June 18 is Autistic Pride Day, a confusing moniker during Pride Month for a day apparently not created for autistic people who are LGBTQ+ but for autistic people in general to celebrate pride in their neurodivergence. As both an autistic woman and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I was surprised to learn about the […]
Ruminations and Memory
It’s been just over a year since I switched from Effexor XR to Cymbalta for my anxiety and depression. To my memory, I had been taking Effexor for nine years at the time of the switch, which went smoothly because both prescription medications are from the same class of drugs, SNRIs. The decision was made […]
My Complex Medical Problems Too Big for smAlbany
I had my followup appointment with my new primary care doctor on Wednesday, and we went over all of my assorted test results. The usual tests were all fine, which was weird. Some of the specialized tests I requested were abnormal, and Dr. Bennett confessed that she doesn’t know how to interpret them. Her recommendation […]
Essential Oils for Anxiety from a Former Skeptic
When it comes to mental illness, I carry a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and PTSD. I have a Master’s degree in psychology, and I believe strongly in talk therapy and medication, as appropriate, for mental health treatment. A year ago, could I have imagined a time when I’d be recommending essential […]
Winning the Primary Care Lottery
I spent over two hours at my new primary care doctor’s office today, and I couldn’t be happier! Well, maybe a little, but that wasn’t their fault. My previous primary care doctor retired in June. I’d thought I had my replacement set up, but it didn’t work out. The insurance company’s website lied when it […]
Murphy’s Law Ruled the Day
TJ had his first ride in the back of a police car tonight. It was my second. And that’s only part of the story. Picture this: It’s time to drive TJ to his grandma’s house, which is about 2 miles away. I decide that I don’t need to change out of my ugliest pair of […]
I’ve Never Been Raped, BUT…
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With the onslaught of sexual predators being outed among celebrities – political, entertainment, social media, and more – women have been coming out of the woodwork to again speak their truths…that they have been victims of sexual predators before, but were never believed. Victims include many who have been sexually assaulted. Far more have been […]
Comparative Pain Scale – Free Printable
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During a recent Facebook conversation about the trouble with pain level reporting, someone inevitably shared my favorite comparative pain scale as an image. It’s the most descriptive chart for explaining what, specifically, what pain levels 0-10 mean in the most objective sense possible. Since pain is a rather subjective experience – I have a low […]
Fighting Through Imposter Syndrome
Don Jackson described his session this way on our conference schedule: Don had asked us for volunteers in the Facebook group. Those who volunteered passed. The rest of us failed. We are imposters. All of us have felt like imposters at some point. We all feel like we’re not “doing enough.” It’s hard not to […]
