Early Motherhood, Disability, and Finding My Own Way
Today, we feature our guest blogger, Emily Johnstone, as she delves into how HOD changed motherhood and parenting. The Many Roles We Play We all have many roles in life—daughter or son, wife or husband, sister or brother, patient or caregiver, mother or father. For...
Chronic Illness and Acceptance
'Acceptance' is the final installment of our blog series on the Kubler-Ross Five Stages of Grief model, as it applies to chronic illness. It's a funny thing, trying to write about acceptance when you are nowhere close to being in that headspace. Maybe this is exactly...
Chronic Illness and Depression
This is the fourth post in our series discussing the Kubler-Ross Five Stages of Grief model as it applies to chronic illness. Did you know that research has found a link between neuro degenerative disease and major depressive disorder (MDD)? It's true! This study...
Chronic Illness and Bargaining
This is the fourth post in our series on the five stages of grief model A natural response to receiving a devastating diagnosis is bargaining. You may be wondering what that means. According to chosingtherapy.com, bargaining feelings can consist of: Anguish Shame or...
Chronic Illness and Anger
This is the second post in a series dealing with the five stages of grief based on the Kubler-Ross Model. We have all heard of the Five Stages of Grief, but how does one navigate the stages when faced with an unrelenting chronic illness, such as Hypertrophic Olivary...
Chronic Illness and Denial
This is the first post in our series dedicated to the Stages of Grief, according to the Kubler-Ross Model The first stage of grief is (usually) Shock and Denial. That makes sense, right? Who among us can say that their first thought wasn't "this can't be happening"?...
Feeling Helpless? Get Out Of That Rut!
In times of heightened activity, it is easy to slip into feeling helpless. We want nothing more than to be of service and helpful. Because of our limitations, people feel like we are better off not participating in the work, but rather just enjoying the activities....
Rare Disease Curse: Can It Be More Than That?
I have been feeling that this rare disease is a curse lately. But then, I fell into a hot pot of kismet. I met the subject of the documentary, Love Heals directed by Krisanna Sexton, released 2022. If you haven’t watched it, you should. So, Dana (the subject of the...
Being Angry Is Easy. Giving Grace Is Difficult
Being angry is easy. Justifiable anger has fueled the lion’s share of my life. I have a very distinct memory of a period where I only listened to Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ to and from work every day. This was during a particularly intense salary and promotion...