Climbing on Lyme is a body of multi-media work exploring women’s lived experiences of chronic health conditions, created in collaboration with clinical academics.
Rooted in a shared commitment to centring lived experience as a catalyst for change, the project examines diagnostic uncertainty, lack of recognition, and the need for more compassionate, equitable care.
For many women, the struggle to be believed remains a defining barrier. The work intertwines our own journey with chronic Lyme disease and living with Fibromyalgia.
Through visual art, music, spoken word, and film, Climbing on Lyme traces the precarious terrain of illness, its impact on identity, trust, relationships, and interactions with medical systems. It explores how environment, diet, technology, and misogyny intersect with health.
This project feels especially urgent in today’s world:
1. As more people experience chronic and complex illnesses, there is a growing need to expand conversations about health beyond the biomedical model alone.
2. Amid climate crisis, social isolation, and increasing pressure on healthcare systems, we believe it is more important than ever to amplify approaches that restore connection and balance between body, mind, and environment.
Our collaborative partners include London Clinic of Nutrition, Holistic Dentist and Integrative Health Doctor John Roberts & Integrated Dental Care, London Bioidentical Hormones, Aberdeen City Health Determinants Research Collaborative, Aberdeen Centre for Women’s Health, Osteopath and Multi-disciplinary Practitioner Heather Lang, alongside multiple clinical academics who collectively bring expertise in obstetrics, rheumatology, gynaecology, and urogynaecology, including Dr. Mairead Black, Dr. Rosemary Hollick, Dr. Lucky Saraswat, Dr. Nada Jodeh, and Professor Abdel-Fattah.
We are also supported by Creative Scotland and a number of arts and wellbeing platforms.
The project brings together stories from women living with conditions including premature ovarian failure, endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibromyalgia, MS, diabetes, Cauda Equina Syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Lyme disease, and other chronic illnesses connected to women’s health and pregnancy.
We are also speaking with women receiving care for pregnancy while having multiple long-term health conditions from the MuM-PreDiCT research project at the University of Birmingham, as well as family members and caregivers.