Month: August 2017

The Arthritis Summit

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As some of you know, I am very interested in food. What some of you don’t know is that I’m also interested in arthritis. I have a touch of it myself in the vertebrae that calcified since the car accidents. Most people think that arthritis only occurs in old people, but nope. Arthritis can also ravage younger folks as well. There are even specific types of juvenile arthritis. I mean, what is arthritis? “Painful inflammation and stiffness of joints.” Bam. That’s all it is. So why shouldn’t that affect younger people? If you have pain in your hands, feet, hips, back, or shoulders, the following might be something for you to think about watching. There is an affiliate link here and a banner over to the right if you are interested in a free online summit coming up in October that will provide interesting perspectives on arthritis and the microbiome (basically, they’re going to discuss the gut-brain connection). If you can’t make the free live showing, they have replays that you can get here. (Re: the …

Abdominal Migraines — Did You Know They Were a Thing?

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Hi, kids. I wanted to take a moment to talk about migraines today. Did you know that “migraine” is an all-inclusive term for a host of terrible, nauseating headaches? For instance, my headaches closely resemble migraines, enough that my doctor just calls them by that term. I get headaches a few times a week. I can work with headaches. I can function. I get migraines a couple times a month. Those put me out of commission and land me in the recliner with the heavy meds. The migraines, technically, are post-traumatic stress headaches, which — as I have been so kindly informed by my doctor — fall into the category of “very unpleasant, would like to reschedule, please.” These PTS headaches begin in the base of my head and travel around, vibrating upward along nerves to the top of my head and downward into my shoulders. Fun! The more popular kind of headaches have been listed out below. Diamond Headache Clinic sent me this slideshow of common types of migraine headaches, some of which I didn’t even …

I am Not the Reliable One — Also, a Book Review: “Kicking Sick” by Amy Kurtz

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I am not the reliable one. I recently made friends with a guy who has stage 4 colon cancer. By chance, we were sitting next to each other while waiting for a flight back to Boston from Atlanta. The flight was delayed by two hours, and his soul spoke to mine. We became friends in less than 20 minutes. Just one of those things, I guess. When his phone rang, it said, “God’s gift to women, pick up!” It was his mom, an older lady with a glorious halo of gray hair. She was delightful. She knows my name, knows all about me now. His whole family knows who I am. He wants to talk more often than I talk to most people. More than I talk to my family, even. I’m not used to it. And the thing is, he might literally die before I get the chance to speak to him again. He slipped into a coma and came out of it while I was in a pain flare, and I had no …

Do We Lose Our Dreams with Chronic Illness?

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Today we have a guest contribution from the lovely Crys Baysa! *** Chronic illness is hard enough as it is. But even worse, the things we used to do, we can’t do anymore. Suddenly, hanging out with people is hard, doing your job is nearly impossible, and understanding the things you’re trying to study is downright frustrating. It is in times like these that it’s easy to wonder if we’re ever going to be better again. ‘Am I going to be able to play my beloved violin again? The pain is too much!’ ‘Will I ever be able to memorize those formulas again? I can’t remember things and I want this degree badly!’ It’s not just the physical limitations that become more and more. It’s the emotional limitations. What Dreams Really Are Dreams are not just desires for the future. They’re expressions of ourselves. It doesn’t matter if it’s something like science, speech, or even simply sculpting a statue. It’s very much a part of who we are, and it’s an emotional release. When you …