Tag: mecfs

Juggling appointments

Warning: contains GIFs

Being chronically ill is much like juggling countless juggling balls, only to realise no one has ever actually taught you to juggle, and you have to muddle on as best you can on your own, with the threat of the full weight of your life’s obligations coming crashing down on you at any given moment.* Some assume that having a chronic illness absolves you from mundane life tasks, but the opposite is true: you have to deal with the same challenges everyone else does, with limited resources, as well as the other shit chronic illness throws at you.

Illustration of a red haired girl throwing her arms up to juggle three apples.
Ooooo, open source images.

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Some notes on my health

It’s been a while since I did a personal health update, largely because I just don’t like thinking about it any more. I was reminded of this fact when I had an appointment with a social worker yesterday. She is an advocate who I employed to assist me with my NDIS application (though she has nothing to do with NDIS herself, nor does her agency in any way, and therefore has no say in their assessment of me).

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Book review: Ask Me About My Uterus & Doing Harm

My ability to read books comes and goes, but definitely spends more time in the “gone” category! At least compared to the regular nightly reading I used to accomplish with ease. Two books I completed sometime last year were Ask Me About My Uterus by Abby Norman and Doing Harm by Maya Dusenbery. Both books were about women’s experiences of chronic illness, written by women with chronic illness. They approached the topic from entirely different angles, which made for little overlap between them. Continue reading “Book review: Ask Me About My Uterus & Doing Harm”

More “cripping up” – The Upside

It seems little has changed since I first wrote about cripping up in 2017. Hollywood still makes movies about, but not with, disabled people, and non-disabled actors are still cast in disabled roles as a fast-track to winning an Oscar.

Bryan Cranston, in a wheelchair, is pushed by Kevin Hart. They are both laughing.

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More electrolyte drink reviews

It’s been a while since I updated my electrolyte drink mega-review, which was lacking in powder drinks. I’ve rectified that by adding 5 more drinks to the table: Endura Rehydration Low Carb Fuel, Endura Rehydration Performance Fuel, Hydralyte Sports Powder, Ultima Replenisher Electrolyte Powder, and my old favourite, Powerade Zero. Continue reading “More electrolyte drink reviews”

ME/CFS on SBS Insight

Last fortnight, Australian talk show Insight screened an episode about ME/CFS. The panel included ME/CFS patients, parents of children with ME/CFS, healthcare professionals and researchers in the field. The episode had a particular focus on the benefits vs harms of graded exercise therapy (GET), which I have already written about at length.

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