Growing Deeper Roots: My Story of Invisible Illness

As you may remember, I am on the (seemingly endless) waiting-list for a service dog. The organization I am working with is called Canine Partners for Life. The only thing that makes me feel better about how long and excruciating this wait is, is knowing that I’m waiting for something great and that as I’m waiting, K9P is getting better at training and matching dogs. Learning about this process has been such a joy. It started in August of 2015. I researched many organizations that worked with alert dogs and choose K9P because they had the best reputation, highest success rate, friendliest staff and alums and community, and a great structure to their organization. Training dogs can be difficult and training them to do tasks for people with disabilities is an art. K9P provides and sustains professionally trained service and companion dogs by using positive reinforcement. They train their dogs to meet the specific needs of individuals and the environments in which they are liv...

Yesterday was my last day of classes in undergrad. I will be crossing the stage at graduation on May 21st and will promptly begin my post-grad life, searching for jobs, studying for my GREs, and researching graduate programs. What a sweet time to be alive.  But with my celebration, I feel a strong sense of dissatisfaction. As I collect my cords and regalia, I am painfully aware of how empty parts of my college experience is.  I never studied abroad. I didn't finish my independent research for Cater Society.  I dropped my economics major.  I have a long list of trade-offs I made for my health and while listening to so many other soon-to-be graduates recount their undergraduate experiences, I am hyperaware of everything I missed out on.  Sometimes I can't resist obsessing over what I could have done differently over the last three years; should I have stayed for all 4 years even though it would mean $25k more debt? Should I have taken time off when I ...

Today is May 1st. While some people at my liberal arts college might be excited for their nudity-ridden May Day traditions, that is not the focus of my excitement today. Today is the first day of Lyme Disease Awareness Month! For the next 31 days, communities brought together by this terrible disease will work tirelessly to bring awareness, education, funds, and advocacy to this important issue. These patients and activists work year round but this month is the time for everyone else to join them. I will be continuing using my social media platform and this blog to spread awareness all month long. I will also be participating in a 5K for Lyme Nat Cap on May 15th. Across the country, there will be many many other events for you or your allies to partake in. Fighting chronic Lyme can be isolating and devastating but we are not alone in this fight! I hope we can all come together this May to move forward, closer to a world without Lyme! Events to look forward to: ...