#sickgirlsclub

[thegurlfromipanemaa]

My favorite is waking up in the middle of the night ready to barf my life away.

[thewillowswork]

LET’S TALK ABOUT COVID LONG HAULERS. If you’re in ME/CFS communities, no doubt you’ve seen an influx of new characters. They write that they got COVID-19 and never recovered, and their research led them to us. They ask, “how do you guys cure this?!” and “how do you get doctors to listen to you?!” Prominent public health figures are talking about how long haulers might have “something very similar to ME or chronic fatigue syndrome.” ⠀ ⠀ Sick people, it can be hard to see people who have been ill for months receive more recognition than we have gotten in decades. I hear you. I feel that frustration and that bitterness too. But long haulers are not the enemy. Long haulers are new kin, who are also learning that it is possible to get sick and stay sick and not have anyone care- just as we did however many years ago. There is great risk of harm here for all sick people, but that harm will largely be perpetrated by the medical industrial complex. ⠀ ⠀ We need to direct our frustration towards the systems that have failed us, with a goal of prompting change. I am furious with the medical industrial complex that has thrown us aside rather than admit they aren’t omniscient. I am angry with governments and funders that have refused to fund research that might give us all answers. I am not angry at long haulers, who are wrestling with the concept of chronic illness and medical abuse/neglect in the midst of a pandemic. I am afraid, I feel bitterness, but I welcome long haulers to the chronic illness community. I call for unity, not division.⠀ ⠀ PS: Since COVID disproportionately affects people of colour, in part due to inaccess to resources allowing people to physically distance, here’s your reminder that long haulers will not be solely affluent white women. ⠀ ⠀ #ChronicIllness #InvisibleIllness #ContestedIllness #MECFS #PwME#POCwME #DysautonomiaAwareness #Undiagnosed #InvisibleDisabilities #disability #DisabilityAdvocate #Ableism #crip #SocialWork #resistance #feminism #sociology #biopolitics #sick #SickGirlsClub #illness #spoonie #SpoonieLife #CovidLongHauler #CovidLongHaulers #CovidSurvivor #CovidRecovery #Covid19 (at Toronto, Ontario) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDCeMh3DKmU/?igshid=1b2uqr44b4iw7

[shannonknight]

My morning routine - coffee and pills! I really hate taking my medicine and I hate that I need it to function, but I’m trying to change my attitude, which is why I wanted to paint this. I keep my daily meds in cute vintage tins and dishes so it feels like special candy instead of Big Pharma. 🍬✨ I’m honestly not happy with this painting at all but I can’t come up with any real reason why so here she is. I am happy that I got to paint my favourite little vintage coffee cup, swipe to see it irl! ☕️ . . . #illustration #illustrator #illustrationart #illo #artistsoninstagram #painting #contemporaryart #womenofillustration #womenartists #womxnartist #womenwhodraw #portlandartist #portlandart #pdxart #shannonknight #coffeeandpills #chronicillness #sickgirlsclub https://www.instagram.com/p/B888LoKHnb2/?igshid=1kc1pnrzxo48h

[serenebutterfly]

Feeling this quote particularly hard tonight, as once again I am lying in bed and being ravaged by cruel, and persistent #symptoms. Chronic illness has such a horrible way of stripping away #normality, and stealing our lives as we knew it until we are no longer able to remember it old lives. Or even how our bodies felt before the symptoms of chronic illness completely took over. And then we are left unable to remember what it was not to live with such severe and debilitating symptoms, or what it is to live in a normal, healthy and fully functioning body. #spoonie #chronicillness #chronicpain #chroniclife #chronicillnesswarrior #chronicpainwarrior #fatigue #neurologicaldisorder #MS #FND #functionalnurologicaldisorder #wherethetiredgirlsare #sickgirlsclub #sickbutinvisible https://www.instagram.com/p/B_vbIJhD9V7/?igshid=1lqi6gvuvb107

[mabgravesart]

Real Talk Time. I had my second post-hysterectomy annual appointment a couple weeks ago. It was really hard. For those of you new here, I had a very long battle with Stage IV Endometriosis, culminating in a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy at the end of 2016. Endometriosis is called an “Invisible Illness” because there is currently no diagnostic tests - like ultrasound or blood tests- dialed in to “see” it. You have to physically cut into the body to find it. They estimate 1 in 10 women and trans men have Endometriosis, but most people have no idea they have it until it’s quiet advanced. One of the biggest reasons for this is that we don’t talk to each other about “those things”. We’ve been shame-trained from puberty to not discuss them. I had no idea I was different. I just thought I was weaker than the other girls who could take a Midol and keep functioning. It felt like I had a shredder inside me, tearing me to pieces. I remember when my mom told me that this would happen every month from now on. I felt numb and trapped, like I’d been given a prison sentence for just being female. I’d look at the women around me in awe, marveling at how they could stand and walk and move around. I didn’t know my pain was different until I woke up in the hospital from an emergency surgery. I’d been bleeding internally from a rupture and had grown so used to biting through the pain, I missed all the warning signs. Periods ARE painful, but if you’re experiencing pain that keeps you from work, life, and functioning that is NOT NORMAL. If your daughter, wife, or girl friend seems to be in alarming amounts of pain, don’t write it off. Show her this post. Help her research Endometriosis. This disease affects all of us, and the more girls who know they are not weak or crazy the sooner they can get help. Don’t ignore it - it won’t go away and it’s not in your head. There are so many new studies happening right now and I can taste answers on the horizon. I don’t want another single person to have to live my story. Fight for yourself. I’m fighting for you too. I love you all, my #sickgirlsclub #endometriosis #endometriosisawareness #hysterectomyrecovery #hystersister https://www.instagram.com/p/B299ftTnFG6/?igshid=1165sn5j2ny30

[viktoriabones666]

Lyrics/poem written by me #chronocpain #fibromygia #deathwiah #dying #voodoo #voodoodoll #hirting #excrutiating #arthritis #crps #sickgirlsclub #sad #depression #selfhate #mentalhealth #nocure #nohelp #hopeless #gothinpain #gothnz #nzgirl #lyrics #poetry #art #whatdoidonow #disabilityawareness #invisibleillness https://www.instagram.com/p/B_HwF5iAgW2/?igshid=m31qa30oforb

[sickasiansanonymous-blog]

I WANT A REAL RELATIONSHIP WITH MY FAMILY. I believed for a very long time that I had to be the one to fix it, and I know now that it has to be them. They love the person they think I am very deeply. But because I'm not that person, they manipulate and guilt and pressure me into "at least" pretending to be that person. I can't do it anymore. I've told them that pretending comes at a cost, and they've been perfectly happy to have me pay it. I'm not. 🌜What I want is for my family to see, love, and respect me as I am. And by respect, I just want to be able to make statements about my own life without them telling me I'm ridiculous, it's not possible, but also that the impossible situation is my fault. 🌜This means I'm on the fence about having a relationship with my family as-is. I want something that doesn't exist- but I give up even the glimpses of it I get now if I go no contact. And I give up having a family, I give up the only people who knew me as a child, the family history, and a lot of my culture. But I'm gaining myself. Most of the time now, I believe I'm worth it. 🌜 ID: An ombre sage green background. A square turned on its point contains a white line drawing of a pussywillow branch, underneath which are the words, "Sick Asians Anonymous." Below the square it reads, “Do you want a real relationship with your family?” 🌜 #Asian #AsianDiaspora #AsianMentalHealth #Filipinx #Filipino #ChronicIllness #InvisibleIllness #Sick #SickGirlsClub #Spoonie #POCwME #Disabled #DisabledPOC #InvisibleDisability #DisabilityAdvocate #MedicalAbuse #Ableism #Crip #Trauma #ToxicPeople #ToxicFamily #IntergenerationalTrauma #ComplexPTSD #FamilyTrauma #Queer https://www.instagram.com/p/CAQWrrFgDFe/?igshid=rurh2wshv2jc

[allycrush]

Life has been crazy. It’s definitely different healing from this surgery, since my pain has significantly gotten better, but now also dealing with other ailments that I’m not used to. Every time I feel pain, I immediately get scared that my 9+ pain is coming back or that the hernia mesh has failed. I’ve been letting that fear really take hold of my emotions and I’ve just recently noticed it. I’m now trying my best to break out of this fear and enjoy this new life. @brett_fackcancer took us on an amazing vacation in San Diego this past weekend (expect lots of pictures) and for the first time, I was able to keep up and actually have fun! So, I’m sorry if I’ve been MIA lately, but I’m going to try my best to get back into the swing of things 💛 #happiness #fear #fearless #twloha #chronicillness #chronicpain #pelvicpain #hernia #herniarepair #invisibleillness #fightlikeagirl #sickgirlsclub #spoonie #spooniemom #myloves #fiance #brixtonzackery (at Fullerton, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1xK0EID3V-/?igshid=qhmlyj77dowh

[star-wonder]

“It’s too late” by Abbi Schellhase 8.5″ square graphite, ink, watercolor, gouache, colored pencil https://instagram.com/starwonderart Month of Love 2019 Week One: “Lies” For this year’s Month of Love challenge, I am basing my art on my experience of life with chronic illness. The prompt lies reminds me of the many falsehoods I am tempted to believe as the world seems to move on without me.

[samscuriouscreatures]

🙌🖤After months of being unable to draw I am finally trying to get back into it -🙌🙌😊🖤 this is my first WIP drawing of the year... it's a huge struggle as my hands are still tingly and numb, but they are letting me hold a pencil again for brief wobbly moments 🙃😊😂🤞🤞🤞🖤 #sickgirlsclub #drawing #sketch #graphite #graphitedrawing #artistsofinstagram #art #lowbrowpopsurrealism #doodle #illustration #alvindrafting #mabsdraftmatic #mecfs #mewarrior #heds #samcrowart #samscuriouscreatures #tiredgirl #myalgicencephalomyelitisartist #ehlersdanlossyndrome #badappleartistcollective https://www.instagram.com/p/BzIuOGjgeGH/?igshid=1jnx7dz2vwsn2

[thewillowswork]

WHEN BALANCE IS IMPOSSIBLE As #sick/disabled people, we are constantly being told to "seek balance". We're told that we can stop the cycle of living and needing to recover from it by doing less in the day-to-day. I've spent years struggling to reach this ideal, and today, I'm giving myself permission to stop struggling. It is ok if my balance is an ebb and flow rather than smooth waters. It is ok that I cannot live my life small enough to fit within the confines of my illness. It is ok that my balance is a changing one. It is not possible for me to live my life and not suffer consequences for it. My energy envelope is small enough that I cannot reduce my life and feel it worth living: even if all I did was cook one meal a day and rest, I would be living far outside of my energy envelope. I need more. Life is more than staying clean and fed, and to do that, I can accept that my balance is one of give and take. #chronicillness #invisibleillness #contestedillness #chronicfatigue #mecfs #undiagnosed #invisibledisability #disability #disabilitystudies #crip #socialwork #resistance #feminism #sociology #biopolitics #sick #sickgirlsclub #illness #spoonie #spoonielife (à Toronto, Ontario) https://www.instagram.com/p/B475m76AmAA/?igshid=1w37drx17vsh6

[shannonknight]

This painting is featured in the newest issue of @thebettyz zine, all about MONEY! For me, it's impossible to think of money without thinking of healthcare. As a young person who is chronically ill, it can feel like you've been dealt a cosmic injustice - not just the illness itself, but the associated costs. On average, 40% of my income is spent on my healthcare, and it feels like a constant bleed. I know so many young women (and it is usually women) who also suffer from invisible chronic illness and struggle to get doctors to listen, to get a diagnosis, to get proper treatment, and to pay for their treatment - especially in the U.S. I know many people share this bleed, and I want them to feel seen. To all my sick friends, I see you and I love you 🌚 . . . #sickgirlsclub #invisibleillness #thebettyz #zine #illustration #illustrationoftheday #art #artwork #brutsubmission #illustrator #illustratorsoninstagram #itsnicethat #thedesigntip #illustrationart #onbooooooom #juxtapoz #contemporaryart #illustration_daily #illustrationhowl #socfeature #painting #hifructose #illustrations #illustrationdaily #shannonknight #pdxart #womenofillustration #womenartists https://www.instagram.com/p/BzYFDYfA8N7/?igshid=10q2xyxiyj8ta

[throwmeaboneherepeople]

Happy New year!! Last year was kinda rough for me! I ended up getting a concussion that didn't heal properly and ended getting a condition called post concussion syndrome ,which can take up to a heal and forced me to put a lot of stuff on hold. This along with some pretty heavy family medical stuff made me really realize just how lucky I am to have such a loving and amazing support system. So new year I am looking forward to getting back on my feet again running to meet new challenges! Let's do this 2019! * * * * * #newyear #2019 #positivevibes #illustration #pencil #pen #coloredpencil #sketchbook #personal #sickgirlsclub #pcs #comics #portrait #post concussion syndrome https://www.instagram.com/p/BsHsHsmBuMp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1f8na25v7419m

[mabgravesart]

Okay guys! I spent half the day today putting together two little “Mab Recommends” gift guides - this one is the Sick Girls Club Edition (The Auntie Edition is next!). I get SO many messages from people with sick pals in their lives, and they want advice on what they can do and how they can help. Aside from love and support, these are a few things I always recommend as sweet surprises for Sick Girls (or boys!). Self-care products like lotion, lip balm, face masks etc. are so helpful. It can be hard to find the energy (or feel like you deserve) to feel pretty when you are in long-term pain. A friend once dropped off a box of cosmetics samples after one of my shots, and I literally cried. It was so thoughtful. Other things cute hot water bottles, and CBD candy are def on top of my list. Other things like craft kits, or monthly box subscriptions are fun ideas for Sick Girls, who end up having a lot more downtime and need distractions from pain. I hope this helps if you have a Sick Girl on your list this year and needed some inspiration to spoil her! If any #sickgirlsclub members have other suggestions on special Invisible Illness friendly gift ideas, comment below! #sickgirlsclub #endometriosisawareness #endometriosis #hysterectomyrecovery #giftguide #mabrecommends https://www.instagram.com/p/B5glKCJH8ty/?igshid=j07f4l006nju

[shadybower]

The beginning of something delicious for #magicmoonweek prompt #magic ... lots of scribbles still to come! . #drawing #illustration #draweveryday #artoftheday #fantasy #fantasyartist #goddess #preraphaelite #folktaleweek #artismagic #livemoremagic #sickgirlsclub #sickgirlscribbles #somenotnone #kindlecuriosity #beautyundermynose #beautifullyimperfect #australianartist #shadybower https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs1gyFlDS8U/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7w34l2irsbay

[sickasiansanonymous-blog]

COMPLICATING NO CONTACT WITH CULTURE. If anyone else in my life refused to accept that I am sick and disabled, insisted I act as if I am not, was consistently dismissive of me, and was controlling to the point of making decisions on my behalf, I would cut them out. But I don’t want to cut out my family. I love my family, I love the raucous parties and the hoards of screaming children. I love having lumpia and roast beef on the same plate, with vinegar chili sauce on the side. I love the short hand I have with my cousins, the understanding that comes with having shared our childhoods. I hate our toxic family culture: the lack of communication, the strict hierarchy of the generations, the way we can name abuse as it happens but strip it from our minds immediately after. While I brace myself for our interactions, I also find that other parts of myself relax. In our white dominated society, I take on the role of #ModelMinority or the Exotic Ethnic. I find myself explaining my otherness constantly, if not tucking it away to be more approachable. Among other Filipinx people, I question whether or not I am Filipino enough. With my family, I am exactly the kind of Filipino I need to be. If I give up my family, I give up nearly all of my connections with my culture and my childhood. I’m in an interracial relationship! My only family culture would be one I do not share. I value my family, even if they only value a certain version of me. Maybe that’ll change in the future, (I suspect it will) but for now, I’m holding on. #Asian #AsianDiaspora #AsianMentalHealth #Filipinx #Filipino #ChronicIllness #InvisibleIllness #Sick #SickGirlsClub #Spoonie #POCwME #Disabled #DisabledPOC #InvisibleDisability #DisabilityAdvocate #MedicalAbuse #Ableism #Crip #Trauma #ToxicPeople #ToxicFamily #IntergenerationalTrauma #ComplexPTSD #FamilyTrauma #Queer https://www.instagram.com/p/B7oU0ZyAqQN/?igshid=18o9ero8y70zo