January 2026 Life Updates
- Ash
- 3 days ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
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Welcome back to another monthly life update! What have Ashy, Benji, and Luke been up to this month? It's been VERY busy. This is my first Life Update for 2026, wahoo!!
For all previous Life Updates, you can check them out "here".
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January 2026 Life Updates
New Year's Eve, Luke and I watched the latest Knives Out movie - that seems to be a tradition for us. I was in bed before midnight but woke up around 12:10 with an IBS attack LOL.
On the 1st of January (New Year's Day), we took Benji to a corgi meet-up at Altona Beach in the afternoon. It was so fun, and Benji even helped a corgi called Jelly learn how to swim (she was a bit scared).
We tried a cafe in Brunswick called Sweet Evelyn, and also went to the dog park there called Gilpin Park. You can check out my food review of the cafe "here".
There have been some horrible heat waves in Melbourne lately - it got to like 45/46 a couple of days, and they were awful. Unfortunately, this means bushfires, and there were also floods around Lorne. So scary. The smoke from the fires set off my asthma, and I don't usually have any asthma issues. I don't like it when it's that hot.
GASTRO UPDATES - My procedures were mostly clear, but we're doing an ultrasound on the small bowel at the end of February just to rule out IBD completely.
HAEMOTOLOGY UPDATES - The haemotologist was really nice via this telehealth call and much clearer than he was last time. Anyway, he said that it's not likely to be thalassemia as he didn't find any genetic mutations. If I want to have kids, that's when we look at that. Regarding the blood disorders (i.e., ET), it could still be that, so we can't rule it out, but it's still the watch-and-wait process to see what my body does, and if platelets keep going up, that's when we do the biopsy, as it'll be more obvious as to what it is then. So, no real answer, just wait and see what happens with my blood markers (but it isn't normal to have the high ranges).
POTS Physio Updates - I had my first appointment with the POTS physio, and I am feeling a bit weird about it. It was a 90-minute appointment where she went over all my symptoms, my medical history, medications, trauma, etc., and at the end, she checked me for hypermobility and did a standing test. The physio said there may be some hypermobility in my knees, but it's not likely to be EDS. During the stand test, she told me to sit down if I felt dizzy at any point. I got dizzy quite fast, and after that, it felt like her energy towards me shifted. My HR didn't go up by too much (only 20 BPM), but my blood pressure was high, and I've only found that it's been high when I'm in a medical setting where I'm uncomfortable. Anyway, she said I don't drink enough water, and because of my blood pressure, I can't add more salt (even though it makes me feel better). I think I drink quite a lot of water. I also tried to show her all the data on my phone with the crazy heart rates, and she said, "These smartwatches are for healthy people," and also asked me, "Why hasn't your GP put you on blood pressure meds?" I said because it's not usually this high - and I've tested it at home. I also got asked a few times about binge eating - which I don't do, I think I have a relatively healthy relationship with food. I think she asked me a few times because she assumed this was the only answer as to why I've gained weight over the past few years. This made me feel uncomfortable. I bawled my eyes out all the way home because it felt like she was going to suggest it was all in my head. In hindsight, the physio may not have realised she was making me feel uncomfortable, and maybe she just went into blunt "medical professional" mode when my BP went up. Anyway, I have to take specific electrolytes (Sodii, the ones without glucose - they rip my stomach up), use the app Visible to test HR and HRV, and do an energy expenditure (EE) diary for 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to talking to my psychologist about this, ahah, because with him, I feel quite safe and comfortable. I go into A LOT more detail in my "Jan 2026 Health Updates" post.
I also saw my GP, who bulk billed me for the first time ever (that has literally never happened - it means it's free rather than a gap for my kiwi friends wondering). Anyway, we are going to check my iron and B12 levels in a few weeks, and if my iron goes right down, she wants to do an infusion to see if that helps me feel a lot better and limit some of the gastro symptoms I get. I hate having a sensitive tummy.
Luke and I had some pastries from Lune in Armadale and walked around Fawkner Park. I feel like Lune is a bit overrated, even though that's probably an unpopular opinion. The times I've had it, I haven't been like "omg, I need to eat more of this".
It was the anniversary of my grandad's passing and Luke's Grandma's 3rd anniversary.
I celebrated my Aus-iversary; I've lived in Melbourne for 4 years now. No, I don't want to become a citizen right now.
The YouTube videos I have put out are as follows: Christmas in New Zealand Part 1 // Christmas in New Zealand Part 2 // Summer 2026 Vlog.
The Freaky Friday Files I have put out are as follows: The Ganzfeld Effect // Out of Body Experiences // and tomorrow there will be "Things I'm Afraid Of" which I'll add in once it's posted. I'm hoping to be able to get out more FFF's.
TV Shows that Luke and I have been watching are: The Office, Below Deck Med, 30 Rock, I'm a Celebrity (AU), and we just started The X-Files. We're trying to get through The Office so he can watch The Paper because I really enjoyed that spin-off. We also need to catch up on Spicks and Specks and The Weekly.
TV Shows that I have been enjoying are: Palm Royale S2, His & Hers, and Harlan Coben's Lazarus (I have no idea what's going on in Lazarus, but it's interesting). I just saw that Tracker is back, so I'm going to have to catch up on that, too.
The books I have read are as follows: 1. Emergency 911 Calls. What's Your Emergency? - Ancel Reagan 2. The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck - Mark Manson 3. I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy You can read my January 2025 Book Reviews Blog Post "here".
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I finally figured out how to add a search bar back into my blog woo! Let me know if it works for you. It's just on the blog page.
There was a giant spider on the ceiling one Saturday morning (so Luke got rid of it - he thinks it was a baby huntsman).
I made Milo Ice Cream. Check out the recipe "here". It was really yummy.
I started posting more consistently on Instagram re chronic health stuff.
We spent one Sunday at the Port Melbourne Dog Beach (it was so much fun, but I got a little burnt even though I wore sunscreen). We also went to the Dusty Fox Cafe for lunch after our swim.
Step counter updates: I made my 2026 Goals for the year, and one of those was to get to 5K steps per day, so here's my little table for the month. I'll come back and add in the last few steps once January is over. You can really tell the days I wasn't feeling well. ** for today's steps, as I'll likely do some more this evening.
STEPS | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY |
Week 1 | 5365 | 5320 | 5061 | 5071 | |||
Week 2 | 5017 | 6862 | 3241 | 6005 | 5080 | 5317 | 6598 |
Week 3 | 5059 | 2561 | 5063 | 5382 | 5114 | 6579 | 5322 |
Week 4 | 1176 | 2569 | 5361 | 5058 | 6554 | 3431 | 5968 |
Week 5 | 6549 | 1136 | 5116 | 3906** |
One Sunday, we all walked around Princes Park, and it was a good walk. We also spent Invasion Day down in Williamstown, and we saw a d*ad pelican, and that made me sad. However, I love the views in that little beach suburb, and I would LOVE to live there. Or just by a beach, I love the beach.
I did start taking my Sodi electrolytles but they have ripped my stomach a new one, and one night, I had way too much salt. I sweated everything out and felt awful in the morning, so I'm going to stop taking those for now. I'm hoping the physio doesn't get pissed off at me. I read that people with IBD/IBS have had more luck with a little bit of coconut water instead of electrolytes.
We finally got our lease renewed (took a while), and the PM actually acknowledged me for once in her life. Anyway, we've also got an inspection coming up next week that I feel worried about because we have so much cleaning to do for it. It's nice to deep clean the house twice a year, but I just don't have as much energy as I used to. Our rent is also going up in April - not by too much. Bleugh, inflation.
Luke's had a few cricket meetings and cancelled/changed cricket training/games due to the heat. It's frustrating because the schedule is always different at the moment.
I've started doing body scan meditations as I drift off to sleep rather than guided meditations because wearing headphones for me right now is a nightmare (my ears feel horrible). I've also done a couple of guided astral projections, but yeah, wearing headphones is hard sometimes.
I've been asked to do more photography work - woo! Need to get back into the game.
Luke's parents have booked their flights to explore more of Europe later this year, so we'll be taking Frankie a bit to help his brother out.
This weekend, I have a haircut, so Benji's going to go to Luke's parents' for the day on Saturday, as neither of us will be home.
I've had a few old friends reach out to me in regards to my health stuff, which is so nice.
We went for a walk at Westbreen Creek one morning with Benji, and we had a strange encounter. This lady starts walking past us and then stops, so Benji goes over to her, she gets annoyed, so I say sorry. She walks off, and I ask her if she's okay, and she completely ignores me. It made me cry because I just wanted to know I hadn't upset her. Like, why did she stop if she didn't like dogs?
Things I'm looking forward to in February are:
The rental inspection being over (and having a deep-cleaned house).
Seeing my psychologist again, as I haven't had an appointment yet this year.
Hopefully, finding a better rapport with the POTS physio.
The IBD ultrasound being over.
Benji's Gotcha Day (it'll be officially 2 years since we got him; he's the best).
Valentine's Day - although I think we should do a cute at-home date night for this year. We also have a few vouchers that we need to use up this year - I just want to not feel so tired, and I love taking Benji out with us. Dunno if Luke is reading this, but we could always handcraft gifts this year or make a V-Day themed charcuterie board.
Hopefully, getting to see some pretty sunsets. Luke owes me a sunset date with Benji.
Thank you for reading!
What are your plans for February 2026? Let me know in the comments below.
Ash x
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