misdiagnosis – Julie Jacobsen Deck

About Dysautonomia

September 8, 2016

People living with dysautonomia have malfunctioning autonomic nervous systems, which can result in a myriad of symptoms such as fainting, unstable blood pressure, abnormal heart rates, severe gastrointestinal distress, cognitive impairment (“brain fog”), neuropathy (nerve damage), extreme fatigue, low blood volume, blood pooling in the extremities, and even in severe cases, death. Basically the autonomic nervous system controls … More About Dysautonomia

BlueStone Press Review (excerpt)

August 26, 2016

Anyone in the Rondout Valley area of New York, you can read the entire review by Anne Pyburn Craig in the August 19, 2016 issue of the Blue Stone Press. Excerpt below: ‘You’re Still Sick?’ Stone Ridge Teacher’s Novel Explores the World of Invisible Disabilities “Drea, the good-hearted and gutsy young woman at the story’s … More BlueStone Press Review (excerpt)

Thoughts about Women’s Medical Treatment in the United States

August 20, 2016

I recently read the 2011 second edition of Barbara Ehrenreich’s and Deirdre English’s book, Complaints and Disorders: The Sexual Politics of Sickness. I highly recommend it for its eye-opening view of women’s medical treatment from about 1865 to 1920. The authors self-published their “pamphlet” in 1973 and I was upset reading their last chapter concerning … More Thoughts about Women’s Medical Treatment in the United States

The Exhausting Job of Being Chronically Ill

August 4, 2016

In the United States, approximately 130 million people suffer from chronic illness. Many of those people don’t look sick and many of those people may feel uncomfortable sharing their symptoms in order to “prove” that they are chronically ill. Unfortunately, even if they do share their symptoms the end result might not be what they … More The Exhausting Job of Being Chronically Ill

Doctor Appointments

July 27, 2016

As I wrote in my first blog entry, my book is a work of fiction. The main character is not as sick as my daughter. I didn’t want to overwhelm readers with too many symptoms and conditions, so I gave Drea only two syndromes, which still provided enough symptoms to portray the experiences of a … More Doctor Appointments

Why I Wrote “You’re Still Sick?”

July 17, 2016

Perhaps you’ve heard this from family, friends, acquaintances, or coworkers, (that is if you are able to work). Or maybe you’ve progressed to the point where people don’t even ask how you are because they don’t want to deal with your answer. Maybe they don’t believe you, or maybe they don’t know what to say … More Why I Wrote “You’re Still Sick?”