Tag Archives: fibromyalgia

My 12 Hacks for Attending a Professional Conference While Living with Invisible Disability

1 Aug
I avoid in-person trainings and especially conferences, because my chronic conditions make them quite uncomfortable and even agonizingly painful. I live with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease (with one terrible herniated disc named Larry), and...
Read more »

Middle-Aged, Disabled, and Still Playing with Toys

30 Jun
I have a joyful building toy hobby, which has now inspired a new YouTube channel @ConstruxtiveChris featuring a favorite toy from my childhood, Fisher-Price Construx. This channel has nothing to do with my speaking business or my Splat books. It’s...
Read more »

17 Reasons Folks with Hidden Disabilities are Assets in the Workplace

24 May
I am so thrilled to have my own business and all the flexibility that comes from being self-employed. I’ve managed to become an entrepreneur both despite and because of my hidden disabilities, which are: osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease (with a...
Read more »

Documinitary: 4-Campus Speaking Tour in New York

12 Apr
I finally made another little movie! This was the first week of February, 2024, when I spoke at Cayuga Community College’s Auburn and Fulton campuses, as well as Onondaga Community College and State University of New York Morrisville. Here you...
Read more »

My Chronic Illness Taught Me How to Grieve My Pet’s Death

17 Jun
On May 31st, with the help of a home-visit veterinarian service, my best friend and sole companion of nearly 14 years passed away. She was a retriever mix named Amica. I’m still grieving. I know I will continue to grieve,...
Read more »

My Fibromyalgia: The 5 Stages of Diagnosis and What Went Wrong in My Medical Care

7 May
It started with some tenderness in two or three knuckles. A couple days later, my hands were definitely hurting and my elbows were sore. A couple days after that, I felt it in my shoulders, too. Then suddenly, my whole...
Read more »

4 Ways I Do It Anyway (When Pain and Fatigue Conspire Against Me)

20 Mar
Oh, springtime …. I’m seeing green of my lilies starting to reach out of the ground. Daily I marvel at the new growth on the rosebush I planted last year. And the weather is … all over the place. So...
Read more »

Invisible Disabilities and LEGO

11 Jan
I love LEGO®, and LEGO helps me love myself. Here’s how it happened. LEGO bricks were my favorite childhood toy. When I was in middle school, they existed in secret. It was the early 90s, and I was getting teenager...
Read more »