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My Experience With PTNS
Last Friday, I had my first experience with PTNS. For those who don’t know what that is it’s “Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation.” It’s used for those who suffer with incontinence. It controls the messages the bladder receives by stimulating a nerve. There’s a lot of science behind it but I don’t fully understand it all. I’m using it to help my bladder leakage. If you’ve read my post “A Long Road That Ends With Surgery” you know that this is the second to last intervention. After this, I get a nerve stimulator placed in my back. The hope is that this therapy will give the doctors a better idea of…
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10 Quotes That Keep Me Moving
I love inspirational quotes. On hard days it can put things into perspective and help you move on. On good days it can remind you that things are constantly getting better. On any day, it can be a nice boost to your mood and just keep you motivated. I have the app Motivation on my phone and I love the little reminders they send me throughout the day. Here are my top ten! Let it hurt. Let it heal. Let it go. Staying positive doesn’t mean you have to be happy all the time. It means that even on hard days you know that there are better things coming Nobody’s…
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I'm Getting A Dietitian
In the past three years, my body has changed a lot. During the winter and spring of my senior year in high school, I started working out a ton. This was the first time in my life I had ever chosen to exercise and stuck with it regularly. The results were extremely pleasing to me both mentally and physically. My brain was clearer and my body started to drop a lot of fat. After leaving for my first year in Connecticut, I started focusing more on diet than exercise. With new friends, a new course load, and new experiences to be had, I didn’t take the time to exercise. This…
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Tips For Running Successfully
Running is one of the simple joys in life. At least it is for me. Running has not always come easy for me. When I first started out, I hated it. I mean, I really hated it. As it became easier, it was a quick way to release a lot of energy. When I was anxious, excited, angry, or all of the above my first instinct became running. How did I get to this place? I followed the simple and easy steps that I’m sharing with you! One Foot In Front Of The Other Keep going. If you don’t like it, keep running. It’s one foot at a time. When…
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How to Prepare for a Tilt Table Test
If you have any form of Dysautonomia, the tilt table test is likely your worst nightmare. It’s minimally invasive but it’s not a fun experience. If you don’t know how to prepare for this test, consider this your how-to guide. I have had three of these tests in a year span. That is WAY too many but every new specialist wants their own confirmation. This is how to prepare: Stop Your Medication: I choose to stop my medication a week beforehand. Every lab has different rules on the exact number of days that you have to be off of medication. Check with your doctor to confirm but this is my…
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I Still Get Nervous…
Let me start off by saying, bringing Crush places, in general, doesn’t make me nervous. It makes me feel safe. He provides a lot of mitigation for my symptoms. He also helps take care of me when those symptoms are too much. I had a situation come up last week that made me question my own stigma. I needed to go car shopping. Out of respect for the dealers, I chose not to bring Crush. Although it is legal for Crush to be with me, I know how annoying it is to clean dog hair out of cars. Since Crush didn’t go with me to shop, I felt awkward bringing…
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A Review of Zenni
This year, instead of going to the Target optical, I decided to try Zenni’s. I was hesitant to pick out glasses online because I didn’t know what the end result would be. After talking to someone who had used the website before I decided to go for it and take a leap of faith. So here are my impressions of buying prescription glasses from Zenni: The Shopping Experience There are so many options. I spent a collective 7-8 looking for glasses over several days. I took the face shape quiz twice and got two different answers. That wasn’t very helpful. Then I shopped by color, thinking I would be adventurous…
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A Review of Thred Up
Lately, I’ve been more conscious of the waste that my lifestyle produces. After taking a class on both water sustainability, it’s clear that our habits are killing the planet. What does this have to do with clothes? Quick fashion trends produce a lot of waste and fabric that ends up in landfills. I wanted to find a solution without losing my ability to shop. Thred Up was the ideal situation for me. Everything you buy is second hand and everything you donate is either recycled or sold. My Buying Experience I’ve bought clothes from Thred Up multiple times now. The experience of shopping is relaxing and organized. Preferences can be…
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A Long Road That Ends With Surgery
I’m facing another surgery. This seems insane to me since I’ve already had two in the past six months. The reality is, my doctors have run out of options. I have struggled with urinary incontinence for eight months. It’s something I don’t talk about often because frankly, it’s difficult to admit. Such a basic human function is not working in my body. It’s not as simple as that. I don’t have a sense of my bladder. I don’t know when it’s empty or full. The only indication I have that my bladder is full is pelvic pressure which isn’t always there either. This is a complicated and confusing problem. This…
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Creating a Value Tree
This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about values. As we learn more about ourselves, it’s important to outline what attributes mean the most to us. For me, when I am hurt or offended I want to better understand why. It’s easy to say that something hurt us but it can be difficult to see why it hurt so badly. I decided to create a value tree to better understand my interactions. You may be thinking, what is a values tree? I don’t even know if this is a real thing but we’re doing it anyway. Here’s how I made mine: Establish Important Attributes To me, I chose to outline…
