Mind, body & soul
Why Barbara Dunford is proof of ‘CRADLE to BRAVE’
Barbara Dunford is at the heart of all things Bearsted, where she lives with husband Tony. There is little in the village the former top-level sales and marketing professional is not involved in. Added to that, she helps with local charities and acts as a volunteer befriender. Here she explains how she stays on top of it all…
How are you?
Considering my advancing age, very well! I was 60 last June and celebrated it with the Picnic on the (Bearsted) Green, so I shared my big birthday with the Queen.
How is your health generally?
I’m rarely ill, and, if I am, I tend to struggle through. I’m not often laid low by illness. A common phrase in our house when we were growing up was “You’ll live dear, off you go to school”. My children, now grown-up, were brought up within the same regime, poor things!
Have you ever had any major illnesses?
I nearly died as a baby – I had pyloric stenosis. It’s a condition where the pyloric sphincter, which lets the food out of the stomach, becomes over- developed and constricted. Nothing can get through, the pressure builds up and any food or drink is ejected with force. One of the main symptoms is projectile vomiting–very impressive from something so small! It’s now easily identified and treated. Both my children had the same condition. It is not hereditary, as such, and it’s very rare for girls to get it, so when both my sons– who are now in their 30s–ended up with the same condition, I became something of a curiosity to the medical profession for a while.
About 15 years ago, when I was still
working up in London, I woke up one morning with a terrific pain in my side. I struggled into work, but I felt very unwell and ended up in University College Hospital, where an ovarian cyst the size of a grapefruit was removed. The next day, when I was still feeling pretty ropey, there was an evacuation of the hospital because of flooding. Terrified the building would explode if it got into the electrics, they decided to get everyone out. But, for some reason, I was one of the very last to leave the building. So I had to be taken as a patient transfer by some old bloke in a Volvo to another hospital. The worst bit was that I had to get out of my wheelchair and struggle to the car in a hospital gown with no back to it in full view of a passing London bus.
Do you take any medicines? Just the occasional pain-killer for a headache, but I try not to if I can avoid it.
Have you ever considered herbal remedies?
No. I worked in the medical field for some time and, although I am not medically qualified, I have seen enough along the way to be unconvinced of their value.
Ever needed an osteopath or chiropractor?
Not yet, thankfully, but I would go to one if I thought it necessary.
What, if any, exercise do you take? Up until recently, I walked at least 45 minutes a day with my dog. Sadly, she’s no longer with us, so I really need to get back into walking again. I also try to play golf, if I have the time, although I am a mere novice and very much a fair – weather golfer! I mostly play at places like the Leeds Castle pay-and-play nine- hole course. I can drive a ball reasonably straight, but not very far. My short game –chipping, pitching and putting–is pretty rubbish. On a scale of one to 10, 10 being awful, I suppose I would be a seven. On and off, I take up a gym membership, but I tend to be so busy all the time or I lose interest in it. I have no interest in gyms, if I’m honest. I also hate swimming because it reminds me of those awful pools of my childhood and because I’m not that good at it.
What are your vices? Too much eating out. A bit too ready to say yes to a decent glass of wine or prosecco. I used to smoke in my late teens and early 20s. I gave up for health reasons once and for all years and years ago.
What is the best piece of health advice anyone has ever given you?
“Everything in moderation”. Not that I always abide by it, but I try to!
Would you like to live forever? Absolutely not. Let’s save space on the planet for the next generation.
Mid Kent Living 35
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