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Generally speaking, showing my horse is great. The shows are exhausting, but they are so much fun that I do them anyway. A recent show was no different. Even though riding is an individual sport, team members all support one another.

In the not-too-distant past, I hated shopping. Walking across parking lots and winding my way through store aisles was incredibly tiring, thanks to my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) and comorbid conditions. Prolonged standing and walking led to severe abdominal pains and vertigo. Sometimes I would have to squat in…

It turns out the crazy busy week paid off. I spent last weekend at a horse show in North Carolina, and Cherry and I had an amazing time! It was our first time showing at the Beginner Novice level, where the jumps are a maximum height of 2 feet…

Fall in the college counseling profession is like running the proverbial rat race. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day for the amount of work that needs to be done. Students procrastinate and need help at the last minute. Students who don’t…

Many people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) experience a form of dysautonomia called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Dysautonomia is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system, which controls the body’s subconscious functions including digestion, heart rate, perspiration, and breathing. Symptoms of POTS, predominantly an elevated heart rate, are…

I’ve made a lot of progress in learning how to manage Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), but I still experience pain flares. My most recent flare improved dramatically after a massage. I was mostly back to normal (at least my version of normal), but then I went to a conference. I…

The past few weeks have been a total whirlwind. I’m a college counselor at a local high school, so September and October are the busiest months for me. They lead up to Nov. 1, which is a major college application deadline. I’m slammed with work and also trying to train…

Injuries happen just like that. It’s usually senseless: a step taken too soon, an unexpected encounter with a door jamb, lifting a handbag on the way out, driving a car. A small, random action can cause a dislocation or subluxation and change the course of the next few days,…

Life never seems to slow down. Every time I think I have time to take a breath and catch up around the house (you know, cleaning, laundry, dishes …), it’s bedtime and I still have a long list of uncompleted chores. That used to cause…

So after last week’s frustration, this week was about refocusing and figuring out what my “side road” would look like. I don’t respond well to the feeling that my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is keeping me from doing something…