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Staying In Minnesota
It’s hard for me to write this article. It is not the news I wanted to share with you. I am staying in Minnesota. While I feel there are a lot of benefits to this reality, the cons are present and weighing on me. I had hoped that I would share with you that I was headed to Canada for Graduate School. Due to the fact that I only applied to two programs and the limited space available, I am not. I received this news while I was at work. To say that it was a devastating blow is an understatement. For the past few months I have been sitting…
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Health Updates
Since it’s been a while, I thought I’d give you some updates on my health. Great news to start, I have still remained out of the hospital. Bad news, I have had a few run-ins with the ER. I also had syncope for the first time in quite a while. Both were difficult blows. That being said, I’m working really hard to maintain my health. I’m working closely with my doctors to find a regiment that works. I’m utilizing both medication and home remedies that keep me up right and functioning. My allergies have been kicking up. As normal allergy season comes around, I start to struggle a little more.…
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Tips For Flying With A Service Dog
A week ago, I took my first flight with Crush. Crush and I have been a team for a year and a half. We have an unbreakable bond with each other and work together well. Despite that, I was still quite nervous to fly with him. I get anxious flying regardless of additional obstacles. Flying with Crush was going to be a beast of its own. That being said, here are some tips that made my life easier. Spoiler alert: our trip went great! Crush was a dream and I didn’t have a single problem the entire time. Make Calls I called the airline, hotel, etc. I made sure everyone…
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I Graduated
It has been a while since my last update. Allow me to fill you in on the highlights of the last few weeks. First off, I graduated! I wanted to wait to post something about this. Despite celebrating my graduation in May, I didn’t finish my degree until last week. As of last Friday, I am completely finished and a college graduate with a BA in Theatre. This feels incredibly exciting. Not just because I graduated college but because I did it while battling with my health. The last four years have taught me a ton. Not only about theatre and education but more than anything, it has taught me…
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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…
