Pow! Pow! Pow! I hard punch the open air and try imitating Mohammed Ali in the boxing ring where the boxing ring is actually my living room. Workout complete, tick. Burpees, push ups and mountain climbing to boot, I am perspiring and exhausted and, most importantly, ready to face the day! These exercise routines remind me of PT classes during school days in the Eastern Cape so very long ago…
So, I am Charlene and yes, I grew up in a small town in the Eastern Cape. After High School, I moved to Pretoria in South Africa to study and start a career. After an exciting gap year travelling around the world during the 90’s, I returned to Pretoria and re-entered the workplace with enthusiasm and gusto. Training and eating healthily were top priorities and then, out of the blue, I was given an entry ticket to cycle the Argus Cycle Tour in Cape Town. A few days later, I found myself driving through the night to our Mother City and finished the race WITHOUT STOPPING (except for water), a fact I was very proud of this given I had not done a second’s cycling training prior to the event. That drove me to start doing triathlons, so next thing, I was driving from city to city to do the next tri. It was exhilarating… until one day, en route to Bloemfontein for a competition, I had a twinge of pain in my wrist. Bam, there it was, Rheumatoid Arthritis. I refused to believe this could be possible and two medical diagnoses later, my worst fears were confirmed. It runs in the family…
20 years later, and a 5-year stint living in the City of Angels, Los Angeles in the United States, I now live in Surrey in the UK with my hubbie and three kids; yes, our three beautiful Jack Russells: Chilli, Vlekkie and Sammy. We relocated from Midrand mid-2018 and, I am blessed to say, work takes me back to South Africa every few months.
And then, a bolt from the blue, the world changed overnight! The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the globe and we are in lockdown with many restrictions imposed on daily life. And yes, life has changed irrevocably! And yes, we need to do things differently. And yes, I am determined to make the most of a difficult situation. And yes, I am doing my utmost to keep a regular routine. And yes, I am exercising as if I am on my way to a triathlon. And yes, I am eating healthily. And yes, I am taking my meds as though my life depends on it (which in a way it does, right!).
So, I am creating this website as a resource for information that I trust will be of value to readers sitting in lockdown. We have various medical professionals supplying practical tips and guidelines during this challenging time. To find out more about them, click on the buttons “Dietary Advice” and “Physio Focus” at the top of the page. With an eager eye for informative info published in the media, I will be sharing scientific and general articles of interest, as well as videos, slides and Q&As. Feel free to share your experience of living with an autoimmune illness during the Covid-19 pandemic via the “Your Experience” button and we will upload where possible.
Tune in tomorrow for the next share of interesting scoop!
Charlene
Charlene Lamb is a strategic communications professional and has enjoyed an illustrious career in the corporate world before steering her public relations consultancy in South Africa and the United Kingdom. She also enjoyed an exciting time as a journalist in the United States, interviewing many famous personalities. She is married and has three energetic fur babies: her Jack Russells, Chilli, Vlekkie and Sammy and is passionate about primates and the welfare of animals.
