*all images on Picnic with Ants created and owned by Wendy Holcombe unless otherwise noted.
Today is Day 27 of #HAWMC (WEGO’s Health Activist Writers Monthly Challenge). The prompt today is:
Sunday Selfie: Post your favorite picture of yourself.
Don’t be shy, it’s time to shine!
I don’t really have a favorite selfie, so I just took one, it came out pretty good.
If you’d like to read more posts from today please search for #HAWMC and check out WEGO’s Facebook page. Don’t forget to Like Picnic With Ant’s Facebook Page too. 🙂
If you would like to share your story on Picnic with Ants, contact me through the contact form on my About Me – Contact Me Page.
Today is Day 26 of #HAWMC (WEGO’s Health Activist Writers Monthly Challenge). The prompt today is:
Time to use all your knowledge and experience as an Health Activist!
Create a “Care Page” for newly diagnosed patients.
Pull together 5 of your own blog posts that could help a newly diagnosed patient and
include 5 external resources you find helpful.
I’ve written a number of blog posts that I think a person newly diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease would find interesting and, hopefully, helpful. I think the best place to start would be a series on Meniere’s treatments, written by me and a few fellow Meniere’s warriors: Meniere’s Treatments Part 1 – Diet, Meniere’s Treatments Part 2 – Medication, Meniere’s Treatments Part 3 – Surgery, Meniere’s Treatments Guest Post – Lin, Meniere’s Treatments Guest Post – Suzanna, Meniere’s Treatments Guest Post – Angelea. And one post I thought might help new patients explain vertigo is, What’s this Thing Called Vertigo Anyway?
5 External Resources that may be helpful:
I’m participating in WEGO’s #HAWMC, if you’d like to read more posts from today please search for #HAWMC and check out WEGO’s Facebook page. Don’t forget to Like Picnic With Ant’s Facebook Page too. 🙂
If you would like to share your story on Picnic with Ants, contact me through the contact form on my About Me – Contact Me Page.
Today is Day 25 of #HAWMC (WEGO’s Health Activist Writers Monthly Challenge). The prompt today is:
As health activists, we are on a mission to innovate healthcare.
If you could change one thing in the healthcare landscape right now, what would it be?
I was speaking with another health activist and we were saying, that’s just it — there are so many things that are broken, so many things that need to be mended, so many changes made, that choosing just one thing is like picking just one specific glass bead from a bowl of a thousand. In the perfect landscape, there wouldn’t need to be health activists– health care would be as it should be.
If you’d like to read more posts from today please search for #HAWMC and check out WEGO’s Facebook page. Don’t forget to Like Picnic With Ant’s Facebook Page too. 🙂
If you would like to share your story on Picnic with Ants, contact me through the contact form on my About Me – Contact Me Page.
Today is Day 24 of #HAWMC (WEGO’s Health Activist Writers Monthly Challenge). The prompt today is:
Choose 3 images that represent your health focus.
Share the images in a post and explain why you chose each of them.
I don’t really know what they mean by “health focus” so I’m going to chose images that represent my illnesses or what I focus on in terms of my health.
I took this photo during a vertigo attack. I was starting to take a photo of something and suddenly a vertigo attack started and this was what I got. To me this represents my vestibular illnesses.
This manipulated photo of me represents the pain and aura of my migraines. I use this with other manipulated photos to show my doctors my level of pain.
I created this for one of my doctors because she gave me hope when I didn’t think I had any left. Now I realize there is always hope, no matter what. This graphic represents that hope.
I’m participating in WEGO’s #HAWMC, if you’d like to read more posts from today please search for #HAWMC and check out WEGO’s Facebook page. Don’t forget to Like Picnic With Ant’s Facebook Page too. 🙂
If you would like to share your story on Picnic with Ants, contact me through the contact form on my About Me – Contact Me Page.
*all images on Picnic with Ants are created and owned by Wendy Holcombe unless otherwise noted.
Today is Day 23 of #HAWMC (WEGO’s Health Activist Writers Monthly Challenge). The prompt today is:
Say WHAT?!
What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve heard about health or your condition.
Was there any context?
What did you think at the time you heard it – and what do you think of it now?
This past year my husband called and set up my mammogram, he told them when he called that I’m deaf, so the attendant would be aware. When we showed up for the appointment a woman came over to me and started signing. I had no idea what she was there for. She said that she was my interpreter. I don’t know sign language. The office assumed that I needed an interpreter because my husband told them I’m deaf. Yes this was a nice gesture and it was something they could have assumed since he told them I’m deaf, but they didn’t ask, and it cost the office money to get an interpreter.
You would not believe how many people expect me to automatically know sign language and be able to read lips. This knowledge was supposed to somehow magically absorb into my brain immediately when I lost my hearing. Really, people expect this. You would be surprised at the people who knew me before I lost my hearing and when I lost my hearing they thought I could magically read lips, even better are those who thought I could suddenly speak another language.
Another ridiculous thing I hear is to take certain supplements and I’ll be cured. Normally I hear this from people trying to sell me these supplements, but not always. I do take my share of supplements, they may help a little, but there is no way a supplement is going to cure me. I have chronic illnesses, there is no cure. Often people with Meniere’s are so desperate they will grasp at anything, but there is no cure, no one knows what causes it, a supplement is not going to make it go away.
The most ridiculous thing I’ve heard from a doctor happened just this past year. I went to him after going to John Hopkins Medical Center (JH) about Meniere’s Disease to discuss having him do a procedure on me that the doctor at JH suggested. I’d been to this doctor before, this was a visit to further discuss my tests and options. He walked in and started talking about my tests then looked at me and said that I “might have this thing called Meniere’s”. WHAT??????
If you’d like to read more posts from today please search for #HAWMC and check out WEGO’s Facebook page. Don’t forget to Like Picnic With Ant’s Facebook Page too. 🙂
If you would like to share your story on Picnic with Ants, contact me through the contact form on my About Me – Contact Me Page.
Today is Day 22 of #HAWMC (WEGO’s Health Activist Writers Monthly Challenge). The prompt today is:
Tip Tuesday! Have you mastered the hashtag?
Figured out the Instagram algorithm? Or maybe
you have a few tips to increase your blog followers.
Whatever it is, share your expertise with your fellow
Health Activist – it’ll only make our community stronger!
I’m not an expert on any platform of social media so I don’t think I can offer any real tips, I will tell you a couple of things that I prefer when I’m reading blogs, and I think writing a strong blog helps keep readers. It’s one thing to get followers, it’s another thing to keep them.
I don’t get too bogged down with grammar, but it drives me crazy when it’s obvious someone didn’t even try. If you are going to write a blog, try to use correct grammar, no one expects you to be an English teacher, but I expect you to write with more comprehension than you do in a text. (now please don’t judge my grammar too harshly. I’m far from being the Grammar Police, I’m sure you will find many errors in my writing, but I try.)
Please remember that not everyone will know the abbreviations you are using. For example, Meniere’s Disease is often abbreviated as MD, if I were to start using MD instead of the words Meniere’s Disease everywhere I write, then a lot of people would have no idea what I was talking about. I write about Meniere’s Disease a lot, so I might assume if you read my blog you will know that MD is Meniere’s Disease and just keep using the abbreviation only, that just doesn’t work. It is very hard on me when I go to a new blog and the author uses abbreviations that I haven’t heard before, or an abbreviation that could mean more than one thing. To be safe, when you first mention your item in your post that uses an abbreviation, spell it out first and put the abbreviation beside it, then use the abbreviation throughout the post. For example: Meniere’s Disease (MD)…. This should stop any misunderstandings.
When writing a post remember to write in paragraphs; I have a very hard time reading a post that is just one long writing with no breaks. I don’t think I’m the only one.
Always give credit to the source when using a graphic. It is illegal to use a photo or piece of art on your blog without giving the creator credit. Certain works of art are copy written and are not to be used without the artist’s permission, or not at all. Please do not steal images.
I think that’s all for today.
The fluctuating weather has brought severe migraines. You can’t do anything really about weather induced migraines. I was talking about this with other migraine sufferers recently. For those of you with migraines, I do find staying indoors and sometimes wearing a hat helps me a little. That’s on top of the other things we normally do, like drink lot’s of water, take meds as needed, eat well, rest as needed, take supplements….. So there’s another kind of tip for you today. 🙂
If you’d like to read more posts from today please search for #HAWMC and check out WEGO’s Facebook page. Don’t forget to Like Picnic With Ant’s Facebook Page too. 🙂
If you would like to share your story on Picnic with Ants, contact me through the contact form on my About Me – Contact Me Page.
Today is Day 21 of #HAWMC (WEGO’s Health Activist Writers Monthly Challenge). The prompt today is:
Monday Motivation: What’s your life slogan?
Explain what words or mantra keep you going and why.
I’ve spoken about quotes that help me through, but there is one mantra that I will start to chant when things get particularly tough.
Just keep swimming.
When I saw Finding Nemo and heard Dory say, “Just Keep Swimming”, to get her through all of her challenges, I started saying it to remind me to keep going even through the hard times. It started out as a joke, but it stuck around because it made me feel better. If I can “just keep swimming” I’ll be okay.
I admit when this prompt came up I had no idea what to write about, I’ve already told most of what I live by, my favorite mindfulness quotes that mean so much to me and the chant I use when I have vertigo, but those things just didn’t seem to fit in here. I turned and asked my hubby what he thought and he immediately said, “Just Keep Swimming”. I guess it’s a pretty good mantra, and I guess he knows me pretty well.
If you’d like to read more posts from today please search for #HAWMC and check out WEGO’s Facebook page. Don’t forget to Like Picnic With Ant’s Facebook Page too. 🙂
If you would like to share your story on Picnic with Ants, contact me through the contact form on my About Me – Contact Me Page.
*all artwork on Picnic with Ants created and owned by Wendy Holcombe unless otherwise noted.
Today is Day 20 of #HAWMC (WEGO’s Health Activist Writers Monthly Challenge). The prompt today is
What has been the highlight of your health activist journey?
We want to hear all about it, perhaps a conference, a podcast or meeting a fellow HA.
What made this experience so special?
There are three things I can think of that I’ve been particularly proud of during my health activist journey.
I was nominated for a WEGO Health Activist Award in 2011. Please check out this post where I wrote all about it. “I’m so very honored! I’m a Finalist for the TMI – Wego Health Blog Award!”
And I was featured in an article by Sanjay Gupta. You can check out that article here: How Vertigo Changed My Life.
These two events are very special to me because I felt that I was making a difference. I knew I had been contributing something worthwhile and people noticed. I don’t have to be noticed to continue to do the things I do, but it is nice. Sometimes I’m not able to do much, it’s things like this that push me to do a bit more than I think I can.
The third thing is by far the most important to me, it is the people that I meet and the friends I’ve made on this journey. The people I meet in the doctor’s offices, the people I meet on line….all the people I meet who care about health advocacy touch me. I’m so lucky to have met such wonderful people and to have made some amazing friends.
If you’d like to read more posts from today please search for #HAWMC and check out WEGO’s Facebook page. Don’t forget to Like Picnic With Ant’s Facebook Page too. 🙂
If you would like to share your story on Picnic with Ants, contact me through the contact form on my About Me – Contact Me Page.
Picnic with Ants 