Tag Archives: illness

The Physical Effects of Anxiety

It may start in your head, but chronic anxiety – day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year – inevitably elicits some pretty profoundly negative responses from the rest of your body. So if you’re living with anxiety, as well as a painful or troublesome physical condition – particularly of the heart, lungs, stomach, muscles, skin, immune system, reproductive system, weight and/or head (as in headaches) – it’s time to make the connection. You may literally be making yourself sick with worry. As shared in my new book, Overcoming, Anxiety, Worry, and Fear: Practical Ways to … Continue reading →

Gaining Perspective

You know it’s going to be a bad day when you spend 10 minutes standing on your front porch trying to figure out why you can’t get into your home before you realize that repeatedly pushing the unlock button on your car’s smart key isn’t going to open the front door of your house. Yes, it’s been one of those days. Actually, it’s been one of those months. One of those months when you can’t seem to catch a break. One of those months when the war against fatigue has you in the trenches. One of those months when your … Continue reading →

How Lucky

Today is my fifth anniversary of my diagnosis with a chronic illness. Over the past five years, this chronic illness has changed and shaped my life. Shortly after I was diagnosed, I gave birth to my daughter. Today I’m reflecting on how lucky we are and celebrating the fact that we are both alive and in a place where we can have excellent medical care. Today I also read a story in the newspaper. We’ve been visiting our inlaws all weekend, and they get the city newspaper. I rarely get a chance to read it. On the cover of one … Continue reading →

Single Parents with Migraines

It is hard being a single parent. So what happens when you have a migraine and need help watching your child? Luckily for me, I live with family members who are usually able to help with my son when I’m sick. I have disabling migraines and it is very difficult to watch my son when it hurts to open my eyes. I woke up this morning with a horrible migraine. My head was hurting. My eyes were stinging. My neck was hurting and burning. I was absolutely miserable. I got up and made my son’s breakfast. I tried to take … Continue reading →

A is for Anxiety, E is for Emergency

It was a great day. Today my husband stayed home while I went off to work – actually, to a first aid course that I need to do every two years to recertify to teach small children outdoors. I spent the day performing CPR on mannequins, watching gory videos of spurting blood, and I aced the test. This does not mean that you should come to my house when you’re suffering from major wounds, though. Please. I got home, and we spent a quiet winter solstice evening. My daughter and I practiced some first aid moves, I reminded her how … Continue reading →

Keeping Special Needs Kids Healthy

Cold and flu season are right around the corner, and for parents of some special needs children, it’s a season we particularly dread. Our kids frequently have underlying medical conditions that can make even the most typical of childhood illnesses anything but child’s play. This season is of special concern with the emergence of the novel H1N1 virus, commonly known as the Swine Flu. H1N1 is expected to infect up to 40 percent of the population this flu season, which is double the usual number of expected cases of seasonal flu. And unlike the seasonal flu that normally targets the … Continue reading →

What Are Invisible Illnesses?

“But you don’t look/act sick.” Have you heard these words or said them to a friend? Visible illnesses and conditions are easy to spot because the person may use a device like crutches or braces to assist in movement. They may limp, have an unusual posture, or make expressions of pain (physically or vocally) when they move. An invisible illness comes with few (if any) outward signs most (if not all) of the time. Some examples of invisible illness include: Asthma Depression Chronic pain Fibromyalgia Heart disease Diabetes Seizure disorders Osteoporosis Many people think of illness in terms of short-term … Continue reading →

In the Genes?

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Last night my daughter was talking about how she wanted to be a mom someday. “But I’ll probably have to take medicine,” she said, making a face, “Because you have to take medicine and Grandma has to take medicine.” Looking back on it, I could have just said something like, “Different people may need different medicine at different times” and been done with it. But I said something that I thought would be reassuring for her, then wondered if maybe it wasn’t. What I said was, “Actually, you know what? Those are the kinds of things you get from genes, … Continue reading →

When a Child Fakes an Illness or Injury

Many a child has learned how to milk a “boo boo” for a little extra TLC—from the time our children are babies, we parents make a bit of a fuss over them when they get ill or injured and they quickly learn that a physical ailment is a surefire way to get some extra attention. For many parents, we inevitably have to deal with a child faking an illness or injury and depending on how big of a trigger it is for us, we have to figure out how to respond… When my daughter was in the first grade, I … Continue reading →

A Vacation (Sort of) in Bed

It is Memorial Day weekend—a time when many Americans take mini-vacations to get themselves warmed up for the summer season. My kids, in fact, have gone off for the next three days with their Dad—a rare chance for the four of them to spend time together without interruptions and obligations. This means that I have my little world to myself for the next few days and, like many single parents/home business owners, I have been looking forward to all the work I’ll get done! Typically, however, yesterday afternoon I started to get a scratchy throat and this morning I woke … Continue reading →