Nomination > LIEBSTER AWARD 2018

Thanks to Afternoon Tea4Two  | Barmac5 for nominating me for the Liebster award!

I am really tickled, thankyou for nominating FibroFlutters for this award, I shall embed the badge on a widget.

The award is supposed to be for those with under 200 followers, so I have mainly nominated bloggers who have a wordpress following of around 200 or less like me. 

All nominees are from my wordpress reader list.

For example:

Fibro Flutters has a social media following of over 3000 but on wordpress it is only 30

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Here are the rules:

• Acknowledge the blog who nominated you

• Answer the 11 questions your nominator asked

• Nominate 11 other bloggers

• Ask them 11 questions

• Let them know you have nominated them

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Here are Barmac5’s  11 (hopefully easy) questions to me:

What prompted you to write a blog?

My advocacy work for charities and my newly formed support group FibroFlutters.  Not all FibroFlutters members were on Facebook, including myself, so I needed to find and provide a place where my ‘support group for fibromyalgia / mentalhealth’ members could easily find information andconnect with each other.  Although, I wasn’t on Facebook, I was on Twitter. 

FibroFlutters was new and my friend @elastagirl82 helped out by posting our meeting dates on Facebook, she became my Co-Founder and Founding Five Member.  She set up a group on Facebook parallel to me setting up this blog for potential new members as well as other fibro members and other interested parties.  

We needed to optimise social reach for campaigning purposes.

Communication avenues across social media were required and WordPress offered the perfect set-up for blogging / sharing news / info because it shared out to other social media platforms such as Facebook; Twitter; Google. WP now has a longer list! including Pinterest.  Increasing social reach was important for advocacy/advisory and support work.

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Why do you blog?

 

It’s my opportunity to try and help others as a fellow Patient 

I enjoy sharing information because it means that I am always learning new things, also making new friends, meeting some very interesting and inspirational people.

To share awareness and fundraising campaigns for organisations and charities.

Of course over time our group has grown through it’s advocacy/advisory/support work from FibroFlutters local > regional > national > global Followers.  

We accidently developed over time into an online support and advisory group for >>>

#chronicillness #invisibleillness #chronicpain #fibro #EDS #JHS #HSDs #CRPS #Lupus #Lyme #connectivetissue #mentalhealth #depression #anxiety #stress #ME #CFS #Fatigue #arthritis #skindisorders #IBS #Migraine #Neurology #Rheumatology #Dermatology #Research and many more. 

There are over 200 Musculoskeletal conditions that mimic each other or share symptoms which is why it is often difficult to get diagnosed, it can be frustrating for people so we offer to help point them in the right directions.  That’s not even mentioning any other chronic illness types!

Lastly, this blog is basically a notice-board and library for FibroFlutters and their followers.

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Where was your last holiday?

Christmas and New Year break with family in Cumbria.

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Cat or Dog?

I have a female 4yr old Black cat called Kuro.

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If you could meet anyone dead or alive who would it be?

Probably my father as I was a child when he died from bowel cancer.

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Describe yourself in three words.

1. Advocate
2. Resourceful
3. Complex

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What are three things you cannot live without?

1. Broadband – Social / Health Research / Communication Avenues / Booking health appointments / Banking / Shopping / Support Group
2. Power Chair – Independence due to poor mobility, joint instability caused by Hypermobility Syndrome and running, playing sports etc as a younger self.  Poor coordination and balance.
3. Voltarol Pain Gel – Speaks for itself, it fits in my bag and goes everywhere with me

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What advice would you give to a new blogger?

If you get stuck don’t be afraid to reach out and ask another blogger, take time to learn how your blogging site works and marry your theme to the type of blog you wish to write.

Take a look at Connecting Bloggers to the Chronic Illness Community

Via Chronic Illness Bloggers

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What’s your biggest weakness?

When struggling with fatigue I have episodes of being completely disorganised.

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Movies or books?

Books, not that I can manage them anymore I end up reading the same chapters repeatedly unless it is something that completely grips my attention.

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How was your day today?     

It’s morning so I’ll tell you about yesterday 🙂

Healthwise my key problems were skin / hypermobility and joint instability / pain and stiffness / arthritis / fibromyalgia / temperature sensitivity

Weblog/site work was great, advocacy and support group work was rewarding as always when you know you have helped someone.

Apart from chronic life issues the day was quite a good one.

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Now for the 11 bloggers I nominate to receive the award, and pass it on if they wish:

1)   Tea For Two > Blog author > smartcarkaz

“Eccentric, tea drinking, stationary addicted cat lady. Living with multiple chronic illnesses and a multipack of crisps, you’ll most likely find me with a cup of tea, a new notebook and my kitty cat. Or in a hedge taking photos of wildlife. So grab a cup of tea with me, sit down and get stuck in.” (Tea For Two header text)

2)  Autoimmunitygirl  > Blog author > Gravatar.com Trish Dyne

“Advocating for Autoimmune fighters, their carers and supporters. – We are also on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram”

3)  Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer – Home Page  > Blog author > Ronny Allen

“Awareness of Neuroendocrine Cancer and associated issues. Supporting and helping NET Patients”

4)  LADYFIBROWARRIOR  > Blog author > About ladyfibrowarrior

A blog about my life with fibromyalgia.

5)  A LIFE LESS PHYSICAL  > Blog author > About Sarah – A Life Less Physical

For People Living With Chronic Pain

“Chronic pain blogger sharing tips and tricks to live a life less physical – but no less fun.

Mainly blogging about fibromyalgia, migraine and the important things in life: pizza, brunch, tea and cake.”

6)  My Medical Musings  >  Blog author > Sam 

“If you’re looking for genuine support, care, understanding & friendship, you are so welcome to join my closed Facebook support forum, Medical Musings with Friends . It’s a safe place to connect with others living with chronic & complex diseases, who truly understand the daily challenges. A warm welcome awaits.”

I’m also a Contributor at “The Mighty”. You can check out my published articles at My Author Page

7)  simonstones.com/blog  >  Blog author > Simon Stones BSc (Hons), AMRSB,

“Just an ordinary young man, striving to make a positive impact in the world…”

Patient Leader and Researcher

8)  The Zebra Pit >  Blog author > Capricious

EDS & Wellness Blog

“My hope for this blog is that it will bring others the health and happiness that the things within have brought me. Some things may seem overly simplistic, others too complex, but all have proven to work quite well for myself and others and so I share them with you. May your travels be lightened by them!”

9)  The MD, PhD Is In Always at your Service   >  Blog author >  Dr. Margaret Aranda –

“I have several blogs. And I’m a writer. But no one told me that WordPress is for writers and they have the “Press This” option to easily share another WordPress author’s work. So I’m encouraging writers, bloggers, researchers, and authors to consider joining millions who take their content and put it on a well-respected site […]” WordPress is for Writers   Dr. Author ~ Always Lookin’ Out for #MyCaringFriends!

10)  Color Me Lyme – My Healing Journey >  Blog author >  Terry Mayfield – The Blathering Lymie

“Wife, stepmom, grandma Terry, rescue kitty momma | Lyme Disease Fighter-Awareness Advocate | Loud and proud KC Chiefs fan! | Nature Lover | Wannabe Photographer | Thankful and Blessed | Remaining Hopeful and Choosing Joy | Hoping to encourage others, while sharing my Healing Journey.” Gravatar – Terry M Mayfield

11)  The Millennial Patient >  Blog author >   CHIARA

“How I… (Live)(Love)(Laugh) My solutions to life with MS”

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My 11 questions for the 11 bloggers that I have nominated

1. What country do you currently live in and is it where you were born?
2. How long have you been writing/blogging?
3. What is the subject matter of your blog?
4. How often do you post?
5. Do you just blog about your own health, or do you share other stories by other bloggers?
6. What are your main interests when you think about research?
7. If you could help with research, would you? what would you like to do?
8. When blogging do you share up to date research news relevant to your health conditions, or interests if not writing in connection to chronic illness & ilk?
9. What are your favourite distractions / hobbies?
10. If you could select one health problem from your list of health conditions to delete permanently what would it be?
11. How do you percieve that your life would improve once you’d deleted your chosen health problem?

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Many thanks for reading and hopefully my fellow bloggers will accept the nomination and challenge.

Wishing you all wellness

Carole Scrafton

ABOUT US – FibroFlutters

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