HAVING AN APOOFANY

Another new word for our Sniglets for the Sick:

SNIGLETS FOR THE SICK

I am making new Lumpy Louise cartoons for our new Facebook page and blog, A.C.H.E.S. - Alliance for Chronic Health and Emotional Support. Please check them out at the link below.

http://achespage.blogspot.com/2015/08/if-you-are-too-young-or-just-were-not.html

Check Out the Lumpy Louise Store

Please check out the store.  If can be found on the Store tab above or just click on picture:

Right now there is just 7 items up but keep checking for new items. 

Thanks!

There is No Way of Making Dercum's Pretty

Before I read the article from the Columbia Daily Tribune, Dercum's Disease a Painful Mystery (click picture below to link to the article), I was already toying with the idea to make a Louise cartoon about how adiposis dolorosa was such a nicer name than Dercum's disease. So I would like to dedicate this one to Glenorah and all the others who are trying to spread awareness of this disease be it in the name of Dercum's or AD.  It takes lots of guts and persistence to put yourself out there and I, for one, thank you all so much for your efforts.

Article: Dercum's Disease a Painful Mystery

Even Aiko wanted to get in on this one too!

Hypochondriac vs. Chronically Ill

If you have an invisible illness you have been there.  People and even doctors have basically made you feel or have come right out and said you are a hypochondriac.

For Louise, her diagnosis of Dercum's was actually a happy moment.  A moment that truly only lasted a few fleeting seconds but happy nonetheless.  She finally had validation that what she was feeling almost her whole life was not in her head.

Louise never takes it lightly when people say they are sick because she knows the frustration of people not believing you. However, there are people who are truly hypochondriacs that make it hard for chronically ill people to be taken seriously at times.

Besides the obvious fact that hypochondriacs are not truly physically sick there is one other difference Louise would like to note. Oh, and apparently Louise likes to flex her muscles sometimes to show that she is feeling well. Hopefully, she does not scare you off.

Rare

Rare Diseases are any disease that affects less than 200,000 people.  There are over 7000 different rare diseases and over 30 million people affected in the United States alone.  For more information on rare diseases, please visit the National Organization of Rare Disease site (NORD) at:

http://www.rarediseases.org/about

ALONE WE ARE RARE. TOGETHER WE ARE STRONG.™

Now Louise will poke a little fun at that slogan.  She wouldn't be Louise if she didn't.

Weathering Through the Pain

Extreme temperature and humidity can be tough on someone with a chronic pain condition.  Whether there is proof to blame the weather or not, we all feel it.

Louise lives in New England and definitely feels the ups and downs with the humidity and temperature changes but she has friends in the Southwest that feel just as bad in warm, dry weather.  So who knows what might set off your symptoms.

Whatever weather condition is worse for you, I hope you have found ways to avoid it.