Viewing: Chronic Life
June 12, 2017
A surgery happy dance. Twerking-style.
It’s weird to be happy about surgery. Of course, I would prefer not to need surgery. I would prefer that my insides worked the way they’re supposed to. I would prefer not to have had IBS for 40 years. But all my preferring doesn’t change reality. And the reality is that I need surgery and I’ll be glad to finally... Read morePosted in Chronic Life | By Stacey Philpot
June 8, 2017
Is It Invisible Illness or Not Willing to Be Understood Illness?
By now you’ve probably figured out I’m “sick.” I have issues with that statement for two major reasons. One, to me the word sick has always seemed so temporary. There needs to be a better, stronger word for what I am. But yes, I guess I am sick. I guess I know it. Grumble, grumble, grumble. Two, I don’t want... Read morePosted in Chronic illness and relationships, chronic illness; support, Chronic Life | By Stacey Philpot
June 5, 2017
When Faceless Rescues Count the Most
At sixteen, I had a cyst that ruptured, causing me to lose over half the blood in my body. I was sweeping the hallway bathroom in preparation of my brother’s homecoming when a gush of blood flooded my legs and then the floor. “Concerning.” I thought. I’d already had my period that month, and I’d certainly never had a period... Read morePosted in Chronic Illness and Diagnosis, chronic illness; support, Chronic Life | By Stacey Philpot
May 30, 2017
How to Live Life in Spite of Chronic Pain and Fatigue
How do you explain chronic, debilitating fatigue to a world that wakes up well-rested? How do you explain sickness and limitations being the norm to a people who’ve only known health and limitless living? Can you? I remember (quite woefully, now) before the hostile takeover when sickness was still something I could hide, push beyond for the most part, I... Read morePosted in Chronic Illness and Pain, Chronic Life | By Stacey Philpot
May 11, 2017
IBS: A Humorous Look at a Posterior Predicament.
My raunchy rump has been very bad lately, so I think that qualifies me as a bad-ass. Well, it’s not actually my rear end that’s been naughty, it’s the things inside of it. You know. I hate to even say the names. I never thought I was a prude, but a few years ago, when that part of my anatomy started... Read morePosted in chronic illness; support, Chronic Life, IBS, Testing | By Stacey Philpot
May 8, 2017
5 Tips for Working While Chronically Ill
Before we go any further if you have a chronic illness and you’re working I want to applaud you. Chronic illness travels with us wherever we go. It doesn’t care about deadlines or dreams or unreasonable bosses. So if you’re still working, you’re clearly handling life like a boss. On the flip side, if you came to a point where you... Read morePosted in Chronic Life, Disability | By Stacey Philpot
May 4, 2017
When You Aren’t Sure You Can Live Like This
Like a bird I soared, high above the clouds, soaking in the sun, inhaling the sheer goodness of life. I breathed in possibilities and exhaled delight. Surely, the sun was a more golden hue than it had ever been before. Was that a lullaby of babies laughing I heard? All was right with the world. And then I plummeted to... Read morePosted in Chronic Life, Coping 101, Rare Disease | By Stacey Philpot
May 1, 2017
5 Signs You’re Stronger Than You Think
You’re still here. There’s been ample opportunity to call it, to throw in the towel, declare it all “too much,” and yet you don’t. Every day your feet hit the floor, and you go at it again. Oh, I’m sure you make plenty of morbid jokes about quitting, changing your name, your job, your identity and moving to Guam, but... Read morePosted in Chronic Life, Community | By Stacey Philpot
April 17, 2017
When It Feels like the Whole World Is Clueless
When I was young and brave or stupid, you decide, I flew to Dallas for Thanksgiving to visit family just as I transitioned into my second trimester of pregnancy. It was my first, and I was violently ill most of the time. If memory serves me correctly, I was twenty-one years old, sixteen weeks pregnant and signed up for a... Read morePosted in Chronic Life, Parenting and Chronic Illness | By Stacey Philpot
April 10, 2017
When Chronic Illness Leaves You in the Darkness
One minute you sit within the light. Comfort and companionship surround you. Perhaps, it’s a Friday night tradition, hosting dinner at your house, your closest friends laughing and dining together. The climate of the room adds to the perfection of the night. It’s cool, but not too cool, a welcome reprieve from the punishing heat outside. The food and fellowship... Read morePosted in chronic illness; support, Chronic Life, Coping | By Stacey Philpot