Today my smoke alarms saved me from my own stupidity!

Whatever else you do after reading this post, one thing I need you to do is check your smoke alarms! I now know that they SAVE LIVES!

I've mentioned before how I have had Chronic Fatigue for about 19 years and sometimes it affects my memory - so I hope you can understand why the following incident occurred.

This morning I dropped my son off at school and picked up a couple of groceries. As soon as I got home, I remembered that I had to put the ham bone on to simmer which was going to be tonight's dinner. Between the time of unpacking the groceries and going to the toilet, I forgot all about the pot on the stove.

I sat in my bedroom for a while to read a magazine and cool down before I was going to start some housework (with the door shut and the air conditioning on because I can't stand the heat at the moment). Unfortunately I fell asleep (which also happens to me a lot because of the CFS.) The next thing I know, the smoke alarms are blaring and it's difficult to breathe. I opened the door to find the house filled with smoke. (I also hadn't opened up any doors or windows after coming home.)

That is the closest I've ever been to having a fire in the house; and it was terrifying. I had to go outside to breathe, as it was too acrid inside the house for a long time. But with some fans and all of the windows and doors open, thankfully most of the smell has gone, but I can still taste the smoke in the back of my throat.

We often think that nothing bad will happen to us - things like house fires only happen to other people (those who smoke in bed or are careless with radiators or don't keep their electrical devices in good order or put something on the stove and then forget about it (how stupid would you have to be to do that?!) ) Well It happened to me today and I'm thanking the forethought we had to put smoke alarms in our house when we moved in. Things could quite easily been different for me today.

So check your smoke detectors now - make sure they are working. Your life or those of your family may depend on it.

Bye for now,
Janelle