Medical Themes Navigating the Storms

How To Find New Purpose With Chronic Illness

Connected Carole’s note: my apologies for not presenting Part Two of Lydia’s post about caregiving for her father when she herself needed care. Lydia has experienced a severe flare. Please keep an eye out for it as I will post it when she is able to write again. Meanwhile, please enjoy Patti Burkett’s guest post […]

Another New Diagnosis? Shattering News?

When yesterday’s normal becomes today’s impossible, changes must be made. You’ve gotten used to your difficult life, and now the doctor proclaims a new diagnosis for you, an invisibly disabled person. What an impossible situation! What is your first reaction? Dismay? Disbelief? Crying? Upset? Fear? Denial? My Life I probably felt all of the above […]

Pain Relief from a Spinal Stimulator

Note from Connected Carole: This month’s guest post is an 18-minute video from Joseph. It showcases a spinal stimulator success story. I have included notes to introduce the subject before you watch the video. Our guest videographer Joseph of Borg, Producer, the Chronic Pain Call-in Show on Sunday evenings, 7:30 p.m., Central time See his […]

Simple Helps to Make Pesky Doctor Visits Easier

Doctor visits for invisibly disabled people can be challenging, even intimidating. Seeing new doctors can be even more problematic. Our health issues are complicated and sometimes disbelieved, even by medical people. But there are helps to make appointments easier and more beneficial. Many years ago, it seemed prudent to begin writing down my history as […]

What Are Mobility Aids? And How Can They Help?

Last time, I shared my story of using aids to help me “walk” and how they enable me to spend more time with family and to accomplish practical tasks. However, as I researched these devices, I discovered many more mobility aids for chronically ill people. They come in many shapes and sizes meeting different needs. […]

Assistive Devices for Walking – Valuable Help for Living

THANK YOU! To all who completed the survey Many thanks for sharing your thoughts. They helped, sometimes surprisingly, as I make decisions about future changes. I will soon have more time to spend here, hopefully making it more helpful for you. You can still participate here. More information to come. Do you find walking difficult? […]

Panic Free by Tom Bunn, A Book Review

Panic Free by Tom Bunn Panic Free: The 10-Day Program to End Panic, Anxiety, and Claustrophobia by Tom Bunn "In a state of near panic, most people are simply incapable of rational thought. Under stress, imagination takes over, and a situation that is not life-threatening is experienced as life-threatening. That is the first factor that […]

Same Kind of Different As Me book review

Note: This book does not deal specifically with chronic illnesses. But, it has such impact I had to share it with you. However, some parts definitely do apply to our journeys. A modern-day slave, an international art dealer, and the unlikely woman who bound them together. Such reads the tag-line for this book. Same Kind […]

What do you do when bad things get worse?

Do dwellers ever have good days? Most of us do, but maybe only a day here and there. Unfortunately, overall our lives are filled with hard things. Probably most invisibly disabled people also experience worse days—a bad flare, new symptoms, or new diagnosis. So, what do we do when bad turns to worse? What invisible […]

Category Archives: Medical Themes