Life Experiences and Advice for Living with chronically Ridiculous illnesses
In the 19th century, doctors were likely to write off most symptoms women suffered as hysteria, “exaggerated emotion or excitement.” Less has changed from those days than you might think. Sexism of our society still profoundly influences how women with chronic illness are treated by their doctors and their friends, family, and colleagues. My…
Note: I use able-bodied and healthy interchangeably as well as chronically ill and disabled interchangeably, but there are differences. As humans, we all have limitations. We can only go so long without sleep, rest, food, and water. We can only bear so much psychological stress. To have these limitations is to be human. Just because…
I’ve had so many terrible things said to me because of my chronic illness. “It is your fault you feel like this.” “If you try hard enough/ do more you won’t still be sick.” “If you just prayed harder god wouldn’t still let you be sick.” Needless to say, chronic illness has made for a difficult…
The food we eat undoubtedly affects our health. Eating food with more fiber decreases the risk of colon cancer. Decreasing red meat helps lower cholesterol. People with diabetes need to eat less simple carbohydrates to manage their condition. I, as encouraged by specialists, aim to eat 10g of salt a day to better manage my…
It is pretty standard for a doctor to refer their patients to a specialist when they are stumped or their knowledge is limited. It is a great practice to get better more specialized help. However, when a patient has a chronic illness, especially if it is one that isn’t well known, this can be a…
Two people’s 7/10 may be wildly different. The scale does not work as a stand-alone tool without considering the pain patients have felt in the past.
I knew it was a matter of time until someone harassed me about my disability tag.
Resentment poisons relationships. It grows and grows until everyone has been hurt. Communication and honesty are the antidotes.
Even if you are receiving help, you deserve to be treated kindly. Don’t fall into the trap in thinking that you owe it to people who are helping you to be purposefully hurt, abused, degraded, humiliated, or mistreated in any form.
Know your limits of what you can give. You aren’t being brave or saintly for pushing past these.
Pokemon Go is a new game that came out this past week and has already become a sensation with 15 million downloads already. The game encourages players to get out, get up, and get moving. The more a player walks around, the more gear they get, Pokemon they catch, the faster they level up, and…
Everyone is freaking out about opiate overdose- what about the major problem no one is talking about? Prescription overdose has been in the spotlight lately, which makes sense. Drug overdoses have now surpassed automobile overdoses as the leading cause of accidental death. What doesn’t make sense is that because of this spotlight chronic pain patients are…