Great post on one of my favorite bloggers, Pamela Slim / Escape from Cubicle Nation. 8 Strategies to get the most from painful or awkward life transitions . About to have her 3rd baby, she offers great ideas for going through those times when you’re experiencing change and it puts you off […]

My post from Sept. 13, Talking About it Does Help, got a lively discussion going. What should you, can you, “rightfully” and thoughtfully, expect from others when you bring up the big CI (chronic illness).

Nope, no answers … you knew I’d say that … but I do have another suggestion. […]

This morning, I had an epiphany as I drank my latte (mmm - gotta’ love my nespresso). Looking at a picture on my desk taken 15 years ago– our family holiday photo — I saw a woman with a prednisone moon face, looking tired and frail. I had two kids in elementary […]

I just got an email from a chronic illness coach colleague (yes, I am not the only one!) about an upcoming “offering”. The announcement read: Hear from this “warm and compassionate” coach… I cringed when I read those words, warm and compassionate. Who cares about warmth and compassion?
I don’t […]

What happens when you can no longer do the work that you’d always done and were successful in doing  — and you can’t figure out a job that you can do?   The answer?  Fear.  Especially if you are your sole source of support.
Unless you have an unusual private disability plan (and that’s if […]

What you say is just as important as what you don’t say. And, it’s even more important when you want to be successful in your work and you live with invisible AND chronic illness. Communication is king.
I have a hunch that not many people would disagree me with me about this. But, […]

I coach, I write and think about this topic: how can a person live as full a life as possible when living with invisible chronic illness?   Yup, people do tell me me that I can get to be a bore, always referring to this.  It’s become a reference point for me for […]

A coaching client asked me whether she should start planning her application for Social Security Disabilty benefits. My client, a primary care physician who has three children and a very busy practice, lives with scleroderma. At 50, the disease is getting worse (some days she has trouble holding a […]

Last summer, I was honored (and a little intimidated by my colleagues) to participate in a process to advise the Social Security Administration on ssdi and ssi benefits.
Hold your applause. They’re not giving away more money (did you know that SSA gives out 120 billion dollars in benefits) — just trying to make […]

I just visited a surgeon. Not the one who performed the original ileostomy ten years ago but his associate, a young woman whom I thought I’d feel most comfortable discussing the current situation.
I have what looks to be a herniated stoma (a hernia in the stoma) and I wanted to find out what this […]