Thanks goes to Birdie Nelson at ChronicBabe Forum for passing along this letter. In the spirit of informing those who wish to understand, these are the things that I would like you to understand about me before you judge me. Please understand that being sick doesn’t mean I’m not still a human being. I have to spend most of my day in considerable pain and exhaustion, and if you visit or call me on the ’phone sometimes I probably don’t seem like much fun. But I’m still me – stu

Pain is a funny thing. It pervades our daily existence more than we might realize. We talk about physical aches and pains like headaches, stubbed toes, and paper cuts. We talk about the emotional pain that comes from unhappy life circumstances. Countless poems, plays, screenplays and books have been written about emotional pain related to love in particular. Make a trip to the self-help section of a bookstore looking for books about having a happy (read: painless or at least

So I went to the salon yesterday. I wanted to get my eyebrows threaded. No big deal. <15 minutes in and out. I was excited. It was the first day in over a month that I had the energy – and the time – to go take care of it. I may not be able to control the weight gain, but at least I can keep up with these little things that keep me from feeling completely un-presentable. I know, I know, I need to get over the weight issues. I’m working on it, I promise. The salonist (?), howe