January 22, 2017

My parents' views on my journey and recovery

January 22, 2017/ Johanna Galea

For this blog post I wanted a photo taken before my illness started. When it never even crossed any of our minds that difficult times might lie in store. And I don’t mean difficult times just for me. I always say that I believe it was actually worse for those around me. 5 months ago, I wrote about my journey through Dermot’s eyes. And because some of you had asked and because my parents walked with me through the storm in every way possible, here’s my journey and recovery from a chronic illness through my parents’ eyes.

January 15, 2017

A year ago I hoped to improve by 10%: here’s what happened instead

January 15, 2017/ Johanna Galea

To say I had hit rock bottom by the start of 2016 was putting it mildly. But exactly a year ago, I sat down to watch the DNRS DVDs for the first time. I still had huge doubts about the whole thing but I remember saying that if it at least helped me improve by 10%, it was worth giving it a try. Little did I know how my life was going to change! Rather than improving by just 10%, here’s what happened in the year since I started neural retraining.

November 27, 2016

Open letter to a person suffering from a mysterious, chronic illness

November 27, 2016/ Johanna Galea

This is an open letter to anyone suffering from a mysterious, chronic illness. Invisible illnesses like chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, food sensitivities, multiple chemical sensitivity, anxiety and many others are unfortunately poorly understood, leading to even more suffering and isolation. Through this open letter, I wish to show anyone suffering from these types of illnesses that they’re not alone and that things can improve. But I know how difficult it is to believe that when you're suffering and that's why I really wish to get this message across.

November 20, 2016

Here's what I wrote when my life had started all over again 6 years ago

November 20, 2016/ Johanna Galea

I still remember the day I was first diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome 7 years ago. I also never forgot how good it felt when I managed to overcome it (or so I thought back then) through dietary changes. And yet it was still strange to read what I had written at the time and to realise how similar some things were to the way I feel now. And I thought you might be interested to read what I wrote when my life had started all over again 6 years ago. So here goes.

November 13, 2016

What caused the sudden (or not so sudden?) onset of my mysterious, chronic illness?

November 13, 2016/ Johanna Galea

It would probably have made sense for us to remove the bottles of water while taking this photo, but I was so excited about eating a plate of gnocchi for the first time in 2 years that I really wasn’t thinking :) But this blog post isn’t about gnocchi. This blog post is all about the question I get asked most often whenever someone hears my story: What caused my mysterious, chronic illness? To be honest, there’s no easy answer. But now that I’ve recovered fully through DNRS, I have a slightly clearer idea of how this all started. So here goes.

November 06, 2016

A day in the life of someone with chronic fatigue syndrome

November 06, 2016/ Johanna Galea

Here’s a glimpse into a typical day in my life a year ago when I was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity and extreme food sensitivities. Of course not every day was exactly the same – some days I felt a bit better, some days I felt a bit worse – but this was a typical day at the time.

October 30, 2016

Laugh every day and live a longer (and happier) life

October 30, 2016/ Johanna Galea

Last Friday was a really special day for us. We had the launch of my father’s first book and our dear niece Elise’s christening. Here’s my take on the book, why the book launch was so special, why Dermot and I ended up running in Valletta – Dermot in his suit and me in my dress and carrying my shoes – and why laughter is so incredibly good for you.

October 23, 2016

Why I took selfies while I was chronically ill

October 23, 2016/ Johanna Galea

Long story short: when I was chronically ill, I thought it might help some people realise they’re not alone if they could see photos of me at my worst. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever decide to share photos of myself looking so bad. I was even embarrassed to ask my husband or family to take them for me. But I wanted to have them in case I ever did and in case they could ever help someone. So here’s why I took selfies while I was chronically ill.

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