#spoonie Strong selfie Saturday

[only-some-spoons]

My spoonie strong selfie to remind us all that we are enough. Despite your symptoms, diagnosis, limitations you are still a whole person. You are enough.

[im-bi-this-is-my-life]

One year ago this month I got out of a back brace and now I’m getting muscle definition back!!!

[lesbian-bookworm]

Decorated my hearing aids for spring

[jai-makes-music]

(photo: close-up of an outtake from a recent shoot) i'm GAAAAAAAAAY

[torilynnlovie]

Did a load of laundry yesterday before the pain settled in. I can barely move today but at least I accomplished something 🤷🏻‍♀️✌🏻

(Also my hair is still soft from washing it with an egg 🥚on Thursday 😱)

[abominablesnowpickle]

Last weekend, I went to my first major league sporting event with two of my very best old friends. We roadtripped from Wyoming to Denver (not a long drive, only 5 hours, which to us is nothing much^.^) I’m a football girl (my Broncos crashed and burned this same evening, sigh), but have always enjoyed hockey. We had an amazing time, and I have a new sport to obsess about!

[bendy-cripple-blog]

Spoonie strong selfie Saturday

It’s a migraine day. And all of my usual migraine meds aren’t making a dent. I’m watching greys anatomy and sipping on pedialyte. I can’t wait until I can put my pain meds though the port I just got. Anyway, what a day

[lavenderspoons]

[anundeadspoonie]

Some old selfies on this fine @spooniestrong selfie Saturday. I’m pretty damn miserable these days but hey 🤷‍♀️ things could be worse and I have enough spoons to survive, so it’s all good. I hope everyone’s had a good week, and that next week treats y’all even better 💕💕💕

[keeponshouting]

Don't let the tired face fool you. I'm actually feeling way better today than I have been in the week+ since surgery. You see, I'm allergic to every adhesive I've ever come across and the reaction on my shoulder had spread down my bicep and across part of my back over the past week just from the most minimal of post-op coverage and my usual routine for rashes and hives just couldn't beat it. So I decided to say screw it while changing the bandages after my shower yesterday and just left them off to give my skin a break. The difference one night made is amazing! The last couple times I've post a spoonie selfie I've felt terrible. Nice to not be a total wreck for once.

[im-bi-this-is-my-life]

Pre order shirts are $17 $20 in a couple of weeks so order now

Fight with Bree

My name is Bree Baslington. I have been struggling with Lyme Disease for the past nine years of my life, all the while striving towards a better future for myself and others like me. I was born and raised in Spokane Valley, WA, only moving away to progress my treatments. Until I started to get sick, I was a very active member of the community; participating in all kinds of sports, volunteering, and working with children at the city’s day camp.

Moving away from Spokane was a difficult decision for me considering how little support I would have in the Seattle area, but it was one that I do not regret. I chose to move to Woodinville, WA in May of 2016 after avoiding the move for several months prior. There I became a full-time patient at Sophia Health Institute, seeing multiple doctors at a time, receiving daily IVs, and numerous injections. Without the time I spent there, I would not be here today.

During one of my trips to Spokane during the holiday season, my father and I were in a car accident that destroyed most of my possessions including the majority of my medical supplies and tools, as well as broke my back. I suffered an L1 burst fracture that left me in severe chronic pain. I spent three months in a back brace, requiring a special hospital bed and equipment to remain semi-functional without help. Replacing all of my medical equipment as well as purchasing more drained the remainder of my medical funds and left me struggling to make ends meet.

As time progressed in Woodinville, the treatments began to get more and more of a financial burden. With the cost of living rapidly increasing in the area, and the medical bills piling up, I chose to move back to the Spokane area in order to regroup and start to save in order to go back. The cost of care at Sophia Health Institute is purely dependent on how well I am doing at any given time, but typically it cost anywhere from $7,000- $10,000, or more a month.

My goal is to one day go to medical school and become a doctor that helps others the way so many of my doctors have helped me. Being twenty-five, this seems like a hefty goal, but I am used to defying the odds and pushing myself past the limits that others have placed on me. More than anything, what I want to do is inspire others like me that they can be more than their diagnosis.

For me, being healthy is not as simple as staying focused on treatments for a fixed amount of time, my condition is chronic meaning that I will be always need some form of treatment to manage my condition. That being said, my hope is to start to work more and more as I progress in my journey to a healthier life, but that is easier said than done. As of right now, I am able to work a few hours a week- something I never thought I’d be able to do at this point in my treatment. Soon, I hope to go back to college and begin working on my bachelor’s degree and eventual doctorate.

Now that I have recovered as much as I can from the car accident, I am in a place to continue to push forward towards my goal of managing my Lyme to a place that allows me to work more consistently and go back to college. In order to do this, I need to make another big step in my health journey; receiving treatment in Europe.

When I was sixteen, I had my wisdom teeth removed in an attempt to stop my headache. Long story short, because of my compromised immune system I ended up with an infection in my jaw (cavitation) that prevents my head from draining properly thus pushing the majority of my infection in my brain. German medicine has the technology to circumnavigate the nerves near where my wisdom teeth used to be, so they are the only ones who can fully clean out the infection. On top of this, I also need cryotherapy on my tonsils. My tonsils were removed when I was a sophomore in high school after suffering severe tonsillitis, but over time with my weakened immune system, one has begun to grow back- full of infections. This new tonsil has a very high likelihood of becoming cancerous if I do not take action soon. The nature of these procedures may seem fairly harmless, but because of the severity of my condition and my current heart problems will require me to seek addition support. My hope is to not only have doctor support in Europe, but also a full-time caregiver to help get me from appointment to appointment. On top of scrambling to pay for my basic every day needs, I am trying my best to save enough to travel for these surgeries.

[lesbian-bookworm]

Bean plants and haircuts

[twizzlerkid]

This is my excited, going to London selfie. Ft. Big bags under my eyes. Although I’m anxious and freaking out, it’s for the best reason! BBC stories are making a film to raise awareness about fibromyalgia and chronic pain, and I get to take part in a dance class targeted for those with chronic pain, as well as get interviewed. Making the invisible visible, let’s raise some awareness 💪🏻

[rolledankles]

This weeks spoonie strong selfie saturday pic. @spooniestrong

[goldstarsfortulip]

It's 1:30pm on a Saturday and I'm still in bed. My body is back to not being able to handle being horizontal, to needing the shower chair and collapsing on to the floor of the toilet. We had to say goodbye to Little on Tuesday. I always knew we would, but T didn't. She thought he'd go to her country place and she'd still get to see him. What with Justin dying, and some people taking the opportunity to kill some of their animals, she's had to rehome many of her rescues. It's just not safe for Little to be there. So, it's just another layer of sadness she's having to cope with. Today feels a bit more like #SpoonieSad Selfie Saturday than anything else.

[jekabeth]

Late spoonie selfie Saturday pic! It was taken on Saturday. :)