Three Strikes, You’re Out! Part 2

Like I mentioned… it's been a really rough couple of months…  The last week of May, I received another last minute e-mail requesting me to attend a meeting that afternoon with my boss, Jackie*. In this meeting, I received my third and final write up. This time I was written up for being a minute …

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Three Strikes, You’re Out!: Part 1

The university that I work for is in the process of making A LOT of changes. Once these changes are completely put into action, no one at the university will be able to purchase their own travel or process their own travel reimbursement request. It will all flow through a center that specializes in travel.  …

“100 out of 100 relationships involving care giving fail”

Recently there has been a lot of discussion in our community surrounding a quote by Dr. Phil McGraw. I have never been a very big fan of Mr. McGraw but I will admit that I was a little surprised to hear that he said something even remotely close because his show airs during the middle …

The Impact Your Chronic Illness Can Have on Your Mental Health

Trigger Warning: Suicidal Thoughts & Vomit I have occasionally mentioned here that I struggle with my mental health. I have been diagnosed with Anxiety,Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) as a result of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)… And then I got sick. That's something they don't tell you about mental illnesses… as …

#ChronicallyIllAndThankful Posts

A few days ago I mentioned that during the month of November I would be posting daily one thing involving or surrounding my chronic illnesses that I am grateful for. Below you can read the posts that I have shared. Day 1: Today I am grateful for physical therapists. About 6 weeks ago I started …

#ChronicallyIllAndThankful

Did you know November is National Gratitude Month? What exactly is gratitude? The dictionary defines it as the quality of being thankful, the readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.  Because chronic illness has taken a lot of my independence and therefore has forced me to rely on other people which has made …

Birthday Expectations

  Tomorrow (10/12) is my birthday… And as my birthday approaches, I have been struggling more and more with the fact that I am not where I expected to be at 27 years old.  If you had asked me asked me 10 years ago where I would be today, I would have said that I …

Communication is a Two Way Street Paved in Frequent Misunderstandings

Shortly after becoming ill, in June of 2016, I started a support group for people who have intracranial hypertension and their loved ones called IIH Warriors. This group gives people who have IIH or are a caregiver of someone with IIH a place to commiserate in their pain and difficult experiences, share helpful tips, vent, …

Hold On and Wait

Trigger Warning: Suicidal Thoughts This week (September 10-16, 2018) is National Suicide Prevention Week here in the U.S. There is no denying that living with chronic illness is a daily struggle and can take a toll on your mental health... Especially when those chronic illnesses bring along with them chronic pain and other debilitating symptoms …

Learning NOT to Equate My Self Worth with My Accomplishments

To be honest, I am not entirely sure how to start this post… But I feel like that may happen quite a bit in the future as we cover difficult topics that make me vulnerable. So in my last post I talked about how I have officially been sick for three years. In those three …