Journey
Same Run. Same Route. Life-Altering Event.
On January 11, 2018, I went for my run, frustrated that I kept having to walk to catch my breath. I’d learn after the fact that I was having a heart attack during that run. I had no chest pain, and no indication that I should be concerned. It was no different from the previous 100 runs. If you had told me I was having a heart attack, I wouldn’t have believed it. I felt fine.
Being Grateful and Angry at the Same Time
Conflicting emotions aren’t rare or odd. They are part of life. What’s rare is to ever have a single emotion without another one nearby pushing its way into your mind.
I’ve learned that I can be grateful to be alive, and frustrated that I’ve fallen up the steps… again.
The Slow Crawl of Healing, Recovery and Growth
Whatever growth you’ve had, it’s never enough. The rest of life works that way, too. Healing from sickness, recovery, and growth in anything are so slow. It’s so slow, it can be discouraging, frustrating, even infuriating. It’s human nature: we want the progress to be fast, and fast enough to notice it.
I Believe It. I Need You to Believe It.
“Past performance is not indicative of future results” is good news for anyone facing a major life setback. Forget Your Past Performance Any advertisement you see for an investment firm includes the required disclaimer, “Past performance is not indicative of future…
Invisible Illness: How I Look Doesn’t Reflect How I Feel
There are so many people with serious health conditions that suffer from what doctors call invisible illness. Invisible does not mean a patient is fabricating a health issue. It means that the condition is not observable by others. This makes sense. It’s logical. Yet, most people falsely believe if they can’t see a clear indication of illness, then whoever they are looking at must be healthy. This is very common with neurological disorders.
The Relief and Grief of a Medical Diagnosis
Two years later, I finally had an answer, but that answer meant I had another medical condition. There is both relief and grief when you get a medical diagnosis. I felt relief because there was an explanation for my symptoms, and I could learn to manage them—and maybe feel better. I felt grief because that meant having yet another medical condition to manage that will likely never go away. That impacts my quality of life. Like many neurological disorders, there isn’t necessarily a cure, but there are ways to manage symptoms. The conflicting emotions can feel like a massive battle in your mind: validated, disappointed, relieved, hopeful, frustrated, angry, hopeful again. That inner battle can feel exhausting, as if there is only one correct emotion.
Dozens of Doctors and Nurses Repeated this Secret Advice to Me—Word for Word
I’ve been asked about my lifestyle numerous times by doctors and nurses. After sharing all the details, they said it’s shocking that I had cardiac arrest.
What led up to that day is equally shocking. What happened after is beyond words. Across America, more people have become aware of how health insurance companies routinely deny coverage for their policyholders. These aren’t rare instances, it’s part of their system to put profit over patients.
Health Issues aren’t My Identity. They are My Reality.
It can be challenging to live what people consider a normal life when you get reminders every day, throughout the day, that you live with numerous health conditions. No One Wants to Be that Guy We all know that person—the one you avoid asking, “How are you?” You don’t…