#yes you are still chronically ill if you don’t have pain or need mobility aids

[princehatterene]

been feeling like a fake disabled person cuz i haven’t been using my cane lately :(

i haven’t had many opportunities to use it cuz i literally can’t at work, and i honestly haven’t really needed to use it cuz my pain hasn’t been too bad. which Should be a good thing, you would think, but the mind is a real bitch sometimes

[vieramars]

I don’t know if you’re still taking requests, but seeing Michael Shelley (and Gerry) with canes warmed my disabled lil heart so much, and I’d love to see more!

I draw my Michael Shelley using forearm crutches (yes it’s bc I use them too and I draw all my faves with them lol). My Michael Distortion I didn’t used to draw with mobility aids at all and then I saw the “Flamingo Crutch” on Pinterest and have been wanting to draw him using them ever since.

The point is I love your art so much and I would love to see more Michael with mobility aids of your choice if you still want to take requests! If not, no worries :)

THAT'S SUCH A COOL DESIGN!! It's extremely fitting for distortion Michael. I really want to make a full art piece of him with those some time later.

My Michael Shelley uses a foldable cane, and keeps a set of forearm crutches for days when the cane isn't enough (this would be my ideal strategy if I had forearm crutches lol).

And I project a lot of my chronic pain and illness onto Gerry so he uses one for chronic leg pain and asthma (you'd be surprised how much a cane helps with asthma). His is a pretty standard adjustable cane, mostly because it's convenient, but also because every pair of boots he owns has a different platform height so he needs the flexibility. He has a kandi chain on the wrist strap that Michael made for him, and he glued the spikes on himself. I have another post about my many headcanons about Gerry as a cane user.

[blushstories]

Omg hi! I don’t know how you would feel about it (if this make you uncomfy or you don’t know how to exactly write this you can ignore this request ☺️) but could you do a request on a gn! chronically ill reader needing to start using forearm crutches (mobility aids) due to their health declining and Mark does his best to help reader learn to use them, Steven jokes with reader and Jake reassures reader anytime they use them the wrong way? (I have to start using them during flare ups and I’m anxious about it) thank you!

hi u lovely person i didn't want to ignore this but equally i really hope this is accurate <3 love u lots <3

"Careful. Hold it like- no, yes. Like that," Marc's hands hover over you while you find your footing, hiding a grimace behind a tight smile. You wobble, and his hands hold your waist steady until you still again. He takes a step back and surveys your stance, pursing his lips. His stare makes you uncomfortable, self-conscious, even though he is trying to help, and figure out the best way for you to use them.

"This feels weird," you frown, staring a hole into the floor and gripping tighter to the hard plastic handles. "You just gotta find your balance. What, is it too uncomfortable?" You nod.

Marc disappears into the chest of drawers next to the bed. When he comes back, he has a mischievous glint in his eye and the corners of his mouth are quirked. He reveals two pairs of fuzzy socks folded into his palms; one's design held constellations and moons. The other was of small, colourful fish among a coral reef.

Your heart swells.

"Which one d'you want?" He asks, holding them up alternately as if they were on a scale. You hum, melodramatically taking your time to make your decision. "Both?"

Marc-no, Steven's eyes widen and a smile erupts onto his face. "Both sounds amazing, can I put them on?" He asks, an excitable lilt to his voice. You nod again with a smile that threatens to show your teeth. One at a time, you lift up a hand to allow him to slip a sock onto each handle. "There we go, like a glove. Now you're really going to be moving in style!"

You giggle, and watch him discard the leftover socks on the bed. "C'mon, let's take a step, yeah?" He takes a step back and beckons you towards him. You shuffle the foreign tools forwards a little, before pushing your weight into them. But you're unsteady, and almost slip, a sound of frustration escaping you. He catches you rather quickly, and guides you to sit on the bed again. "Can I...?" He gestures to one of the crutches. You hold it out to him, and he takes it with curiosity sitting behind his eyes. Then, he wields it like a walking cane in a Charlie Chaplin-esque fashion, and tips his imaginary hat. It's wacky and energetic and it crushed your momentary irritability as you beam at him. He seems proud of himself.

"You ready to go again?"

"I think so."

He gives you the crutch again. "Alright, up you go," Steven's voice encourages you up as he hovers behind you, in a similar way to Marc. You try again, stepping forwards with all your energy, and take one step, two steps, but the sudden pain takes you by surprise, and you lower yourself to the floor.

With the hot pain, your body felt hot and stuffy, and soon enough the frustration was back, bubbling under your skin. Tears of frustration slip down your cheeks and you contemplate giving up. But a presence kneels behind you.

"Respira, mi vida. You can do it. You're doing so good," Jake whispers. You take a deep breath with him, calling upon any universal force for patience. "Can I help you up?"

You let him stand you up, and he whispers small but significant encouragements into your ear as you begin to get the hang of it, and with Jake's reminders to breathe, you're able to do laps of the apartment by the end of the afternoon.

Jake massages your sore forearms with his thumbs when you decide to rest, planting small kisses along the skin. "We knew you could do it, cariño."

۵

idk if jake being so soft is too ooc but he's cute abt it so ill let it slide for this one :]

[thefriedbird]

Public service announcement… because as someone who has used mobility aids to help with my POTS and fibromyalgia.

Do not and I mean DO NOT… pray for me…

What seems harmless and may seem like people expressing their care and concern… is actually a form of proselytization.

To proselytize is the act of attempting to convert someone into a religion or different opinion.

While yes, I grew up southern baptist. (Have forever been really questioning though.) It is NEVER okay to try to convince or pray for somebody whom you do not know their belief system.

Especially if it’s someone like me who is disabled and you “pray” for me to be cured 😡

Small story time:

Over the holidays, my chronic illness was acting up but I still wanted to spend time with my family to see the Lights in OC. So for long distances, depending on how much pain I’m in that day. I either use my cane, wheelchair, or braces to help get me by.

Well, not long after getting to OC and stopping for food. Two “Christians” began to try to “help” me and to “pray” my disability away 😑

1. Not very Christian-like to pray for an illness that I will have for the rest of my life to be gone like God can fix that. This gives off the same energy as people who have told me in the past “there are no wheelchairs in heaven”. Not only is this extremely fucked up to tell me. But it leads me to further believe that God doesn’t love those with disabilities and that’s simply not or shouldn’t be the fucking case.

2. Also if I’m struggling, I WILL ASK FOR HELP. I do NOT need anyone’s help unless I SPECIFICALLY ASK. My mobility aid is an EXTENSION of ME. It’s like touching my arm when I hardly know you. DO NOT TOUCH ME OR MY MOBILITY AIDS WITHOUT MY SAY SO. And ESPECIALLY DONT CORNER ME. This does way more harm than good.

Another story time (UNRELATED TO RELIGION):

I went to ANOTHER set of lights in Rehobeth where this time I was in my wheelchair with my best friend’s family. Some guy had the audacity to tell his wife that I didn’t belong there… Wanna know why? Because he said “what was the point in her being here if she can’t do anything” 🤬

Ambulatory wheelchair users EXIST!

JUST BECAUSE YOU DONT OR REFUSE TO SEE US DOESNT MEAN WE DONT EXIST!

Also heaven should ALSO be disability accessible. And if you fucking think, that “yeah, when everyone goes to heaven they are their perfect selves!” “There are no wheelchairs, disabilities in heaven”

Actually sit on a cactus… Rethink and reprocess that line of thinking because I PROMISE YOU there is a deeper line of thinking than just that… The Bible has constantly been retranslated over and over again and if you honestly don’t think that ableist ideas haven’t been written into it, I don’t know what to tell you. it’s one of the MANY reasons why I don’t go to any church anymore or follow ANY group’s train of thought is because of the ABLEIST nonsense I have heard in the past from churches and fucking pastors AND HAVE HEARD RECENTLY AT A FUNERAL OF ALL PLACES!

AND OF YOU WANNA KNOW SOMETHING THATS NOT FUCKING SHOCKING TO ME AT ALL TO PROVE MY FUCKIMG POINT.

Churches are not obligated to follow the rules of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ☺️

What a fucking shocker.

If you were truly Christian you would fucking DO BETTER.

[crippleprophet]

🌟May I have a moment of your time? I have a question about disability and validity that I'm having trouble with. I've been invited to the volunteer team of my college's PWD club, and I'm concerned about whether it's fair for me to act as a representative. The PWD club explicitly includes mental health conditions anyway and I do have a serious mental health diagnosis, but I want to put that aside for a moment. I would feel self conscious representing the PWD group without a physical or sensory disability, and I'm not sure if it "counts" when my medical team hasn't been able to diagnose the cause of my chronic joint pain and its effects on my ability to walk and lift objects. I'm wondering if it doesn't "count" because I'm still able to walk unaided even if a cane would help me a lot, and I'm still able to work and lift 40lbs with only minor pain. I know that I'm already "qualified" by virtue of my mental health condition, but without knowing if an unknown joint pain and mobility difficulty is "disabled enough" for the offline world, I worry I'd feel fake helping alongside, say, the others on the team, including VI and wheelchair users.

Thank you for reading all that, I appreciate it.

hey, firstly i’m super flattered that you trusted me with this question, & it’s a testament to your character that you’re thinking about these dynamics and want to do right by the folks in your community. i’m gonna be super honest with you out of respect, because i don’t want to dismiss any of the facets you’re already considering, but please know that none of this is to invalidate your experience as a disabled person. the short answer, though, is i think yes, you absolutely “count,” and at least from this brief interaction you sound like exactly the kind of person i’d want representing me 🖤

to expand some on my thoughts:

not having a diagnosis & having an invisible disability do not make you any less disabled. i had undiagnosed joint pain for almost six years up until less than a month ago, and i wasn’t any more disabled on June 28th than i was on June 27th. i was in your position four years ago when i made this blog: invisibly disabled due to undiagnosed joint pain, not using a mobility aid, diagnosed for some (but not all) mental health conditions.

having an invisible disability does affect how you move through the world. most if not all abled people are going to treat you with a baseline assumption of personhood that they do not offer to visibly disabled people. that doesn’t erase the fact that it fucking sucks to know your personhood is contingent on not revealing a major fact about your life to people around you, and it doesn’t change that you experience ableism; i don’t ascribe to notions of “passing privilege” because that doesn’t adequately encompass the nuance of the situation. but you’re correct that you can’t fully understand my experiences and needs as a mobility scooter user—what matters to me is that you aren’t trying to. you wouldn’t be the only disabled person here, you’d be working with blind/VI folks & wheelchair users & other people with different disabilities than your own. as long as you listen to them, don’t assume that you know their needs, and don’t meet them with lateral aggression, you’re fine.

unfortunately, because abled people suck, sometimes it can help to have someone who isn’t visibly disabled there to reinforce our humanity, redirect questions to us rather than about us, and generally be an ally/accomplice. plus, people whose energy isn’t as limited due to their disability (whether usually or just on that day) are so vital because there are many times when i can’t attend an event, etc, to self-advocate.

there’s such a broad spectrum of disability that no one group could ever represent it all, and though we face different variants of discrimination, your experience matters, too. chronic pain and chronic illness have historically been left out of disability studies, an issue that’s being addressed more & more, and i can’t describe how thrilled it makes me every time i see someone with an invisible physical disability aligning themselves with the disability community and/or claiming crip, which is the main thing:

if you are anti-ableist and have a disability consciousness, i want you in the room. i want you in the movement. i want you to represent me, so long as you don’t communicate over me. crip spaces often contain some degree of disdain for able-bodied people with less stigmatized mental illnesses, which is totally understandable & justified when directed at people who think their experiences are the same as mine or qualify them to speak over me, but i would rather have an able-bodied person with anxiety who has actually done the work to learn about issues affecting visibly disabled people (both those like & unlike myself), who believes in collective liberation, who has sources of scholarship from multiply marginalized crip theorists, and who respects me as a person to advocate for me than someone with my exact condition who operates from their personal lived experience alone and who only wants to improve their own conditions.

that’s a long response, and definitely not a comprehensive one, but i hope that helps some! & i wish you all the best with your work 🖤

[biosblades]

Wheelchairs aren’t seen as morally neutral and (especially ambulatory) wheelchair users are called lazy, told to try harder to push through without, and people accuse them of faking/being dramatic/using their mobility device as a “crutch” (a loaded fucking statement in itself) all the time, hope this helps!! 🥰🥰

But seriously, this whole post is about making assumptions about a community you don’t understand, insisting they don’t face the same stigma as poor you, and asserting that their needs are understood and get met WHEN THAT’S DEMONSTRABLY NOT THE CASE

There’s this whole brilliantly articulated post about why this sort of rhetoric is untrue and it harms another community and you’ve gone and doubled down.

It even told you how you could get the same exact point across instead. But you ignored that so you could insist that no actually, you deserve to put this other group down because your suffering is so so special and the only way you can make that point is by emphasizing how nobody else would experience such poor treatment as you (the most stigmatized person in the world)

All you had to do was not claim that nobody would ever do this to wheelchair users when yes they fucking would. “The same people who think I need to toughen up” think wheelchair users need to toughen up and stop being dependent on the chair too. The people who “see anything a normal person could abuse as a privilege” see a chair as something a “normal” person could abuse to get special treatment or avoid having to walk if they wanted to be lazy. There’s stigma around beginning to use mobility aids you need because it’s “giving up” (a moral failing), because “why does everyone suddenly have chronic illness/need mobility aids” (which disregarding the usual, they were hidden away/died before, might have something to do with the mass disabling event that started a few years ago and is still happening. But say that and you literally start getting death threats from the covid deniers, A WHOLE VERY PROMINENT TYPE OF PERSON WHO DENIES OUR EXPERIENCE AND OPENLY CLAIMS PHYSICALLY DISABLED PEOPLE ARE WEAK AND DESERVE TO DIE). People who consume this rhetoric without realizing it think all the “newer” cardiac/mobility/neurological/respiratory issues are over diagnosed. They think we’re looking for the easy way out, we don’t really need mobility aids/treatment, we’re letting ourselves depend upon these devices. That’s stigma baby. Our shit’s made unavailable too (sometimes we actually do die because of it). We’re seen as “lucky” to get the privilege of a better parking spot, designated spots on the bus, etc. What, you thought you were the only one getting these sorts of comments??

Even PHYSICALLY DISABLED people are literally treated as drug seeking (sometimes having it directly noted in their charts) when they present at the hospital with a VISIBLE ailment and have the audacity to ask for treatment. This is not exclusive to pain meds. This includes asking for saline. These are literally life or death scenarios and they still aren’t taken seriously. This isn’t even getting into how invisible illnesses are treated. Your experiences aren’t unique, you’re not suffering in some unheard of way, and you aren’t more misunderstood. But what you are doing is actively dismissing the lived experiences of physically disabled people and contributing to making us more misunderstood

(and for the record, I have ADHD and I use a wheelchair/have chronic illness. The stigma is nowhere near comparable, but not in the direction you’re asserting. Stop insisting on your right to speak on an issue you know nothing about. I love neurodivergent spaces and acceptance movements, but not when they step on physically disabled people to get there, which y’all seem to love doing)

I just saw a video of someone saying something along the lines of “being without ADHD medication is like being without a wheelchair! If people were waiting this long for wheelchairs and having to crawl around their homes then something would be done immediately, so why can’t I get ADHD meds??”

And just, can people stop assuming that wheelchair users get handed everything on a plate. Because we absolutely are not.

People wait months and years for wheelchairs – yes, even non ambulatory people. That’s months and years of suffering, of crawling or being confined to bed or stuck in unsuitable wheelchairs.

Yes, medication shortages are serious and need addressing… but making comparisons to wheelchair users when not knowing a single thing about the processes of accessing a chair in various countries is not the way to go about it.

[bellwitchfaggot]

Here's another fucking take actually while im high you don't need any sort of diagnosis to be disabled and the constant nitpicking i see online about having to somehow prove you're "allowed" to call yourself disabled drives me CRAZY like yes having diagnoses means you're disabled but also just like. Suddenly like developing pain or mobility issues or neurological issues etc that cause accessibility issues for you but not being able to receive a diagnosis and being forced to figure out how to exist with your sudden onset symptoms by yourself doesn't mean you're somehow NOT disabled. The idea that it does specifically harms some of the people most in need of accessibility aids and treatment etc

Like I was having seizures for years before ever being able to see a physician about it and receive a diagnosis. I was a wheelchair user for a year before I ever received a diagnosis for a movement disorder. I have experienced severe chronic illness my whole life and am still having to wait another 4 months to finally meet with a rheumatologist. I wasn't NOT disabled while being bedbound for days at a time and housebound for weeks unable to walk simply because I hadn't yet received a diagnosis of an established medical issue.

[swamp-world]

Something that’s been bothering me lately is the take that “mental health is as important as physical health, and society doesn’t recognize that. you wouldn’t make your kid go to school if they were physically sick or in pain, and if you were physically sick, you could call in sick to work, so why can’t we do the same with mental health as well?”

and normalizing mental health, wellness, and caring for and accommodating mental illness is very important, yes, but i also feel like this very much discounts the absolute neglect that society has for physical health

because honestly? there are a lot of parents who will send their kids in to school if they’re sick. college students are expected to go to lectures often with anything short of puking your guts up all day, because in a lot of places, you’re paying good money for that and can’t waste it. in retail and customer service, you’re regularly called in to work while sick, not allowed time off or to go home if you are. many minimum wage workers don’t get paid sick days, don’t know how to get them, etc. i know that there are provincially legislated sick days but how do i claim it? no one explained that to me. if you’re sick for too many days you risk losing money or your job; your boss probably shames you for taking time off for physical appointments and physical illness, unless you have a good career position and a good (read: probably unionized) workplace and boss.

and permanent disability and chronic illness? forget it. good luck. illness and disability are supposed to be temporary things, according to abled people. pain can be handled with tylenol and advil, and if not, three days off work and a prescription painkiller until the issue is solved. a broken bone or bad joint is healed in six weeks or so. anything more than that and you’re considered lesser, faking, to be severely pitied or outright disdained for not being a model, healthy citizen, apparently. you’re either lazy, a faker, a freeloader, or not trying hard enough.

i think that a lot of younger mental health advocates seem to think that the worlds of mental health activism and physical health activism are completely divorced. when i was learning about mental health advocacy, those were comparisons that i accepted without question: “you wouldn’t be asked why you weren’t coming to work with the flu, but you’re shamed if you don’t come to work because of severe depression or a psychotic episode”. but that’s often not the reality. “you wouldn’t deny someone mobility aids like a wheelchair or cane or walker, so why would you deny them pyschological/psychiatric aids like medication and therapy?”

in the beginning, a lot of physically abled mental health advocates seem to be under the impression that physical disability activists have created a strong and solid framework for activism, that they’ve been allowed to do so and that legislation and stigmas around disability and physical health have been erased. and young mental health advocates believe that they’re working with that framework, that they believe already exists, when it often doesn’t. they’ve been told that mental health is like physical health and physical disability, but the only reason people don’t treat it as such is because it’s invisible.

but what about chronic pain? what about early stage cancer? what about PCOS and endo and chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia and COPD?

these often aren’t more respected by people just because they’re physical illnesses. i’d actually hazard to say that a lot of people right now have a better understanding and greater sympathy to common mental illnesses and conditions (anxiety, depression) than they do to a lot of invisible physical illnesses and disabilities.

this isn’t to say that mental health advocacy is bad, or that it’s stealing resources or thunder from physical health advocacy. this isn’t to say that there isn’t still stigma surrounding mental health, particularly conditions that people perceive as being dangerous (psychosis, schizophrenia, personality disorders). this isn’t to say that mental health advocacy and physical health advocacy don’t have distinct needs and aims that can’t be lumped together all of the time.

this is to say that a lot of younger people who consider themselves to be advocates or activists for mental health should have a better understanding of the situation for people with physical illnesses and disabilities before comparing mental health struggles to the perceived successes of disability activists, when legislators and capitalism are more than happy to ignore the needs of physically disabled people as well as people with mental illnesses.

edit: and this isn’t even to start talking about psychosomatic conditions, which perfectly walks the line between physical and mental ableism!

[ethicsgirls]

‘There is no health without mental health’: an interview with Dr Naomi Newman-Beinart, PHD, Nutritionist (BSc) & Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) (PhD)

Dr Naomi Newman-Beinart, Member of the CThA & Division of Health Psychology, BPS

Interview by Julia Nelson

Having access to educational information online is a real gift, but with all that’s out there, it’s always good to pick the brain of an expert to avoid getting lost in content. We had the pleasure of chatting to Dr Naomi Newman-Beinart on how to look after ourselves age 40+. Someone had to!

What is the secret to good health? 

In my opinion, it's all about mindset. I always say that there is no health without mental health (it's true!). Funnily enough, I am trying to get Instagram going (it's not as easy as it sounds!) and my post yesterday was all about this, I was saying that it's obviously a brilliant idea to try and eat a healthy and varied diet (and I am super excited that new research shows that eating your 5 a day specifically 3 veg and 3 fruit - means you're more likely to live longer and less likely to have chronic illnesses as you get older). BUT I always try and focus on how I feel when I get up each day. Do you wake up feeling positive and energised? Or wake up dreading your day? Or wake up somewhere in the middle..... 

No-one is expected to feel amazing 100% of the time. But it’s really important to do some things for YOU and to make sure that you aren’t struggling more than is necessary with daily stresses.

These are a few things I try to help feel better at the start of each day:

Stay in touch with people.

Increase movement and exercise.

Focus on the here and now.

Be kind to yourself and others.

Learn something new.

This advice is even more important given the global events of the past 18 months I would say. 

How should women age 40+ take care of their health and wellbeing? 

I think that it is really important that women are given more information about their hormonal health from the age of 40. The NHS usually do a health review for over 40's health for men and women, but this doesn’t cover hormonal changes or changes in bone density that women start to experience by this point in life. I think that as long as women are aware of hormonal changes in peri-menopause and what symptoms to look out for, and consider the fact that if they haven't already, it's time to get back into exercise - even walking, and trying to eat healthily most of the time, not always - reducing booze but still having fun, and considering any genetic illnesses that might rear their ugly heads at some point (e.g. osteoporosis - it may be time to start taking Vitamin D and think about calcium and collagen containing foods etc)

Do supplements work and do you recommend taking multivitamins every day? 

I am a fan of trying to get everything you can from food, but I believe that as you get older you may struggle with a less effective digestive system and you may have more 'issues' that supplements could help with. For example, I take borage oil for hormonal health and I find it really effective, but I didn't need it when I was 25. I personally take a multivitamin most days, as I like to get my B vitamins and minerals, but I always say that it's important to get a decent quality multivitamin and not buy the cheap ones that are using poor quality ingredients and lots of fillers. 

Should your blood type determine what sort of food you should be eating? i.e pescatarian diet 

I tend to make my recommendations based on science when research is available, and research into blood type diets does not show that it works as such. BUT saying that, the diets recommended by blood type are generally better than most diets, so most people should feel an improvement when they try a blood type diet. I do have a few patients who swear that the blood type diet has worked for them, and if you find a healthy and workable diet that suits you, than go for it. But don't try and follow a diet that you feel you should be following if you feel bad on it or it's making you mentally struggle. 

If you have a chronic health condition like osteoarthritis or Hashimoto thyroiditis for example should you tailor your diet accordingly and take specific supplements? 

Yes, absolutely. You don't have to make massive changes if you already eat a good diet (e.g a Mediterranean type diet), so to aid joint health I would suggest thinking about Omega 3 and turmeric (for example) in your diet and also think about foods that cause your joint pain to flare up, and avoid those where possible. A lot of people find that tomatoes and potatoes (to name a few) cause arthritis symptoms to flare up and avoiding them can reduce pain and improve mobility. I love marine collagen powder (I take Correxiko's Marine Collagen powder every day!) to help improve my general health. I love that collagen research is very well carried out and shows great results for osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, which makes sense, as collagen plays a huge role in the health of all of our organs and joints and bones. 

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) - So there is some good research showing that people with thyroid issues may be deficient in certain nutrients and Vitamin D, selenium, zinc, iron and B12 are a few of them. In fact, low Vitamin D levels have been associated with worse symptoms for people with HT. I would suggest eating a varied and healthy diet (as I tell everyone!) but even more so in the case of people who are diagnosed when they are young (under 50). The longer you can go with symptoms that don't affect your daily life, the better! And eating a healthy diet has been shown time and time again to reduce the likelihood of various chronic illnesses, which you really want to reduce the risk of! Again, like with any diagnosed condition, find out what works best for you and what foods might worsen your symptoms so you know what to avoid. 

Obviously if anyone is on medication, always check with your healthcare professional before taking supplements as they may interfere with your meds or not be suitable to take with your condition. 

How can you get tested for food intolerances / allergies?

Yes, you can ask your GP, or you can go privately, to have allergy tests. With regards to food intolerances, I don't feel that there are any very effective tests, as you are testing something quite different than when you are testing for food allergies. I tend to suggest working together with a nutritionist, or dietitian��to organise an avoidance diet to help you figure out what foods lead to negative symptoms of food intolerance. 

Should women aged 40 and over have regular general health checks and who does these? Can you recommend where to go for a general health check? 

Yes! I think that it is really important to keep on top of your health and to talk to your GP if you have any issues. Breast checks are very important, as are bone density scans, full blood count (including fasting glucose) and blood pressure. Pay attention to any urinary tract infections as you'll want to nip these in the bud asap to reduce the risk of kidney infection or even sepsis - these are much more common as you hit the peri-menopausal stage (age 42-48 or so). 

You can pay privately to have many more tests done and that is your decision if you are able to, but as long as you keep on top of your diet and exercise and the checks mentioned here, your GP should be able to help you with any health issues that crop up. 

How would you recommend prioritising your health and wellbeing? 

I am a big ambassador for kindness. I believe that if you are kind to others then it comes back to you in terms of mental health. And that brings me back to suggesting that people focus on their mental health as a priority. It's also important to consider that research has found that people who eat more unhealthy foods are more likely to report moderate to severe psychological distress - so if you are able to try and eat healthily, one meal at a time, I would hope that you would start to feel better emotionally and then be more likely to make good decisions about exercise. That is how we build healthy habits :). I am a chartered psychologist specialising in health psychology and I find this works so well with my nutrition degree.

Nowadays there’s such a strong focus on living a healthy life, and it can be daunting and to be honest, a little bit scary…..

Don’t stress. Just take one day at a time and think about one healthy choice at a time. This can be a useful way to think about diet, exercise and emotional health.

We promote ethical lifestyle brands and green living, can you tell us what ethical lifestyle brands you like and use? 

I have used so many over the years and good ethics is VERY important to me when it comes to brands that I use. I love Correxiko, as mentioned earlier. I also LOVE Uralix as I think that they have a wonderful outlook and the owner really wants to help women with urinary tract infections (which are so awful!) and this is 100% why she invented the product. I love Higher Nature products - I am currently using their 'relax kids' powder at bed every night (for me!), but all of their products are fab. And I love Greenspring matcha tea powder as I love and need the theanine that you get naturally from matcha tea. Ooooooh I also love medicinal mushrooms and Hifas da Terra are a wonderful and highly ethical company that do fantastic mushroom research to help people with ailments that are not necessarily being helped enough by medications. 

How can women feel confident and positive about their health? 

Don't make changes for anyone else, make them for yourself. You don't have to calorie count and be a size 8-10 to feel great. As long as you are doing your best to live a healthy life, you don't have to be perfect everyday! Don't deny yourself when you want a glass of wine or a treat and don't put everyone else first, you have to come first too. Try and focus on the here and now and what you can do right now that will make you happy and as you act positively, it will help you build healthy habits (that's the psychologist in me talking.....). 

You can follow Naomi on Instagram here: www.instagram.com/drnaomib/

[jumpseatmonalisa]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of disability lately...

Is it a label one assigns to themselves? Or is it a label that is thrust upon them by a diagnosis, or birth, or society? Can you be disabled but choose not to call yourself a part of that community? Do I want to be part of that community? No, who would want to be disabled? But maybe also…yes? But why? What benefit would I gain in calling myself disabled? Do I deserve it?

I relate and understand so many of the struggles that the disabled community faces and have experienced many of those struggles myself, but no one who didn’t know me would ever be able to tell that anything is wrong with me just to look at me.

I have OCD, anxiety, and depression. I also have a chronic illness (IBS), as well as chronic (almost constant) pain from arthritis in my lower back. Yes, in my thirties, I have been diagnosed with arthritis.

To see it all written down on paper, I certainly qualify – with my mental illness alone. OCD is listed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But with medication and therapy, my good mental health days are starting to outweigh my bad, my chronic illness is mostly kept in check by medication with just the occasional flare up, and my pain is manageable most of the time, and I don’t currently use a mobility aid, though I may need to someday. Sometimes these things don’t feel like disabilities at all. But then there are days when they are near debilitating.

Am I only disabled in those moments when I’m in so much pain that I can’t stand or walk for more than a couple of minutes at a time; when I’m so tortured by my multiple mental illnesses that I can’t get out of bed? Is someone only disabled when, even with all accommodations and resources available to them, still can’t function “normally” in general society?

There are times when I can totally function like a neurotypical, able-bodied person. But there are times when I can’t, and in those moments, I so badly want to have to some explanation – some label, or name for it – as to why I can’t do as much as “normal” people can. Even on my good days, sometimes there are ways that I can’t function like a “normal person.”

What are all of these words for? I don’t know, I just had to get them out. Anyone relate? Or have advice? Or just wanna say hi? Or tell me I’m an ableist idiot? Lay it on me.

[buckmepapi]

This !!

It took me years to get accepted onto PIP (disability payments in the UK) then in the middle of the pandemic they took it away from me because my review must have shown that I had improved or didn’t need help anymore, when it was clearly not the case lmao

I was still unemployed due to illness, my mental health had got worse, my chronic pain had got worse, I started to lose my hearing and had to get aids, I got diagnosed with 2 life long conditions, got new medications etc etc so they clearly disregarded everything I told them in my review because stripping me of my benefits didn’t help my situation at all.

These benefits places do not care for us. Yes there are people that abuse the system, whatever. I have actually spoken to people that have worked for PIP in the past and left due to how it affected their mental health, the call centres are actually paid a bonus / commission for every person they successfully get off of disability benefits, so all they care about is stopping your money.

It’s then the case managers that work for the government that you usually get sent to, so when I spent 3 months (yes it took me that long to write and gather all my evidence myself bc disabled lol) writing these documents and eventually sent them, I got my money back that fortnight, with back payments from the missed 3 months and other back payments because they had reportedly put me in the incorrect group for 2 years and told me I should have been paid for my mobility too lol

Anyway my point is, they speak to you like shit, they humiliate you and demean you, they outright lie on reports. You would not believe some of the shit the assessment team said about me in my report — I had to demand a transcript of the telephone conversation under the freedom of information act and when I saw it I actually wanted to kms because of the stress and the way somebody could say I was lying about conditions. I could write a whole essay on some of the shit they said — like deadass fucking said I don’t have epilepsy I’m like excuse me on what fucking basis ???? I had to get them 20+ year old documentation that showed when I was diagnosed and amongst other shit that showed I was in a coma, and a doctors report listing all my conditions and lay £30 for that shit and all sorts because why???? Jesus fucking Christ

All this being said , it left me suicidal, for years I didn’t get pip but continued to be disabled and continued to not be able to function and watch my health deteriorate , but pip denying me of my rights made me feel like I was an imposter like my conditions weren’t that bad because a team of “professionals” told me so — pip are paid to strip people of benefits, they do not care. Appeal always appeal, reach out to your local disability schemes and ask someone to help you, go to citizens advice bureau, go to the job centre and ask for a disability ambassador.

I know there are people that can’t do this at all and I was one of them for a long time. I don’t think I could ever bring myself to do it again if it was taken away from me again bc it took everything out of me for MONTHS and the thought of it happening again makes me want to cry and hurt myself fr

Honestly if anyone wants to fucking see the shit we have to put up with , ask me and I’ll show you the damn report Lmao

They even said bc I lived up a set of stairs I wasn’t disabled - I mean ??? I was living in assisted housing because I escaped domestic violence so it was either you accept this flat now as your only option or you continue to be beaten within an inch of your life at home till we find something else. I mean which would you fucking take? I still struggled getting up and down those steps and had fallen up them many times when my legs gave way but ok then pip

And a part of the report said the accidents that I had were not that bad because I didn’t go to the hospital. — like hello have you not read or paid attention to my whole assessment ? I’m agoraphobic I can’t leave my damn fucking house for days to weeks at a time , I had to show their stupid asses some pretty gnarly photos of my weekly accidents to prove my point , like , I have cut off the end of my toe, I’ve snapped my finger back, I’ve imbedded a knife in my finger, I’ve burned my arm chest and legs, I’ve fallen and gotten a concussion and had black bruises all over my body and still didn’t go hospital so when I sent them pictures of that stuff they shut up real quick lmao

You have to speak to them like they’re thick as shit, because they are so I took great joy in mansplaining to them lmao

Many I could literally talk about this shit for hours bc at the end of it I was so proud of myself for the full report I wrote and how I ripped them to shreds and humiliated them back lol

I have to laugh (or I’ll cry) when abled people are like “Wait, disability benefits are that low???? How does the government expect people to survive?” They don’t. They don’t expect us to survive. They want us to die. I am incredibly lucky and privileged enough that I can live with my parents without working. But if I couldn’t, I’d die. I cannot work full time and the application process for the pitiful amount of disability that I could get is incredibly difficult and humiliating. Abled people, if you want to be allies, please don’t chase after the whole “differently abled” or “abled in other ways” bullshit. We are disabled and the government wants us to die for it. Please focus your energy and activism there.

[hislittleflower-throughconcrete]

Chronic Illness Emoji Tag

 🤔 What are the chronic illnesses you have? Ehlers-danlos syndrome, hypermobility type (hEDS), Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Mast Cell Activation, Syndrome (MCAS) 😴 Does your illness affect your sleep? How? Chronic pain makes finding a comfortable sleeping position difficult, and I wake up frequently 🤯 What is one thing you wish people knew about your illness? That it severely impacts my life and ability to participate in everyday activities, even though it doesn’t look like there is anything wrong. I am always in pain. And that I’m not lazy! I have horrible fatigue that limits how much I can do in a day. 🙄 Describe the common misconceptions people have about your illness. That I can’t have hEDS because I’ve never had a dislocation, my skin doesn’t stretch that far, etc. People have a caricature of EDS in their heads with the most extreme case in mind, and I'm not like that. But I still have EDS!  😂 Describe a funny moment you experienced related to your illness. I can’t think of any off the top of my head! 😤 What is something that people say about your illness that irritates you? I guess when people say “oh my friend has that and she is fine/doesn’t have that issue!” or when people suggest exercise as a treatment/cure. Yes, exercise helps, but it is extremely difficult for me and therefore acting like it’s my fault that I’m in pain because I “didn’t exercise enough” is unhelpful and blaming me for my illness and pain.  👻 Is your illness visible or invisible? How does that affect you? Invisible. I feel that this means I have to prove, especially to doctors, how much pain I am in and how much I am impaired by my illness. 💊 What kind of medications do you need to take to manage your condition and its effects? I take prescription pain medicine (non-opioid) to manage my pain, a medication to elevate my blood pressure and a beta blocker for POTS, capsules literally filled with salt to elevate my blood pressure further, and medicine for depression/anxiety (this medicine also helps my nerve pain). 💉 What procedures have you undergone to manage/treat your condition? I have undergone trigger point injections, facet joint injections, and many rounds of dry-needling in my back and neck. I have also had  📉 Is your illness progressive? Yes and no. It isn’t progressive in the sense that my joints/ligaments will become much looser, or that I will progress to becoming bedridden or a shorten life expectancy. But my pain will get worse with age because everyone’s joints get worse with age and heal more slowly - mine will just be taken to a different level. ♿️ Do you use mobility aids? If so, what kinds? I currently don’t, and that is kind of a problem. I end up staying at home most of the time because I don’t have the energy/desire when I���m in pain to go out and do things, but with a mobility aid like a scooter/power chair, I could do so much more! But I’m self-conscious about how I will appear to others, and no one in my life sees the need for something that “extreme,” so I’m still daydreaming of it! 🧠 How does your illness affect your mental health? Yep. Depression. 👨‍⚕️ What doctors do you have to see? Rheumatologist, Cardiologist, Allergist/Immunologist, physical therapist (not a doc but whatevs) 🌿 What natural/non-pharmeceutical techniques do you use to manage your condition, if any? I use CBD oil to manage pain and I love it. I also use physical manipulation techniques such as a lacrosse ball/”theracane” to work out the muscle knots in my back. I also have kinesiology tape to support  🍽 Does your illness affect your eating or digestion? It can, but that’s not my primary issue. My MCAS and POTS can cause my body to just reject food at random, causing nausea and digestive issues. 🏅 What is an achievement related to your illness that you are proud of? Graduating from college, holding two jobs, and getting a child life practicum with this severe limitation. I am very proud of that. 🏥 Have you been hospitalized as a result of your illness? Not because of these three illnesses, no.  🛏 What are your favorite things to do when stuck in bed? Watch youtube usually, or netflix 🗄 What are your bedside table essentials? Meds, applesauce (which I take my meds with), “theracane” thing, water bottle(s), CBD oil, snacks, and tissues 😷 Is your condition autoimmune? Does it cause compromised immunity? Neither of those are an issue for me, but I am getting tested for autoimmune conditions to see if I have those on top of everything 🤕 Does your illness result in pain or injuries? How? Chronic joint and muscle pain - joint pain from joints being in the wrong place and jerking around in their sockets in ways they shouldn’t, and muscle pain from spasms due to muscles struggling to compensate for the ligament’s lack of function.  👎 What is your least favorite part of having your condition? The pain and how I miss out on things due to pain/fatigue 👍 What is your favorite part of having your condition? That it gives me an opportunity to offer up my suffering to God and unite my suffering to Christ’s on the cross 💸 Does your insurance cover the treatments you need? Parts of it, not completely. Most pain management treatments are completely out of pocket. ⚖️ If you could change having this illness, would you? Yes and no. I wish I wasn’t so limited by it, but I wouldn’t trade my ability to offer my sufferings up for anything - they have a power beyond what I will ever know on this earth.

I tag @chronically-sparrow and @chronicallyjessica ! Answer any and all questions you are comfortable with.

[shelbies-sick]

Alright all you ablist fucks, listen up. I am suffering from the same disease in all of these photos. I am equally as sick in each, single, fucking one. Much like the average person has good days and bad, so do I; the fucking difference is my bad days get me hospitalized. A good day does not mean my pain and suffering are not real. My illness is invisible, not imaginary, and I don't need anybody to fucking validate that for me. If you see me in my wheelchair I don't owe you an explanation of why the fuck I'm in it. I do not owe you an explanation of my symptoms, or disease process, I dont owe you an explanation of why I have a job if "I'm sooo disabled and all" If you ask me if I'm "still passing out and stuff" I swear I'm going to dislocate my arm and spin around and slap you across the fucking face with it. My nervous system doesn't work, it's a chronic illness, IT WILL LITERALLY NEVER FUCKING GO AWAY, SO YES I AM STILL "PASSING OUT AND STUFF" If you tell me anything along the lines of "I wish I was that flexible" or "I wish my skin was that soft" I hope hot lava pours out of your asshole while giant, hairy ass spiders crawl around your body. Yeah Susan the "soft skin" and party tricks I can do with my joints are totally worth the immense pain, surgical complications, fatigue, bruising, neurological and cardiac issues that come along with it. You should be jealous! So here's some tips and tricks to not make a complete fucking douche bag of yourself when interacting with those like me STOP FUCKING ASKING US WHY WE ARE USING A MOBILITY AID STOP FUCKING ASKING US IF WE ARE HAVING THIS OR THAT SYMPTOM OF OUR CHRONIC ILLNESSES STOP PRETENDING LIKE SAID ILLNESSES DONT EXIST ON OUR GOOD DAYS, THEY ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN, LET US ENJOY THEM STOP TELLING US TO DO YOGA, EAT KALE, CHANGE OUR DIET, MEDITATE, SHOVE ESSENTIAL OILS UP OUR ASS, BATHE IN GREEN TEA AND COCONUT OIL, OR FUCKING ANYTHING ELSE. I DONT CARE IF YOUR BROTHER'S FRIEND'S UNCLE'S WIFE'S NIECE FELT BETTER AFTER DOING SOME HIPPY DIPPY SHIT. TRUST US WE'VE TRIED EM ALL. STOP PATRONIZING US. I AM NOT SOME STUPID INSPIRATIONAL VIDEO ON YOUR FACEBOOK FEED YOU SHARE. I'M A HUMAN BEING AND I HURT ALL OVER AND I HAD NO SAY IN THE MATTER. STOP TELLING US WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR ATTITUDES TO FEEL BETTER. I AM BITTER BECAUSE I'VE HAD A HEADACHE FOR FIVE YEARS STRAIGHT. but most of all STOP ACTING LIKE GIVING US ANY SORT OF ACCOMMODATION IS UNFAIR AND PUTS US AHEAD. IT DOESN'T, ITS SO WE CAN ATTEMPT TO BE AT THE SAME LEVEL AS YOU. That is all, this has been an announcement from your local sick girl, who is even more sick of everyone's bullshit. Thank you and goodnight.

[cosplayernation]

10 Tips for the Chronically Ill Cosplayer

Part I of II | Let's Get Physical

Chronic Cosplay

    There's a reason I go by Chronic Cosplay. I'm chronically ill and I'm absolutely crazy - as in, actually mentally ill. Don't look at me like that, I can get you the paperwork. This is not a drill. This is, however, an article that's both close to my heart and absolutely imperitive for your survival. I write about it on my blog, I talk about it in interviews, I answer questions from friends and fans alike - how to cosplay with a chronic illness (or a laundry list of them). This how to survive a convention without sacrificing your health - phyical or mental. It is, in fact, possible.

    I learned how to do it the hard way. I spent entire Saturdays in hotel rooms in too much pain and far too tired to get anything done. I've passed out at conventions. I've collapsed and laid on concrete for hours, a circle of eleven people I didn't know sitting around me to keep me safe and cracking jokes to keep my spirits up. As much as the experience restored a significant amount of faith in humanity, it still entailed me laying on concrete for two or three hours in too much pain to do any more than crack a smile. I think you get the point. We'll cover some highlights from my extensive background of con crazy in Part II. For now, let's focus on ten of the most important lessons I've learned in my five years as a cosplayer with physical disabilities.

1. Make A Realistic Schedule

    Oh, sure, you would love to go to the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure group shoot at 10am, book it to the lolita fashion panel at 11:15, meet your friends for lunch at noon across the building, change your cosplay, get to the [insert sports anime here] group photoshoot at 12:45, do another cosplay change at 1:54, and make it to your private shoot as Miku Hatsune for 2:10. It sounds like a dream, everything scheduled right in a neat line so you can get everything done. Let me break this down for you right now, you will get one of these things done and I can't tell you which one it is. I can tell you that you're going to have a surprise fainting spell before noon and you're going to spend the rest of the day in your hotel upset and in agony. Space your events wisely. Cross reference room numbers and the convention center map. I guarantee there will be two [insert sports anime here] group shoots a day, there will be four JJBA group shoots every three hours, your friends won't mind picking a closer restaurant, and you'll get to sit down at the panel. See how that works? See how you are not dead? Let's keep it that way.

2. Keep Your Cosplay Line Up Simple

    Look, I get it. You have four sports anime, two Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure per day, and you just made the perfect prop for your private shoot. I'm going to stop you right there. You cannot fit all of those in one day. You probably can't fit them all into one weekend. I brought nine cosplays to my third convention. I wore two. I wore two and I was still to exhausted to make a group shoot I planned. As much as you love every cosplay in your closet, please love yourself long enough to realize you will never have the energy to bring every single one of them. Pick your favorites, pick the ones with the group shoots you absolutely cannot miss. Pick a super comfy back up cosplay for when you realize you still brought way too many and you're about to pass out. At least pass out in a kigurumi or a swimsuit. Please don't pass out in the most complicated armored cosplay this world has ever seen. Do not impale yourself on your own EVA foam breastplate. Yes, it may be the sickest photo op all weekend, but you'll end up being the sickest con goer and not in a good way.

3. Swallow Your Pride

    You can pretend you're not ill all morning but halfway through that four hour pre-reg when you're dehydrated; dizzy; and your knees give out, you're going to wish you'd asked your doctor for that note about needing accomodation because you are not able to stand in four hour lines. See what I'm getting at here? Yeah. Just get the note. Thank me later.

4. Use Your Mobility Aid (if you have one)

     This could easily qualify for swallowing your pride. A lot of these will, I'm going to be honest with you. I know we, as folks with chronic illnesses, can feel a sense of shame or embarrassment for relying on mobility aids. I know this is especially hard when you're just starting to use mobility aids. There's a learning curve to them, it's not just you. But the fact of the matter is that your doctor would not sign off for you to get a mobility aid if you didn't need it. Don't jeopardize your health or ruin all your Saturday plans because you wanted to cartwheel through the halls on Friday in your Tai Li cosplay. If you want to set a mobility aid down or step out of one for a photo, fine. Do so wisely. Do so if you are capable of doing so. If you've paid $60 for a private photoshoot and you want to slide your cane or a crutch out of the way for a photo, have something to lean on. At least use your mobility aid for the rest of the weekend. If you're in a wheel chair or on a scooter, that does not take away from your cosplay no matter what anyone tells you or what you try to tell yourself. Between me; so many of my friends with mobility equipment; and Misa on Wheels, I promise there are plenty of people who believe in you. We believe in you and we don't want you to risk your health just because you don't think Princess Peach would rock a wheelchair. She totally would and so will you.

    Side note: When it comes to canes, props check does not always understand the concept that some cosplayers have canes for use as a mobility aid and not as a prop. When you consider the myriad of characters with walking sticks out there, Ciel Phantomhive and steampunk anything for example, it's understandable that they will occasionally stop you to try and give it a zip tie. In my experience, letting them know it's a cane used for medical purposes and not as a prop is quick and painless. While you should not expect any more hassle after a quick explanation, should any volunteer or staff member insist on giving you more trouble or trying to take your mobility equipment away, ask to speak to a higher up immediately. I wish I didn't have to tell you that props check will probably flag you down upon entering the convention center, it's better to give out a heads up for any newer cosplayers or cosplayers just starting to use mobility aids. Wheel chairs don't seem to raise questions, neither do crutches of any kind, I haven't used my walker to a convention but I would assume that wouldn't cause any questions either. To any case user, keep this in mind and don't be offended when a volunteer who has no idea who you're supposed to be cosplaying is only trying to play it safe.

5. Slow Down

    The one problem with convention schedules is how badly we all want to catch every single thing listed on one. The second you get your con schedule booklet, you start planning. You pull out your favorite pen and circling every single panel, event, and photoshoot you want to see or attend. We've been over this. Put the pen down. Let's fast forward to when you first step onto the con floor Friday morning. You're speed walking or speed wheeling your way down hallways, through exhibit halls, from friend to friend to that cosplayer you need to race after and flag down for a photo. There's so much space to cover and so little time in your three day weekend of nerdy revelry. Re-read that sentence. Three days is plenty of time. It's more than enough time. Save the power walking for your neighborhood PTA members and take it easy. Be the tortoise to your mind-racing idealistic hare imagination. Go slow. You're at this convention to have fun and relax. It's a vacation from normalcy, school, work, and the fifteen doctors appointments you have this month. If you rush your way through pre-reg, getting ready Friday morning, and rush from the hotel to the con center to keep up your speed oni level of exertion, take a guess on how much energy you're going to have for Saturday and Sunday. None. You will have no energy. You power walk your way to exhaustion and the rest of your weekend lay in shambles at your feet. Take a tip from Sub Zero and chill out. You'll get everywhere in your own time and still live to see tomorrow.

 6. Carry A List

Scratch that, carry several lists. Type these lists into your phone's memo section, have a hard copy on paper in your wallet, have a post-it tab for the pages in your date book; notebook; or sketchbook. Make sure that if anything happens, your lists are easily accessible and easy to read. List any medications you take along with the dosage, list when you last took your medication, write a list of instructions of what to do or what not to do if a health emergency occurs. Whether it's fainting; too low or too high blood sugar; a migraines; seizures; or the myriad of other magical things that could go wrong, write out the protocol for how to handle it. Hopefully it won't come up, but let's play it safe. Write down your blood type, too, if you know it. Write down any medications you have an allergy to, write down foods you have an allergy to, write down the numbers for your doctors. The con health center can only do so much and nobody in there is a psychic. Make sure they have the right information to help you if things go south.

7. Speak Up!

    There's a pretty big chance that your friend group isn't made up entirely of people with chronic illnesses.   There's a pretty big chance these friends don't live with someone who has one or more chronic illnesses. There's a pretty big chance these friends are all about that PTA mom power walk life and they're all about standing in the middle of a hallway for four hours to debate about whether or not the premise of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds makes sense or not. First of all, the premise totally makes sense and I will defend it with my very life. Second of all, your able bodied friends are not psychic nor are they going to think about whether or not you can stand for that long or walk that quickly if you don't say something.

    What I'm trying to get at here is that you need to say something! "Guys, can find somewhere to sit down, please?" If they say no, they're not very good friends and you don't need that nonsense in your life. "Hey! Can we slow down a little? I can't walk this fast." If they say no, they are not very good friends and you don't need that in your life. Are you in the pre-reg line with your doctor's note waiting for a staff member to miraculously walk by until their disability radar goes off so you can ask about a more accomodating line? Nobody in the con staff has a disability radar and they aren't going to notice the piece of paper in your hand. Walk, limp, or wheel your way to the front of a pre-reg line and ask where to find the accomodating reg table. Someone will tell you and get you set up to avoid a lot of suffering.

    If you have trouble speaking up for any of these things, keep a very loud and very confident friend with you. Give your very loud and very confident friend the "please help me with your loudness" look and stutter out a few key words such as "chairs," "too fast," or "special needs line." Don't thank me on this one, thank you very loud and very confident friend. Then thank your very loud and very confident friend for me.

8. Set Phone Reminders

    Do you have any medication you need to take throughout the day? Probably. Are you going to remember when you took them with all the excitement going on? Probably not. Does your phone have a memo section, an alarm app, and a timer? Unless you're about that ironically oldschool Nokia brick life, your phone has all three. Type out the time in the memo section whenever you take your medication. Leave the memo app open and hit your "check all running apps" button for a quick look whenever you need to double check how much time you have before your next dose. You can also set an alarm for every dose you need to take that day. If you'll be in a panel, set your alarm to vibrate. Try using the timer on your phone instead of the alarm if you don't always take your medication at the exact same time every day. I can tell you that for me, it always depends on when I wake up.

    If you're accidentally running late on medication or you ignored number 5 and it's all hitting you harder than a super saiyan, take a tip from Celty and communicate by typing it out. Not only is this completely appropriate given your current surroundings, but it's something I've used in my day to day life. I've texted someone right next to me "yo, i need to take meds, can we sit for a sec?" Convention centers can be louder than a jet plane, but you can still bet your bottom dollar everyone there is still going to check their phone. I've even typed "can't speak, pain," and made a very weak attempt at handing my phone to a family member from bed when I hadn't the strength to sit up. You know what happened in those situations? My friend helped me to a chair and got me some water. My folks picked up the phone, nodded, made some tea, gave me my morning meds, popped in a Yu Yu Hakusho DVD, and told me to rest for the day or text them if I needed anything. Durarara! is surprisingly good at offering some choice life lessons when you least expect it.

9. HYDRATE. EAT.

If I honestly need to explain to you why dehydration and extremely low blood sugar are things you should avoid, I just don't know what to tell you. However, if it's a matter of "I can't really chew solid foods" or "my stomach isn't cooperating" or "my meds cause really bad nausea and I don't know what to do," then I have a few ideas. One happens to be pedialyte. It's a god send for keeping hydrated when everything seems a lot more like the ending of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club's first season. It's also fantastic for kicking con plague in the face. I recommend it over sports drinks because Pedialyte, and it's generic knock offs, are made with simple sugars that are easier for the body to break down than the complex sugars found in your Powerades, Gatorades, and Vitamin Waters. Ensure is great for when you can't do solid foods but need some kind of protein and sustenance, provided you have no dietary restrictions in terms of dairy. Naked and Odwalla both have great smoothie-esque drinks that are as ridiculously expensive as they are ridiculously delicious. At a convention, however, a $4 smoothie-esque beverage is worth not passing out from low blood sugar.

10. Stay Close or Call a Cab

Hotel costs are the most expensive part of most conventions provided we don't include all the things you shouldn't have bought in the dealer's room but still left the convention with anyway. Some classic methods for avoiding the high cost of hotels include the "Stuff Fifteen People into a Two Bed Hotel Room the Size of a Closet" and the equally fun "Let's Walk Fifteen Blocks Back and Forth Every Day in the Most Complicated Craft Foam Armor and Highest Heels We Own" tricks. The former involves sleeping on the floor, accidentally bringing home the wrong wig, and risking getting stepped on every second you spend in the building. The latter is something no one with a chronic illness should ever attempt when traveling by foot or chair. Even with a wheel chair or scooter, it's still traveling fifteen blocks and exerting more energy than you should. If you absolutely must stay in a hotel that isn't attached to the convention center, even if it's only two blocks away, do yourself a big favor. Save yourself and call a cab. Well, these days it's more common to call an Uber, so pick whichever works for you. Either way, you'll get to where you're going without using all your energy for the day or increasing you pain/fatigue levels.

    "But Chronic, won't it be expensive if I take a cab or an Uber back and forth three days in a row?" No, not really. If you've picked a hotel far enough from the convention center to require taking a cab or an Uber, you've likely saved enough money to cover some transportation for yourself. This also means the other people in your hotel room have saved money, which means you can all carpool via cab and/or Uber and split the cost between each other. For Otakon last year, a large group of friends and I chose to rent an apartment about an hour by foot from the convention center down in Baltimore. We used a regular cab company to get back and forth, a one way trip costing only $6. By using Air BnB to rent an apartment that fit eight people comfortably with a real bathroom and kitchen, we spent $45 dollars each on somewhere to sleep, then spent $36 on transportation for the weekend. Well, I spent about $36 on transportation given we didn't always carpool and I was the only person who relied entirely on cabs to my knowledge. My point here is that even if you have to sacrifice the convenience of a hotel adjacent to the convention you're attending, you don't need to sacrifice all your time and energy just to get to the convention.

 What I really want to drive home is that your illness does not have to define your convention experience provided you adequately prepare yourself and go at your own pace. I urge you to take these points into consideration. I spent four years assuring everyone I always collapsed at least once during a convention, it was completely normal, and not to think of it as a big deal. I don't want you to believe that's true. I don't want you to suffer because of your pride. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did. I don't want you to learn the hard way like I did. I made those stupid decisions so you don't have to make them. Please, take care of yourself. Take care of your friends. Be safe. Have fun.