Salty Zebra

   Sometimes life isn't ideal. Let's face it, most of the time it isn't! So, we do what we need to, to make things work. In my "Making It Work" posts, I share life hacks and ideas that have helped me so that maybe, they can help someone else too. I hope you enjoy!   In past hospital stays, I had been given a puny, almost worthless little "kidney shaped emesis basin" when I was nauseous.   Needless to say, these don't do much to contain mess and are fiddly to try to hold when you're very sick. During my tenure at the hospital (several different ER visits and stays, including nearly 2 weeks in the neuro ICU) over the course of my three brain surgeries in 2023, I became acquainted with a much more practical, useful tool, the emesis bag. In  part 14  of The Whole Story of my Brain tumor and surgeries (really the story is ongoing, but this is the name of the series), I mentioned my use of " green bags " as well as a funny happenstance where...

  Sometimes life isn't ideal. Let's face it, most of the time it isn't! So, we do what we need to, to make things work. In my "Making It Work" posts, I share life hacks and ideas that have helped me so that, maybe, they can help someone else too. I hope you enjoy!  Today's culture would like to have you believe that there are supports and accessibility options aplenty all around us. Many people I've spoken with have the impression that if you're in a wheelchair you get to skip the line wherever you go - especially in Disney parks. People have seen allergy information on menus, so most think that allergy friendly food is offered at most restaurants. The bad news is that just isn't reality. Yes, there may be options available, but it isn't likely that anyone will offer them to you. Yes, you sometimes get to skip the line, but that's only if you know to ask. And no, most restaurants are not  allergy friendly, and those that are usually only ha...

   It's 5 o'clock - do you know what's for dinner? This was the question that plagued me day after day for years. I had shopped diligently and filled the fridge, pantry and freezer, but when it came time to fix something to eat I was stuck in analysis paralysis. Instead of embracing the opportunity to provide a healthy meal for my family to sit around the table together and eat, I was dreading the decision, and I often put it off for as long as possible. Then, inevitably, at the last minute I would want to make spaghetti or tacos, but the meat was still frozen. Too many times I caved into asking my husband to pick something up or having pizza delivered. Not only is this expensive, it wasn't the healthiest option either. So what was the turning point for me and my family? Meal planning.  If you've been following me for any length of time, you've probably picked up that I'm a planner by nature, so this fits right in with how God made me. In more recent years, ...

  When you have food allergies or intolerances, traveling can be really tricky! That's one of the reasons I love cruising, but even then, you encounter strange lands, like * Miami*  where you have to forage for food outside of the main dining room. When you have Celiac Disease, or you're even just intolerant to gluten, getting exposed while on vacation can put a rather unpleasant spin on your experience. Enter Find Me Gluten Free . This fabulous, crowd-sourced site and app are a great place to start when trying to hunt down that elusive gluten free meal in a new town, or even the one you live in!   The app is a really handy tool to include on your phone and can be found in your product's app store for free. I, however, typically like to do my searching ahead of time on the computer, but unfortunately the web version no longer includes a map for free, so I use the app for that part. I like to start by searching for everything and then begin to narrow it down from...

7:29am - Wake up and attempt to claw my way to consciousness, but failed 8:26am - 0.0/20 points Wake up and take my stability score. I check this each morning and it lets me know where my body is at and how I should pace my day. A 4/5 is pretty good! It is supposed to mean that I have been pacing well lately, and I have been. 8:35 - Actually get out of bed, Use the bathroom and brush my teeth. I used to brush my teeth after  breakfast in the morning, but since I've been wearing a retainer at night (the last seven years or so) I need to brush that and my teeth before I eat. 8:48 - 0.6/20 Fix coffee and breakfast then do my Bible study while I eat, or at least start it... 9:40 - 1.2/20 - Actually starting Bible study after being distracted 10:18 - 1.6/20 - Restarting my Bible study after being distracted (it's really hard to get things done with my husband around sometimes). Switched to the couch where I can sit with my back supported better now that I've finished eating. 11:...

I am an Amazon Associate and when you purchase something through the links in this post I will receive a small bonus. This does not change your price at all, it just helps support what I'm doing on the Salty Zebra Blog  For a long time my pain-relief options have been quite limited. For the most part I stick to over-the-counter options like Tylenol, Ibuprofen and Excedrin, but they have helped less and less over the years. Now I often feel like I'm taking them just so I've tried something . But over the last year, I've added an additional tool to my toolbox and I wanted to share it with you in case it could offer you some relief as well! The first time I heard about this was after my husband sustained a terrible broom hockey injury. He was playing with the kids' youth group and was so focused on moving the puck with his broom at high speeds that he didn't notice the wall directly in front of him. This caused the end of the broom to hit him right in the sternum. ...

This is not a how to post, I'm writing to let you know that you are not alone. One of the most common complaints you hear in the chronic illness community is over bad doctor appointments. Now, I'm not talking about ones where they give you a tough diagnosis, ironically we call these good appointments because we actually got somewhere we can work from. I'm talking about the appointments where your condition is misunderstood, your symptoms are brushed off, and you leave feeling hopeless and helpless. Those are bad doctor appointments and, sadly, I've had two of them recently.  The first one, a neuro PT appointment actually, was with one negative type of medical provider. This one thought they knew everything there was to know about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) . While at first this seems better than those tropy doctors that have to pull out their phone and Google it, in reality it can be much more dangerous. You see, this provider had seen a couple, meaning 2, patients wi...

    I don’t know about you, but inflammation is a very real aspect of my everyday life. For most people it’s more of an occasional concern, but I don’t know anyone that doesn’t experience it to some degree. Today I’m going to share some of my hacks for dealing with inflammation in hopes that it can benefit someone else as well. R.Ice.E   Rest. Ice. And Elevate. No one wants to hear it, but when inflammation is flaring this is your best option. God designed our bodies in miraculous ways to heal, but if we do not give them the chance to, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot as it were. When you rest, truly rest, your nervous system goes into Para-Sympathetic mode. This is where your body rests and digests. In case you didn’t catch that, you can’t digest well if you don’t rest! This is where your detoxifying system cleans out your organs, where your brain is cleared and reset for the next thing. Have you ever been told you need to turn your computer or your phone off and...

   I get asked this question a lot, and until recently I didn't know how to answer. Sometimes I'll say, "I used to be a... (home-maker, homeschool mom, yoga instructor, travel agent)." Sometimes I'll say, "I'm just trying to take care of myself." None of it really feels satisfying though, and I typically walk away feeling like I did myself an injustice.   There's so much more to me than what I "do." It certainly doesn't define who I am, especially in this season of my life. In our culture, we seem to be defined by our jobs. My daughter is a flight attendant. My son is a mechanic. It's not who  they are, but it's how I talk about them even. I guess it's easier to put people into a box to communicate about them.    So what do I do for a living? I am blessed to have a husband with a job that abundantly provides for us financially. I would have liked to work a side-hustle as a travel agent to facilitate more travel for mysel...