The Blogging Platypus

When doing a quick search as to what constitutes a “religious employer,” it is not as clear cut as one would imagine. The obvious ones, such as religious schools, have already been brought before the court system for violating the workplace anti-discrimination laws. In  one case , the great RBG questioned if a religious school has the right to fire employees for reasons that have nothing to do with religion. This was in regard to a teacher who was fired after revealing that she had breast cancer and required medical leave in order to undergo chemotherapy. That teacher has since passed away. Also addressed in the case was who fell under the employee umbrella: teachers, nurses, coaches, janitors, bus drivers...  The water gets even more murky in terms of what is considered a religious employer. As of July 8, 2020, the Trump Administration won further control over women’s bodies. It was determined that “employers who have sincerely held religious beliefs or moral objections again...

TW/CW: Sexual assault, drug abuse, suicide Hmmm, where to start? There’s a song that says that the beginning is a very good place to start, so that’s what I’ll do. I was born and grew up. The end. Lol. I am still growing. I came into this world in this current form during the Summer of 1977 in the San Francisco Bay Area. So, that makes me...carry the 8...42! I thought that my early 40s would be different, but, alas, the Universe had other plans. Image via Pexels By the time I was 16, I had graduated from high school, was enrolled in community college (which would be the first of three degrees I would go on to earn), held a job as the Assistant Printer for the school district, had been through drug and alcohol rehab, and experienced my first sexual assault. What can I say, I like to get in as many experiences as possible. I obtained my AA Degree and my Emergency Medical Technician certification by the time I was 18. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for a living at that ...

I am a Strong Being This morning’s affirmation is, again, so very timely! I swear it’s as if the universe is sending me little signals that I am getting close to being on the right track. For the full moon practice this week, I invoked the power of the Moon Goddesses. There is a lot going on in my life, many of which are out of my control. This can rile up my anxiety. Big. Time. The reminder that I am a powerful being was also reinforced by the first song that came on my Pandora app. I often don’t care for remixes or covers of songs that I already like, but the one that came on this morning was one that I actually liked. It was a remix of...The Power by Snap. I mean, what other direct reminders do I need that I, that we, are powerful and strong? This reminder is also timely in that I am meeting with a new primary care provider later today. After being gaslighted by doctors for over two DECADES, seeing new doctors can cause a ton of anxiety. The fear of not being believed. The fea...

Some days are easier than others and, boy, today was a doozy. The day before was too. Sometimes it just feels as if the rough days keep piling up, back to back. Monday was full of annoyances, some little, others more significant. One of the more challenging aspects was that I found out just how much my doctors and VA clinic here in town think I matter to the world. See, they sat on repeated requests from the cardiologist for more information and notes to why I needed an echocardiogram. Since the requests were ignored, the referral for services that were started by my geneticist were rescinded, but the insurance company failed to inform the cardiologist or myself that the appointment was not going to be covered. That also means that the echocardiogram that I was to have this week will not be happening. I was also lied to and gaslighted by the VA nurse who called me to let me know that both sides of my body didn’t need to be tested during the nerve conduction test I had done earl...

Picture via Pinterest As someone who lives with a number of chronic health issues, it is almost inevitable that medications and supplements would also be part of my daily routine. Just like we buckle our seatbelts when going for a ride and wash our hands after using the bathroom, medications can help to increase our safety, as well as our health-related quality of life. I know that there are some schools of thought that see any medication as evil poison, despite the extensive research that happens before a medication hits the pharmacy shelves. I am not one to ignore facts and statistics. Heck I have my MS degree in clinical psychology, which includes a specialization in applied research. Facts and statistics are the core to the future I was working towards for much of my adult life. I say was, because due to my various conditions, it would make it nearly impossible to hold down most jobs, let alone the research PI position I was working towards. Okay, back to the topic of m...

Cannabis has been a part of my life for the last couple of years. I started out with my medical card when we lived in New Mexico. I still remember the first strain I bought. Let me tell you, after not having used cannabis in a decade or two, starting out with Gorilla Glue may have not been the best idea, but it gave me a good couch lock. For those outside the chronic illness community, couch lock may sound like a boring vegetative state, without the artificial life support. However, for me, and I would guess many others, the couch lock effect is exactly what I need at times. In some of the research I have been doing to figure out what exactly is going on with my body, I stumbled across something that made total sense. In addition to Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and hypermobility, there’s something called autonomic dysfunction, or dysautonomia. The autonomic nervous system regulates so many of our automatic responses that keep us alive. From breathing and blood pressure, to digestion a...

Coffee has been a part of my life for, gosh, nearly half of my life. However, over the years, I have cut back on caffeine, only consuming it before noon for the most part. Coffee and caffeine can sometimes lead to anxiety, irritability, and sleeplessness in some, but others may report no undesirable side effects. Just another example of how different one person can be from the next on a molecular level. Undesirable side effects are nothing new for us in the chronic illness community. The medications some of us have to take can be accompanied by some uncomfortable side effects that may require an additional medication or two. It seems like a laundry list of potential symptoms that could occur, with some of them worse than the initial symptoms for which you are taking the medication. It becomes a vicious cycle. Due to what seems like playing a medication shell game, I have started to look for non-traditional approaches to health. It started first with cannabis a few years ago when we...

For those of us living with chronic illnesses, we often look for alternative methods to address our symptoms, as many times, medications just don’t cut it. Sure, there are so many new medications that are coming out in an attempt to treat a growing population of patients, but it often feels as if medications never do enough to fulfill the promises the television ads makes. So, we search the aisles and shelves of natural food stores, big box stores, and online in hopes that we can find something, anything, that will help us to live our lives with fewer symptoms that like to thwart our plans. I have seen so many snake oil companies that tout that their product will regrow your hair, help you lose weight, and let you live your life in peace and harmony, with a steady supply of butterflies fluttering around your head like some Disney princess. Sadly, many times we end up wasting our money on these false and empty promises. Why? Because we are desperate. Desperate to feel better. Desp...

Making life easier is my jam as of late. Not that I want to be lazy and rely on hacks, but rather my energy is often limited by how many spoons I have to do my daily tasks. If I can make my life easier and still be able to do some of the things I want to do, I’m about that life. Here are three things that make my life easier: Using a file folder holder to organize cutting boards Meal prepping for the week Being green and clean with reusable/washable sponges and rags We are a mixed household, in that there are meat eaters and a vegan living under the same roof. Cross contamination is a big risk, be it gluten or animal products, so to make my life easier, we have a variety of cutting boards. They can take up a lot of space or be difficult to organize. However, using an upright file folder holder has been my savior! This way, I can easily grab the cutting board that suits my needs for what I am making. Now, that’s what I call an organization lifehack that is worth my time! The...

One of my hobbies lately is cooking recipes I come across on Pinterest. I can scroll Pinterest on my phone for hours a day, selectively pinning everything from Tiny House Awesomeness, to a board I call Nothing But Carrot Cake. Somewhere in between those I stumbled across a recipe for BBQ Pulled Jackfruit. If you don’t know jack about jackfruit, it is time you learned! I find it to be tastier than any vegan meat substitute out there. You’ll typically find it in the canned food section of your local health food store. We pick up ours from our local Natural Grocers. When cooking with it, just make sure to rinse it THOROUGHLY. Otherwise you might get stuck with a brine-y tasting and smelling dish. I ended up making two baking dishes full of BBQ pulled jackfruit, which I later used to make some delicious taquitos. Dinner was delicious, but the mess it left in the baking dishes were not. We tried soaking them overnight to see if we could get the sticky BBQ sauce remnants off the pans. No l...

The term self-care seems to have taken over social media over the past few years. This buzzword is easy to find, from product packaging to social media influencers touting the need for this thing called self-care. But what is it and why has it spread like the floating island of plastic trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? If you were to ask me five years ago about self-care, I would not have an inkling about what it is, what it entails, and why I should practice it on a regular basis. I was attending graduate school and working as a freelance writer, hustling for as much work as possible. I had no time to even think about such a thing as self-care. Little did I know at that time, but in a few years, self-care would be an integral part of my life. These days, self-care happens each day, in different ways. Being kind to yourself counts as self-care. Treating your body with the care and respect it deserves and needs counts as self-care. Relaxing in a warm Epsom salt bath counts...

There was a time, not too long ago (days, hours even) where I would never consider wearing these shorts, let alone take a picture and post it online! But, sometimes you just have to say FUCK IT and wear a piece of clothing that strikes fear in your heart. Granted, it’s not like I am going anywhere other than the backyard, but it still helps me to get used to appreciating my body, rather than loathing it. Having a chronic illness means that you get to develop a new relationship with your body. It is easy to feel as if you are not dependable when it comes to doing what you used to, before “getting sick.” However, the blame should not rest upon you, but rather your body is on it’s own schedule and we’re just along for the ride. My hips pop in and out a few times a day, but on the bad days, where they pop out a lot, the next few days are full of so much pain. I have to literally relearn how to move, twist, bend, and where my limit in regards to range of motion SHOULD be, rather than...