Jenny from Tripping through Treacle. You’re a mommy and your children must love you. You take the time to read my blogs and like them.
• Nikki from Undiagnosed Warrior. You were one of my first followers. Be Brave my warrior.
• Our Little Red House (Sorry I still don’t know your name). I love your kind words and thoughtfulness and you are so creative just like me.
• Crafts, Chronic Illness and Adulting (Sorry I also don’t know your name). I love your watercolour painting s on the bottom of all of your blogs. They are so happy.
• Dinosaurs, Donkeys and MS. Love reading Dizzy’s journeys. You have some useful tips like putting your PJS in the fridge and you have commented on a lot of my blog posts.
• Caz from  Invisibly Me. Even though you don’t need the recognition, you’ve already got an audience and having over 1000 followers is a huge achievement and recognition in itself you always take the time to at least like my blogs and when I feel like giving up you try your best to cheer me up.You are so thoughtful and encouraging.
• Vivian from God’s Whispers of Truth. Loved your comment on my post about adult colouring in.
• Sam from the Fainting Lady who writes as Gravity Hates Me. Hope you’re having a good POTSy symptom day too.
• Kell Andre fromBlossoming Through Life. You’re creative just like me.
• Nikki from Brainless Blogger. Understands what brain fog is like.
• Vickie from vickleas.com.
• Tracey from Making It through the Rain.
• Tiny Tears Toni from MyMSrollercoasterride.
• Helen from Helen’s Journey. I hope I haven’t left anyone out and I wish I had the time to say more.
• Kal from Middle Me                                                                                                                    These bloggers are not my followers but I follow their blogs and so I’d also like to nominate:
• Dannie from Chronically Dannie as even though she is not one of my followers we have an awful lot in common.
• Rachel from the Invisible Hypothyroidism. Even though you don’t really need this award to be recognised, you’re so lucky to be in the position you are now and it is my dream to one day have people like the stuff I write about as much as your blog too but I would also like to be a thyroid advocate as this is a cause I care about. Loved your post for Thyroid Cancer Awareness month.
• Lavender and Levity.
• Lindsay from Dysautomaniac and
• Jak from Mastcellblog.                                                                                                                 Here I go breaking the rule of this award again just like Alyssa. I think I’ve nominated about twenty of you. So now it’s your turn to nominate 15 other bloggers.
  The Rules Are:
  1. Thank the Blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
  2. Write a post to show your Award.
  3. Give a brief story of how your blog started.
  4. Give two pieces of advice to New Bloggers
  5. Select 15 or more bloggers for this award.
  6. Let each Nominee know you’ve nominated them and leave a link to your post.                                                                                                                                                 I hope you like my blog and start to follow it and I really hope that I have spread a bit of hope and positivity.  Coolncreative aka. Nicole 🙂

The many benefits of Art and Craft

Our Little Red House recently posted about the benefits of crafting. I have  grown up with art and craft from a very young age as both of my grandparents were artists and I have always enjoyed art so I thought I just have to share some other benefits that I am aware of which weren’t already mentioned.

1. Crafting is actually relaxing and allows you to  stay in the moment.
2. It provides you with a sense of achievement. Something if even small, you can say “I tried that” even if it doesn’t turn out.
3.  It was mentioned that craft is good for developing children’s fine motor skills in a fun way but it is also good for adults. It exercises the fingers. Not only does it do this it also improves hand eye coordination.
4.  If you’ve ever heard of the word neuroplasticity, well art and craft strengthens the connections in your brain and connects new connections.