#chronic advice

[cutsi3kitti3]

my mom and I always say that just because someone breaks both their arms doesn't mean you didn't break your arm🤍🤍

Other people going through “worse” doesn’t mean you can’t be sad. It doesn’t mean you aren’t suffering. It doesn’t mean your pain doesn’t matter. Your feelings and struggles are valid. And things are allowed to feel tough for you.

[cosmicredcadet]

I don't think a lot of people realize that lot of their advice to disabled people often boils down to "Get over it." they are trying to be helpful but their idea of helpful is "Just do the thing" because that's what they do. for them they just do things. It comes naturally to just do it.

They don't know how to bridge the gap between you and the task. For them the bridge is already pre-built and stable. For disabled people the bridge is run down, not well kept, it feels unsteady and is hard to get across without being slow and cautious - hell for some people there is no bridge and we need to build it ourselves but we don't have the bridge building tools and no one gives them to us.

"Just cross the bridge." They say before walking over their pre-built bridge. They never gave you the tools to build a bridge to cross.

[cubbihue]

It would be nice to hear from Wanda and Cosmo! It is kind of nice that you guys have two children like your own family does. Are you two still close to your siblings? Wanda has a sibling and Cosmo also have a sibling just like Timmy and Peri. Do they share some sibling stories to your children?

Wanda and Cosmo both reconnected with their siblings shortly after having Peri. Or, well. More like Blonda reentered their lives once she realized she had a baby nephew. Eventually, they slowly patched things up the more Blonda came to visit Peri.

Schnozmo was dragged back kicking and screaming. Mama Cosma refuses to have her sons live estranged lives now that she has a grandchild in the picture. Schnozmo doesn't know how to handle children, but he's doing his best.

Peri likes Schnozmo because he makes silly noises and funny stories. But he prefers Blonda's theatrics much more and loves playing Dress Up with her.

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[spread-positivity-everywhere]

[thebibliosphere]

So in not great news, I’ve developed a trauma response to my migraines.

I just had a faint niggle of pain on the right side of my head—likely caused by my neck muscles being jacked up from yesterday’s migraine and the hours upon hours of throwing up—and while my original response to potentially getting a migraine was weary resignation, I just had what can only be accurately described as a panic attack.

Like full on, couldn’t breathe past my terror, vision tunneling in a way I haven’t experienced since [redacted trauma], ‘it feels like I’m having a heart attack’ panic.

Which is not… not great to begin with but it’s really not good when you have a mast cell disorder where stress can be an anaphylactic trigger, which it is for me, which is why I’ve spent the last for years trying to regulate my nervous system and get a handle on my complex trauma.

Only now, due to the severe amounts of pain I’m in every ten days or fewer, I’m experiencing total emotional dysregulation from the mere thought of having another migraine.

And now I have a headache from the panic attack because it triggered my POTS and now my blood pressure is fucked 🫠

I legitimately cannot do this anymore. This is going to kill me.

[lifewithchronicpain]

If you don't need a cane, but you get one to signal disability because sometimes you get faint and need to sit, or whatever, as a cane user for years, go ahead. Please, if it makes claiming accomodations easier for you, even if you don't need it to walk, I don't care. This is your permission if you needed it.

Can I suggest that you can get a foldable one at CVS (they're great) so it's there when you need it? Shits fucked up, do what you need to do. Just beware there are assholes that won't care about the cane. But overall, it does make things easier and is easily purchased. Go for it.

[the-archenlandian-court]

Things I wish I knew before I got diagnosed with a chronic illness

You’ll forget - Sometimes you’ll straight up forget you have a condition, that you have a disability, and that others don’t feel like you

Your most important job is to stay alive - Everything else is secondary, as long as you stay alive you have achieved something

It’s okay to cry - It’s normal, chronic illness is sucky, but don’t cry for too long or focus too hard on everything that’s wrong because it will make things worse

Your body is in a war, be kind - Your body is constantly fighting against itself, give it time to rest and heal, eat food and drink, do what you can to aid in the battle

If you feel like you can’t do it, you can - Have a cry, eat some ice cream and have a nap, when you wake up you’ll find the strength to keep going

Some advice from younger me; January of 2021 (I just found it stashed away)

[hypokeimena]

it makes me so so crazy when people are like the existence of magic means that you need to do science to the world harder. this is common in portal power fantasies and also i'm back to reading dogshit hp fic for the fascism essay and it's so common there too. but.

if magic is real i don't know why you'd double down on science (a worldview which doesn't account for magic being real) instead of trying to come up with something interesting to say

scientific rationalism is an incredibly modern worldview and while it's challenging to take yourself out of it bc it's how the vast majority of us were. raised and educated and acculturated. it does feel genuinely disrespectful to the. humanity of people who lived in the past, to me.

like there's plenty of things where historical people were incorrect about the causes or effects of things. but an attempt to make sense of the world that accounts for "things we don't fully understand" is maybe a reasonable approach to bring to things we don't understand yet. including things that are obvious metaphors with some component of truth to them. so like.

do i have ptsd bc of biological changes to my brain. do i have ptsd bc spirits are attacking me. is there a difference.

and it's not like people don't still engage in magical thinking all the time but they pretend it's based on science. like the way people (general people, popular science, not subject matter specialists) talk about chemicals in the brain is absolutely not supported by the actual science, which is a lot better at admitting when it doesn't know something than the popular imagination would like to believe. humans rely on metaphors and stories and things that Feel true in order to make sense of the world and we always have and we always will.

tl:dr you are not better than a peasant from the 1600s because you are lucky enough to have been required to attend a school that taught you the scientific method.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

There's nothing he can't do. Yet.

(Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll!)

[chronic-lee-lizard]

Here are some filling foods for when you feel nauseous or not wanting to eat!!!

Eggs

Greek yogurt

Rice

Cottage cheese

Pastas (always a good option)

Chicken (maybe a plain rotisserie if you are needing something not overwhelming)

Potatoes, especially mashed

Soups, the broth helps :))

Overall anything protein-rich will help you feel full quicker. I know on nights when I’m feeling super nauseous but I know if I don’t eat it’ll get worse these foods have saved me lol.

[multifariousmayhem]

does anyone else with chronic fatigue feels like the day goes by very quickly? in between the non negotiable rest breaks and stuff like meals suddenly is the end of the day and there was no time at all to do anything

[youngchronicpain]

Today, I am almost 3 weeks post-op. I decided that I wanted (needed) to make cookie dough with the remaining Christmas chocolate we had lying around. Baking makes me happy and I was tired of snacking on the same chocolates day after day.

About half way through mixing, I realized I was not yet ready for such a task. But decided to finish it because I was home alone and knew I could rest this evening while my partner made us dinner and cleaned.

But while he was busy doing various household tasks, ones we typically would share but I am currently unable to manage, I could hear my parent's voices in my head. "If you can make cookie dough, you can make rice."

I knew it wasn't a great idea. But I also figured "eh, it's just rice." Even though I was still hurting from my earlier kitchen adventure.

As I was washing the rice for our dinner, I realized how bad of a mistake it was. Lifting the pot and dumping out the dirtied water again and again was only hurting me more.

I think it is funny that even as an almost 30 year old, engaged and living in my own space, the same old voices from my childhood come creeping in.

So if you are also recovering, from surgery, overdoing it, or otherwise, take it from me:

Someone else can make the rice. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Lie down. Rest. And maybe eat some cookies.

[moonlightshaiku]

You're Nicer When You Drink

Silco x Reader

Word Count: 1620

Warnings: Dissociation, Angst

Ao3: Here!

Notes:

What is your reason for living? What do you do when you feel like you're going to fade away?

Tag List: N/A

While Singed and Silco insisted it was multiple personalities, you preferred another view. You’d been visiting Babette’s, talking with her and her workers. Babette was very understanding, happy to run errands and leave you and some of her workers alone to discuss the working of your minds. 

It was this weekend that you’d spoken to someone new. She was older than most, loud, took up space. But when she sat in front of you she seemed to drift off. She sat in her chair and her edges blended with the curtains behind her. Her eyes were dark, and only that. She would only scan the room when you didn’t look at her, her only movements minute and almost invisible unless you looked for them.

“What we have,” she said in an even tone, never looking at your face, “is not multiple personalities.” You’d asked what she’d meant. She got up to grab a shot of something from the cart behind Babette’s desk. They were so plain, you noticed, her movements. Silco swayed and wrapped his fingers around his glasses oddly. Grabbed the decanter with one hand from the very bottom as he guided with his other hand on the neck.

She just grabbed a shot. 

When she sat, she didn’t take a sip, just stared off again. “In order to have a personality, you need to have a consistent consciousness, a past, an awareness of yourself. We have none of that. We aren’t real, not like other people are.”

She’d left not long thereafter. And it stuck with you.

You watched each of your own movements. Saw how unsettling it was as you blended in with whatever curtains were behind you. 

You watched Jinx. How her body flowed around her surroundings like a child’s train running around a Piltover beach. The way she held objects and moved them with a slight bounce. You knew she could feel herself dying, you could feel the ropes in your chest, too. But she knew how to live. How to be real. It was second nature to her, and you had no idea where to start. 

When your sentences finished, you became the background of a room. You died, lost whatever tied you to reality for other people, until they looked at you again. 

Silco was too real. He was real in sharp edges and tensed shoulders. In barks and demands. It set you on edge. 

You realized as you sat in his office again, why it was so easy for him to let you use this room as a safe haven, even as he conducted meetings. It’s all you could focus on, how you would just blend into the background.

You wondered if you were allowed to scream. What would happen if you did. And then you pictured the woman from the brothel again, the way she was real until she sat and breathed. And then she didn’t exist fully anymore. 

Silco was more affectionate the more you avoided him.

He became less real the more time you spent apart from him, he drank more. It became easier to bear the weight of his existence when you only talked across from him, staring at his large-backed chair, three shots in.

He asked again and again what was wrong, if he could fix it. But it was only as he sipped his bourbon. He left you to rot when he sobered up.

Sevika looked at you with pity when she woke you up each morning. You’d been late for a few days, unable to raise yourself from bed, so she’d taken on the responsibility. She didn’t speak to you much anymore, but the look of pity was enough. You’d feared that look, because you knew the day you got it, it meant you’d lost her. She was too real for you to get to her now. Or you were floating too far away for her to reach you. 

Jinx didn’t visit. You were sure she was busy, or something. 

One day she did visit, and quickly caught on. She punched your shoulder lightly. “What’s got your titties in a twist, toots?” She’d asked. You don’t remember what you’d said, or if you responded at all. But she left, still playful even as her footsteps softened. Floating somewhere else. 

Thieram didn’t speak to you until it’d been weeks without you going on a job. You hadn’t even realized how long it’d been. Even as you thought back, it didn’t make sense. 

Thieram was easier to talk to. He was real, but not too real.

He set something in front of you, and you sipped it without question. It was thick, chocolatey. “Did… uh, did you know that chocolate gives you dopamine?” And you felt yourself laugh. It was too breathy. You wish you could laugh harder, feel it burn your neck and chest.

“Drugging me into happiness, Thieram?”

He gave a nervous laugh and shrugged. You picked up your glass so he could wipe the counter under it. 

“When did you last eat?” He asks, grabbing a packet of crackers from under the counter. They were always given to patrons that got just a little too drunk. You’d once seen Sevika shove the crackers one-by-one into the mouth of a slim girl that had a panic attack after being thrown around too much in the crowd.

It had worked. Or maybe the girl was too busy drooling over Sevika. You couldn’t blame her.

You placed the crackers into your mouth slowly. You couldn’t feel the crackers in your mouth, or the pressure as you chewed, but you could feel them clog up your throat. You drank and drank to get the feeling out, but it held steady, making you heavy and foggy again. 

“What’s been up with you, anyway?” He asks. He’s just leaning on the counter, now. Cleaning and counting done.

You shrug. “I don’t feel real. Do I… exist?”

Thieram shrugs. “As much as you ever have.”

You look at the counter. “I think that’s the problem. I don’t think I’ve ever existed.”

He sighs deeply. “Do you have a reason to live? Like, family or something?”

You shake your head, and he gives you the same look Sevika does. You realize it’s not pity. You feel a little more real. “I think my reason for living has been being alive.”

He rubs his hands down the front of his shirt. “Well, there’s your problem. That’s surviving. And, in my opinion? Barely that. Do you have any reason to live?”

You pause. “It should be Silco. And Jinx.”

“It’s not?”

You shake your head again, take a sip of your drink. “I don’t think I even know what a reason to live is supposed to look like. Or be.”

He hums. “I mean, most people say family, or revenge, or making up for mistakes.”

You run a hand down your face. “But it has to be more than that. None of that applies to me. All of that is shallow, and stupid, and doesn’t make sense.”

Thieram nods. “I mean, yeah. I’m sure there’s more to it, people just don’t really have the words to put to it.”

“Who will? Have the words, I mean?”

Thieram’s eyes drift up the stairs, and you shake your head. 

“I’m not talking to Silco.”

“Can I say something kinda shitty?”

“Go for it.”

He lets out a big sigh. “I think you owe it to him, to be honest.”

You nod. “I do. I just… my words won’t be enough. And instead of getting more words the longer I wait, I lose them. And now I’ve waited too long. I’ve lost them all.”

He takes your drink and rinses it out, scrubbing it dry with a towel. You can see he’s thinking, the stillness in his shoulders comforting. “I think you not having words is part of the problem. And he’ll see that. He’s smart.”

“He’s too real.” You blurt. “He’s so real it hurts. And you’d think it’s jealousy, but I’m jealous of Jinx. She’s… so real. And I want her kind of real. I don’t want Silco’s kind of real. He’s sharp, and rude, and so, so intense.”

Thieram is always so still when he thinks, and always leans his head towards the floor. You can see him doing it now. The way he thinks is so visual you can feel it in your chest, and you can’t help but sit in silence. Hold quiet respect for his soft voice. The almost motherly whisper that leaves him when he speaks in private. “I don’t have an answer for that.” He says finally, his shoulders dropping and his movement continuing. 

You nod, solemn, and push yourself off your barstool. You can feel the weight of your feet on the ground. You’re realer. “I’ll just rip the bandaid off, then.”

Thieram jokingly salutes you, his uncomfortable smile so forced it's goofy and shows too much of his gums. You huff. 

Silco’s office is colder than it usually is, and it allows the fog to come a little bit closer. Not just the cold, but the energy of the room. Silco seems so faded. You want to hold him until he’s so real you need to throw up. You want to fix it, but there’s not enough of you to do that. 

He gestures to the chair at the opposite end of his desk, he seems limp. You head for the cart on the other side of his room. Pour two shots. Four fingers each. Then you sit.

“I still have work to do.” He says. 

“I need to talk to you.” You reply. 

“Why is alcohol needed?” He asks.

“You’re nicer when you drink.” You answer.

[etherealspacejelly]

ive made posts like this before for autism and adhd but i recently found out i have chronic pain so i want to share some tips for people who have also recently found out they have chronic pain

take pain meds Before the pain starts. if you can feel a flare up coming on or you're about to do something which you know will cause pain, take the pain meds. its much easier to prevent pain than to reduce it after its already bad

heat packs and ice packs! use them!! if you often get pain in multiple areas at once, have multiple on hand. you may want to invest in an electric heat pack!!

rest when you need to. its not shameful to need rest more often than other people. if you're out and about and you need to sit down, do it!! if you need to stay in bed all day during a flare up, do it!! accommodate yourself, you deserve it. (if you're going to stay in bed all day please make sure you have access to snacks and a drink though. take care of yourself!!)

hot baths are excellent for joint pain

use mobility aids!! if you think it would help, get one. they're so worth it. if you can, go to a physical store and talk to the people there about your needs and try a few out

get a kitchen stool. get a shower stool. sit down while you brush your teeth. there are no rules, dont stand up if you dont need to be standing up.

if you're hypermobile, compression garments can be useful. also knee braces, ring splints, anything that will help stabilise your joints

meal planning!! cook multiple portions of a meal in one go so you can have leftovers when you have no energy to cook. make sure to have some low effort meals on standby too, like cans of soup or pot noodles.

be kind to yourself!! getting through the day is so much harder when you're in pain all the time. you're doing the best you can, even if that doesnt look like someone elses best. you cant help having the body you have, so dont beat yourself up if you cant do everything you want to do all the time.

[cosmicpsychopomp]

i think that the comment that “jayce’s speech to viktor is ableist" is really nitpicky in a dishonest way. as someone who lives with a chronic illness that has disabled me, the sentiment of “you were never broken” coming from jayce who, by the way, by the end of the season is also disabled is actually such a beautiful statement of love not despite someone’s "imperfections" (or what is considered imperfect by society) but including them whole. jayce understands why viktor wanted to heal himself, of course he does, and it is just incredibly unfair that to do so it would remove all of what makes viktor who he is: his humanity. in another world, if viktor found a cure for his disease that did not infringe on his values and his core qualities (and the safety of others) jayce would be more than supportive. it made you who you are is not saying that disability is inherent to viktor’s life but that the way he has lived with a disability in their environment and society did shape him, the context given does impact you, even if you don’t want it to. viktor being a disabled genius from the undercity is fundamental to his mentality and ambition and if viktor managed to heal his disease, his past would still have weight on who he is. i truly think that if someone interprets this whole monologue as malicious, it is because they want to cast jayce in this light.

[thebibliosphere]

Aura migraines are such bastards. I don’t get auras too often as part of my warning prodrome, but when I do it’s a toss up if the migraine is going to be silent (migraine without pain) or if I’m going to be in excruciating agony in a couple of hours.

Either way I went blind for thirty minutes as my entire field of vision became a ragged spiral of oscillating rainbows and now I’m just lying here in the dark, warily waiting to see if the pain hits.

Holly Mop is clinging to me like a koala which doesn’t bode well.

God fucking dammit I had shit to do tomorrow.