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A day in the life of: Margo Milne

Guest Guest | 15:38 UK time, Monday, 8 August 2011

This month on Ouch! we're asking some disabled bloggers how they spend a typical day. First up, Margo Milne, a london-based writer with MS.

Margo Milne

This month on Ouch! we're asking some disabled bloggers how they spend a typical day. First up, Margo Milne, a london-based writer with MS.

Does everyone like to live by a sort of routine, or is it just me? Not a strict timetable, but just a bit of a pattern to my day - even now, when I'm mostly at home on my own.

Despite bad fatigue, I usually get up early. Then I transfer to the living room, where I often spend much of the morning asleep on the sofa. I wake up temporarily when my carer comes in to get my breakfast, make my bed and so on, before nodding off again.

The afternoon is reading and music time. There's always a book on the go. It's most often fiction (detective, literary, or the odd bit of chick-lit) along with some popular science and travel. I listen to everything from classical to folk music. Elbow are my favourite current band, but the all time masters are Queen.

My brain usually wakes up fully at around about three, when I can put off work as a wannabe writer no longer. I enjoy writing, mostly for my blog, and it is important to me to be "productive" in some way.

I work through until about 5, interspersed with attempts to hypnotise me by my cat, Bing. Those are followed by increasingly urgent meows, till eventually fatigue stops me working, so I give in and feed him.

Once Bing's stomach is satisfied (priorities...) I can start thinking about my own. Before I was disabled, I used to love cooking. Now, depending on my energy levels and how much I've done during the day, I may prepare a proper dinner, whip up something quick like scrambled eggs, stick a ready meal in the microwave, or get a takeaway delivered. This can get very expensive but I have to attempt to manage my energy levels, however much I might want to try to do all the things I did before.

The evenings are my social time. Online, that is. I talk to my friends on Windows Live Messenger and in the amazing , a chatroom for people with MS.

I head off to bed between about 11 and midnight, but not before taking the day's third and final dose of medication. I am on a huge quantity of pills. If I could jump up and down, I'd surely rattle.

I live in a small bungalow in the middle of standard housing - it might as well have a neon sign on the roof saying "Vulnerable"! Still, I know I'm not a prime target and am strong in myself, so I feel quite snug and safe as I fall asleep.

Disability blog entries I've enjoyed recently

•Artyeggs's clever craft blog about making a
•Diary of a Benefit Scrounger's powerful post,
•and Diary of a Goldfish's beautiful post about

Margo Milne blogs regularly at

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