The death of Motley Crue

It has been an interesting week or two. When I returned to home after respite I was wiped out for a while; I spent almost all my time either sleeping or trying to find a position to either sit or lie in that didn't make me want to scream in pain. Then the pain decided to jump to another level altogether. Just to be really annoying, it jumped on the night I went to see Motley Crue and Alice Cooper at the Genting Arena, Birmingham.

Alice Cooper

Now, much as I love live music, my health issues make it very difficult for me to actually see any. Looking at my old tickets,  it appears that it has been four years since I last saw a live gig. Because I know that I am going to have after effects of a night out, I tend to make sure that it is a band that features in my top few. Alice Cooper has always been among my favourite musicians.




In fact, it was was a far better gig than the previous couple of times that I had seen him. Over the past twenty-five years I have seen Alice Cooper on numerous occasions, with a variety of musicians on stage and although he is always good this gig was one of the best I have been to.

Alice Cooper's band

I want to say that the staff at the Genting Arena are really well trained in dealing with customers with additional needs. The wheelchair section overlooks the standing area and, as you can see from the photos, has a great view of the stage. My photos were nowhere near as good as they were last time I went to a gig, but I had fun making memories of what was a fantastic night.

Nikki Sixx

 Motley Crue, on their last ever tour, were more amazing than ever. They have been fantastic every time I have seen them, but this time, wow. The energy in the arena was incredible and both Nikki Sixx (bass) and Vince Neil (vocals) seemed to be bouncing around like teenagers. Mick Mars (guitar) is not only a great guitarist, but a man that I admire for the way he deals with his own health issues. Having been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis as a teenager, an inflammatory form of arthritis, his spine has gradually seized and along with scoliosis, has further reduced his mobility. Despite the pain that he must have been in, he gave a great performance. As someone with health issues of my own, I know that our health does not define who we are and what we do with our lives, but it does affect our choices. For me, seeing someone with chronic pain performing in one of the most successful bands of their generation - and a generation or two after - is both fantastic and important. It reiterates that just because we have health conditions, we are still able to make the choices to live our lives our way.

Tommy Lee's drum-coaster

Tommy Lee and Vince Neil

There is never going to be a drum solo quite like Tommy Lee's drum-coaster. That was a seriously amazing spectacle; a drum solo where the drummer moves along a 'coaster and the drum platform spins upside down... I mean, I've seen some dramatic drum solos from Tommy Lee before, but this time it was something that is I cannot imagine anyone ever topping.




All in all, I really couldn't have imagined a better last gig from a band that has been around for such a large part of my life. It was emotional at the end of the gig; that final realisation that this was the last time that I would see a band who have always been so fantastic.

Mobility issues, exercise and weight

I was finally well enough to return to Weight Watchers last night at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Kingswinford. The meeting I go to is run by a lovely lady who understands the problems I face as a wheelchair user whose medical conditions result in extreme levels of fatigue and high levels of medication. Jane has given me some really useful suggestions over time and although she works for Weight Watchers, her focus has never solely been about losing weight. She has, for as long as I've been going there (quite a while), also focused on health, the benefits of eating healthily and exercising.

A few months back I switched medication and this has had the effect of making me feel even more fatigued than usual. By fatigue I don't mean tired; fatigue is something different and far more extreme than being tired is. For me fatigue is present in my muscles, making it difficult at times to so much as raise my arms a few inches. This often feels very similar to lactic acid, sort of burning and as though someone has sucked all the energy out. In addition, I get very mentally fatigued and can't think; this presents as the well-known by fibromites, brain-fog. You'll be lucky to get a word you recognise out of me at times!

Still, that doesn't mean that I can't eat healthily and do a little exercise, in my own way. Or does it? Well, yes and no. There are times when I struggle to swallow most types of food. At these times I can only manage small amounts of either soup or very soft foods, such as mashed potato. Although I often feel nauseous at these times, I rarely vomit. That does mean that at times I struggle to eat the right nutrients; given that I have fibromyalgia it is particularly important that I get those nutrients.

The lack of mobility, which includes that I am often bed-bound, does mean that exercise is difficult. It doesn't mean that it is impossible. Exercise takes all forms and can be tailored to suit just about everyone. For my brother, a bike-ride could be his exercise, for my husband - before he was injured - a long-distance training run, a couple of hundred sit-ups and the same in press-ups was not unheard of. In my case, there are days when - from my position lying down - raising my hands a few inches off the bed and repeating this a set number of times may be all I can manage for that day. Still, it is movement and movement is something that we should all be aiming for. I know that some people with mobility issues find that their caregiver worries about them exercising, so I would like to include a link to this article, as I think it makes some very good and useful points.

Of course, the lack of mobility does mean that I am perhaps more prone to weight gain than I was back in my able-bodied days. I can't deny that recently tic-tacs have formed a big part of my diet (appalling, I know); this has been because my medication leads to excessively dry-mouth and sucking a small sweet helps to relieve that. I do need to find an alternative that isn't quite so full of refined sugars. Eating the right foods is becoming more and more important as my health continues to deteriorate and I get older. I'm into my 40s now and I don't want to continue gaining weight. I want to be heading in the opposite direction and aiming for a healthier weight. Let's face it, if my backside gets much bigger I'm going to get wedged in my wheelchair!

At the moment one of my big inspirations is someone I grew up, who I knew from the age of two. She has lost four and a half stone, and is looking amazing. I am not going to put any pictures of her up, as I don't have her permission, but I am sending her the link to this to let her know that I am so proud of her and that she has inspired me. I wish her luck on the rest of her journey and will hopefully see her at Motley Crue's gig in Birmingham later this year.