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Thanks so much to Lindsay for asking me to guest post today! I also have POTS; I was diagnosed a little over 10 years ago, but have 
been “sick” for almost 11 years now… just typing that leaves me feeling a bit sad. Living with a chronic illness makes life interesting, and I wish it came with a “how to manual” for family and friends. So here are five things I wish that people could understand about having a chronic illness:
I can be smiling, laughing, and having fun, and feel sick and in pain all at the same time. It’s easy for people to say “well you aren’t acting sick” and ignore the reality of what those of us with chronic illness are going through. If I acted in line with how I felt, I wouldn’t be the cheery, driven person that I am today.
Most of the time, we don’t mind talking about it. Quite honestly, I’m really happy to talk about POTS, and try to help people understand it better. I have a huge amount of appreciation for the friends I have who have taken the time to get to know my experiences, and help support me through them.
With chronic illness, my day is pretty much 100% different than my friends. From the time I wake up to the time I go to bed, I’m constantly thinking and adjusting what I need to do based on my experiences. I stand and talk to people and have to work on getting my blood to not settle too much in my legs to avoid passing out. I carry salt with me so I can take it the moment I start getting dizzy. I count ounces of water to make sure I’m getting enough. I don’t leave the house without making sure that I have multiple meds with me. These are just a few examples of things I constantly have to do on top of what the average human does in living. (This post might give you an idea of what my days are actually like).
Requests that are “little” might actually be pretty big. With a chronic illness, experiences can be magnified, so what seems little to you might actually be a really big deal. It might seem “ridiculous” or “dramatic”, but we usually know what we need. If you have questions, be open to the discussion and explanation, and just ask.
Peoples’ experiences with the same illness could be vastly different, so comparison is generally unhelpful. My life with POTS can look pretty different than someone else’s with POTS, and that doesn’t mean my POTS is “better” or “worse”. Getting to know each individual’s specific case is definitely important!
Obviously there are SO many more things about living with a chronic illness that I wish people would understand, but these are a great start. If you’d like to know more about my life with POTS, check out my link here. If you’d like to know more about living with POTS, check out my post on “30 Things You Might Not Know About My Life With POTS”
Why wouldn’t you sign up for it, right? The great thing about it is that you can attend the various sessions at your own convenience, and when you need to exercise, run errands, take care of the kids, etc… you can do that as well!
There is also an option to pay and have access to conference materials after the conference is over, but that’s not a requirement to attend either. The conference is kicking off on Thursday with a fun twitter chat, and will continue through the weekend! I’m pretty excited to not only learn some great new tips and tricks, but also to connect with health and wellness bloggers throughout the weekend.
Make sure to head over to the website and sign up for FREE, even if you’re unsure of what you can attend over the weekend, and I hope to see you there!
We headed to the Carmel access of the Monon, which was fitting because it was 6 months ago that we first met doing the Carmel Half Marathon. I ended up wearing a long sleeve tech shirt for the Indy Mini Marathon in 2013, a thicker zip exercise shirt, and a biking windbreaker. I also wore my compression sleeves and running tights under my biking shorts (an absolute first for me!). I also wore my biking gloves underneath another pair of thin gloves, which was another first. I had no idea if that would be enough, but I decided it would just have to do.
I also tried the blueberry pomegranate flavor of nuun for the first time, and I was a BIG fan! I think it’s my favorite flavor I’ve tried of theirs so far actually. I also used spotify for the first time on this ride, and loved all the music that I had. I guess this ride really was filled with firsts!
I rotated between biking by myself at my regular speed and biking next to Melissa as she was out running. I’ve really missed running over the past few weeks, but I’m trying to be smart and make sure I can get cardio without making my shin splints any worse.
It was definitely chilly, although with what I was wearing, my core warmed up pretty quickly. Around the mile mark, my toes and fingers started to get pretty cold though, so if I was going to be out there longer, I’d definitely want a different option.
The changing leaves were definitely beautiful, and as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve love the changing scenery during my fall rides. It’s weird to be biking over leaves instead of the plain pavement, and I get worried from time to time that I’ll slip on them. From time to time a leaf would get stuck in the little gap between the wheel and my bike, and I’d have to stop to pull them out.
Melissa took a few pictures of me towards the end of the ride today, which were interesting. I see pictures of me running a few times a year during races, but rarely get to see any pictures of me on the bike.
I am going to try to get in a few more weeks of riding outside before I put my bike tire on for the winter. The problem isn’t just the cold- it’s the fact that it’s getting dark earlier AND that it seems to be raining almost every day right now. I’m enjoying the differences of biking in the fall compared to the summer, but it’s going to be really hard to give up biking on the road for the next 6 months…
Week 7 complete! I’ve not run in 3 weeks now, which I feel really sad about. I noticed this week that I was getting frustrated by the tiniest little things, and I couldn’t come up with a single reason why that would be happening. It took a few days into the week before I realized that I’ve been forced into pseudo-taper, and that’s what was making me just a little bit fussy. My workouts this week didn’t completely work out the way that I wanted them to. My bike ride on Wednesday had to be cut VERY short because it was far too windy to be out safely. I kept coming very close to being blown over, which was scary in and of itself. The cars passing me at 45 mph as I was being tossed around was really what was upsetting to me, so I called it quits and went on a walk instead. I was also planning to lift after work on Thursday, and then realized after I got to work that I had an event to go to straight after work, and had to scrap my lifting plans. It’s a bummer, but I’m doing what I can do right now. Here’s what my week looked like:
- Friday (10/3): REST
- Saturday: unintentional rest. I had DNS’d a race and then spent 4 hours raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
- Sunday: 45 mins pilates, 1.4 mile walk
- Monday: 25 minutes of barre while teaching
- Tuesday: 2 mile elliptical (not my favorite- just trying to get some cardio in for the week)
- Wednesday: 5.25 mile bike, 1.2 mile walk
- Thursday: 1 mile walk
Not the week that I would want during what should be a peak week, but, as I said, I’m doing what I can do with all the constraints that seem to be existing right now. I haven’t done the elliptical in SO long (maybe since early 2013 or late 2012?), and really don’t like it, but I’m trying to keep my cardio fitness as best as I can, so I sucked it up (and sent a few fussy snaps to some of my friends) 😀
*Make sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to fact #5 for a fun announcement!
Ok, so nail polish of the week! I’ve heard of Essie’s “Mint Candy Apple” (I’m curious about how they got that name though??) before, and had wanted to try it for quite some time. I’m weird about nail polish colors and the seasons, so I almost didn’t try this one, since it’s more of a spring/summer (and January) color in my mind (I know… I’m a little bit weird like that. sorry.) I’m glad I tried it out though, because I ended up really loving it. Here’s what it looked like on in comparison to how the color looked in the bottle:
(before my nails had been touched up. Indoor lighting)
Here’s another shot:
I LOVE it (and I love my tattoo as well!) I just put two coats of the color on (plus a base and top coat), and felt like that was more than enough to cover the nail well (sometimes pastels need more than 2 coats, and I’m not a fan of that). Like I said, this color might not cycle back around for awhile, as there are so many fall-ish type colors that I’m excited to wear, but I am looking forward to wearing this again in the future!
And here are some Friday Facts for you!
1. I’m only twelve dollars away from my fundraising goal of $500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society! I’m so excited to have almost completed my fundraising! (You can read more about my story on my fundraising page here).
2. I am being really stubborn and refusing to turn on my heat right now. So, I’m living in about 62 degree temperatures right now. There are moments that feel really chilly, but I just layer up and get under some blankets, and I’m fine. And my bank account thanks me 🙂
3. I love Thursday nights on ABC. Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How To Get Away With Murder are all on back to back to back, and I love it!
4. I love pretty much all things pumpkin spice (it goes into my intense love for all things seasonal). I’ve worked on decreasing the amount of coffee creamer I put in each cup of coffee (seriously, my coffee wasn’t even remotely dark looking because I put so much in), but I’m still enjoying a splash of flavor in my cups!
5. I’m an affiliate for the “Blog Well Summit” on October 17-19. This is a FREE virtual conference on all things health and blogging! Did I mention that it is free? Click here to sign up to attend this free online conference! (affiliate link). Sign up and join in the fun! Because it’s online, you can attend at your own convenience, (and did I mention that it’s free!).
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you looking forward to most this weekend? Tell me one random fact about your week too!
Happy Thursday!! This week has finally REALLY felt like fall, as it’s been pretty chilly and rainy. My living room is hovering right around 62 degrees every morning, so extra blankets have already been pulled out! Here’s what I’m thankful for at the moment:
I’m thankful for ice. As I’ve mentioned, I have a “touch of shin splints” right now, so I’ve been icing (ice massage actually) like a fiend every day! I’m thankful ice is a thing that we have access to all year round.
I’m thankful for my pumpkin spice candle. It makes the evenings feel so much more warm and cozy!
I’m thankful for the sunshine today. We’ve had a lot of gray and/or rainyish weather the last few days, so having a whole day of sunshine today (I typed this Wednesday night) was a true treat.
I’m thankful for Spotify! So I just officially got Spotify this past weekend, and I’m already obsessed (as in, one day I slept just over 5 hours because I was up so late on it. oooops!). I really was thankful for it while stuck on the elliptical this week (not my favorite form of exercise).
I’m thankful for a free gym membership. I’m so thankful that I have access to gym equipment for free! I went earlier this week to use the elliptical when it was raining and I couldn’t bike outside, and while I absolutely don’t love the elliptical, and it’s not my first (or second or third) source of cardio enjoyment, I’m thankful I was able to get a cardio workout anyways.
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today?
So often in life we hate on our body… or, dare I say, we’re even verbally abusive towards it. We pick it apart, complain about it, and notice the things it doesn’t do. We see when it fails us in some way, and we tend to focus strongly on that. Is that a relationship you want to have with your body? I sure don’t!
The fact is, I’m human. While I’ve grown a HUGE amount since high school in terms of loving and accepting the body I have, I still have my moments. Having POTS is really frustrating, and sometimes I get very upset towards “my stupid POTS riddled body” (that’s how it usually starts, either in my head or out loud to someone close to me). In countless ways every day, it feels like my body is failing me due to POTS.
Or take my current “injury” situation (I say “injury” in quotes because I am convinced this is just the beginning stages of shin splints, and not any big injury at all) with shin splints. I am SO frustrated that my body is failing me at the moment. I do PT exercises every week, I ice regularly, I roll my legs, I do pilates and weight lift to strengthen my body, and I do all sorts of cross training. I don’t run high mileage weeks… ever. So I feel like, right now, my body is failing me. It’s frustrating. But where does dwelling on that really get me?
The fact is, when I look at the bigger picture, I am so thankful for what my body does for me. When I stop to think about it, it’s really pretty amazing. After my really solid 7 miler a few weeks ago, I got in the car and patted my leg, saying “thank you so much body for what you just did for me”.
The fact is that, even when things aren’t working optimally, like my situation right now, my body still does amazing things. My heart bumps blood through my body with no effort from me. I breathe, swallow, digest food, all without thinking about it. That’s amazing, right? My eyes move around and my brain quickly processes the information. I speak without having to think through each little word. I walk next to friends and carry on conversations while enjoying nature and keeping my eyes out for cars. MY BODY DOES THAT FOR ME.
My body has carried me through 1,435 miles of exercise so far this year. It’s carried me across the finish line of 6 (or 7 really) half marathons. It’s let me finish two triathlons. It allows me to work out while I talk the entire time while I teach my pilates barre class.
My body does amazing things for me. I’m assuming that your body does the same for you too. It’s not perfect by any means, and having a chronic illness certainly doesn’t help.
Do we pause to thank our body for what it does for us? Do we speak with gratitude about it, or do we use hateful words towards it? Do we come from a place of thankfulness or hatred?
Yes, it was delicious, but I was still a little bit sad. I had also agreed to volunteer at a bucket shake for team in training for 4 hours on Saturday, as this was a way to get more money towards my fundraising goal.
I have to be honest and say that I was pretty grumpy about it on Saturday morning. It was pretty chilly outside (in the low to mid 40s and windy, and my body is NOT used to that right now), and I wasn’t keen on standing alone for 4 hours asking for money. And as I was grumbling aloud, I very quickly realized that I needed a little attitude adjustment. Yes, it might not be the most fun thing I could spend my Saturday doing, but I was doing it to raise money for research for blood cancer, and for those who are fighting hard with a cancer diagnosis. Me standing outside for 4 hours is not worth complaining about, especially compared to what those with leukemia and lymphoma are going through right now. This changed my attitude quite a bit, and I was off to Kroger (a grocery store).
When I got there, I realized that they let us set our table up right in the entry way (outside of the actual store, but where people can pick up the carts). The door was wide open, so it was still chilly in there, but at least it wasn’t as windy, and I was thankful.
I took over for the people ahead of me, and I was off. Confession time: I really dislike when people stand outside of stores and ask for money. I feel uncomfortable and hate saying no, but often do (part of that is that I don’t have cash on me very often). Sometimes I don’t even make eye contact with them as I scurry by, busy with my day. I had been told to expect about $75 per 2 hour segment I stood out there, but I was really hoping that I could maybe pull out about $200 for the day. However, I wondered who also would give (I guess I figured that people wouldn’t want to donate?).
This experience swept my expectations away, and I was humbled by people’s generosity. I was SHOCKED at the number of people who tossed money in one of the buckets- absolutely blown away actually. Some people silently put in a few dollars, some people just thanked me for being out there and raising money, and some people stopped to chat briefly (or one person talked to me for about 20 minutes) and share their stories (some were survivors, some had just lost a family member to cancer, and some people had just received a cancer diagnosis). These stories left me choked up, inspired by their determination and courage, and overcome with desire to get out and do all that I can to help fight against cancer.
An important lesson for each of us here: Plenty of people apologized for only throwing in a dollar or two, and I think they felt bad that they were only donating “a little bit”. Here’s the thing though- the “little bit” that we donate or give to things adds up to SO MUCH. When people say that every dollar helps, they REALLY do mean it, and I got to see that first hand this weekend. Even the extra change that we have adds up (I got somewhere around 15 dollars just in extra coins that people tossed in, which is awesome). I did get two twenty dollar bills and maybe 8ish 5 dollar bills, but the rest were in $1 bills. You know what that added up to be?
410 dollars! (By the way, I made sure to wait to post this until after the money was safely taken to the TnT office and was out of my house. haha) All of those “tiny” donations added up to something SO huge and unbelievably more than I was expecting or hoping for in those few hours. Every little bit DOES help, and I’m so thankful for all the generous people who were shopping and chose to stop and give.
I now have only 40 dollars left to reach my $500 fundraising goal! Would you consider donating just a few dollars (maybe the equivalent of one starbucks drink this week?) to my fundraising goal to help fight blood cancer?
When I was little, we had so many oak trees in our yard, and my parents would send my brothers and me out to collect some of them, as they, in the quantity that we had, were bad for the grass. Acorns have a pretty positive memory for me, so when the acorns started falling on my walk, I paused to pick a few up. I held them in my hand an observed them, and then turned my eyes upward. I looked at the strong, huge oaks that I’ve walked past for almost a decade. For the first time, I saw their strength and height. To hold a tiny acorn, which might some day grow to that, made me pause in a totally different way than before.
In life, we sometimes think that health is about these huge changes that we have to make. Sometimes it is. But really, health is about these tiny changes and the little things that we do each day, and it’s the combination of these things which, given time to grow, lead to strength and might.
That’s how it is with the acorn. In that tiny acorn is so much potential, and with the right environment, it will grow into that strong oak tree. And so it is with our health. It’s the tiny little acorn within us that, given the right effort and environment, over time, will grow to that strong tree of health.
It’s not always about the big things. Sometimes it’s the tiny acorn sized changes and healthy behaviors that we choose to own and plant within us. Given time, they will grow to that strong, sturdy health within us.
Here are a few examples of little acorns that can grow into something huge:
- Owning Our Reactions
- Cultivating Gratitude
- Embracing The Shades of Gray
- Changing Catastrophizing Language
- Setting Yourself Up For Success
- Respecting The No
- Drinking enough fluid ounces throughout the day
- Taking time to do one life giving activity each day
Don’t discount the little things in life that you can do. Those “little things” acorns will grow and become something fantastic in your life.
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s a “tiny acorn” that you’ve had in your life that has turned into something much bigger health-wise?
Happy Sunday! Well, bad news. I have the start of shin splints, which is why you don’t see a run on my schedule for the week. Biking and barre class have been my cardio for the week, but I’m trying to rest my legs. That walk on Monday wasn’t helpful, so I think I’m going to have to tell my clients that I can’t walk for a few weeks. Ick. Here’s how the week looked:
- Friday (9/26): 30 mins pilates
- Saturday: 7.5 mile bike ride
- Sunday: 30 mins pilates, 1.35 mile walk
- Monday: 3.75 mile walk (a client requested that we walk during our session), 25 mins barre while teaching
- Tuesday: 20.4 mile bike ride
- Wednesday: 25 minutes weight lifting (arms)
- Thursday: REST
It’s really interesting to wear a FitBit during my barre class. During that one hour, I end up walking over 3,000 steps, back and forth across the classroom. That’s well over a mile in steps, and I really had no idea that I moved that much! Of course that’s also apart from the times I demonstrate the movements as well. I guess it’s a pretty great workout for me, even when I am teaching!