5 Years Today I Was No Longer Homeless!

Today, five years ago I finally got the keys to my permanent home after being in homeless accommodation for 7 months. Aberdeenshire Council were so helpful in finding me a permanent home and I am still to this day very grateful. The rent was crazy expensive at almost £90 per week in homeless accommodation, so by the time it was time to move I was in quite a bit of debt.

I moved in on the 16 of October 2014 and had no idea just what was about to happen just a few months later. By January 2015 I fell gravely ill and was hospitalised with the biggest Crohn’s flare I had ever had from contracting a bacteria called Campylobacter. From January until June 2015 I spent those months in and out of hospital and at the beginning of June, I had surgery to have a stoma placed and my entire large bowel removed due to sepsis. It was stressful as I wasn’t in my new home for very long at periods of time and when I was able to go home, I spent some weekends at my mums just to avoid having to do anything tiring like changing my bed or lifting a kettle. Again this repeated in September where my rectal stump had become septic and I needed that removed too. The operation was the easiest one I have had and I got home just three days later.. until the wound got infected.

For a few years I struggled with the infections, losing blood, vomiting, pain and fatigue. My home changed over the years from colour, furniture, flooring etc but I really struggled to have a feel of the house being ‘home’. I struggled financially and was never happy with what I had because it was all I could afford at the time and I wasn’t able to upcycle anything due to being so poorly. However now sitting here in my comfy, cosy bed on a lovely Autumn night I am really beginning to love what I have achieved. Most things have been left to break before replacing them such as kitchen essentials. Slowly I have been replacing the old with the new and making it fresh and bright. All I have to replace now is the dressing table! As it is fast approaching to winter the garden will have to be redone nearer summer time.

I have paid all my debts off that I had from back then but of course we know that life is not cheap!

I have also learnt that you really don’t have to spend a lot of money to enjoy things in life. A wedding doesn’t need to be so expensive that you spend the rest of your life paying it off or for a honeymoon that will really break the bank. Special days, memories and moments can be priceless and cost not one penny. When you are chronically ill, the littlest things can mean the most and we appreciate life as it is.

Being in a happy home that feels like home is something not everyone is so lucky to have and I think that makes us appreciate it even more.