A Better Way Not Just Another

How to Navigate Endometriosis in an Unhealthy Medical System – Part 3: Post-Surgery Disappointment & Symptom Management

This tripartite series is dedicated to those exhausted by mulish medical issues. Part 1 demystified the diagnosis dilemma; Part 2 provided time-saving tips for health insurer evasion and brought order to medical bill madness. In Part 3, we’ll explore post-surgery disappointment and symptom management. At the first postoperative visit after my endometriosis surgery, the surgeon …

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A Better Way Not Just Another

How to Navigate Endometriosis in an Unhealthy Medical System – Part 2: Health Insurer Evasion & Medical Bill Madness

Preparing for medical costs and correcting errant medical bills shouldn’t be a full-time job. I’ll provide tips to navigate the process, so you can save inordinate amounts of time. After: I can empathize with medical bill madness. Even with multiple calls, escalations and diligent documentation, my health insurer and providers caused me to fall into …

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A Better Way Not Just Another

How to Navigate Endometriosis in an Unhealthy Medical System – Part 1: Diagnosis Dilemma

Is any of the following familiar? If any of these exasperating experiences are familiar, in this series, I offer empathy and tips to navigate an unhealthy medical system. In part 1, I discuss diagnosis hurdles and empowering, experience-based propellors to clarity. In upcoming posts, I’ll focus on easing health insurer and medical bill uncertainties, as …

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A Better Way Not Just Another

Mirror, Mirror

App, app on my phone, like my pic, so I can hear a nice tone. Those likes and, less so for me, the mirror, whisper a tempting idea: it’s not entirely hopeless to strive to be fairer than I actually am. Fairer seems to equal more attention, acceptance and influence. Women put their looks to …

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Not Just Another

For My Parents

At the close of 2021 and in early 2022, a morbid motif flickered before me, but I wanted to ignore its ragged fragments. Eight colleagues or friends lost a parent from various causes. Two, from different families, died the same day. As this sorrowful theme was unfolding, my friend and I went on a walk. …

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A Better Way Not Just Another

Mary and the Unplanned

For some, the holiday season is gray. The season’s brightness casts shadows we hoped time had erased. Its glow reminds us the shadow’s original is real. What causes life to dim may still be with you. I’ll go first. My life plans, well, haven’t gone as planned. Passing time seems to parallel growing distance from …

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Not Just Another

Around the Table

One of my family’s Thanksgiving traditions is going around the table. We each take a turn to share what we’re thankful for. This is my 2021 digital edition. In 2021, I’m thankful for those who inspire me to risk and love. Risk and love are the perfect pair. Risk is pointless without a meaningful result …

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Not Just Another

A Little Shopping Magic

Let me tell you a shopping tale. Once upon a … well, all the … time, I was an unfit shopper.  The sizes I chose were too big, as confirmed by blunt, loving comments from numerous (that’s right – multiple) friends and family. I surveyed every option, and I took too long. I wanted my …

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Not Just Another The Single Life

Dating App Gold

My goal is for you to join a dating app within a few minutes of reading this post. Who doesn’t want to leap into the predictable experience of countless bathroom selfies and somber, introspective … did I mention solo … videos? If you don’t take your overwhelming loneliness too seriously, it’s a gold mine. With …

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Not Just Another The Single Life

Is Indifferent Intimacy Good?

If an individual’s worth is a cultural value, I’m not sure why casual sex is in season. Our culture celebrates detached pleasure as a badge of freedom or shrugs at it like a non-event. It probably is much more fun in the moment. Every individual should have the freedom to choose for herself.   The …

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