7 Things to Be Aware of Regarding Fibro and CFS

16 May
May is fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue awareness month. I have both these diagnoses and here are a few things I’d like to make people “aware” about them: Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are real. Fibromyalgia is way more than just...
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5 Ground Rules for Offering Ideas to People with Hidden Disabilities

2 May
I have hidden disabilities, and I talk about them. It’s a little thing I do towards normalizing a conversation that is too-often shamed into silence. When I share on social media, though, there’s something I always brace myself for: the...
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What My Aging Dog Just Taught Me About “No Going Back”

2 May
I’m a writer. I was six or seven years old when I started writing poetry and short stories. My greatest grief with my fibromyalgia is being robbed of time to be a writer because of fatigue and/or brain fog. What...
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How to Help Me Learn to Say “Yes” Again

26 Apr
I recently caught myself doing something terrible … in my brain. My default answer to invitations for social events, whether intimate or large, has become “no.” I have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, and...
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4 Ways I Reset My Optimism During a Flare

26 Apr
I’ve finished a marathon. In the last 12 weeks, I spoke in 5 states: at 11 college campuses and 1 Native pueblo. I debuted a brand new program and customized existing programs for unique audiences, like non-native-English speakers and veterans....
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What Has Your Disability Done for You Lately?

12 Apr
Last Sunday, I spent the day in Brussels with two friends of mine from London, father and son, named Tony and Sean. How we met is a fun story. I found them in an Irish pub in Lisbon, Portugal, and...
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Bloated in Bruges

4 Apr
Every time I’m in a terrible place or moment that I’m desperate to pass, I remind myself of my self-talk driving across Nebraska one time. I had that raging churn and hellfire of diarrhea on a long drive, and Nebraska...
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