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In: Chronic Illness, Diagnosis, Symptoms & Side Effects

It’s been a while… I really do start a lot of blog posts that way. It’s a shame, because I do have a lot of thoughts percolating around up here, but life always gets in the way. Chronic illness will certainly contribute to that, you may have every intention in the world but plans are as fragile as glass.  Pain bears down on the crack and splits the once solid surface into shards, cutting and injuring all those that come into contact. We bleed as we flit from diagnosis to diagnosis. My last post was on the eve of my 40th birthday in March, andRead More →

Pills.

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In: Chronic Illness, Cushing's, Invisible Illness/Disability, Spoonie, Symptoms & Side Effects

One pill makes you larger And one pill makes you small And the ones that mother gives you Don’t do anything at all Go ask Alice, when she’s ten feet tall –White Rabbit/Jefferson Airplane Some days being chronically ill is a merely a challenge, other days it’s a downright circus. Recently, life seems much more circus than challenge. Let’s start with the pills. On a good day, my pills are an absolute nightmare. On a bad day, well, hopefully there will be far less of them in the future (the terrible example here being the time I spoke to the cable company and completely blocked it from my memory.Read More →

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In: Symptoms & Side Effects

I’ve been sick for a while now, but I still find it amazing how quickly a pain spike (or flare) can completely knock my life out of whack.  It’s a life pared down from my past, filled with doctors and medications instead of policy, advocacy and action. I have grown accustomed to the rhythms of this chronically ill life, learned how pare back to the absolutely necessary while dealing with the daily, constant presence of pain and the symptoms of sickness. And perhaps because of pain’s sizable role in my daily life, I feel surprised when my body finds away to increase the pain andRead More →