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CHRONICALLY
EMILY
Living with Chronic Illness since 1998
I'm Emily--dog lover, human, creator of community, advocate, fundraiser, Jew--and I live with invisible chronic illness. Join me in exploring and embracing the disability space and my life with ME/CFS, dysautonomia and related illnesses.
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27 Years Later: A Whole New Life
Today is 27 years since I first got sick. As my health improves, sometimes those years of being so terribly ill and constantly suffering...

Em of One
Jun 183 min read
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Loving and Learning: Cooking
My mom has many gifts, but one of her best is being a wonderful cook and showing love through food. While Chris does all of the other...

Em of One
Apr 242 min read
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Between Two Kingdoms
My disability has changed. Over the past couple of years, I've had two saphenous vein ablations, a uterine ablation, been under the care...

Em of One
Apr 144 min read
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A Day in Meds
Daily Meds--Filling Pill Packs I take a lot of meds. A lot. And I take them several times a day. Doctors who don't know about my...

Em of One
Mar 171 min read
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SoTS Transcribed
With my Fellow Storytellers For those of you who would prefer to read my story from the Moth-like storytelling I did three weeks ago,...

Em of One
Mar 103 min read
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Something Big and Brave
On Monday night, I stood in front of about 70 people and shared my disability story in the style of the Moth podcast. I was terrified to...

Em of One
Feb 181 min read
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Magical Thinking + Goodbye, Daisy
After I got sick, I'd wake up every morning thinking that maybe I'd feel better. That maybe my body would just up and start working...

Em of One
Mar 22, 20243 min read
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Our Interabled Love Story
Chris and I first met on Bumble in April of 2023. I wasn't feeling very well, so I delayed our first date for three weeks. In the end,...

Em of One
Jan 26, 20243 min read
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This is a Disability Blog? Where Do Ellie, Hank and Chris Fit?
This is a blog about disability right? As readers, you might wonder why I've chosen to write so much about Ellie. How does it fit with my...

Em of One
Jan 26, 20241 min read
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Ellie: My Kindred Spirit + 18's
I can't stop thinking about the number 18. I met Ellie and Hank for the first time on October 22, 2023 at my Rowe's Research Runners...

Em of One
Jan 18, 20243 min read
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One Month Later
I have a long list of tasks and to-dos, but I just need to spend the day being with Ellie. She loved to write as much as I did. As I...

Em of One
Jan 18, 20243 min read
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New Grief, New Loss
Today marks one month to the day that my boyfriend's sixteen year old daughter passed away in her sleep sometime between the hours of 3...

Em of One
Jan 18, 20243 min read
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Embracing Disability Pride Month: Proclamation and More!
July is Disability Pride Month, which is something I didn't really have on my radar until I became increasingly involved with the...

Em of One
Jul 12, 20233 min read
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A Quarter Century Sick: Where Am I Now? (Part 1)
Each year, I spend time around my anniversary of getting sick/becoming disabled (June 18, 1998) giving myself some space to feel all of...

Em of One
Jun 26, 20234 min read
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25 Years Later: Davidson's Enduring Gifts
This past week marked my 25th anniversary of my graduation from Davidson College. Next month will mark my 25th 'sickiversary'. In this...

Em of One
May 21, 20234 min read
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When Your Elderly Mom is Your Caregiver
The woman in this photo is my almost 78 year old mother, who has been my primary caregiver since I first became disabled in 1998. That is...

Em of One
Feb 19, 20236 min read
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A Snapshot: All In A Day (with Chronic Illness)
Chronic illness is often confusing, even for those of us who live with it. After 25 years, I still wonder how my body can be so...

Em of One
Feb 11, 20232 min read
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We Made It! (+ Boom Goes the Chinese Balloon)
We are here! Another year in Sunset Beach, NC. This will be our 9th winter here since we first started snow-birding in 2013. (We missed...

Em of One
Feb 5, 20232 min read
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Top 12 Books of 2022
5 Stars I don't usually write reviews on Goodreads, but here is what I wrote about The Girl with the Louding Voice: This book was...

Em of One
Jan 12, 20235 min read
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