Traveling on disability is simultaneously an attractive idea and a serious challenge. The idea of not needing to live in one place and developing a nomadic lifestyle feels appealing to me, and I am sure to many others as well. Once you’ve gotten over the initial shock of your condition, and once you have…
We are in the midst of wedding season. Weddings are generally beautiful affairs where two people commit to one another, announce their love to the world, and celebrate their relationship with family and friends. I attended two weddings this year, one for my cousin in Ohio, and another where a long-time friend of Al’s got…
Nearly 20% of the global population has a sleep disorder. Sleep disorders can be debilitating, and sleep disorders make other conditions worse. With our daily patterns and routines disrupted, the only thing that would be surprising would be if our sleep cycles weren’t affected by our disabilities! Why is sleep so important? When you are asleep, your…
I tried to stay focused on my game. Really, I did. But every couple of minutes, I would scan the room and double-check what number they were helping now. I knew the time would pass more quickly if I could lose track, but there were a lot of sounds by a lot of people. The…
The short answer is: probably if you are “disabled enough”. Supplemental Security Income(SSI) is a needs-based program specifically designed to help people who do not have a work history to apply for SSDI. Generally, these are people who have been affected by their condition since birth or childhood, or who have spent long periods of…
I was fortunate enough to never need to ask that question. When I applied, I was physically unable to work due to symptoms and had lost two jobs in the previous three months. My parents helped me through the wait financially, and I focused on my treatments and healing process. I did not even think…
There are times when doctors, very simply, are wrong. There are also times when they do not know the answer. Mistakes can and will happen, and your goal as a patient is to make sure you are properly diagnosed by your doctor. Making sure you aren’t misdiagnosed! If your doctor does not know what your…
Filing for disability put me in a depressive funk that left me exhausted, and the process of filing the paperwork literally took me weeks because I couldn’t work on it for more than ten to fifteen minutes at a time before I was physically unable to continue. Filing for disability, in itself, was an emotional…
For both urge and stress incontinence, the best treatment is actually physical therapy. You’ll probably have to do some digging, but there are physical therapists(many of them are DPT’s(doctors of physical therapy) as opposed to having a master’s in physical therapy) out there who focus in on pelvic floor health and rehabilitation. Do some searching…
When trying to get diagnosed, you are often told your next step is seeing a specialist. This is an indicator that your GP can’t easily figure out what’s going on, and wants you to see a doctor who focuses in on whatever system of yours seems out of whack.