Hi @Fun  I have moved around a bit and am not great at finding friends either, especially as I not really involved in ‘groups’ such as religious organisations or sporting clubs. In recent years I have found you need to find the groups that are linked to your interests and do some searching. For example, you may be able to find local book clubs (libraries can be good start there), board game groups with regular meet-ups (check out Facebook for those), craft groups etc. If it is physical activities then gyms, or community things like walking groups (in Adelaide there is Parkrun). When I lived in Tasmania the local cinema had a film group.   It can be challenging to attend first time, especially if you don’t know anyone. I have found organisers of these types of groups can be really helpful. For example, I semi-regularly go to a board game group meet-up and if people are uncertain or have social anxiety then we can buddy them up with someone to help with introductions etc.   These are starting steps, but from them you may be able to develop some really good, long-lasting friendships. Good luck. ... View more

@Trickster  I’m sorry for your experience. Medical issues can be really hard, especially when there isn’t a clear answer – the system is setup to generally work well if your issue follows a predicted flowchart, when it deviates, you can find roadblocks and dead-ends. And it can be really exhausting to always have to fight and advocate for yourself. I know that the advice is often ‘make sure you ask lots of questions’, ‘do your own research’, ‘understand all your options’ but in the moment, this is really hard to do. I have had similar experiences of being passed pillar to post and feeling like your issue isn’t important – that happened just last week.   I’m sorry about the misgendering and misnaming – and I acknowledge I can’t fully understand the impact on you re this. It sounds like you had a lot of people involved and that information, which was very important for you, was not shared when your care was passed on. There are medical reasons for the staff to know a person’s biological reproductive system, however they should still recognise your gender and name as something separate to that.   My only real suggestion is can you, or your partner, feedback to the hospital to highlight the issue, eg. ‘while I received care these were the issues. Is there a way the hospital can help their staff be more aware in regard to gender and name use to reduce stress and discomfort for future patients?’. Unfortunately, these things don’t change unless people are alerted to them. Though I realise this is probably not something you feel up to doing.    I hope you feel better soon. ... View more

For me hobbies come and go - I will hyper fixate, get to a point where I think 'ok got this now' and then get bored. I am trying to do better re my overall health, I have been seeing a trainer for the past 9 months but he has taken a holiday for 9 weeks and I really need to push myself to go with no additional motivation like meeting someone there. I'll have a look at the resources on this site. Tx   ... View more

@Shaz51  I'm not sure what else to say.  With my partner's illness it has so far been a 2 year journey. It was picked up through luck and a great GP. The first treatment was 'take this drug for 3 years and then we'll check' - it worked for 6 months. There are 3 more types of treatment and it is now a process of take treatment B, when that stops working, move to treatment C. Realistically we expected a few years with treatment B, it has been around 8 months and it seems to not be working. (there have been a few other things along the way but I'm trying to not be too specific).   We found out last week that Treatment B looks to have lost it's effectiveness, though we have to wait 6 weeks to have that confirmed. Thankfully I had taken the day off work to be at the visit with my partner, I also then took next day off. I work in the healthcare/disability field so my workplace is supportive which is great, but I spend my work days focused on clients who have significant disability, or supporting other clinicians.   On a personal note I think my partner and I are both focused on each other that we are hesitant to admit to each other how deeply we are affected, neither of us want to add stress to the other. I also don't want to add stress to the friends I mentioned - one has a significant health/disability issue, and the other has a child with a significant health/disability issue, resulting in at least one of them being in hospital once a month. ... View more

Hi All,  thanks for the connection @Oaktree  I'm 48, live in SA, have 2 ginger cats, am allergic to many flowers so my partner buys me Lego ones which are great as they don't need watering. ... View more

Hi,  Thanks for the welcome. I heard about the forums and thought I'd join. I don't have a large support network. My family aren't good with emotional support, and I have a couple of really good friends however they have their own significant health/disability issues that I support them with.    Right now I'm dealing with a big life change. My partner has a terminal illness, with no set timeframe as it depends on how treatments go, however he has got the worst version of the illness and so far it is not cooperating with treatments. I'm his main support and it's been a struggle. It's one of those things, it took me ages to find him, we've only been together around 12 years and I'm likely to lose him within the next 5-10, which is something I have been trying to ignore. So I joined as I think over the next few years it's not going to be easy. ... View more

@Oaktree thanks!  ... View more