As you’re probably already
aware, I have a chronic illness or two, which hugely affect my life. Often the
problem with support groups for spoonies (if you’re unsure what a spoonie is,
it’s the name for someone with a chronic illness – do a Google search to find
out why!) is that they can be quite depressing at times, simply focussing on
all the negative aspects of being unwell, which can be quite unsupportive if
you get dragged into the negative atmosphere. This is why, when I came across
The Pillow Fort, I was really excited! Finally a place I can go
where the fact that I’m ill isn’t even important. A place that finds the silver
lining in every situation and can support me through the ups and downs of
chronic illness.
For a start, I love the
name, as it made me think of all those times when I was younger that I built a
den with my pillows and duvet. Browsing through the website I came across a
whole number of exciting things – a Facebook group, Shop, Digital magazine and
a blog. I just knew I had to tell you all about it, as I know I have quite a
few spoonie readers and I want you to all know about this awesome new place I’ve
found!
The shop is a particular
favourite of mine, and could be useful to anyone who knows someone with a
chronic illness (or even if you don’t, there are some cute gifts there!)
Sometimes it can be difficult to know what to buy a friend with a chronic
illness, but there are so many great ideas here, which include the following
items.
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| Cloud Cushion |
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| Rainbow Pill Holder |
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| Hedgehog slippers |
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| Gratitude Journal |
The website was set up by a
lovely lady called Lizzy, who has kindly let me have copies of the digital
magazine to read and review for you. I love magazines anyway, but was a bit
sceptical at first, thinking it would be full of things just talking about
illness. How wrong could I have been! Yes, there are articles related to
illness, but there is no ‘woe is me’ in there at all. It’s all centred around
living an amazing life despite being unwell, which is truly uplifting. Various
spoonies have contributed to each magazine and each magazine has a theme for
articles to be based around. Anyone can contribute; you simply send your
article to the email address provided. In the magazine there are also great
photos, topics to think about and a massive range of articles to sink your
teeth into. The fact that they are digital is also great; as you can curl up
with your iPad and read bits of the magazine as and when suits you.
I decided to ask Lizzy a
few questions, which she very kindly answered so you can all find out a little
bit more about the person behind The Pillow Fort.
Hi Lizzy! Please could you introduce yourself a bit?
I'm Lizzy, 24 and live in Nottingham
(UK) with my girlfriend, a housemate and 2 squeaky piggies. I run The Pillow Fort and marching stars zine distro, as well as
volunteer at Nottingham Women's Centre. Bit of an Internet and trashy TV
addict.
What made you come up with The Pillow Fort idea?
The first idea for The Pillow Fort came about
a year ago when I posted pictures of microwaveable slippers and a t-shirt that
said, “sleep is my therapy”. People LOVED them and I realised there was a lack
of cute/fun, but practical products for young people with chronic illness. Most
stuff was targeted at older people. And The Pillow Fort was born. It’s changed
a lot since that original idea, and I’ve really picked up the idea of
positivity too, but the original tagline (‘making chronic illness suck less’)
remains.
When did you first become ill?
I first became ill about a month before
my GCSEs, when I was 15. It passed though and I didn't think much of it. March
2006, half way through my AS Levels, when I was 16, I developed a permanent
headache. I wasn't diagnosed with CFS/ME until 4 ½ years later though when
there was an oddity in my blood work for something entirely unrelated and my GP’s
questions unearthed that I'd been tired and headachy for years! I then went on
to develop fibromyalgia after graduating and starting an extremely stressful sabbatical
Exec role in my Students' Union.
How did it feel to be told you had a chronic illness and how did you
deal with it?
Everything made a lot more
sense when I received my CFS/ME diagnosis, but I'd already largely learnt to
cope and thrive with my health by then. My local hospital sent me on an 8-week
course to learn about all aspects of living with CFS/ME, which was really
useful, although I'd worked out a lot of it for myself by that point. A
diagnosis meant a community for the first time too, that was important. It's
lonely when you know you've been running on about 60-70% for years, but no one
else can see it and/or knows how to help.
Can you tell us a bit about what The Pillow Fort offers?
The three main aspects of The Pillow
Fort at the moment are the shop, the magazine and the community (Pillow Fighters Club). The shop sells a wide variety of cute/fun, yet
practical products from hot water bottles to medicine holders, spoonie
jewellery to PJ bottoms. The digital magazine is published bi-monthly and is
created for and by young people with chronic illness. And the community, a Facebook
group, has almost 500 members, and is unique amongst chronic illness
communities in that it has one (quite strict) rule: Positivity Only.
Do you have any exciting plans for The Pillow Fort?
I have more plans than the time to do
them! I'll be running more Pillow Fighter Club postal swaps, offering magazine
subscriptions, launching new products, hopefully creating some sort of
challenge and much more. A lot of the bigger/more exciting plans are under
tight wraps for now, but anyone on the mailing list will be first to know!
As well as giving me the digital magazines to read and review for you,
Lizzy has also kindly offered some prizes for me to give away to my lovely
readers. There will be two prizes for two different winners. Prizes will be
allocated in the order the winners are picked:
1.
A digital copy of the second issue of the magazine
2.
A glass jar with spoons in either as a key ring or a necklace (the
winner can choose the one they prefer)
This is an International
giveaway, so all my readers from around the world can enter this time! All you
need to do is complete the Rafflecopter below – you have two weeks to do so,
and the giveaway will end on 26th
July 2014 when I will then announce the winners!
I hope you enjoy checking
out The Pillow Fort and wish you good luck for the giveaway!
Have you come across The Pillow Fort
before? Or do you know of a similar organisation that has helped you through
chronic illness?
