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What to Pack in Your Hospital Bag
One of the hardest things about staying in a hospital is trying to get comfortable. It’s can be very difficult to adjust to an unfamiliar environment, and if your body is trying to recover or get well, the added stress never helps. Hospitals do try their best to provide everything you may need. When you first arrive to your room, you will probably find a bucket of toiletries, including a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, lotion, bar soap, and hand sanitizer. Hospitals can even provide towels, socks, and a gown. If, however, you are able to pack a bag in advance, it always makes things much easier and more comfortable. There…
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The Search for Healing
There is one thing that I never understood. If God has the power to heal me, why hasn’t He? God, you said that if I had faith so small as a mustard seed, I could move mountains. Surely, I have more faith than that! So why won’t you heal me? I can’t tell you how many times I pleaded with God to remove my sickness. How many times I begged Him to just take it all away, to at least let me find a medication that brought relief! So why wouldn’t He? When I first started developing Intracranial Hypertension, I was filled with nothing but anger and bitterness at what…
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Hospital Tips
The great fear and dislike of hospitals tend to all stem from “the unknown”. Going in, anxiety and stress can build up in not knowing what to expect. It can be very unsettling to be thrown out of your comfort zone. But that is where I would like to help. I too used to have a massive fear of hospitals. Heck, I was even afraid of a routine wellness visit. And don’t get me started on needles or medicine. If that isn’t enough, being raised “sheltered”, I was not used having any of my personal business out there. It was always more ladylike to keep matters to myself. But hospitals…
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In Sickness & In Health
Do you know the scenes in movies where the person is being rushed through the hospital, and their loved one arrives just in time to find them? This is the exact image of what I remember in between my neurologist visit and passing out in the wheelchair on the way to the ER. My husband was there right when I needed him most. I might have been half conscious from the pain, but I will never forget how much love and concern he showed me through those days in the hospital. His support in helping me breathe and cope with every increase of pressure was enough to make me think…
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Don’t Worry about Tomorrow
It was February of 2018 when I decided that I could no longer hold a job. I had to get my health under control. But I will be honest. I did not make this decision willingly. I loved my job. I had been there almost six years, and I had worked my way up to my dream position, complete with my own office. How could anyone expect me to just let go? My husband and I had been comfortable in our jobs. We had been renting an apartment for years. We finally had our first child. We were ready for the next big step of buying a house. I daydreamed…
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Calling In Sick
Let’s talk about work. What are you doing right now? Are you happy? Are you satisfied? Do you feel you’re doing what you were called to do in life? Could anything be different? July 2012 I remember the day I got hired for my job – a leasing agent for property management. I was walking on the levee when the phone call came in, and I became so excited that I started running. I was so thankful to finally have a real, full-time, decent paying job. I was considered fairly young for the job, but I made sure to prove myself till I had the respect of the owners themselves.…
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The Broken Body
Do you remember when your body broke? I do. Thursday, January 26, 2017. 9:30 am. It was the day I had my first child. It was the moment I had the epidural that went too far. Sure, that’s a common occurrence. Countless women experience it. The needle penetrates too far into the dura that surrounds the spinal cord and causes spinal fluid to leak out from around your brain. Excruciating headaches ensue. Sometimes the body heals itself before the new mother even notices. Other times, the skull crushing pain lingers for weeks or even months afterwards. The good news is doctors can fix this. All they have to do is…
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“But You Don’t Look Sick.”
Do I look sick to you? Odds are I don’t. But I am living with an invisible illness. I am living with chronic pain. Do you know what unusual mentality comes along with being chronically ill? Paranoia. “But you don’t look sick.” Is a phrase so commonly used among the sick that we begin to question it ourselves. What if it is all in my head? What if it’s really not so bad? What if I could hold a job right now? What if I really didn’t need to cancel plans today? Maybe I’m not that sick after all. How can I be if I don’t look it? I even…
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Postpartum Headaches & Backpain… Sound Familiar?
Had a baby and now experiencing symptoms you’ve never felt before? Believe me when I say there are a lot more women like you than you think! In January 2017, I gave birth to my first child. I had been healthy for 25 years prior. My pregnancy was uncomplicated and full term. My labor and delivery were brief and easy. But I didn’t know until four days later that there had been an accident with the epidural. While still in the hospital, I began experiencing headaches, something I had never dealt with much before. Upon arriving home, they were so excruciating, I couldn’t even think straight. My gynecologist instructed me…
