#What is a podiatrist

[sporesgalaxy]

wait i lied . i need to tell you that the funniest symptom of ehlers danlos syndrome is "velvety skin." my joints are weird as hell but my skin is so soft. but in a weird way so watch out!

[kazieka]

chronic pain thots in the tags

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

being chronically ill is fun because sometimes you see a doctor whos like yeah no idea whats wrong with you so ill refer you to this department where a doctor is like yeah no idea whats wrong with you so ill refer you to this department where a doctor is like yeah no idea whats wrong with you so ill refer you to this department where a doctor is like yeah no idea whats wrong with you and you just end up

[haberdashing]

you know it's been a fun day when you're adding medical items to your amazon wishlist

[chronicillnesscaneffoffplease]

I graduated from my bachelor degrees yesterday. It still feels like a bit of a dream.

I’ve got two fancy pieces of paper now, and a fancy hat, and a feeling of pride that I made it through uni, let alone while my health crashed and burned around me, through multiple investigative surgeries and procedures, and so many diagnoses, in the midst of a global pandemic. I, and many of my friends, and my peers, we made it.

But the day took a huge toll on me. Wake up early to get ready. Ready includes the waist-high compression stockings I sometimes don’t have the strength to put on. Struggle with them for a solid while. A beautiful dress, with pockets!! Wear sensible shoes, with a low heel and additional arch support. Worry about tripping or fainting while walking the stage for a good long while. Instead, trip and fall on the way to registration, banging my knee onto carpet covered concrete. Ouch. Sit in the shade, with sunnies on, hoping I don’t develop a migraine while waiting for doors to open for us to be seated in the hall. Walk the stage without any issues, but lean heavily on the bannister as I cautiously take the steps off the stage. Let loose and allow myself a glass of champagne to celebrate after. Roll my ankle again, walking to a photo location after the ceremony. Start to feel exhausted, but know we still have dinner plans. Majorly enjoy dinner, almost forgetting that my stomach will hate me for it later. Still had to take my meds, still had to pay attention to most of my pain and migraine mitigation strategies on this day that’s so special, but cannot be just about me, because it is also about my managing my illnesses and how they are never going away.

So here I am at home, resting, nursing a twice sprained ankle, a sore knee, a gastro intestinal tract that can’t deal with the excitement and nerves and lovely celebration dinner, a flu-like feeling and thermoregulation issues and malaise (so a fatigue flare up basically). But it was worth it.

I did it. And I’m going to keep doing it at my own pace as long as I can. I’ve been accepted for an honours year (or 2- part time) and I hope to do more after that. Disabled and chronically ill people belong in academia. Our voices are important.

[stupid-lemon-eater]

i think one of the most frustrating things about having chronic illnesses is how many comorbidities come up that also have to be dealt with at some point or other. most of my life now is going to appointments, recovering from appointments, preparing for appointments, doing assigned exercises from appointments (with fatigue as a symptom for most of my symptoms disorders, mind you), so when something new pops up which i'll have to see another medical specialist for, i end up debating with myself whether it's worth it to try and make the appointment now when it's theoretically easier to deal with (though will probably add on yet more exercises), or to wait for a bit longer for when i'll actually have some damn capacity to deal with Yet More Bullshit™

[arlo-venn]

Whoever decided that my toenail was not only going to fall off but also grow back in such a dramatic, infection-inducing fashion is actually just so mean

[llycaons]

its really good that I took today off because not only did I start getting treatment for the tooth pain and have the time to prep the new storage unit, I also made a bunch of health care related calls and avoided a potentially disastrous appointment time. but goddamn managing your health appointments even with relatively mild chronic issues is such a hassle if you have multiple providers

[jennhoney]

Everything is a low key trigger about my time here being a caregiver to Uncleducey. And my body is being haunted by what feels like all his ailments.

[trans-xianxian]

GUESS who broke part of his heel 🥰🥰🥰

[mochapanda]

im literally always right.

[whatafirefeelslike]

running update, i am 1 week out from the half marathon i signed up for a year ago and today was my last long run. i was worried about running 10 miles, as a week ago i couldn’t do 5 miles without pain. but today was lovely, really easy except for this tickle in my throat—might have caught a little something. i’m gonna see how i feel tomorrow and Tuesday morning as i have my second to last speed workout that day. if i still don’t feel well im just going to do the bike. but my foot felt totally fine. my right hamstring was bugging me a bit but not too bad. tuesday will be the real test of my injuries (if i’m not too sick) bc i’m gonna go fast and wear the shoes i plan on wearing for race day

i’m wondering if the foot issue was just my shoes being too tight. i remember having issues in just my new pair of brooks glycerin 20s. my old pair of the same model felt fine today and my race shoes felt fine. i’m so excited that my race shoes match my outfit too 😍 i need the weather forecast to change so it feels more like today tho