“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
Continue reading “What does hope mean to you?”I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
BY EMILY DICKINSON
When you have chronic illness, it isn’t uncommon to have problems with electrolyte imbalances. Because of that, I’ve decided to do a series that talks about what they are, how the body uses them and things that we can do to manage our electrolytes. And this is the final installment of that series! I left the most complicated entry for last…
Continue reading “Bicarbonate”Hello my zebras and spoonies! Thanks for coming and visiting me today. I am glad that you’re here.
Well, I skipped on recording yesterday and didn’t do any posting yesterday because I had no spoons. I went and crashed out for like 14 hours and I’m feeling a little bit better today. It’s amazing how much sleep can make a difference for me sometimes. And then other times it’s like I can sleep all I want and I still feel exhausted. Yeah. It’s like playing Russian roulette when I go to sleep. Sometimes I’ll sleep 10 minutes and feel great. Sometimes I sleep 10 hours feel great. Sometimes I sleep those same amounts of times and feel like crap. You just never know.
Continue reading “Update 011822”Hello my Zebras and Spoonies! Thanks for coming and hanging out with me today, I’m glad that you’re here.
Let’s talk about some of the weirdness that comes with wearing masks all the time. Some of the things were expected, but there have been things that have surprised me. First, let me start by explaining that I wear a mask for 12 hour shifts for the entire shift unless I am in a little room all by myself for lunch or a quick snack break. I am one of the people that wear a mask whenever I leave the house or am around people that I don’t live with. So, I’ve spent a lot of time wearing masks over the last 2 years.
Continue reading “2 Years of Masking”When you have chronic illness, it isn’t uncommon to have problems with electrolyte imbalances. Because of that, I’ve decided to do a series that talks about what they are, how the body uses them and things that we can do to manage our electrolytes. For the next seven weeks, I will make a post on Wednesday about one of the electrolytes.
Today we are talking about Chloride. While this is one of the electrolytes generally not discussed, it is highly important in our bodies. Chloride is, after sodium, the most abundant electrolyte in serum, with a key role in the regulation of body fluids, electrolyte balance, the preservation of electrical neutrality, acid-base status and it is an essential component for the assessment of many pathological conditions. The normal adult value for chloride is 97-107 mEq/L.
Continue reading “Chloride”Hello my Zebras and Spoonies! Thanks for coming and hanging out with me today, I’m glad that you’re here.
Happy House Plant Appreciation Day! If you have house plants, today is a great day to be thoughtful about why you have them and the benefits that having them offers you. Research has demonstrated that we are relaxed by the presence of house plants. So, go thank your plant for helping to reduce your stress levels! Go on!
Continue reading “House Plant Appreciation Day!”Hello my Zebras and Spoonies! Thank you for coming and hanging out with me today. I am glad that you are here.
Today I want to revisit the topic of how I cope with my chronic illness. I made a previous post about this that focused on the philosophy that I use when thinking about my chronic illness that allows me to better manage the challenges I face. You can read that here:
You can also listen to the pod cast here:
But I am revisiting the topic to talk about it from a more practical perspective. I want to talk about some coping skills or tools that you can use to help get you through the tough times. As I got to working on this, I realized that there was a lot of material here, so I’ve broken it into two parts. This is the promised second post about coping skills.
Continue reading “Coping Skills: Part Two”When you have chronic illness, it isn’t uncommon to have problems with electrolyte imbalances. Because of that, I’ve decided to do a series that talks about what they are, how the body uses them and things that we can do to manage our electrolytes. For the next several weeks, I will make a post on Wednesday about one of the electrolytes.
Continue reading “Phosphate”Hello my Zebras and Spoonies! Thanks for stopping by, I’m glad that you’re here.
Wow, just like that a year has gone by. They go so fast. I started this blog as a way to help myself sort out my own thoughts and feelings surrounding my chronic illnesses. Over the past year, I have gotten over 100 followers and over 1,000 likes on my posts. Thank you so much for joining me in this strange journey that I’m on. Not really sure where this will take me, but it has been a lot of fun so far.
Plans for the next year? Well, I plan to continue with the blog and the pod cast. I also plan on doing some streaming. I haven’t gotten that all figured out yet, so I don’t know when I will be starting that up. I’ll provide more details as I figure things out. I’m planning on adding a page to this site that will give a list of all the places that you can find me and the Zebra Pig content.
What would you guys like to see? Any suggestions or thoughts for the next year would be appreciated.
I hope that the next year will be kinder to all of us and that you will find a good balance in your chronic illness journey.
Hello my Zebras and Spoonies! Thanks for coming and visiting me today, I’m glad that you are here.
Today is actually a holiday. Admittedly, one that most people have never heard of and one that few people celebrate. Today is the Festival of Sleep Day. It is also National Straw Drinking Day, Weigh-In Day, National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day, and Humiliation Day. There are a lot of strange, little know holidays out there that few people know about or celebrate. I’ve decided that I will be highlighting some of the ones that I think are fun or that highlight important issues. If you’d like to know more about these strange little holidays, you can go to Days of the Year or Holiday Insights. Because the strange fact of the matter is that there is a holiday on every day of the year and on most days, there is actually more then one.
Continue reading “Festival of Sleep”
Zebra Pig 