By Published on

Wednesday 10th September 2025

Digital artwork showing a skeleton figure with long dark hair and tattoos, sitting in a purple chair. The skeleton is holding two knives and wearing a black t-shirt with a skull design. Bats fly in the background against a grey sky with bare trees. The skeleton has turquoise floral tattoos on both arms and small skulls are visible on either side. Text at the bottom reads 'SPOONLESS, BUT STILL ABLE TO STAB PEOPLE' with a social media handle '@the-dead-arthritic'. The image uses a gothic art style with muted colours - purples, greys, and turquoise accents.
© @the-dead-arthritic

Some Days I Open My Eyes and Feel Ready to Take on the World...

...then I can't even use a tin opener to open a can of tuna to feed my cats.

Q? Is it just me? Or a crap tin opener? Or both?

Q? Does it really matter? Who gives a toss?

Don't worry - the cats were fed eventually. I just feel rubbish that I couldn't even open a bloody tin.

Festival fatigue reality check: The post-festival crash has really kicked in properly now. Beautiful Days was absolutely worth it, but my body's sending me the bill with interest. It's that familiar cycle - amazing experiences followed by weeks of payback.

Today's frustration: It's the unpredictability that gets me the most. Today, my hands won't cooperate with something as basic as a tin opener. The cats were looking at me like "Come on, woman, we're starving here!" while I wrestled with what should be the most straightforward task.

Practical reality: I guess yet more disability aids are required. I'm considering adding an "easy-grip can opener" or an electric one to the ever-growing list of adaptations. It's not exactly the shopping list I imagined having in my 50s, but here we are.

Today's truth: Some days chronic illness means you can't do the basics, even when you desperately want to. Today was one of those days, and that's just how it is.

Tomorrow's hope: My hands will remember how to function correctly. Maybe they won't. Either way, I'll figure it out - the cats depend on it!

Affirmations I need to remember:

  • Bad hand days don't make me useless
  • Needing aids isn't failure, it's adaptation
  • Even small struggles are valid

Does anyone else have those "really, body? A can opener defeats you today?" moments?

Sha x

#WheelyHappyDays #FestivalFatigue #ChronicIllnessReality #DisabilityAids #PostExertionalMalaise #CatMumStruggles