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My Senior Project
I have officially finished my senior project. It has been an incredible challenge and gift to pursue this endeavor. It has helped me process my experiences. It also challenged me to think critically. I started this project with the question, “What does it mean to have a disability?” This question was as broad as I could get. I didn’t know what I wanted the end product to be. I didn’t know how much of my experience I wanted to share. Now, it’s done. I feel incredibly lucky to share this film with you. I hope you enjoy. I hope that your day is going well. I hope that your day…
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Moving Forward
The past few weeks I have been missing in action. There are a culmination of reasons why this is the case. The primary reasoning being that I’ve been overwhelmed. It’s not easy to admit that I’ve been doing too much but for a while that was very much the case. There were a few weeks that I felt completely spent, every single day I went to bed exhausted. I would wake up exhausted and eventually that caught up to me. It caught up to me in the form of an allergy attack. While I’d like to believe that stress was the main factor in this attack, it’s unlikely. If it…
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What to Expect With Knee Injections
I recently got cortisone injections in my knees. I had no idea what to expect. Googling let me down a lot of paths that honestly scared me more than anything. That’s par for the course when using the internet to give you any guidance on healthcare. I thought since I’ve now been through it and had similar injections in my hip that I’d let you know what to be prepared for. That way you don’t have to follow the same Google deep dive I did. Pain I would say that these shots were similar to my hip injections. Both types of injections are semi painful. By no means is it…
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I Got Knee Injections
It’s been six weeks since my latest hip surgery. The recovery has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. Most of that is to be expected, although some of it is harder than I would’ve imagined. My knees have become a significant problem. It’s something I anticipated but hoped would go away. I have had knee pain and issues since high school. It’s been a difficult endeavor to recover my hips without causing more problems for my knees. There are a lot of emotions surrounding this topic. It’s not easy to consistently have new problems that come up frequently. I’m extremely grateful for my care team. They are absolutely…
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Taking a Week Off
I’ve been blogging three times a week for quite a while. I’ve missed a few days here and there. For the most part, I’ve been consistent and it’s fueled my excitement for advocacy. That being said, I’ve gone through periods of burnout. I have gotten through them by focusing on my mental health. Through all of those ups and downs, I still managed to post tri-weekly. I am excited to say that I’m going on vacation for spring break and taking a week off. This vacation is about as covid safe as you can make a vacation. I’m vaccinated, doing a road trip, and staying in AirBnB’s. I need a…
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Creating a Cope Ahead Plan
Cope ahead plans have been extremely useful for me. It’s a tool I learned in therapy. Essentially, it’s preparing yourself for stress, anxiety, and panic. Preparing for it will help mitigate how difficult the situation is when it arrives. It helps you create a plan of how to deal with triggers when you know that they will be present in your life. It’s exactly what it sounds like. So how do you create one? Here’s how: Identify the trigger This goes beyond identifying the situation that’s causing stress. It aims to discover what about the situation is causing you to panic. This will help you target that specific anxiety and…
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A Zenni Review: One Year Later
Last year, I wrote a review of Zenni. Zenni is an online company. It allows you to buy your prescription glasses at a cheaper price than the store. As someone who wears bifocals, a cheaper price was extremely intriguing. My overall consensus last year was that Zenni is a great brand. I’m back now, after a year of wearing my Zenni glasses to check in and give you my thoughts. I have three pairs of glasses. Two are regular glasses with my bifocal prescription. The other is a pair of sunglasses, also with my bifocal prescription. My two pairs of everyday glasses have gone through major wear and tear. Crush…
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I Reacted to the Covid Vaccine
If you read my blog article on Wednesday, you know that I’m officially vaccinated. If not, you already probably guessed by the title that I am fully vaccinated. I had a lot of reservations about getting it due to my extensive history of allergic reactions. Ultimately, I knew that getting the vaccine was the best decision for me. I feel extremely lucky that I didn’t have anaphylaxis. That was by far my biggest fear. I made it through the fifteen minute screening processes. I left the facility feeling a bit invincible. Slowly, that feeling started to turn into panic. After about thirty minutes, my entire body started itching. I didn’t…
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Having a Job and Chronic Illness
If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I recently got hired at a company. I am a receptionist for a senior living facility. It’s a great fit for me. I absolutely love it so far and so does Crush. This is my fifth job but my first time having a job while being chronically ill. It’s not what I expected in a lot of ways but my employers have made the transition seamless. I knew that my work life would look different from the average person. Other than having Crush, I need various accommodations to ensure my health and safety. That ranges from simple things like eating at…
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Why I Chose To Get Vaccinated
I am officially vaccinated! I cannot believe it, I’m so excited. I received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine and as of today, I am considered fully vaccinated. This decision came with a lot of back and forth for me. I wasn’t sure whether I should get it or not. Not because I didn’t want it but because there was a question about whether I would have an allergic reaction. After being hospital free for over a year, the prospect of having a reaction was terrifying. Ultimately, I had to make the choice. After getting a job, it was clear that the risk of being exposed daily seemed too high. A…
