In late March, I went out for a walk on the nature trail by my house. As I crossed one of the several bridges along the route, I noticed something unusual—a flash of silver as a fish (specifically, a bunker) surfaced, gasping, and then rolled back over into the water. This is not normal fish…
I participated in the MoRe—Motor Reprogramming—program in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2016. It was the single most helpful treatment I have ever had, and may ever have, for my Functional Neurological Disorder(FND). In this post, I want to go over why this is a treatment option, how it works, and how you can find a similar…
As I have mentioned in previous posts, accepting your diagnosis isn’t as easy as it may first sound. For most people, there’s a fair amount of time between when symptoms first occur and when they know what is actually happening inside their bodies. There also is definitely a sense of loss involved in really recognizing…
One of those challenges that many of us need to deal with is that on top of the physical and emotional trauma involved in our illnesses or injuries, we also often need to communicate what is happening to our loved ones and other significant people in our lives. This can be challenging, as we are…
April is FND Awareness Month, and April 13 is FND Awareness Day. I’m going all in on that, and I’ll be focusing this post and month on the process of accepting your diagnosis—and illustrating it with my FND experiences (and what I’ve picked up from fellow FNDers inside of discussion groups). I’m also using A…
This post is by a friend of mine, Michele Harold, who holds the subject of disclosure near and dear to her heart. “You’re always sick,” my coworker said to me as I entered the office. I had called in sick the day before due to my disability. My disability causes chronic pain, fatigue, and low-grade…
While the term caregiver is bandied about a lot in the disabled community, it’s important to distinguish between paid and unpaid caregiving. Many of us have been caregivers in a less official capacity at various points in our lives—caring for children, parents, siblings, or friends during temporary or long-term health problems. Most of us have…
So it’s once again time for A Chronic Voice’s monthly linkup. This month’s words are incorporating, breathing, smiling, stopping, and relishing. This month is the three-year anniversary of creating this blog! I can’t really believe that it’s been three years. I’m really proud of the fact that I’ve published a new post every single Friday since…
I know that using public transit can feel overwhelming, but it can also become empowering to take it—it’s a way to regain at least some longer-distance mobility and allow you to go out on your own to work, play, or get medical care. Understand your transit system’s patterns Once you know where you want to…
When you are managing a disabling condition, taking the bus may be your primary option for independent travel. I feel very lucky, living in New Jersey, that I have a relatively large variety of options for traveling, but I understand that in the South and areas of the Midwest especially, trains are few and far…