Chronic But Iconic

John was amazing on this episode, as he openly talks about his own personal struggles with his own mental health and diabetes. Mental health especially for men still sadly has a lot of stigma behind it. It has taken more celebrities to open up in public about their own mental health struggles for more support and acceptance to become common place. This shouldn't be the case however, we must be grateful in the shifts within society it has caused and the positive changes it has achieved. It takes brave people like John, sharing his story and being open vital to the every day, 'real' people. Celebrities, have access to amazing doctors and support, where as we don't always have that strong level of support. This can often lead to the mental health issues to worsen as we panic about not having the support these celebrities come out and claim there is around. People like John, who is in a band, runs his own business, has a wife and a family is far more relatable and people gain so much courage to come out of the wood work when people like John are brave enough to open the door first. I thank John for being so honest with me. Diabetes is also a massive worry and struggle for John. People forget that not so long ago diabetes meant death. People didn't survive long and there were no real effective ways to treat to condition or at least manage it. Although it isn't seen as much as a 'killer' these days the stats of the population that are affected by the disease are on the rise. The symptoms are often over-looked and not seen as deadly, when they most definitely are. Unfortunately, with cancers & heart disease being so common place within our society and such killers often chronic illnesses such as diabetes lose their support, funding and public standing. I thank John for again being so open but for bringing this awful, terrible disease back into the lime-light. To help people gain more of an insight into the disease and get more education/awareness out there. I hope you all enjoy this episode and can relate in the many subjects we touch on. Thank you John for coming on the podcast and being a wonderful guest. 

Wow, what a breath-taking awareness month we have had. I thought it was important to celebrate our success over the month and just run through everything. We are always so quick to move on to the next projects and I am very guilty of this. We should give ourselves time to celebrate our successes and how far we have come. First of all, thank you so much for supporting and being a MASSIVE part of this awareness month with me. It means the world to have your support and to see you enjoying the podcast so much. I couldn't have done it without my amazing guests and I am so grateful to them. Truly. Thank you. We have truly left our mark this month, lighting up landmarks, media coverage and more and more people WANTING to educate themselves which is amazing.  I have had a few rough days with my health and when that happens, often inspiration and words flood to my head as I try to cope with the symptoms going on. So I wrote this poem and wanted to kick start this podcast by reading it out to you. I think it is important to share this work to prove that we can always make good out of the bad and that we should use our talents and skills in a creative, positive way. I hope you enjoy, I hope it covers what a crazy, exciting and amazing month it has been AND THANK YOU. Thank you for your support, amazing feedback and being my main source of motivation. I am forever grateful to you. Follow me on Instagram: @sophiewardy, Twitter: @sophwardy and follow my blog for all the updates: www.sophantastic.org/. Credits to Adam Simpson who has composed all the music in this episode. Thank you! Thank you, sit tight and stay tuned for so MUCH MORE. xo

Joanne and I are both humbled and extremely honoured to have been nominated for a National Diversity Award this year. This means more than words can describe to us because diversity amongst our society is SO important. We have both faced our troubles and our battles but we have found the courage to talk about our stories and now go on to inspire other's to do the same. This confidence and support is all backed by the National Diversity Awards, along with the amazing BREATH-TAKING heroes and role models who fight for diversity nationwide. The sky really is the limit now, as big companies get on board, people are more educated, aware and understanding and so we really are shooting for the stars. Joanne and I have both made it our mission in life to try to create a less judgemental and fair society. We want to leave a positive legacy and a mark on the world. We go out on the frontlines talking, raising awareness, working to shift people's mindsets and change the world we live in. We have both face rocky journeys but that has made us passionate about helping PEOPLE, healing hearts and soothing souls because we have been through and felt pain which we hope we can prevent other's from experiencing. I hope you enjoy this chat! I HOPE YOU ALL GET BEHIND THE NATIONAL DIVERSITY AWARDS and show your support. It really does go a long way and mean so very much. Thank you NDA's for inspiring us all and to all the amazing heroes out there, you motivate Joanne and I everyday with your OUT OF THIS WORLD work. Follow Joanne on Twitter: @JoanneMonck Follow me on Twitter: @sophwardy and on Instagram: @sophiewardy . Join in on the conversation and have your say! I hope you enjoy this episode! FINALLY, to finish A MASSSSSSIVE thank you to the National Diversity Awards, the whole team and the organisation for all your hard work and current work you put in day in, day out.  We are so thankful to you!

Morven-May is an extremely talented and successful author. She has written the book JOY, which is available on Amazon and in most bookstores. FINDING JOY is told from three different perspectives which makes the book an ideal read for not only Lyme sufferers but friends and family to. To help people understand the true hardships and terror the sufferers and their loved ones go through when battling with Lyme Disease. Morven-May is an amazing campaigner, giving talks to companies and schools to name a few, along with hosting book promotions, heading to festivals and setting up stalls, events and fundraising. She is even crazy enough to jump out of a plane. CRAZY. But all for an amazing cause. She has enjoyed a successful but busy awareness month, getting Inverness Bridge to light up green and hosting a meet up to witness this amazing event. Even though we are into June now, the campaigning never slows down as we keep fighting to educate people in hope we can protect and save lives. An amazing guest with an amazing Lyme story. I know so many people will be inspired by this episode and will enjoy it immensely. Many thanks to Morven-May for coming on the podcast and motivating us all. DON'T forget to check out Morven-May's book FINDING JOY on Amazon or at most bookstores. ENJOY. XO

It was an honour to have Kiki on the podcast channel. She is has suffered with Lyme since the age of 15 and now feels she is chronically healed at age 28, hence her social media platforms mirroring this. You can find her on Instagram: @chronicallyhealed and her amazing website : www.chronicallyhealed.com where you can find links to her YouTube journey too. Kiki has taken her life back and is an inspiration to us all. She is now managing her all social media platforms, documenting her journey and successes but she is also wow'ing us all being a working model too. Which is a very demanding career, so every credit to Kiki. I hope that so many of you can gain motivation from this episode and realise despite illness we all deserve life. Her message and hope is that she can carry on inspiring people & protecting other's from the disease. Thank you ! Be sure to check out Kiki's social media platforms. 

Award-winning author of Anatomised. Fiction mentor. Historian. Lyme patient, campaigner & advocate, A.F.McGuiness ( Andrew) kindly came on Chronic But Iconic today to talk about his book, career, Lyme journey, awareness work and his thoughts on the disease. It was an absolute delight to talk to Andrew and I know you will all love & enjoy what Andrew has to say on this episode. It was such a massive honour having Andrew as a guest because he is in HIGH demand. Having been on Sky News and the BBC raising awareness, he really is a force to be reckoned with and truly inspiring to all of us.  Anyone who has read and enjoyed Andrew's book please reach out to him over Twitter: @AFMcGuinness  or via Andrew's website, below. Andrew really values your feedback and it really does mean a lot to him. So please don't be shy. Reach out today. Andrew was a delight to interview & talk to. He is very knowledgeable, wise and an incredibly talented writer. I am so honoured to have had te opportunity to interview him. So please take a listen and enjoy.  https://www.afmcguinness.com/ Enjoying the podcast so far? Let me know: [email protected] or Instagram: @sophiewardy . Thank you. 

Amanda is 23 from the U.S who has battled with Lyme Disease since the age of 8. She struggles with many symptoms and this means that life is often hard to balance as well as being so young. Amanda has a wonderful Instagram page @brokeinlove_art where you can see her amazing work, talents & links to her YOUTUBE channel which you should all check out. Amanda is proof that even with battling a chronic illness we should still fight & chase our dreams and that often we can use our talents in a positive way to help us heal. Thank you Amanda.  Take a listen and enjoy. xo