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5 Things I Wish People Understood About Chronic Illness
I was reminded this week that the general population has no idea what it is like to live in a state of chronic illness. There were two occasions where I left a conversation furious. It was so clear that they had no boundaries when it came to asking questions or approaching the topic. So without further ado, here are five things I wish people understood about having a chronic illness: You Don’t Have a Right to My Information This is something I address relatively often. For some reason, people feel entitled to know what is going on in my body. I don’t owe anybody information on my personal health. It’s…
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Crush is Going Back to School!
As we celebrate back to school, I have felt a little somber. I miss school, I honestly love school. That being said, someone is going back to school and it’s Crush! For those who haven’t been following my journey long, Crush is my service dog. Crush is currently trained for mobility assistance and medical alerts. His medical alerts are restricted to a behavior alert for my allergies. Crush has also alerted me to my blood pressure but because this isn’t a trainable alert, I can only reinforce it when he naturally does it. Crush has done his job diligently for almost two years. He’s very good at it. He’s extremely…
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A Review of LMNT
Happy Friday! We’ve officially made it through another week. Hooray! Today, I’m going to be reviewing LMNT. This brand offers packets of drink mix with electrolytes in them. They’re comparable to Liquid IV. While they are comparable to Liquid IV, there’s a lot that sets LMNT apart. For example, they have no shower and only 2 grams of carbs per packet. It’s very heavy on salt, while including potassium and magnesium as well. I was sponsored as part of their Hydrate a Hero promotion and I got a free kit with a ton of products. They gave me about 5 of their various flavored packets. This included Mango Chili, Lemon…
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Starting Cardiac Rehab
I’ve tried to write this blog article a few times and my thoughts haven’t flowed together in a cohesive manner. Bare with me as I work this out in my head and through my writing. I am starting cardiac rehabilitation. Most people go to cardiac rehab for heart attacks or heart failure, so this referral didn’t come easily. As I’ve been working to get back into running post surgery, my heart rate has been a prevalent problem. Running has always been the activity that makes my heart rate spike but particularly now it’s important that my muscles are functioning properly. As it was explained to me, when your body is…
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Ways I Prepare For Traveling with POTS
I have done my fair amount of travelling lately. It has been thrilling to see my world open back up. As it has though, I’ve seen my limitations become more present. I have less control over activities sometimes. Other times I have to opt out of activities all together due to my health. In general, I have some strategies for preparing for travel and extra activities. I hope these five tips help you like they have helped me! Salt and Electrolytes This is obvious but I LOAD UP on salt and electrolytes while I’m on vacation. After having a difficult conversation with my doctor, it was apparent that our current…
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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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Having a Flare
I recently had a flare of my POTS. I chose not to wear compression and didn’t drink nearly enough water. The end result was intense dizziness and a killer headache. I brought up a lot of fear for me initially. Recently, my allergies have really taken a toll on me. My skin breaks out in rashes without warning. I’m itchy and Crush alerts a few times a day now. The more I thought about how close my illness is to being out of control again, the more discouraged I felt. I sat in that for a couple hours. Now, I’m trying to reframe. I think I can border toxic positivity…
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My Response to Service Dog Questions
Every time I go out, I get questions about Crush. People ask entirely inappropriate questions. Luckily, the company that gave me Crush prepared me to answer these. I had no idea how I would respond initially. Even now, every question and person gets a variation of the same answer. Sometimes these questions leave me laughing, crying, or somewhere in between. So here are some of my pre-programmed responses to the question: Why do you have him/ What’s wrong with you? I have a disability I like this because it’s short and sweet. It also addresses how. Inappropriate it is to ask without shaming the person for asking. I like that…
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Our Flight to Nowhere
Recently Crush and I went on an expedition. Okay, that might be an exaggeration. In reality, we went through more training. This training was particularly exciting. It was preparation for being able to travel together. I think most people get overwhelmed when flying. I typically fly alone and have adapted to that well. Now I have Crush and we have to learn how to travel together. I am so grateful to Can Do Canines for the opportunity to go through this “class.” So how do you prepare to travel with a service dog? We went to the airport and did a dry run. Hence the “flight to nowhere.” Can Do…
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An Update on My Day Without Crush
A couple weeks ago, I talked about how I was going to go out without Crush. I had to get an MRI. I go to my appointments alone, I didn’t want to leave the technicians in charge of watching him while I was in the machine. The scans take at least an hour. This is already stressful for me because I’m very claustrophobic. Having to worry about Crush on top of that was not an option. So I went out alone. When I left, I felt extremely nervous. I had anticipation anxiety through the roof. When I finally got to Mayo Clinic, I took a deep breath and gave myself…
