For most of us, getting up for work on a cold Monday morning doesn’t sound like fun.
But for five-stone Gillian Doig, who suffers from a debilitating bowel condition, this is the dream.
The 30-year-old struggles to walk for more than a few minutes and had to give up her job as a hotel receptionist when she became ill at the age of 23.
After multiple hospital stays, heart complications, surgery and a near-death experience, she is making small steps towards living a normal life again — and is determined to go back to work in the future.
Gillian, from Broughty Ferry, said: “I was fine until I was 23. I had a job and an ordinary life.
“I weighed eight-and-a-half stone, which was normal for my 5ft 4in height. Then I was diagnosed with gastroparesis, which means the muscles in my stomach don’t work — I can’t eat food and I need to be fed through a tube.
“I lost a lot of weight last summer when I got an infection in my feeding tube and couldn’t use it for two weeks, meaning I starved.
“My weight got down to 30 kilos and I’m now up to 32, which is five stone.
“I also had endocarditis, an infection of the inner lining of the heart, and I had to have a valve transplant.
“My heart is now OK, but it’s the weight that’s the problem.
“It’s been steady, but I’m just not gaining any and I’m in a lot of pain.”
Currently Gillian gets out and about with her mum Freda, who takes her to local coffee shops and the supermarket, using a wheelchair a lot of the time.
As a special treat, Gillian goes on holidays to Blackpool and Florida with her mum.
She said that one of the most difficult things is people’s reactions to her appearance.
Gillian said: “Every time I sit or stand somewhere for a few minutes, people come up to me and ask me if I’m OK.
“I know it’s just people being concerned, though.
“Some people with my condition have given up on life, but it’s not all bad.
“My mum and I have a laugh, we travel and try to make the most out of every day.
“I hope that I can start working again — even part-time — in the next few years, but that depends on whether I can gain weight and get stronger.”
Freda, 54, said it’s unlikely Gillian can be cured, but she hopes her daughter’s quality of life improves.
She said: “It’s like diabetes — even if they find a cure, it would be too late for those who are severely ill.
“But we try not to let Gillian’s condition get us down too much.”