on chronic illness
My struggle with chronic illness recently passed the five year mark.
After a half decade of hiding, rejecting, cloaking, excusing, lamenting, accepting, hating, and avoiding it... I'm finally ready to share my experiences.
I like, many people, had the big "I'm cured, here's how you can do it, too!" dream. What a crock. The reality of that is that no one can tell you exactly how to heal, including me. And the truth of it is that everybody, and every body, is different.
But another truth is that I have benefitted greatly on my own journey from people who were willing to share what they learned along the way. And so I'm ready to open up, and start to speak the truth of my own experiences.
(Note: I will not be giving advice because advice is literally The. Last. Thing. that any chronically ill person wants from anyone other than their doctor or trusted healer.)
I'm going to move slowly, and speak carefully. Below are some of the things that I'm considering writing about –– will you tell me what you might like to read?
- My own health journey + diagnoses
- SIBO; the low-FODMAP diet; the elemental diet / fast
- Heavy metal chelation therapy; DMSA; mercury toxicity; lead poisoning
- The ups & downs of my year with Parsley Health
- Living with chronic illness
- Working / career with chronic illness
- My experiences with Western vs. Eastern medicine
- A primer on healing modalities (massage, acupuncture, reiki, breathwork, gua sha, cupping, craniosacral therapy, Healing Touch, meditation, chakra healing, etc.)
- Additions to healing (adaptogenics, flower essences, crystals, sage + palo santo, etc.)
- Traveling while sick (Zika, parasites, and every virus ever)
- How I have learned to be chronically ill (and why "hope" isn't always helpful)
- Books + resources that have helped me
- Kind (and thoughtless) shit people have said to me about my illness
- My healers: profiles of the f*cking fantastic people who have personally helped me heal
- Anxiety + depression / cause vs. effect
- Genetic components (MTHFR, etc)
- SAD / seasonal depression (another fun layer)
- Being a sick mom
- Being a sick newlywed
- How to love your body when it feels broken
- When you can't hang out: trying to lose friends gracefully
- Finding support online
- Guided meditations for the chronically ill
Such fun stuff. 😜
I would genuinely love to hear what from the above list resonates with you.
Please feel free to shout it out in the comments below, hollar at me on Twitter or Insta, through my contact form, or to email me at myname (at) gmail (dot) com.
Yours in health!
xoL