Welcome to another post for the ’12 Days of being Chronically Thankful’, a revised version of the famous ’12 Days of Christmas’ for those living with chronic illness, like me.

On the ‘6th Day of Christmas’ I was chronically thankful for…a theatre production!

Now, living with a chronic condition like mine, I am unable to attend a theatre production in person – most theatres are very big with high ceilings, as most of you are aware, high ceilings, and flashing fluorescent lights are a trigger for the episodes of severe vertigo that I often experience, and hence going to see a theatre production would make me extremely unwell.

However, a few weeks back, during one of my first trips out with my P.A, we visited my local library, and lo and behold I found a copy of a DVD of a production of ‘Les Misèrables’ that was filmed at the O2 for the show’s 25 year Anniversary.  I was so excited as  it is a show that I haven’t wanted to see for years, but because of my condition I have been unable to go and see it in London.

As a result, I instantly decided that I would rent it from the library, and on a day in which I felt really bad, leaving me unable to get out of bed, I managed to watch it on my computer.  And I instantly fell in love with the musical – the story, the songs just everything about it!  And for a couple of hours, I forgot about how bad I felt, I was still aware of the dizziness and vertigo as they are hard to ignore!  However, I was so engrossed with the production of this amazing musical that I was able to ignore it, and just really enjoy the DVD!

And now I am equally excited for the film version of Les Misérables, starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway among others – and perhaps even planning a trip to the cinema with my Personal Assistant, it will be difficult for me being in the building but I am determined to achieve this feat!

And for that I am ‘chronically’ thankful!