Women's Health Support & Tips from Dr Liz Murray - Thriving Whilst Living with Chronic Illness
Dr Liz Murray BCA is an award-winning doctor, artist and women’s health advocate. Her experience living through life with Stage 4 Endometriosis, consequent bowel and bladder damage, multiple miscarriages and autoimmune diseases to boot inspired her work to support women navigating life altering health challenges. From early pain and symptoms, to surgery, mobility aids and miscarriage Dr Liz falls into a unique place of understanding both the patient, but also doctor’s perspective. Her story is heartbreaking but her work is undeniably uplifting, we are so grateful to Dr Liz for sharing it all with us, check it out.
Can You Tell Us A Little Bit About Yourself...
Hi, I’m Liz – I was born in the North of the UK, studied medicine in Newcastle before becoming an A&E doctor and now live in Norfolk.
Sadly, aged just 18, I went from fit and healthy, dancing as a hobby, to not being able to walk. I was in excruciating pain all the time and I was left uncertain as to whether I would walk again. With little help from doctors who remained baffled by my symptoms, I spent my first year at Uni in a wheelchair. After 12 months in relentless pursuit of help from doctors, I finally underwent major hip surgery where they had to surgically reposition my hip muscles to enable me to be able to walk again. Post-surgery I asked the orthopaedic surgeons why my muscles were so inflamed and they met me with blank stares. It very much felt like they wanted me to be grateful they had ‘fixed’ the problem and not ask any further questions. I had to learn to walk again, and yet no one was able to tell me what caused this in the first place or worse, if it would happen again.
Sadly, it was another 10 years before I finally started to get answers, whilst testing for autoimmune disease, doctors discovered I had stage 4 endometriosis. By this point it had caused a plethora of other chronic conditions including Lupus, bladder and bowel damage, multiple miscarriages and more.
Whilst my medical history isn’t straightforward and my journey to diagnosis was horrendous, I have found my experience as a doctor and patient has offered me huge value and opportunity to help others. My work now is entirely focused on helping other women like me, navigating life changing health conditions in a way that supportive and proactive.
How Has Your Journey With Mobility Aids Been?
When I was first used hospital crutches I hated them, they gave me terrible blisters, made the skin on my forearms raw, and left me with such bad shoulder pain that the decision was made for me to move to a wheelchair. I just wanted to be invisible; I was so embarrassed and lost all essence of who I was.
After having such a horrid experience, as soon as I was able to walk again, I spent years making do without mobility aids. Whether it was right for my health or not, I couldn’t face those uncomfortable and embarrassing grey crutches. It’s only in the last five years that I’ve accepted I need to revisit having mobility aids back in my life.
Fortunately, doing the work I do, I came across people with amazing glittery and patterned sticks; this is when I was introduced to Cool Crutches which has been an absolute game-changer for me. My Gold Glitter Walking Stick is like a glass of water on a hot day—so refreshing! It’s silent, strong, comfortable, and a vibe that matches my personality.
Interestingly, my children also have a more relaxed approach to me using a mobility aid since I invested in a Cool Crutches stick, in comparison to the dull grey and black ones I’ve had before. I love my walking stick so much that I’m now looking forward to trying crutches, I’ve already got my eye on the Rainbow ones!
Can You Tell Us About Your Work and Charity, Mortal & Strong?
I founded the charity Mortal And Strong to support people living with health conditions while they navigate the impact of their diagnosis, the symptoms, and the healthcare system. After 10 years of working in a clinical role as a doctor, I came to terms with the fact it was no longer compatible with my health due to my chronic illnesses. I took a step back and reflected on how I could utilise my skill set as a doctor and an artist and combine my life experience as a patient.
Mortal And Strong was born out of my idea of using art to share messages of hope and strength (inspired by the Japanese art of Kintsugi - Scars Of Gold). We produced a major UK campaign using art to share the stories of 100 women facing life-changing or incurable health conditions, which is soon to be exhibited in London in May. Having experienced the inequalities in health and the system as both a patient and a doctor, I realised there was no centralised place of support, so Mortal And Strong became my mission to create that.
I am proud to work with so many incredible people who are coming together to support one another, using their voices of lived experience to build the support that is needed to make the journey of diagnosis and the reality of living with chronic conditions slightly easier. I'm so excited about for the exhibition- to see the celebration and completion of a campaign I have worked on for 6 years is so surreal. I am also in the process of writing something very exciting, which I will be able to share fully soon. Everything I do now is about turning what I have experienced personally and professionally into making someone else's journey slightly easier.
Dr Liz's Top Tips For Living With A Chronic Illness
Go-To Products
- A nice patterned lavender-scented heat-bag is an absolute must. Mine are my best friends!
- Luxury bubble bath to make those days better when all you can do is lie in the bath to ease the pain. When you feel miserable and uncomfortable, all you need is a small luxury like a LUSH bubble bar to turn a bad moment into something slightly more comforting.
- Dungarees (my favourites are Lucy & Yak). It sounds so random, but life with Endo means many days looking and feeling pregnant, which in itself can be immensely triggering if you're experiencing fertility problems. Add in the loss of body image and control over your weight; clothes can be a big part of your identity, and when I started wearing coloured, fun dungarees, I felt confident again! My stomach was hidden, and the colour brought some joy into my day.
Best Advice
"Don’t force your body into an ‘ideal’ if it isn’t working"
There can be a disenfranchised grief that comes with a chronic illness, which I talk a lot about and try to help support people with. I fought for far too long to try and meet a lifestyle pace that I thought I wanted for myself, or that I thought I 'should' be doing, but by forcing my body into a pace that wasn't working, I actually hindered my health.
Once I listened and came to terms with the fact that physically I couldn't do all those things anymore, but that that was okay (I wasn't failing), I began to live on my terms in a way that was kinder to my body. This, in turn, helped my mental health, and my ability to cope with life suddenly felt easier. I went from surviving to thriving. So my advice would always be to take a pause, reflect... listen to your body and review what needs to change. Don't force your body into an ideal that isn't working; adapt your expectations to your body's needs, and everything will fall into place.
"Don’t let your diagnosis become your identity"
It's important when having 'down days' to not let those days become all-consuming. Whilst it may feel like things have been 'taken away' from you because of a change in capabilities; in actual fact, if you resist the urge to feel resentment, you can get to that place of acceptance quicker. I didn’t think I would ever find strength when I hit rock bottom in the middle of being diagnosed, but in trusting that it could and would get better, I began to find a strength I didn't know I was capable of. It does get exhausting being in pain every day; it’s okay to be sick of being sick—but sometimes putting on some make-up and colourful clothes can trick the mind into choosing to be happy in spite of the underlying pain.
A big thank you to Dr Liz Murray BCA for sharing her story with us, if you enjoyed reading about Dr Liz and her inspiring work, please do check out her Instagram, along with Mortal and Strong's page too. If you'd be interested in going to the incredible exhibition in London, you can buy tickets here.
Plus, check out these blogs for some more helpful insights into navigating chronic illness:
