humanity
Advocates, icons, influencers, and more. All about humanity.
Vaccination Day
The call came late Thursday afternoon. “Tomorrow 8am. You’re all on the list.” Words of relief. A culmination of ten months of anxiety, uncertainty, and fear, all waiting for this moment. Filled with high expectations. A sign of the end of worries, and a return to normal life.
By Katie Brozen5 years ago in Longevity
Hospital Story
I’d been in the hospital since before Halloween. I was on Percodan, a powerful morphine-related pain med, and in sterile condition—had to be completely nude in my private room for the first two weeks. Why did this make me think of sex, to have attractive young nurses coming into my room when I was in both a clothing and consciousness-related compromised condition?
By Hank Whitsett5 years ago in Longevity
Living With Iron Deficiency Anemia
It has come to my attention not to long ago that most people do NOT know anything about anemia and how difficult it can actually be to live with it on the daily basis. According to the Mayo Clinic definition anemia is a condition where the blood doesn't have enough red cells, dysfunctional red blood cells, which leads to the flow of oxygen to the organs to be reduced. You are probably thinking about how these people are even alive and functioning in society, right? Well, we are some what perfectly fine, just very tired. The truth is, if you don't get your blood tested chances are you won't even know you are anemic. The symptoms you get from this disease seem almost normal if you have a full time job, go to school, lack sleep, or simply don't always have scheduled meal times. Though there are different types of anemia, for the sake of my brain, we are simply going to stick to iron deficiency anemia, its symptoms and ways to combat it.
By Lydia Cruz5 years ago in Longevity
I Changed My Mentality And Haven't Gotten Sick In A Year
There's a concept I learned from Britain's leading therapist, Marisa Peer, that is slowly changing my life. You are what you believe you are. What you can and can't do is merely the reflection of what you're thinking inside.
By Kevin Shan5 years ago in Longevity
My Road Through 2 Chronic Illnesses
My life has always been a bit different. At 8 I was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes, although my only question to the doctor at the hospital was "Will I ever get to eat oreos again". Wish 8 year old me knew was how life changing this disease would be if I took it seriously from the beginning. Through my teens years I would take my insulin pump out while hanging with friends to feel more normal, more like them. With no care in the world of how those silly decisions may affect me so many years later. I thumbed my nose up at my Doctors who told me "You need to take this seriously" or "This could affect you later on". At 15 years old I started cutting myself, not knowing the deep down reason was I was tired of being different, of being the girl with diabetes, of being the girl that couldn't take part in any fun festivities because my diet wouldn't allow it. At 17 years old I was admitted to the hospital with a bloodsugar of 17 after leaving my insulin pump on while being sick and not eating. My doctor made the decision to remove me from my pump as I was not mature and responsible enough to have one. She put my on a long acting insulin which would cause me to have ketoacidosis 6 months later. After another 5 day stay in the hospital I was just over it. Over the diabetes, over the restrictions, over the shots, over the lectures. I just didn't want to care about any of it anymore. It was all so overwhelming. I luckily had great insurance until 21 when I decided to move across the country. I went 6 years without insurance so without the correct insulin, without a doctor to oversee my care, without enough supplies. I would buy the cheapest bottle of insulin I could get without a prescription ($74 bottle or NPH). This insulin was not what I needed and really had no idea where my bloodsugar was at at any given time. When I was 28 I got pregnant with my daughter. Immediately I was sent to the high risk doctor. The high risk doctor was quick to put me on an insulin pump, quick to get me on a continuous glucose monitor and even quicker to require me to send in my bloodsugar results everyday or risk losing her as my doctor. Under her I was able to get my bloodsugar to levels I have NEVER been at before. My last a1c test right after I gave birth was a 6.1, a prediabetic level. After having my daughter and wanting a healthier and longer life I tried to keep my bloodsugar under control but little did I know the damage from my teenage years had already been done. Fast forward 2 years. I go to the doctor with some shoulder pain. After 1 year it is detemined that my shoulder pain is from scar tissue that has stayed in my shoulder due to the diabetes. 3 weeks after the surgery I am hospitalized and diagnosed with MS. My know it all attitude about my diabetes changed immediately to feeling lost and confused. MS is scary but I can handle the diabetes. I was set up with a neurologist who would quickly put me in my place. I went to see him because I was having some eye issues, my vision was tinted red and I had the most annoying floaters. Absolutely convinced this was due to my new illness I went right in and he broke my heart telling me that this was not due to MS but a complication of years of diabetes. After a rush to the doctor I was scheduled for eye surgery. Now 30 years olf and have been through a c-section, shoulder surgery and double eye surgery. All 3 caused from the diabetes (not that I may not have needed a c-section if I was completely healthy but it was determined early on in my pregnancy that I run the risk of a heavier baby and c-section was the safest delivery method).
By Kimberly Hildreth5 years ago in Longevity
Discovering Yourself Through Cancer
“You have cancer … again.” You would think those words wouldn’t sting so badly the third time. As if you’d become numb to them or had grown a thick skin towards them or maybe the familiarity of those words made them not so terrifying. Not the case. Those four words carry so much weight they can drown you.
By Lindsay Cacavollia5 years ago in Longevity
The reality of gaslighting
As I sit by and watch these humans, physically change into different humans with different personalities, it sounds so crazy, right? Well, it is and not only crazy but dangerous. However, it is not just my eyes that take in the change. My energy, intuition, and digestive system can't deny something that the blind could feel. However many of them that deny it and call me crazy, when in reality they are crazy for coming in at 5'6 at the most, trying to convince me they are the 6'1 man I met multiple times as my everyday friend's boyfriend, she happens to be 5'9, I am only 5'3, therefore I know for a fact that they are not who they say think they are. It is disturbing, to say the least. As I vocalize the facts, this creature standing in at eye level to 5'6ish can't fathom the facts and it turns into a fight that will last until he thinks enough time has passed since that's all he uses as an apology, even when I lived with this person and my everyday friend for a few months and seen him be a boyfriend to my friend. After all, I just escaped a shit show and it was nice being in the embrace of real genuine people again, was it off sometime, absolutely, but was it this off, as off as the person I believed I escaped from, no it was not. There was a sense of consistency that I respected when I lived there.
By Amanda Nissen5 years ago in Longevity
