The Adventures
with Bernard and Wilomena
In this section you will find tales of living with Bipolar Disorder and the North West mental health system. I will also tell you stories of what it’s like living with a stoma and how the world around me reacts to it.
I name everything. When someone buys me a present if it’s got a face it gets a name. I have a swan necklace called Wenny and a garden gnome named Walter. If I cook a chicken I might call it Pete.
It may be strange but it makes my world a bit more entertaining and sometimes it makes dealing with life a little easier.
When my only option was to have a stoma I was on a waiting list for wait 12 months before I could have the surgery. In that time I was able to get my head around the idea of having a stoma by giving it a name and a personality, so I named it Wilomena – Willy for short.
When it came to my Bipolar diagnosis I didn’t actually give it a name until I decided to write a blog.
It didn’t seem right for one condition to have a name but not the other, so I baptise my Bipolar Disorder “Bernard” – Bernie for short.
See below for more adventures with Bernard and Wilomena
