By Annaham on 24 July, 2010
To begin, rather pithily: I have had very mixed experiences with medical professionals throughout my life. Some have been fantastic. Some have been middle-of-the-road. And, as you might expect to hear from a person with a chronic pain condition, some have been absolutely awful. Recently, I had a fantastic experience in a consultation with the [...]
Posted in happy posts, medical practice, small stories, social attitudes | Tagged cerebral palsy, doctors, fibromyalgia, medical care, medications, pain management, personal stories, surgery
By Ouyang Dan on 19 July, 2010
Warning: Offsite links are not safe spaces. Articles and comments in the links may contain ableist, sexist, and other -ist language and ideas of varying intensity. Opinions expressed in the articles may not reflect the opinions held by the compiler of the post and links are provided as topics of interest and exploration only. I [...]
Posted in recommended reading | Tagged abuse, Afghanistan, Anishinaabekwe, caregiver abuse, disability, domestic violence, fibromyalgia, healing, intersectionality, invisible disabilities, military, PTSD, recommended reading
By Annaham on 8 June, 2010
Becky CK at Happy Bodies: Why do we apologize for our bodies? Why do feel the need to apologize for our bodies’ needs and justify the choices we make about them? As I continue to incorporate body positivity into my life, I still find myself listing off what I ate all day to justify why I’m [...]
Posted in recommended reading | Tagged bodies, bodily autonomy, chronic pain conditions, derailing, fibro, fibromyalgia, marginalisation, medicine, mental illness, myths and misconceptions, neuroatypical, neurotypicality, rape, schizophrenia, sexual assault, sexual violence, social justice, social treatment
By Annaham on 1 June, 2010
fiction_theory (LJ): The internet IS real life The problem with impeaching someone’s anti-racism based on attendance at a specific march or even public rallies and protests in general is that it assumes that a) attending such events is a more real, valid, and important means of expressing anti-racism than any other means, specifically online and [...]
Posted in bodies, identity, intersectionality, news, politics, recommended reading, social attitudes, technology | Tagged accessibility, activism, anti-racism, barriers to access, chronic pain, communication, community, critique, fandom, fibromyalgia, internet, Internet use, intersectionality, invisible disability, media critique, mental health, race, reading, science, sleep, social networking, trichotillomania
By Ouyang Dan on 27 May, 2010
I know that I am not 18 any more. One of my doctors kindly pointed that out to me recently. What I mean is that I can no longer demand of my body what I once did. And I know this, as I embrace the things that come with years gone by. Aging is a [...]
Posted in bodies, introspective, life changes, military | Tagged chronic illness, chronic pain conditions, disability, drugs are bad mmm'kay, fibromyalgia, health care, invisible disabilities, military, personal, self-acceptance, when does it stop?
By Annaham on 2 April, 2010
[Image description: a woman's hand rests on an inlaid wood cane.] I use a cane! This should not come as a surprise, but often when I am out in public, it does. People seem surprised to see a young person who uses a cane; while I have not gotten people “confronting” me about it directly [...]
Posted in accessibility, autonomy, bodies, happy posts, normality, politics, resistance, Uncategorized | Tagged accessibility, assistive devices, cerebral palsy, chronic pain conditions, disability, fibromyalgia, personal, self-acceptance
By Ouyang Dan on 27 February, 2010
[Scene opens with a loooooooong wait in the pharmacy before my number finally "pings" on the digital number-pinging thingy, as I struggle out of my chair, and hobble up to the pharmacist's window, and hook my cane on the window ledge for emphasis as I hand over my ID and number slip, wincing in the [...]
Posted in accessibility, justice, medical practice, military, social attitudes | Tagged barriers to access, chronic pain conditions, disability, drugs are bad mmm'kay, fibromyalgia, health care is an accessibility issue, justice, military, myths and misconceptions, pain management, problematic attitudes, social treatment
By amandaw on 21 February, 2010
(Cross-posted at three rivers fog.) I noticed something was wrong in the earliest hours of the morning, when my husband had disappeared from bed but I did not hear anything going on in the bathroom and could not see him anywhere. Around 8, he got up to go to the bathroom and I lifted myself [...]
Posted in relationships, small stories | Tagged chronic illness, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, home, interlude, pain, pain management, personal, relationships, stories, treatment, welcome to my life
By Annaham on 2 February, 2010
So everyone can get to know our contributors a bit better, we’ve decided to run a series called “Meet a Contributor”. Each Contributor will be interviewed by the others in turn. [Description: Black-and-white, low-angle photograph of a smiling white woman with shoulder-length, light brown hair. She wears a tank top with a long-sleeved print shirt [...]
Posted in creative work, meet a contributor | Tagged chronic pain, fibromyalgia, meet a contributor
By Annaham on 13 January, 2010
Author’s Note: This was originally written two years ago, when I was working as a sales clerk at a boutique shop in an extremely privileged area of Los Angeles. As you will probably be able to tell, I did not like this job very much. Looking back, I’m struck that I engaged in a fair [...]
Posted in bodies, class issues, gender, i'm right here, identity, introspective, normality, social attitudes | Tagged ableism, chronic pain conditions, disability, disability movement, fibromyalgia, identity, pain, privilege, problematic attitudes, social treatment
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