Gifts
Even as my world shrank over the years, it was enriched in many ways through the social networks I developed online. The impact of those social networks on my quality of life cannot be understated. Indeed, it was in one … Read More
Taking Stock of Depression
I didn’t want to be here right now. After a year and a half of hell of dealing with a mental illness that wasn’t my own and dealing with the aftermath of that; of trying to get my abdominal pain … Read More
Grasping for Answers
I have mentally begun this post for weeks, but a chronically ill life has a way of shaking loose any idea of control over one’s destiny. Anyone who has been ill for a while will understand what I mean when … Read More
To My Future Self
I’m taking part in WEGO Health’s Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge Day 6 #HAWMC – Write a letter to an older you (tell us what age you’re writing to!). What do you want to ask yourself? What lesson do you … Read More
Emotions and Chronic Illness
I’m taking part in WEGO Health’s Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge Day 1 #HAWMC – Why you write – tell us a little bit about why you write about your health online and what got you started. Why do I … Read More
(Not) Identifying With Being A Sick Person
As strange as it may sound, approaching my 23rd anniversary of being a sick person (I remember it well – the food poisoning, giardia or whatever it was that triggered the whole thing and led to me spending most of … Read More
Fatigue and Invisible Illness
There are many types of fatigue, some of which are unknown to those who have never experienced a chronic invisible illness. The first kind is the result of physical exertion, which generally leads to an almost pleasant tiredness, as it … Read More
Thoughts from the Front Lines of Depression
As a long-time sufferer with depression, I can unreservedly say that helping care for a loved one in acute depression challenges everything you know and have come to understand and believe about the illness. Above all, I find my thoughts … Read More