"The question is not how to survive, but how to thrive with passion, compassion, humor and style." ~ Maya Angelou

I’ve always had a thing for zebras.

If you want to know the roots, it’s pretty simple. I was born a crazy, obsessive horse lover. Zebras were like the exotic, adventurous versions of horses. My feral, child self adored them.

Things compounded when, at age seven, I was bitten by a zebra.

No really, I have photographic proof.

[Read more…]

Twas two days before Christmas, and all through my tummy, not an intestine was digesting, not even a crumb-y. My feeding bags hung on the IV pole with care, in hopes that nutrition soon would be there. With my dogs and I laying a-snug in my bed, and Muppet Christmas carols playing through earbuds in my head, knitting a last-minute Christmas day gift, I smile, content, and my spirits do lift.

Okay, I’m not a poet, and I certainly know it. So here’s a picture of my adorable dogs to make up for it.

But there is a point to my sappy spoonie story-time, and that is a message I want everyone with chronic illness to realize, that I have slowly realized in my past four years with chronic illness. [Read more…]