So it’s once again time for A Chronic Voice’s monthly linkup. This month’s words are uniting, defining, allocating, educating, saving. I have wanted to create this project for years, and now it’s looking like I may have found the right folks to help me make it a reality. I’m super-excited about it and want to explain…
One of the things you’ll find if you start researching medical conditions is that there are often dietary suggestions made—things to add (or remove) from your diet, suggestions for what you should (or shouldn’t) eat, and suggestions for when and how to eat. It can easily become overwhelming, and it can also put your health…
One of the groups that I’ve been active in over the years has been FND Hope‘s collection of Facebook groups on Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), the condition I was diagnosed with in 2003. There are both risks and benefits to participating in these groups, but generally, I’d argue that they’re worthwhile, especially early on and…
While I’ve talked about how the diagnosis process is one of guessing and checking, I want to emphasize that in most cases, it’s essential to have a doctor be involved in the process. We, as laypeople, don’t have access to all the information or tools needed to be in any way sure that our interpretation…
I have been living with chronic conditions, both physical and mental, since I was a kid. I’ve been encouraged to write about it, talk about it, think about it, and then put it all aside and move forward with my life. There are good reasons for doing these things. Today, I want to talk to…
So it’s once again time for A Chronic Voice’s monthly linkup. This month’s words are beginning, symbolizing, enduring, revealing, gracing. As it is January, I’m going to write about the concepts these words bring up for me and what lessons I’ve learned from 2020. Beginning the new year with new medication coverage The headache started in…
I don’t know about you, but I tend to feel a bit depressed around the holidays. I definitely know that a big part of it is how strongly I associate this time of year with my father’s death. I’ve got a long history with depression and have learned that I tend to mentally string together…
While many countries have gotten Covid-19 under control by now, the US has dramatically failed that challenge. We are among the worst countries in the world in terms of both infections and fatalities from this disease. One of the biggest spikes this year was associated with Thanksgiving, which is usually the biggest travel weekend of…
So it’s once again time for A Chronic Voice’s monthly linkup. This month’s words are exhausting, exciting, socializing, indulging, and cutting. Like most people, Covid-19 had a large impact on my life, and not always in expected ways. Join me in processing just what changed this year and the lessons I’ve learned from that. Fear is…
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) is a relatively common (though rarely properly diagnosed) condition. I was diagnosed in 2003 when it was still being called Conversion Disorder (and labeled as a mental illness rather than a neurological condition). I want to be really clear about this: the condition you have (your diagnosis) is less impactful on…