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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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Service Dog Guilt
As you may or may not know, I’ve been travelling a fair amount lately. This has significantly opened up my world and broadened my horizons. I have always had an intense love for traveling but traveling with a service dog is very different. For the most part, I can accommodate my trip to my needs and Crush’s needs but other times I can’t. Navigating a balance between his needs and my own can be difficult and sometimes it makes me feel guilty. Since I started traveling, I have left Crush kenneled more than ever before. There are a variety of reasons why this is the case. First and foremost, the…
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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 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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Applying For Jobs With A Service Dog
I want to talk a bit about the hiring process. I’ve officially been hired at a company and have completed all of my documentation. For those with a service dog or curious about how the process differs with a service dog, this article is for you. I went through the application/interview process with three companies. I feel like I have a decent sense of what to expect and how it differed from the average experience. So here’s what you should know. When I Disclose I like to tell companies during the interview process that I have a service dog. This is completely my personal preference. It does open the door…
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How Crush Helps With Surgery Recovery
Crush has been incredibly helpful throughout all my surgeries. Although, most of the time after surgery he can’t perform his regular tasks, he can still help. So what does that look like? Here’s how my service dog helps me after surgery! Get Help This is a big one. Crush is trained to go and find someone in my house. I can simply say, “get help” and he’ll find someone and nudge them until they follow him back to me. This can be helpful if I’ve fallen or simply can’t get to my phone. Retrieve Crush usually has retrieving tasks. Picking stuff up off the ground is incredibly strenuous for me…
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I Got A Job
I’m excited to announce that I am officially employed! Finding a job has been a taxing process that I wasn’t prepared for. I thought it would be as easy as it had been in the past. Boy was I wrong. After what felt like a long journey, I finally found a good fit. The best news of all is that they chose me knowing that Crush would be by my side. I am now a receptionist. I chose to apply for reception jobs. They seemed like the most feasible option for me. Although this job strays from what my original plan was, I think we will all make a great…
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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…
