My Experience
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Confronting Perfectionism
I have been a perfectionist for as long as I can remember. When I was in grade school, I had a 504 plan to aid me in my battle with anxiety. They tested me on a variety of skills to see exactly where I was struggling. I was given a puzzle and asked to complete it as quickly as I could. I sat there and moved with relative speed but continually went back and checked my work. As I continued to do this, I ran out the clock. What they saw and later explained to me, there were no issues in my ability to solve the puzzle. My inability to…
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How to Prepare for a Tonsillectomy
I got my tonsils out almost six months ago. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. Everyone told me ahead of time that it would be the most painful surgery ever, as an adult. They were right, it was painful. I would say it was on par with my other surgeries but it did take a longer recovery time. There are a lot of different things you can do to prepare for this type of surgery so I thought I’d lay them out in a list. Calories That Count In general, after your surgery, you won’t be up for anything more than liquids. It’s important to stay hydrated…
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Summer Has Started
It’s officially Summer! I’m so excited. I know that this year will be considerably different than years past but I’m okay with that. The past two Summers have been a bit weird for me. In 2018, is when my throat started closing for the first time. From June 2018- on, my life has forever changed. That time period was spent finding out what my new normal was. It was full of anxiety and unknowns. I was getting ready to move to Ireland. I was excited and terrified, trying to be fearless. Last Summer was a beautiful mess. I was learning how to walk again. Then I was running, still trying…
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It's Not All or Nothing
Too often, I get stuck in the mindset of all or nothing. I’m going to do a hard workout or no workout at all. I’m going to get everything on my checklist done or procrastinate everything. The reality is, life doesn’t work like that. As much as my brain tells me it does, life is not all or nothing. This is a stumbling block for me. I associate productivity and happiness with accomplishing all of my goals. I may not be able to do that on a daily basis and that creates anger. Once again, I’m back to acceptance. We must accept what we cannot change and focus on what…
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What is a Disability?
Disability is an interesting word. It’s thrown around in a lot. When someone first used disability to describe what I was going through, I was a bit shocked. I couldn’t believe someone would label me that way. I got angry and frustrated. Then I started to think, do I have a disability? What does it mean to have a disability? When I look at my life, I try to focus on the positive. There are so many things that my body does right. On the flip side, my body tends to struggle on a day to day basis. Just today, while biking my heart went to 200 beats per minute.…
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Making Life Changing Choices
Making choices is not my strong suit. When faced with a decision, I usually have to consider all my options. I talk about it a lot and lay out all the pros and cons. Right now, I’m in the midst of deciding on whether to get a surgery that has the possibility to change the course of my life. I’m not ready to divulge the topic or changes it would make. Once I finalize decisions, I’ll let you in on my choices. I find making choices somewhat difficult. The chance of making the wrong choice often feels too close to me. People in the chronic illness community have to make…
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One Day At A Time
Let’s be honest, we’re all going a bit stir crazy. I am not immune. Being in the house so much, although productive, is boring. I’m not anxious about Covid. It’s not something that makes me panic. When I get bored, I often like to reflect or get lost in thought. This is between binge watching shows of course. Truth be told, I don’t have a ton of time to watch TV. The Spring semester is coming to a close right before my eyes. It feels like yesterday that I was registering for class a week late. I was terrified. I thought I would be behind. Who would’ve ever thought that…
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My Top Ten Motivational Songs (that aren’t in the top 100 charts)
Finding motivational songs is important, especially in a tough time like a pandemic. Over the years, I’ve compiled songs that have gotten me through difficult moments. These songs have the ability to completely change my mood. I wanted to share them here with you. When I search for motivational songs, they’re often off of the top one hundred charts. I’m not a fan of overplayed music. It’s difficult to give a song power when you hear it on the radio five times in fifteen minutes. These are on my “You Got This” playlist. I use it after surgery, when I’m having a tough workout, or when I need a boost.…
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A Setback
About two weeks ago, I wrote about the progress I was making with my hip. I was thrilled at the prospect of biking thirty minutes each day. I could take long walks without pain or issue. I was elated. Now, I’ve had a setback. It’s not major but any setback can feel like a blow, not only in my progress but to my confidence. I want to trust my hip and allow it to succeed but the more I worked, the more pain came along with it. I discussed this with my physical therapist and even my surgeon. A setback is to be expected here and there but I wasn’t…
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Exercises for After a Hip Arthroscopy
Finding exercises that don’t include your hip feels impossible. At least in my experience. All abdominal exercises and even some arm exercises include the hip. Now I’m not a personal trainer or a physical therapist. I have absolutely no qualifications to tell you how you should or shouldn’t exercise. I’m simply putting this out there because it took around ten hours of google and youtube searching to find exercises. I wanted to recondition my body without involving my hip. Crunches Crunches are a great exercise when you want to work on your abs. It’s the only exercise that I’ve found to be applicable to my situation. I tried a sit…
