Archive for June, 2008
Where do you turn when you’re feeling completely alone and you’re convinced no one could possibly understand what your life with chronic illness is like? My friend and colleague, Laurie Edwards, just published, Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness in your twenties and thirties. Not only does she include snippets from her own compelling [...]
For someone who writes about disclosing chronic illness, it’s not easy for me to come out of the closet and disclose that I spend a lot of psychic time thinking about my problem with shoes. I’m no Imelda Marcos or Carrie Bradshaw but I’ve bought too many shoes to count in the never ending search [...]
It’s hard not to blame yourself if chronic illness leaves you feeling as if you have no choice but to stop working. But the fact is that sometimes you just can’t get out of bed on a daily basis and that’s usually what work requires. Milwaukee morning dj (WLDB-FM 93.3), Ellen Stout, 54, is retiring [...]
When we were living in our first apartment, my husband would ask me, ” Why do we have to wash the kitchen floor once a week if it doesn’t look dirty?” How do you answer something that seems so obvious? When people tell me that summer vacations is a source of stress – I think [...]
YES! Lauren Shuler Donner, A -list producer of Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire and X-men series among others, lives with Lupus. What do you KNOW? After years of hiding this illness ( as well as breast cancer) , she’s “come out”. “I was afraid no one would hire me, and I also felt it [...]
If you think that it’s only the adult work world in which a chronically ill person struggles to around being “successful”, read this article (When Schools Punish Sick Children Who Miss School). Kids face the same crap (sorry but it made my blood boil). Here’s an example: A parent wrote that her child completed all [...]
Coming Out – Into the spotlight
Occasionally, I interview people about their “story” because I think it would be valuable for you to hear a different take on these issues – other than mine. Today’s guest is Leslie Rott. She is 22 years old and was diagnosed with and is being treated for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) [...]
Chronic illness isn’t sexy
There is nothing sexy or headline-making about chronic illness. It rarely kills a person — but it sure can curtail a life. Ted Kennedy was presented with what seemed liked larger than life issues that forced him to make quick decisions and take risks. All the more inspiring. And Kennedy, as do so many celebrities [...]
This past weekend, my husband’s family gathered at our house for his youngest brother’s (there are 4 “boys”) graduation (at 44!) from U Mass Medical School (Worcester, MA). A big deal, no? But it’s late Spring and as is typical for me, multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms are flaring, with some pain and some fatigue. Not [...]
