Tag: blogging

What’s your fantasy?

One of the few things that got me through Wednesday’s workout was fantasizing that I was Molly Seidel in the Olympic marathon. However, I was nowhere near her pace as I jammed out to Ludacris. I was a sight to see. Shoes squishing, wet shorts flapping, and neither from rain. Couldn’t it at least start raining for some relief?

My one year anniversary of back to running happened this week. Other than excitedly texting my coach, I gave it little fanfare. Well, I guess writing about it on the blog is some fanfare.

Pushing through the weather was a test of mindset change. I adjusted my goals and carried on. I checked in with my body—was I feeling faint? No. Was anything hurting? No. Keep going. The workout was not be speedy, but it was work on my feet. My coach reminded me to use the humidity and heat pace chart next time, but I did not dwell on pace in a training cycle where I’ve had so many on point runs. I 100% contribute this to the hysterectomy. Sure, I didn’t test positive for adenomyosis, but something was real fucked up in there. For anyone new to this blog, I had maybe 1 week a month that I wasn’t in crippling pain due to endometriosis and potentially adenomyosis. I quote a common refrain in the endometriosis community: We’re not faking being sick. We’re faking being well.

Since restarting seed cycling in earnest again a few months ago, I didn’t even notice mood swings this luteal phase. I’ve also learned so much about hydration and fueling from the Fuel for the Sole podcast by Believe in the Run with Meghann Featherstun. I started learning about nutrition in earnest from Caitlin Self in 2018. She taught me so much about inflammation and chronic conditions. Now, I’m at a place with limited symptoms, therefore can think more about small tweaks that can substantially improve my running.

All of these things—being able to focus on small bits of health, being very at peace with being uterless—come from the mindset change that exhibited in this week’s workout. In such an uncertain, traumatic year (let me count the ways), I am preparing myself for fall race cancellations. It’s not pessimistic to be realistic. The delta variant is raging. I’m mentally prepared to test my training cycle in a time trial and to pivot to more trail time.

My fantasy would not only to have fall races, but for everyone to get the vaccine. While we wait for those vaccinations to kick in, I dream that people would wear their masks because they care about their community.

Books I’m thinking about/recently read:

  • Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz
  • Spirit Run, Noé Álvarez

Stay sweaty and glittery. Black Lives Matter.

Demons In Your Foot

With an acute injury or illness, there isn’t the this is your fault judgement that comes with chronic illness. No one says there are demons in your foot if it’s broken. No one says you deserve this. No one says that maybe if you did more yoga, ate kale, or got pregnant, you’d be cured of a broken bone. Rather, the healthcare team sets out with the goal: how do we fix this?

Having a chronic illness is the difference between walking into a doctor’s office and showing that something is visibly broken, versus walking into a doctor’s office with a list of symptoms that are deemed invisible. I’d say the effects of brain fog and pain aren’t invisible, but what do I know, I just live with them.

I’ve talked with quite a few people over the last month about their own endometriosis diagnoses. We’ve talked about what it means, and what they can do, where to find resources. Knowing that I put my story out there for people as a resource, receiving those messages still brings a wave of emotions. I know because I did (do) this to other people in the community too. You reach out to people when the healthcare system fails to give you answers. We’re speaking up at the doctor and being dismissed, so we go to each other.

I had so little information about returning to running after a hysterectomy. If you believe Google, your spine shrinks, you can literally do nothing fun ever again, and you become extremely unattractive overnight. This kind of information is on gynecological websites!! Luckily, I have a knowledgeable pelvic floor physical therapist. She kept me in check—that it would be a long recovery road, but there is no reason I wouldn’t be able to come back stronger.

February running was rough. I was also getting into contortion training, and because I never know my limits, I ended up freaking out my psoas muscles on both sides from overstretching. Every step hurt for most of the month. Every. Single. Step. I was terrified at first, then after figuring out more of what I did to myself (woops) with my orthopedic physical therapist, I accepted that I overdid it and needed to rest. I ran a bit over 60 miles the month of February, going out for short runs to keep moving as I healed. I was told that as long as I felt better after running, this was okay to continue.

March looked much better. Taking it easy worked. I’m so used to never-ending chronic conditions, with little hope. I told a friend in February that I didn’t even know how to address acute injuries anymore after thinking I broke my toe by dropping a glass candle on it (I went to urgent care and it was just badly bruised). The snowiest days overlapped with the worst of the psoas and toe pain, and for a bit I felt like I would have this pain FOREVER. Thank goodness for time. Honestly, I was shocked that rest WORKED.

I felt well enough to time trial the Shamrock 5k on March 13. I had some strong workouts in the bank from January, and 10 months after surgery, I was itching to test myself. I see it as a big moment of personal growth to go out to “race,” knowing it wasn’t going to be a personal record. My run coach, Nick, and I met to warmup, then he paced me. My goal was to go out strong, then keep descending. I managed to do just that on a breezy day on the Carroll Park 800, splitting 7:22, 7:15, 6:57, and 7:11 for the last 0.1. The first 2 miles felt quite controlled, and I fought in the last mile. Having an extremely fast pacer does help, but I had to stay focused on the surprising windy loop without the adrenaline of a race situation.

The in-person Shamrock 5k is notoriously fast. In my age group, the top 3 are all usually under 20 minutes—a virtual prize was not on my mind. Monday after the time trial, I received an email from a colleague that also runs, congratulating me. In a virtual year, I finished third in my age group. I immediately stared minimizing it, saying things like “well this will be the only year I do well at the Shamrock!” Then I stepped back. We are in multiple pandemics. I had major surgery 10 months ago. No matter what, this is an achievement to celebrate during an extremely difficult year. Anyway—as long as I can, I’m working toward faster and consistent running.

Now I’m in the final month of preparing for a half marathon. Again, I am excited and terrified to see what happens, even though I’m thinking of this as a confidence booster before a fall buildup. As I can consistently train because I’m not losing buckets of blood and overcome with full body pain, I keep seeing small improvements every day in pace and recovery. My mindset has changed, therapy is working!

The timing of my last read was perfect too—Meb Keflezighi’s 26 Marathons. He focuses on the training, the process, and running a smart race for the conditions you are in. The joy he feels in running shines throughout the book, and he reminds the reader every page that what matters in running is what you learn about yourself. As races restart and I chase down new goals, I keep thinking about his words: “I learned that giving your best even when you’re not at your best can provide insight into what’s possible when you’re on top of your game.”

Books I’m thinking about/recently read:

  • 26 Marathons by Meb Keflezighi
  • The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Stay sweaty and glittery. Black Lives Matter.

You Made Her Like That

I remember reading some passages in a book that did a hilarious bit about philosophers, but now I can’t remember the source. The source was supposed to be an analogy for things people thought they knew, but didn’t, and were instead clinging to a useless ideal. It might have been Taylor Swift related—she’s my age yet the queen of reinventing and new perspectives in her career. No. Now that I’ve been revising, it was in Jenny Offill’s Weather.

How about we start here. A few weeks ago, a friend posted about National Eating Disorder Awareness Month in a way that helped me articulate some feelings that have been brewing in my mind. She asked people to think about how they perceive eating disorders. Frustrations I have about chronic illness clicked. I am not looking for you to say that I’m a warrior, or that this journey has made me strong. Having a chronic illness isn’t a special superpower. There are other, less devastating, ways to build resilience. How about something that has an end date? Instead, I want you to listen and think about your world view.

I’m looking at you to reflect on how you understand chronic disability, chronic illness. Think about how it shows up in the workplace, your social life, your response to the pandemic. Read 17 Facts About Endometriosis That Show Just How Horrific This Disease Is and think about what a good day with a chronic condition is like.

I want simple things. I almost wrote girly things, but that’s a way to soften and gender the language. I’m not really interested in softening when women have had to do that for centuries. So I want these things: healthcare coverage. Job security. A step back from the toxicity of the grind culture. Will anyone log off their work email? Sympathy is useless without systemic change.

Many advocates are doing an incredible job educating about endometriosis this month. I am thankful for them. They are the people that taught me where to look for care. Advocates teach people how to speak in a doctor’s office, and to trust that you can fire a doctor if the doctor isn’t listening. Speaking of moxie, the only part of Moxie I loved was how Vivian’s nomination for “most likely to follow the rules” spurred a zine-lead revolution.

Solidarity in the endometriosis community felt forced early in my journey. Most of what I saw was about fertility, rather than quality of life. Years of pain led me to disassociate from my uterus. I don’t associate fertility with womanhood. I just—have a meat sack and I can do things with it when I’m relatively well, like running and circus arts. Long hair and cat eyes are fun too. If you spend some time thinking about your gender performance, you may notice biology and gender are not truly connected.

More people are getting behind the queer community, behind the fact that equitable access doesn’t exist until everyone is involved. More people are yelling that ever about a disease that takes on average 8 years for diagnosis. More people are yelling that bipoc patients face greater barriers from systemic racism in medicine. I am so grateful for Cori Smith, Lara Parker, @endoqueer, @crampedstyleblog, @beelynnnyc, @endo_black, @southasianwarriors, and more.

Books I’m thinking about/recently read:

  • Weather by Jenny Offill
  • Stunt by Saida Agostini
  • Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland

Stay sweaty and glittery. Black Lives Matter.

Dandelion Vibes

I had a dream in which the walls of my house were literally on fire. In the dream, a neighbor, someone I knew but didn’t recognize, said flamethrowers were the hot new trend in creating the just right type of distress. Dumpster fire memes are rampant (and I have shared many), yet somehow, 2020 the worst year I’ve had. Yes, that’s a privilege: I still have a job, my house, so far everyone I know that has had COVID19 has survived.

I’m reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin for an event with Discover Charm City Gal Pal Book Club. One of principles is about revisiting joy. This week, I cleared out my phone photos and had a selection developed. I explored the outdoors, managed to run 900+ miles even though I took off three months to heal from surgery, protested, found quiet in the everyday. I even developed the screenshots from Zoom gatherings. How else will we remember what happened digitally? A tangible keepsake speaks.

I’ve done work reorganizing my space this year too: painting a door, setting up an office and handstand space. This also involved getting rid of things, but not everything. A few things have lingered. A dandelion has been growing in the crack outside my basement window. It started growing after deep freeze, after snow. I can’t bring myself to pull it. I think of “Dandelion Insomnia” by Ada Limón.

It’s vicious,
made for a time that requires tenacity, a way
of remaking the toughest self while everyone
else is asleep.

Another reason for the dandelion tattoo I have been contemplating. I drank up Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury when I read it a decade ago, and the poem from Limón’s book is getting almost more rotation in my mind than my other favorite of hers, Field Bling. I think about requiring tenacity. In 10th grade, I used “tenacious” as the one word to describe myself. Why shouldn’t it be the word of 2020? We’re also in it together in changing the systems we’ve seen fail in 2020.

Thinking about the weed flower brings me to my favorite quote from Dandelion Wine: “I mustn’t forget, I’m alive, I know I’m alive, I mustn’t forget it tonight or tomorrow or the day after that.” The alive-ness, the feeling that the world is still there—coupled with Limón’s ecstasy in spite of it all, dandelions are the real winners, aren’t they? I’m taking the vibe into 2021.

Books I’m thinking about/recently read:

  • The Carrying by Ada Limón
  • I Hold a Wolf by the Ears by Laura van den Berg
  • Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies by Tara Schuster
  • The Understudy’s Handbook by Steven Leyva

Stay sweaty and glittery. Black Lives Matter.

Always Adapting

One day you are healthy, then one day you are not.

I’m working on remembering to post in here as a real-time return to running blog.

Across media, we often see the end result. The triumph. We learn about the struggle later. This blog is for the person like me, trying to learn more about expectations after hysterectomy. The moments in recovery where you see progress, but where you also have dreams of where you want to be. Cue Taking Back Sunday. Months into the pandemic, quarantine is also part of the story.

Working through pandemic stress is something else on top of running. My media consumption changes with my stress levels. I started quarantine listening to podcasts like Ali on the Run on repeat (highly recommend for information and positivity and thoughtfulness). When I started running again in August, I wasn’t quite ready to hear other people’s stories while I ran. The music I listed to while competitively swimming hit my soul in the right way. The music reminded me of my fire. You may have seen me silently screaming along to Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, and Lady Gaga around Baltimore. I said I was an emo kid, I didn’t say I was cool.

Despite the stress, running continues to go well. I’m consistently running over 25 miles a week, progressing through conservative 10% increase, and performing two closely monitored lifts a week with my orthopedic physical therapist. I very much wanted to dive in hard—but notice I’m not practicing circus yet? The cool thing about having multiple organs removed and the remaining ovary repaired, on top of endometriosis excision, is that recovery is LONG, even when you think you feel better. My psychologist and I talked about how the work we’ve done over the past year has translated into accepting the process, to see a way through.

Speaking of long-term quality of life—I have mixed feelings about races in 2020. I am well aware of safety protocols at races (yay!), but I will be cheering for people through social media. As a country, a community, we are being told to make our own risk assessment. But we aren’t all looking at this from the same lens. When you have a chronic illness, you think about your fragility. To quote Emily Toder over and over, I get to think about my own dying. At a poetry reading when I was 26, someone told me I was too obsessed with mortality for my age. Endometriosis isn’t my first encounter with medical trauma. I had a blood clot at 19, from undiagnosed thoracic outlet syndrome. I have been obsessed with existentialism and mortality since—a body is an uncontrollable miracle. I am concerned that a bout with COVID-19 could lead to new chronic symptoms. I don’t need more illness, and I do want to do everything I can to limit spreading to others.

We just don’t know the long-term effects of COVID-19, though we know some people are experiencing long-term issues. My life, and other people I know in the chronic illness community, has been dominated by the fact that one day you are healthy, then one day you are not. So instead of racing, I’m running solo, cheering through Strava and Instagram. And texting my run coach updates about when I want to incorporate solo time trials, pending clearance from my pelvic floor physical therapist. And texting my run coach that I’m so happy to feel good while rebuilding my base, because I am enjoying running for the sake of getting outside.

As cases rise in the United States while the holiday season begins, I do hope this perspective helps you think about your own movements. As most Baltimoreans say to each other when saying goodbye, stay safe. Some of us have taken to saying, stay safe and wash your hands.

Books I’m thinking about/recently read:

  • Hidden Valley Road by Bob Kolker
  • Vagina Problems: Endometriosis, Painful Sex, and Other Taboo Topics by Lara Parker
  • The Office of Historical Corrections: A Novella and Stories by Danielle Evans

Stay sweaty and glittery. Black Lives Matter.

Pumpkin Spice Emotions

Here we are, over six months into the pandemic. According to Clue, it’s been 141 days since my last period. In the Baltimore Flow meeting this morning, I said that Mary Elizabeth Garrett is out here, doing her best.

I am thinking about the tension of stress, grief, and joy. My heart has been worn. Today, the focus will be on ways I have found small joys, as I scream along to the acoustic version of “My Heart is the Worst Kind of Weapon.”

Running again, while listening to music that externalizes my emotions, has been such a joy, even though I gravitate towards decidedly not joyful 2000s scene music. Are you ever really a retired emo kid? I grew up loving Fall Out Boy. Yes, I saw them live during Warped Tour before they blew up. I forget about the gender while diving into their melodic rage.

I’m still moving slowly in adding back weight-lifting and circus arts. Being able to at least add the endorphins of running has been such a mood shift. Even on bad runs, I still get a runner’s high. A little over three weeks into the process of rebuilding, some runs have been rough. The humidity had come back in full force earlier this week, I was struggling to maintain a 10:30 mile pace. I had to give myself constant pep talks: you are running! You are running! Not every day is a good run!

Yesterday, with no humidity and weather in the 70s, I cruised easily at a 8:54 average pace for five miles. The pacing change in gentler weather is huge. My body has a hard time adapting to heat running, so in Baltimore summers, I just survive.

It’s pumpkin spice season—I bought three dairy free pumpkin spice creamers yesterday, so yes, I have strong feelings about this time of year—perhaps the weather will start to cooperate?

Because racing is ages away and I’m not comfortable running in groups, I have been working with my run coach to come up with some fun solo goals. On Halloween, I’m going to dress up and fly in a mile time trial. I am just so happy to have found a way to enjoy Halloween within a pandemic.

For the first time in years, I have been able to start drafting some poems. To Tracy / To Like / Like was released by akinoga press right after my first excision surgery. I finished the chapbook before I was diagnosed, and now it stands as an artifact of suffering I was trying to find language for. I had so little relief after that surgery. To see myself finding some snatches of time to write has been monumental. A lot of things are tough right now, but I would be remiss to not mention a small creative victory, to be able to document again and feel more than exhaustion.

Books I’m thinking about:

  • Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mineby Emily Bernard
  • The Carrying: Poems, by Ada Limón

Stay sweaty and glittery. Black Lives Matter.

Are You Healed? Notes from Postop

Are you healed?

I don’t know how to answer that question. Or to quote Lucille Bluth, “I don’t understand the question, and I won’t respond to it.” Do you mean mentally? Still over here unpacking years of medical trauma. Physically? Still not allowed to run or practice circus arts, which is also tough mentally. Worldwide, we are in a pandemic. Worldwide, white folks that have opened their eyes to systemic racism should still be actively doing their part learning about and changing the systems.

So. I am almost eleven weeks postop from endometriosis excision, a hysterectomy, and an oophorectomy. How my body has responded won’t be clear until 6-12 months postop. I refer to it as major surgery, because it is. Saying it is a reminder that recovery takes time. That recovery is not linear.

Today, I’m taking time to reflect on the recovery process. What has helped, what hasn’t, and where my head is. 

I finished Big Friendship in two days. Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman are two of my favorite cultural commentators. As a fan, reading the book was part celebration of their work and part hard-look at what friendship could be. I’m still ruminating over it in my mind. Perhaps I’ll have a longer response (or submit an essay about it for publication *gasp*), but for now, read it. Hurry to your library or local bookstore. It feels as pivotal in identifying the language and support around friendship as reading The Ethical Slut was in learning about communication in romantic relationships. I consider The Ethical Slut key in working on open communication, even if you are not polyamorous.  

I joined HysterSisters shortly before my surgery to receive recovery checkpoints. The reminders have been helpful, but as a queer woman without much connection to my womb as a miraculous, life-giving thing, the assumed gendered response to surgery in most online spaces hasn’t been helpful. My uterus was a temperamental organ that only brought me pain. 

Language around sisterhood and fertility is deeply entrenched in the endometriosis community. A common tag on Instagram is #endosisters. What about our enby and trans peers? Endoqueer, founded by Les Henderson after they participated on a race and endometriosis panel, is a new support group centering queer BIPOC voices. The space has a different dialogue around access to resources in which fertility isn’t necessarily the goal. I can’t wait to see and support more of what Les is doing. Can you see the recurring theme in which I deeply believe healthcare is critical in quality of life?

I’ve noticed that Mary Elizabeth Garrett—yes, I named my remaining ovary after a 19thcentury coercive, likely queer, Baltimore philanthropist (even though the crowdsource naming on Instagram overwhelmingly favored Gertrude Stein)—has been working hard. My naturopathic doctor recommended using ovulation test kits, but at this point, my hormonal cycle has stayed pretty consistent. I’ve been able to track it through the Garmin app, except for the week the app was down. Have fun with all my period symptoms, hackers! Use my data to change healthcare, thank you.

Even though I wrote a few paragraphs ago that I don’t like the gendered assumptions about my emotions around evicting my uterus, I’ve found post-partum recovery journeys from friends and strangers SO HELPFUL. There are many more accounts of returning to running after pregnancy than hysterectomy. (Please share any post-hysterectomy running journeys you are aware of in the comments!) Where do I find the parallels? Hysterectomy is the second most common surgery for women, after childbirth by cesarean delivery. I want more stories. Talking about anything related to a period has been socially considered TMI, even though sharing that kind of health information can be life-saving.

My run coach (miss you, Nick!) works for Lift Run Perform. The founder, Mary Johnson, has been open about her running journey throughout pregnancy and postpartum. I’ve been following her story in particular as a reminder that RECOVERY ISN’T LINEAR. I talk about this with my doctors and coach, but seeing someone live it, adjust their expectations, and now start to see success after so much patience has been critical for my mental health. One piece of media I’ve found helpful is Mary Johnson’s appearance on the Ali On The Run Show.

When I am cleared to run, I’m toying with the idea of posting highs and lows on the blog weekly, so there is another story out there for someone Googling “returning to running after hysterectomy.”

Books I’m thinking about and organizations to support:

  • The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities by Dossie Easton, Catherine A. Liszt
  • Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
  • Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
  • Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
  • Endoqueer

Stay sweaty and glittery. Black Lives Matter.

Sweaty & Glittery & Committed

The more you know, the more the healthcare system can change.

Well, I hope that sunset picture gave you a sense of calm before I dive in.

Surgery recovery isn’t easy. Below are some honest realities from the perspective of the three week post-op mark from endometriosis excision and a hysterectomy, which I hope continue to get better over the next week before returning to work.

I had a catheter for 3 days and found it mentally taxing in a way I had not anticipated. It wasn’t part of the plan, but the amount of endometriosis the surgeon found when she opened me up, and ovary repair necessary to preserve my hormonal cycles, turned a 4 hour surgery into a 6+ hour procedure. I am so freaking grateful for mobility over the past two weeks and the ability to pee on my own.

I’m peeing every hour to protect my bladder. There was so much endometriosis all over it, my surgeon told me to be cognizant about not over-filling it to allow the tissue and nerves to heal. I’m also icing my elbows. I can’t straighten my arms without pain. My surgeon is pretty sure the length of surgery (over 6 hours) irritated the nerves in my arms. 

In health, the stakes are high. My quality of life was so low that I was willing to take the risk with major surgery. Nothing compared to the pain I anticipated & GUTTED THROUGH over half of each month. I’m still optimistic about a full recovery. I have a comeback list, which includes truly training both sides once I’m cleared for aerial arts. 

A hysterectomy does not cure endometriosis. Endometriosis exists outside the uterus. My uterus is being tested for adenomyosis, a disease that causes pain similar to endometriosis, but only exists inside the tissue of the uterus. Adenomyosis is diagnosed through biopsy after the uterus is removed. Before recommending a hysterectomy, an expert surgeon (not a general gynecologist) will do additional tests and assess your symptoms to confirm their suspicions. Among many factors, my periods were so long and awful that I was ready to be uter-less, even if an adenomyosis biopsy doesn’t come back positive. Again for the people in the back: a hysterectomy does not cure endometriosis. 

As a white woman in her 30s, America’s legacy of white supremacy allowed me the CHOICE of a hysterectomy. Black woman have not had this choice, which is a product of racial bias in healthcare. Eugenics were policy not long ago. There are countless women, like the legendary Fannie Lou Hamer, who woke up from a surgery in 1961 to find that she had be sterilized without consent, which was legal under Mississippi law. The more you know, the more the healthcare system can change. Just this week, Kyla Canzater contacted Johns Hopkins to voice concern that “white women” was listed as risk factor for endometriosis. Whiteness as a risk factor has now been removed from their webpage.

I mentioned earlier in the post that I’m optimistic about a full recovery. Endometriosis is difficult to manage for a multitude of reasons. Because of misogyny and racism still prevalent in healthcare, it takes approximately 7-10 years to diagnosis. Once your body has been under duress for so long, you’re not just treating endometriosis. There is impact on other organ systems like the kidneys, vitamin deficiencies, chronic inflammation, psychological trauma, all on top of removing the endometriosis. Healthcare is woefully under-equipped to treat the complexity of the disease at this time. In addition to my usual “what I’m reading” send-off, I included links to organizations working to change this.

Further reading and organizations to support:

Stay sweaty and glittery and committed. And remember, because maybe it wasn’t clear throughout my post, Black Lives Matter. There are many ways to implement change and I firmly believe that access to quality healthcare is necessary in the fight for equal rights.

Vulnerability & Identity

I deserve to be healthy. You deserve to be healthy. We are all worth a second opinion.

Vulnerability is easy when you’re happy. I thought I was comfortable sharing—I’ve been writing this blog for over a year and have been on the Internet since Xanga, ya know?—but apparently not. Not when I thought my life was really trending up. Or whatever stock market term makes sense.

One of the difficult things I’ve learned in therapy, and well, all my fucking appointments, is how hard we hold on to identity. This month, I’m taking the time social distancing to reflect on identity and mental health. 

Athletics help me feel normal. It’s been a part of my identify since I was a child, I cannot remember otherwise. Even though it could just as well be otherwise. (A bit of an aside, I got really into existentialism when I had a blood clot at 19.)

Lindsey Vonn’s documentary, The Final Season, was illuminating when I watched it a few months ago while I was flattened on the couch by endometriosis symptoms. The film came to a climax during the press conference before her final race. She’s sparing with a male journalist about her career. Vonn is unrelenting and gives everything, despite the physical pain that is living the life of a serious athlete in your 30s. She feels isolated.

Though different, chronic injury is on a similar plane as chronic illness. I was chronically injured as a Division I swimmer since my freshman year. I started at Rutgers as a distance swimmer. When my shoulders failed me (or rather, the 10,000 yards a day wore down the cartilage), I was able to transition to middle distance backstroke and butterfly with a strong underwater kick that had already been a major part of my distance success. A group of us were in a similar situation, which created a special bond. We spent extra time with trainers, extra time with doctors, but we were still isolated from teammates that thought we weren’t trying hard enough. Similarly, when you have a chronic illness, it’s hard not to notice when friends and family are frustrated that new treatments, new diets, additional surgery, don’t seem to help enough. Then you have people slide into your life with: Meditation changed so-and-so’s life. Yoga healed my friend’s fibromyalgia. Etc, etc.

So what’s identity? I think about impression management and have so many questions: Am I communicating I’m an athlete? Am I communicating I’m an artist? Can I be a jock poet? If I can run and practice circus, am I really sick enough to have a chronic illness?

When I was an athlete, I would train through pain, which lead to severe chronic injuries. I’d downplay it with doctors, I’d trust I could keep going because a coach said I should. Because they said it was a sign of toughness. I don’t always talk about my doctor-anxiety in therapy, but all the work I’ve been doing with my therapist has made me realize that if something feels wrong, it probably is. This has made me smarter in running. It has made me comfortable speaking up at work. It has helped me realize I’m not crazy or hysterical if I’m upset when I’m dismissed by a doctor.

Here’s an example. Last summer, I went to my primary care physician because my energy was unusually low. I read her the list of symptoms I tracked in the months leading up to the appointment. Rather than ordering a blood test, she countered every symptom with the response, It’s probably anxiety and depression. After her forth response, I spat out, You’d be depressed to if no one believed the pain you have been in for years. She ended up relenting and ordering bloodwork, but only ordered one very basic thyroid test. Another doctor ordered a better panel, but in the end, I knew I needed a holistic approach. I saved money to see a highly recommended out-of-network doctor that practices naturopathic medicine, therefore looks at the full picture of what is happening inside a patient’s body coupled with their lifestyle. The results were a surprise to no one that listens to the length and heaviness of my periods during an intake: my iron WAS low. Off I went to a hematologist that immediately recommended an iron infusion. 

The two-part infusion was a few weeks ago. I have noticed some significant changes. Although my period this month was bring-me-to-my-knees painful, I didn’t have the brain fog that usually comes with severe fatigue. It’s a relief, I have been really concerned about that symptom. I also coped with the pain better than I have for the past few years. No emotional breakdowns this month. I’ll keep track of this in my spreadsheet, but the anxiety and depression that would normally come with my period barely registered. It seems that because I was not bone-tired, I could hold on to the fact that the pain was temporary, another surgery is on the schedule, I could keep going even though the state of the world is precarious. Nurse and endometriosis advocate, Nancy Petersen, referenced a study at the Endometriosis Summit that supports this: for many chronic illness patients, their depression lifts when (and only when) their significant symptoms are properly treated. I keep thinking about my PCP, who does not seem to understand that.

I deserve to be healthy. You deserve to be healthy. We are all worth a second opinion. We all deserve access to quality healthcare. Our system needs a serious look at the accessibility of long-term care for chronic patients. 

The books I was thinking about while writing this:

  • The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
  • She Said, Jodie Kantor and Megan Twohey
  • The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut

Stay sweaty and glittery.

It’s Mental Health Awareness Month. National Alliance on Mental Illness has resources year round, locally NAMI Metro Baltimore is there for anyone that needs help.

Health in the Time of Coronavirus

The staff member that answered confirmed the appointment was moving forward. She said, “Essential appointments are not cancelled.”

How is everyone doing? I had other writing planned…and then COVID-19.

Baltimore businesses and other nonessential services have been closed for a week. I’m not alone in my anxiety about missing appointments that help me function, help me participate in society. My social media presence looks pretty rosy—I know. That’s curation. When the endometriosis pain is overwhelming, I can look at what I’ve done and remind myself that how I feel is not forever.

Reminding myself that it is not forever does not minimize the impact. The pain is real. I’ve lost an unreasonable amount of time. Previous symptoms have escalated, and new ones have been consistent for quite a few months. After the recommendation of Nancy Petersen (The legend!!—I introduced myself at the Endometriosis Summit which I will write a bit more about shortly, but I have to say that her in-person energy is warm and hopeful. She’s always trying to problem solve with the best information), I made an appointment with a new surgeon in the Baltimore area. The appointment was earlier this week. I worried and worried that it would be cancelled, so I called the day before. The staff member that answered confirmed the appointment was moving forward. She said, “Essential appointments are not cancelled.”

I thanked her profusely for staying open before hanging up to cry. Even with the incredible practitioners I work with, I haven’t acknowledged that endometriosis care is essential. I’ll bring this up in therapy tomorrow…probably. Honoring that endometriosis has brought life-altering pain is an ongoing and difficult place for me to go. For now, I want to say that I’m hopeful about my current care plan. Because even with some dear healthcare providers closed, I still have the support and knowledge they shared. In the pandemic, please remember to deep breathe and do healthy things to move. That’s the best advice I can give, I’m not a doctor! I’m a master of words.

I did want to share a bit more about the Endometriosis Summit earlier this month, especially because it’s a reminder that community continues to work hard. Go if you are able to attend, or watch the live-stream. I learned more in six hours than I had in the two years since my diagnosis. The pelvic floor PT, acupuncture, therapy were all validated. Another big development from the conference: Endo What? launched the School Nurse Initiative. They will send a free education toolkit to the school nurse of your choice. Even with schools closed, the organization announced today that nurses working from home can still receive the kits. Participate to help educators learn so the next generation doesn’t have to spend years suffering silently.

The book I was thinking about while writing this:

  • Beating Endo: How to Reclaim Your Life from Endometriosis by Dr. Iris Kerin Orbuch and Amy Stein DPT
  • Dear Girlsby Ali Wong
  • The Crying Bookby Heather Christle

Stay sweaty and glittery.