April 2024: After months of spending every day on my couch, typically lying down, I decided to improve my space by purchasing new end tables. When they arrived, I had to ask a friend to carry them from the package room to my apartment where they sat in their box until I had a goodContinue reading “Progress”
Tag Archives: Chronic health
Spoon Theory
All my occupational therapists and speech therapists for Long COVID incorporated spoon theory into our work. I hate the name, but I love the concept. In spoon theory, everyone has a given number of spoons each day symbolizing available energy. As we go about our day, different activities will consume or replace the energy representedContinue reading “Spoon Theory”
In Memoriam: Dave B.
Life has no guarantees. When we share the gifts of compassion and understanding, the uncertainties are easier to navigate.
Invisible Disabilities
Long COVID is an invisible disability. I have learned to use a prop when I need people to be patient with me as I try to move about in the able-bodied world.
Will the Social Safety Net Catch Us?
Social security disability was established in the 1950s to provide a safety net for people who experience disabilities. For those with Long COVID, a disability, that safety net is often pulled away leaving people to fall flat and hard.
Trust 2
We place an immense amount of trust in medical practitioners who provide us with care, some of who don’t deserve it.
Trust 1
We place an enormous amount of trust in our bodies everyday. Long COVID is one of the numerous ways in which our bodies betray that trust.
Goal Scaling
I learned how to adapt SMART Goals to adverse situations thanks to having Long COVID.
A Champion of Breakfast
Long COVID messed with my taste buds, but after 14 months, I’ve finally been able to eat my “normal” breakfast again.
Long COVID Voice
Long COVID voice is an side effect of the chronic symptoms of Long COVID that masks intent.
Carolyn Ristau 