Until Caitlin Moran’s How to be a Woman became the must read book of the year the Saturday Times magazine was the one part of the paper I had never bothered to read. However after reading the book in a couple of lunch breaks it occurred to me that I could get a weekly fix or her dry sarcasm and wit from the very magazine is ritually discarded. At that point the magazine went from being the throw-away part of the paper to the main attraction. Inside there was a veritable cornucopia of material that was enlightening, educational, humorous and above all interesting, including the wonder of Melanie Reid’s Spinal Column. Now don’t get me wrong, Moran’s column is still the first place I go when opening the magazine but these days it is closely followed by Reid’s column. The attraction of the Spinal Column is that it is so honest about the day to day trials and victories of chronic illness or disability. While I am a lot luckier than Reid I have an easy time relating to her situation. Like her I remember the time before life was cruelly altered forever, I remember a time when ensuring you have the time and energy for physio didn’t rank on the list of daily priorities and I remember a time when frequent UTI’s didn’t hinder progress at every turn. As I said in many ways I am far better off that Melanie but reading an account of similar struggles generally makes me feel a little less alone.
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