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Putting Up With POTS
A Blog About Life With Chronic Illness
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jdsantacrose
Aug 19, 20205 min read
How I've Experienced Medical Sexism
Early in 2016 I found myself strapped to a table waiting to be tilted until I passed out. It sounds like a medieval torture device but it...
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jdsantacrose
Aug 10, 20204 min read
Chronically Ill People Are Not Disposable and Semantics Matter
I keep seeing this thing in medical discourse about risks, specifically risks of death. It’s phrased something like this: “most of the...
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jdsantacrose
Jul 30, 20205 min read
The Complex Psychological Impacts of Lockdown
In Pennsylvania, where I live, we have been on some version of a lockdown for the last 5 months or so. People have responded to these...
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jdsantacrose
Jun 29, 20205 min read
America Has a Pacing Problem Regarding COVID-19
One thing that chronic illness patients always have to learn is pacing. Eventually everyone has to learn pacing but the healthy can...
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jdsantacrose
Apr 18, 20203 min read
It Turns Out My Therapist Was Right All Along
I’ve struggled with anxiety for my entire adult life. I’ve been in therapy for it (with the same therapist) for about 8 years now. Over...
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jdsantacrose
Mar 19, 20203 min read
Why Is It So Hard To Stay Home?
Americans have, on the whole, been asked to stay home for the time being. The goal of this is to slow down the spread of the COVID-19...
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jdsantacrose
Mar 18, 20206 min read
Bored At Home? Here's Some Ideas Of What To Do
We have been asked to practice social distancing to try to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 virus. What this means for most of us...
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jdsantacrose
Mar 11, 20203 min read
This Is How Chronically Ill People Feel All The Time
COVID-19 was recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) and many states and counties are limiting gatherings of...
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jdsantacrose
Mar 7, 20202 min read
In The Kingdom Of The Sick
In The Kingdom Of The Sick by Laurie Edwards (2013) is a social history of chronic illness. Edwards explores both historical and modern...
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jdsantacrose
Jan 15, 20203 min read
Sometimes We Face Setbacks
Setbacks can be incredibly frustrating. Everyone has experienced a setback of some sort in their lives. Sometimes it’s a lost job, or an...
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jdsantacrose
Jan 15, 20202 min read
The Stages of Chronic Illness
1. The Weird Symptom Stage. You have weird symptoms but you don’t know yet that what you are experiencing isn’t normal. For me this stage...
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jdsantacrose
Dec 10, 20193 min read
Being In Nature Is Good For You-Even In Winter
Many of us have heard that we should get out in nature more, whether from doctors, therapists, or just a concerned friend. This advice is...
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jdsantacrose
Nov 13, 20192 min read
Weird Tricks That Have Helped With My Medical Problems
I wanted to write about some of the weirder things that have actually helped a lot with some of my medical problems. We are all bombarded...
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jdsantacrose
Nov 13, 20193 min read
When Depression Kills My Motivation
I have a kind of depression called Dysthymia or Persistent Depressive Disorder. It’s a kind of depression that has less of the ups and...
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jdsantacrose
Oct 24, 20191 min read
Music Has Helped Me Through Dark Times
I’m a big fan of music. My family always had music on in the background when I was growing up. As an adult I have used music over and...
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jdsantacrose
Sep 22, 20193 min read
10 Activities To Do With Good Posture
Approximately 10% of adults at any given time are experiencing neck pain. I have personally had neck pain for about 3 years now, since a...
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jdsantacrose
Sep 22, 20194 min read
When My Mental Health Tanks
I’ve been in a bit of a weird place lately when it comes to mental health. For those inclined to worry about me-don’t worry, I’m fine....
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jdsantacrose
Sep 4, 20194 min read
Illness Friendly Activities
Living with chronic illnesses can make it hard to find activities that both you and the people around you can enjoy. It can be hard to...
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jdsantacrose
Sep 4, 20193 min read
How To Weep In Public: A Grown Up Book Report
I was recently talking to a friend about how I’m super nerdy and miss school. Specifically I miss writing essays. This has come up before...
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jdsantacrose
Aug 23, 20194 min read
Physiological Ways To Fight the Fight or Flight Response
There are several different ways to divide the nervous system up. It’s an incredibly complex system. In school I remember learning about...
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