I took part in a Twitter chat last night that debated the seemingly obvious impact of physical health issues on mental health issues, and vice versa. I say obvious, because it was obvious to everyone there. Unfortunately, the audience consisted of mental health professionals and mental health services consumers. As we confirmed
After so many years of battling with depression, it shouldn’t fail to surprise me that I can be so horribly wrong about its power and the lies it tells. I’d like to think that after so many years of fighting the good fight, I’d achieved some kind of mastery over
The main symptom of the disaster was the kitchen. For the past four weeks, supplies from the constantly aborted deck painting project mingled with dirty dishes, even though not much food was eaten. Food was a source of rough comfort when remembered: an accompaniment to the usual pain pills, and
On August 21st, I finally got to see my new rheumatologist – some four or so months after the referral was made. I haven’t had a rheumatologist since my first one retired in 2009 – I don’t count the appointment with the doctor who rejected my diagnosis immediately when he heard
It was June 25th when I boarded the plane for Australia, where I had spent 30 years of my youth growing up. I hadn’t been there in 14 years. I hadn’t seen members of my family in 13 years (14 years in some cases). I wanted to do this, but
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 I say I’m suffering a bad case of doctor fatigue.
A watermark is an outline of the tide’s advance and retreat. In some ways I feel like I am part of that outline, lying at low ebb, among the beautiful broken detritus of the sea. These last weeks I have been merely functioning: meeting the very real needs of the
I’m taking part in WEGO Health’s Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge Day 16 #HAWMC – Tell us 3 things that are true about you, your condition, or your Health Activism. Tell us 1 lie. Will we be able to tell the difference? I’m improvising with this prompt. I’m in a weird
I’m taking part in WEGO Health’s Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge Day 11 & 12 #HAWMC – Write about your favorite health iPhone app? and If you could go back in time and talk to yourself (or your loved one) on the day of diagnosis, what would you say? I have some
When I was diagnosed with primary Sjogren’s Syndrome by Dr A-, some 12 years after I first became ill in 1990, I was relieved to have a name for the invisible illness that had wracked my life with its silent misery. However, there was one part of the diagnosis that