About Me; or, My Life in Pictures

So, this is me. Hi.

My name is Melanie. Nice to meet you.

I’ve got a boyfriend named Chris, and a 12 year old named Gabriel.

Chris and I have been together for about 6 years. This is my favourite photo of us, even though it was taken before we were an item.

12 years ago, I was blessed with a teeny tiny human. Who knew they came in such a small format!

He’s not quite so little anymore, though…

And to celebrate his birth, I went and had this done not long after I’d stopped breast feeding.

About 14 years ago, now, I slowly started to get sick. I saw countless doctors, went through countless tests. After almost a year of this, I finally was able to see someone who figured out what was going on. The news wasn’t good.

And because just one auto-immune disease wasn’t enough, about 3 years later, after so many treatments were tried and failed, my doctor gave me a second diagnosis: fibromyalgia. Years passed, depression came, went, and came again. Then more bad news: Crohn’s. And then: severe psoriasis. My body was giving up on me.

In better news, my doctors seem to have finally found the right medication, not only to help ease the pain, but to help with my depression, which was rather (very) severe. It’s a bit sad that I needed medication to do so, but I’ve re-found the joy in life. Doing things with my son has become fun again, and not a painful chore.

Because of the illness, I can’t do a lot of day to day stuff. Even relatively simple stuff like emptying and refilling the dishwasher can set off a flare that will cause pain for hours afterwards. I’ve finally had to resign myself to relying on my bf and his mom for help around the house, but that’s just another thing to add to the growing list of things that make me feel about as useful as this cat:

Despite all this, I’ve finally decided that my illnesses would not rule my life anymore. I got an office job, and I’ve been there a little over 7 months now (as of July 2022). I work in a company that supplies goods to the Inuit. I handle the fruits and veg, and cigarettes. 

But life hasn’t always been so calm and unfortunately illness filled. In my early 20’s, I was a dancer and an alternative model. I did photoshoots and fashion shows regularly.

I also used to love to go out dancing. I’d go sometimes up to 4 or 5 times a week! 

So that’s a quick run through of the world of me. Check my blog out for a closer view of what’s inside my brain, hehe.

M.