mmm-oh-no - Tumblr blog

[mmm-oh-no]

any other spoonies have nights where you suddenly feel okayish so you feel like you have to DO EVERYTHING and end up messing up your already screwed up sleep schedule by staying up all night doing things you don't know when you'll feel good enough to do again? like I know it's a terrible idea and effectively gets rid of any energy I'll have for the next day or week but who knows if I'd have energy anyway you know?

I definitely can relate to this… who else? 💙🥄

[mmm-oh-no]

trauma doesnt make you funnier like all those twitter posts say. it's actually IBS and other gastrointestinal problems that make one funny

[mmm-oh-no]

wow, I really had to learn that you're not supposed to do unsupervised yoga/stretching when you're hypermobile from tumblr instead of one of my SIX PREVIOUS PHYSIOTHERAPISTS. WOW.

[mmm-oh-no]

Chronic illness is just *gets sick* *get sicker* *tries to get diagnosed and doesnt* *gets sicker* *wishing pain would stop* *gets sicker* *has one good day and thinks all of this is made up* *overworks self on good day* *gets even sicker* *feels tired* *feels tired* *cant sleep* *gets sicker*

[mmm-oh-no]

You aren’t faking unless you decided to fake it. If you’re worried you might be faking, you aren’t.

[mmm-oh-no]

Hello, yes, I'd like to be extremely clear right now, it's entirely possible to be traumatized from being in hospitals, being sick, having procedures and surgeries, and every and all other single terrifying or humiliating thing/things that happened to you as a result of being disabled and/or sick.

It's possible, it's probably even more common than people think because it's not talked about that much.

Your trauma is real even if it's not something that's talked about that often.

[mmm-oh-no]

waking up symptom free: planning millions of things to do that day 

your chronic illness at midday: 

[mmm-oh-no]

[mmm-oh-no]

The number of people I have known who have pretended to be more ill/disabled than they really are: almost none.

The number of people I have known who have pretended to be less ill/disabled than they really are: almost everyone.

When people tell you they have a chronic illness/disability, believe them. Otherwise you are an Ableist asshole.

[mmm-oh-no]

Basic Respect for Cane Users

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION]

Pic 1: A title card that says ‘basic respect for cane users’.

Pic 2: Not all cane users are: physically weak, slow, elderly. Some cane users can: run, lift heavy things, ride bikes, skateboards, etc. Cane users are not all the same.

Pic 3: Do: move out of the way for someone using a cane, give your seat to a cane user on public transport, offer to carry something for your friend or co worker with a cane, ask cane users what their access needs are, treat cane users with respect. Remember that not everyone with a physical disability uses a mobility aid.

Pic 4: DON’T: touch cane users without their explicit permission, make assumptions about whether someone 'really’ needs their cane, give unwanted advice about someones disability, make a cane user feel bad or like they’re an embarassment. Remember: people might not use their cane full-time, you can’t know if someone is faking.

[mmm-oh-no]

me while lying down: I feel completely fine! I can leave my house today, no problem

me while standing: I feel horrible and I might die. I’m never leaving my house

[mmm-oh-no]

[mmm-oh-no]

so, I slept for about ten hours somehow. I woke up naturally around the six hour mark, then fell back asleep.

but before I fell asleep and again now I have had seriously bad stomach pain and nausea. I tried a few sips of milk and as soon as it hit my stomach it wanted to come back up. it hasn't yet, so I took my stomach meds with it but I don't want to take my ibuprofen like this. so now I am in pain.

anyway, my hands hurt and I don't get to do anything about any of my other joints hurting either because my ableist mother is at home.

yipee.

[mmm-oh-no]

*realizing more and more symptoms and things that you thought were normal but actually are considered symptoms of very serious disorders, but not being able to do anything or tell anyone because itll sound like you're just constantly coming up with new stuff to get you attention when in reality you just want to share them because it might give you clarity/validation but your fear as being seen as an attention seeker holds you back*

[mmm-oh-no]

Hey shoutout to

People with “minor” disabilities who aren’t sure if they belong in disabled spaces

People who have rare disabilities and don’t see other people with the same disability, even in disabled spaces

People who’ve been told nothing is wrong with them even though is something clearly wrong that now feel like they’re just making stuff up

People who have been dismissed by doctors because they didn’t fit the image the doctor had of what a “sick” person looked like

People who tried to get help for their problem and are still waiting

People who have unaddressed health problems in general

Y’all are great and deserve the world!

[mmm-oh-no]

Some chronic illness hacks from my worst times:

- take your pills with something. I know it’s good bragging that you can take pills dry but it really sucks to get esophagus problems from that. If you have trouble washing them down or psyching yourself up to swallow, try it with food! Oatmeal, prunes, or banana were my favorites

- take it ten steps at a time. Literally. If you don’t know how you’ll manage to get through an hour meeting or a long distance, count your steps or breaths. Focus on the pattern, walk to syllables to your favorite poem or song, count in French, whatever gets you through that small chunk of time. Then do it again

- have a distraction. Your brain can’t face your symptoms all the time. Watch or listen to something for everything

- sit down. Sitting usually hurts less than standing for me. Sit while brushing teeth, showering, sorting laundry

- switch your media. You will build negative associations to a song you listen to when you are in pain. Some take longer than others. I constantly cycle through music and keep a playlist of music that seems immune to the associations

- take breaks. Pace yourself. There’s no shame if you need to take four days to cut your nails or read one paragraph at a time

- plan for rest days. I usually have a day before and after a task set to just prepare and recover

Please add your wisdom!

[mmm-oh-no]

Fun fact

Showers suck. Heres some tips

You can wash your hair in the sink, with your clothes on. Its a lot less active steps.

You can get into the shower and only wash your body so its quick and only one step.

Also, try getting a dry electric razor (kinda like the ones for shaving long beards or hair) so you can sit in your room and shave.

You can buy a shower chair for things like fatigue, sensory issues, pain, and even if you don't feel "disabled enough," if the aid would benefit you, why would you continue suffering?

You can brush your teeth in the shower so its a shower thing and not something else you have to do after a shower

Make sure you have enough time to rest, sit down, regain spoons, dissociate if it causes that, or watch something to calm down.

Have everything already laid out, like clothes and your hair brush, etc. so its all there afterwards

Remember, you can take a shower literally whenever, sunrise, 1am, noon, 4pm, 10am, doesn't matter.

On days you have to shower, try having less things on your todo list so its not over whelming.

Eat afterwards, abled people may be able to "just hop in the shower" but for us, its like a whole third of our day sometimes, so its okay to have to recover after.