Dragging Dysautonomia Through My Twenties one Bitchy, Blunt and Belligerent Blog Post at a Time
Advice on chronic illness
I never used to really think of myself as an angry person. Frankly, I didn’t have a lot to be angry about. And I didn’t have many people to be angry with. But the past two years have been hard ones and I really needed support from some people in my life that just didn’t…
For the last eight months, mainly since my butchered port surgery people have asked me: Why don’t you sue? I have to laugh a little because that phrase always brings me back to elementary school. Growing up in a town like Boca Raton it was not uncommon to hear the phrase “Yeah, well, I’m gonna…
For me, having an older sister means always having someone to turn to for advice. Even though she lives on the other side of the country, we talk every day and we always ask each other’s opinions on everything from our marriages to marketing to things we MUST buy on Amazon. My sister, Sammy, is…
Pompano Beach, FL— One in every ten Americans has a rare disease. It’s a startling statistic, but it’s one that will help even the healthiest of individuals realize how random the genetic lottery really is. This is also why the patients of the rare disease community have chosen the rarest day of the year to spread awareness. On the…
After reading about all my misadventures here, you might be thinking: how does this girl pay her rent? The rumors that I’m a disabled stripper or that R.J is secretly the inventor of Vapor Rub aside, I do actually have a day job. I’m a gymnast! No buyers? Okay. Okay. I’m a work-from-home editor and…
So let’s say you did something stupid. Maybe you ate calamari last night. A lot of calamari. Nice move, genius. Now it’s four in the morning and you’re hanging out on your bathroom floor wondering how in the https://www.acheterviagrafr24.com/prix-du-viagra-en-pharmacie/ hell you’re going to stay focused during your 8 AM conference call. But you were smart…
I’ve often found myself stranded at the mall or the grocery store or the infusion center and have had to call my mom or husband to pick me up. We don’t really have a robust Uber community in Boca Raton yet. But I should know better. There are certainly a handful of times when your…
The first time I had to go under anesthesia, I cried and cried until the lights went out. I was so afraid that I’d feel everything! But as my Grandpa told me: it will be the best sleep you ever have. And it was! But waking up from anesthesia? Well, that’s not always the easiest…
From this month’s IG Living Article Context: I wrote this column a few months ago while getting my adhesion surgery. I’ve had a few hospitalizations since then where I did have friends show up (along with family and family-friends) Still, I think the story of that first lonely hospitalization was one other patients could relate…
I’ve taken the same birth control for ten years. And I’ve been lucky all that time. First I was on my parent’s private insurance. Mostly Blue Cross, Aetna, Coventry…and then a few months before R.J and I got married I was able to get on his insurance plan as a domestic partner (now as his…
Ilana Jacqueline
27-Year-Old Patient Advocate, Freelance Writer, and Managing Editor of the blog at The Global Genes Project.
The Book: Surviving and Thriving with an Invisible Chronic Illness: How to Stay Sane, Be Your Own Advocate, and Live Your Best Life by New Harbinger coming 2017.
Patient with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), Dysautonomia, Hyper-Somnia (suspected Narcolepsy), Gastroparesis, and Primary Immune Deficiency Disease.
Contact: IlanaWrites(@)Gmail.com
