Since the beginning of the Spring of 2026, I find myself starting every call and email to a client or customer with an apology.
An apology for delays in getting work done or not being able to take a project on at all. So, what’s been going on with me?
Back in May, I made a social media post explaining some debilitating symptoms that were preventing me from working, which I will quickly reiterate below just incase it helps someone else:
I know health stories can be a bit tedious when they’re not your own, but I feel like this is important to share, especially when women’s health is so often overlooked.
As some of you know, I’ve struggled with my health for years. In 2020, after a sudden onset of debilitating fatigue following a migraine and other strange symptoms, with all tests coming back ‘normal’, it was put down to M.E./Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (which I’d already suffered with prior, but not like this) along with anxiety.
I never really recovered from it, but I learnt to adapt and found my kind of ‘normal’.
Until about a month ago, when the same thing happened again and I’ve found myself largely bedbound, feeling like my body is literally shutting down.
Determined to find more answers, I somehow ended up on a forum with people describing my symptoms to a T. Most of them had spent years, sometimes decades, being told everything was normal.
The common denominator? Ferritin. Your iron stores, which is basically your body’s savings account.
Most doctors are only concerned with your current iron levels, which in my case are satisfactory, so nothing was ever flagged. But my recent blood work showed I basically only have enough money in the savings account for beans on toast and I’ve been brassic for 6 years +
So when I overdo it and ‘overspend’ (which can sometimes be something as simple as having a shower), my body essentially goes bankrupt.
I’m so grateful to the people who have shared their stories online. For the first time in a long time, I genuinely feel hopeful that something as simple as iron supplements could make a huge difference to my quality of life.
Since then, I’ve been trying to give myself the time and space I need to recover. Unfortunately, life has had other plans, and I’ve had to get rather creative with the lemons it’s been throwing at me. (There’s only so much curd you can make!)
When life gets in the way
First, there’s the nature of my work itself.
This summer’s relentless heat has made working conditions particularly challenging for taxidermists, myself included. Taxidermy requires a controlled environment, ideally a cool, temperature-controlled workspace, to help keep specimens stable during preparation. Higher temperatures can accelerate bacterial growth and decomposition, increasing the risk of ‘slippage‘, where the skin or epidermis begins to separate from the underlying tissue. This makes for bald specimens!
It’s not exactly the sort of work you can simply push through when conditions aren’t right. Sometimes, the only sensible thing to do is wait for more manageable weather.
Then there’s the ongoing saga with our home.
For the past couple of years, we’ve been dealing with a multitude of problems with our landlords, which have made home life incredibly difficult. We’ve been temporarily decanted on several occasions, disrupting my ability to work, only to return and find ourselves dealing with the same issues.
Home is supposed to be the place where you can rest, recover and recharge. When it becomes another source of stress, that takes its toll in ways that are difficult to explain unless you’ve experienced it yourself.
And just when I thought things couldn’t get much more complicated, life decided to take the metaphorical car crash, quite literally…
Last week, my partner and I were involved in a serious road traffic collision when our car was struck from behind at high speed.
We’re incredibly fortunate to have come away from it alive (the same has to be said for Ruby, my dog, who was in the back at the time, too!). It’s been a frightening and deeply unsettling experience, and whilst I’m grateful we’re here to tell the tale, we’re now dealing with the physical aftermath, including whiplash and flare-ups of existing health conditions.
Recovery is going to take time, and I need to give myself permission to take that time without worrying about what I should be getting done.
A little patience, please
I think one of the hardest things about being self-employed, particularly when your work is also something you love, is knowing when to stop.
There’s always something to finish, an email to answer, a customer to update or a project you’d desperately like to get your hands on. When you care so much about your work and the people who support it, stepping back can feel like you’re letting everyone down.
But the truth is that I can’t pour from an empty cup, and right now, mine needs a little time to refill.
So, for the time being, I’m going to take a step back from accepting new work and focus on recovering properly, rather than pushing myself to meet deadlines that my body simply isn’t ready for.
To everyone who has placed an order, commissioned a piece, sent a kind message or patiently waited for me this year: thank you. Your understanding and support mean more than you know.
I’m so sorry that some of you have had to wait longer than expected, and I appreciate your patience whilst I recover, heal and find my feet again.
I’m still here, still passionate about what I do, and still looking forward to getting back to the work I love. I just need a little time to get there.
Thank you for bearing with me.
Krysten x