Credit to Kumquat Designs When Chelsea Gagnon was born 29 years ago, they knew there was something special about her from the start. She was born with meconium ileus, a disorder causing a blockage in her intestines, which she needed surgery to correct. After the surgery, Chelsea’s doctors did more testing and found out that … Continue reading Cystic Fibrosis & Advocacy // Meet Chelsea Gagnon
I’ve always been an introvert at heart. I don’t dislike people, it’s the opposite in fact. But when I spend a lot of time around people, by the end, I’m all peopled-out and need some quiet time to be with myself and my thoughts. My brain gets time to relax, no longer needing to be … Continue reading Finding Community in Adversity
As many of you know, Gastroparesis is one of the conditions I deal with due to my genetic condition. What happens with gastroparesis is that it makes my stomach be really awful at digesting food. Because of that, I use TPN and a bit of tube feeds in order to “eat”. August is gastroparesis awareness … Continue reading Gastroparesis; Your Questions, My Answers
You know those memories we have that just stick with us forever? The ones that we will always remember in detail? That shook you to your core in a way that you will never forget? For me, ones of those memories was the first time I was told that I needed to start using a … Continue reading The Superpower Named Acceptance
So, it's been a long time since I've written here! During my last post, I wrote about my Christmas miracle and how I was really starting to look forward to the holidays. This Christmas was supposed to be a good one after spending the holiday the year before in the hospital. We planned things carefully … Continue reading Holidays & Hospitals
My routine over the last few years has stayed fairly consistent no matter what month of the year. It mainly consisted of running from appointment to appointment, test to test, spending more time with my doctors and other medical professional than my friends. Not only did I spend much of my time in the same … Continue reading The summer of self-discovery
Three summers ago, I was laying in a hospital bed in the fourth floor of our local hospital. I slowly try and pull myself up in bed, the new incision in my stomach pulling and causing pain. After I sat up, I hesitantly walked over to the mirror by my bed in a hunched over … Continue reading How social media helps (and hurts)
Though time machines don't exist (yet), my dad and I managed to travel back in time this afternoon to a time of pirates where tall ships openely roamed the seas. We were able to do this right here at home, at the first day of Saint John's Festival of Sail in celebration of Canada's 150th … Continue reading Exploring the Festival of Sail
This past Thursday, I had an appointment uptown. This appointment was with one the most important members of my medical team, a member I really haven't talked about being on my medical team before: my counsellor. I'm not sure why I haven't talked about seeing her. Maybe because of my past experience or maybe because … Continue reading Caring for the Mind, Body, & Spirit
This past year was probably the toughest year of my life. With my health posing lots of challenges, I had a lot of hurdles to overcome and mountains to climb. Yet, because of all of this, I learned so many beautiful lessons I would like to share with all of you. I realized how much … Continue reading 2016.
The Invincible Summer 