Salty Zebra

      I didn't plan to write a post about this, but it has become an issue for me and so I thought it might be relevant to someone else as well.        Twenty-one years ago I was pregnant with my middle son at the same time my best friend was pregnant with her daughter.  I had the privilege of being in the delivery room with her, but while I was there I witnessed her getting an epidural.  Knowing that I was going to be having a c-section with a spinal six weeks later, this posed a problem for me.  During my first labor I had a c-section after 17 hours of pitocin-induced labor and any pain relief was welcome.  This time, however, I was having a (semi) scheduled c-section and I wouldn't be in much pain prior to the spinal - AND now I knew EXACTLY what they were doing behind me!  That caused no small amount of anxiety for me as the date approached.     Similarly, prior to my first Prolotherapy treatment I was worried because I didn't know what it would be like.  This time I

      One of the main reasons I am writing this blog is to find my community.  Because of the conditions I deal with, I find it very difficult to get out and meet people and then maintain in-person relationships.  I'm an introvert at heart so being social is draining, but at the same time I have come to realize that it is critical.  It is so easy to become isolated when your health traps you in your home.  Yes, in this post-Covid world we have a bunch of options for connecting virtually like zoom and teams, but it's hard to meet people that way. Also, people around me don't get me.  I look fine, they don't understand why I can't go for a walk or go to a party or volunteer with them.  They don't understand what it would cost me if I did.  Sometimes I do because it's worth it, but I can't do those things on a regular basis.  I'd love to connect with people that get what my life is like, people I can be real with. I've hoped that by putting myself o

      Sorry if the picture is triggering, but much of this post is about injections so... Last Monday we headed into The City for my afternoon Prolotherapy appointment.  I'm going to be very clear in this post so if you're sensitive to this type of thing you may want to stop reading now. For others, like me, who are interested in exactly what a Prolotherapy treatment is like, read on.       They went over last minute questions confirming that I had taken no anti-inflammatories for the last two weeks, had a ride home, etc. Then they had me lay face down on a paper-covered examining table with a face cutout. I lowered my pants to an uncomfortable level, but in order to get at your SI joint a fair amount of buttocks must be exposed 😕.  They sterilized the area and then donned lead aprons, giving one to my husband as well who elected to be in the room.  The doctor arrived at that point and carried on a ten-minute conversation with me during the treatment while I was face down.  I

      Last fall I was diagnosed with EDS.  It's something I've had my entire life evidently, since it's a hereditary condition, but I've only known about it for a little while.  With EDS, Hypermobile Ehler's Danlos Syndromes (hEDS) in my case, the collagen proteins in your body don't work quite right.  This means your joints tend to be more lax, or hypermobile, but it can also affect the other collagen-related tissues in your body, like your GI tract and your skin.  When it comes to your joints, there's no exercise that can tighten connective tissue that has stretched.  Surgery isn't a viable option either.  So what's left?  If I chose to ignore it, then likely my injuries would continue to snowball happening with more and more regularity as different parts of my body stopped supporting the others that were depending on them.  For example, if my ankles are very loose (which they are) then that can lead to a higher likely hood of injury in my knees or

          Let's talk about the Spoon Theory.  It was originally developed by Christine Miserandino and discussed in an article she posted at  But You Dont Look Sick?   It's well-written and very helpful, but I am an incredibly visual person and I never REALLY got the spoon theory until I saw this video by Jessica Kellgren-Fozard.      Essentially, the Spoon Theory is a visual/tactile representation of the limited energy allotted to those with different conditions like chronic illness, disability, mental illness and more.  One spoon equates to a unit of physical/mental/emotional/social energy as all of these are in limited supply for this population.  Most healthy people begin their day with unlimited spoons, the choices and possibilities of what they could do that day are limited primarily by the hours in it, but they're up for whatever comes their way. A person with chronic illness, or one of the other conditions, however starts the day with a limited amount of spoons, a

  When life gives you limes...     If you've stumbled across this post, then you likely have Chronic Lyme Disease, think you might, or know someone who does.  For an excellent, in-depth explanation of Lyme Disease, I will refer you to  LymeDisease.org , but here's the basics.  You get Lyme Disease from a biting insect, usually a tick.  You may not even know you've been bit by a tick like a significant percentage of those diagnosed, including myself.  You don't have to live in or visit the Northeastern part of the US. Lyme disease has been found in every state, and most countries worldwide.  I don't know when I got it. I grew up playing in the woods right alongside lots of deer.  We had cats, dogs, goats, rabbits, chickens, and a horse. There were plenty of opportunities for me to contract it, but the local doctors believe that Lyme Disease doesn't exist in the Pacific Northwest, so it was easier for them to believe I contracted it on a trip to West Africa in 200

      This week was absolutely packed with appointments, but so much progress was made!       Monday I had the opportunity to see an EDS specialist that had at first seemed impossible to get into. Thanks to my primary doctor's support and regular calls on my behalf as well as the prayer support of friends and family I was able to see his physician's assistant last month for a screening.  She affirmed that I was a candidate for this specialist's treatment and sent me off to get an MRI and do the Spinal Stability test that I completed last week so that I could come prepared to meet the specialist and begin therapy.  He walked into the office, greeted me and my husband, and then gave the following speech (paraphrased as I didn't record it 😉 ), "I assume you're interested in Prolotherapy since that's what I do, but before we can consider that you need to get past four mental leaps:  1. This is going to hurt and you can't do anything to help the pain 2. You