Determining the intensity of my own pain is a blind calculation. On my first attempt, I assigned the value of ten to a theoretical experience— burning alive. Then I tried to determine what percentage of the pain of burning alive I was feeling. I chose thirty percent—three. Which seemed, at the time, quite substantial. Three. Mail remains unopened. Thoughts are rarely followed to their conclusions. Sitting still becomes unbearable after one hour. Nausea sets in. Grasping at the pain does not bring relief. Quiet desperation descends. “Three is nothing,” my father tells me now. “Three is go home and take two aspirin.” It would be helpful, I tell him, if that could be noted on the scale.

Eula Bliss, The Pain Scale

Today I had the spoons to hunt down my neighborhood council's email and send them an email that basically said "I would like to be able to leave my house but my neighborhood is not wheelchair accessible. Who do I talk to in order to get this fixed?" And I am planning on hunting down whoever is in charge of sidewalks in my neighborhood and getting real annoying about it.

My plan is to email them every time I want to go somewhere but can't.

Email 1: hello, please fix sidewalks so I can ride the bus places I am very passionate about public transportation and also being able to leave my house.

Email 200: This morning I woke up and wanted some delicious coffee to start my day, but upon getting out of bed I discovered we were out of coffee. I would've liked to take advantage of the city's public transportation system in order to support a local business like [examples of local coffee shops] but alas I cannot because I am a wheelchair user and my neighborhood is not wheelchair accessible. [Insert rest of arguement RE accessibility]. In conclusion I don't work I can keep these emails coming until I die please just fix my sidewalks.

This is going to be my new spite hobby. I was already mad about the abuse and general shit hand the disabled get dealt in our culture but then I started using a wheelchair and places like doctor's offices have been inaccessible to me so now I am filled with rage. So I am going to take that rage and do something with it. Like emailing my city counsel representatives at 2 am like "I crave a moonlight walk fix my sidewalks please."

i just rbed a post about something similar but. i need my white disabled to folks to be more aware of the privileges they have when navigating the healthcare system. every bit of medical ableism one can experience can be made even worse by being a poc. some of us can't threaten to report a doctor to the ethics board, or refuse care from healthcare workers who aren't masking, without jeopardizing our access to care in general or even our physical safety. we are more likely to be seen as drug seeking, or marked as noncompliant, or experience medical abuse and neglect. that's not to say these things don't happen to white disabled people, but i just think it's important to recognize how dangerous receiving medical care can be for disabled poc specifically. please keep this in mind when giving advice on navigating healthcare.

August 11, 2022

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that 30+ brands of nutrition drinks including but not limited to Ensure, Pediasure, Glucerna, Oatly, and Premier Protein just got recalled for possible contamination with the bacteria that causes botulism, a paralytic toxin with a lethal dose of 1.3 nanograms. If you've purchased one of the affected lot numbers please return it to the store to be properly disposed of as a biohazard but do not accept any compensatory gift cards because that can be counted as a settlement if you need to file a lawsuit for any potential damages caused by this later on. If you have any questions regarding the recall there's a phone number listed in the article above that you can call, but if you believe you may have ingested toxins then please call your local poison control hotline. Stay safe

I've always been curious to know this about the people around me. Most people have been in severe pain, but in my experience few have had what they would say is their 10/10 experience. I guess it's just something I find fascinating, as I had my 10/10 experience quite young and I sometimes forget that not everyone has. In my opinion it changes your relationship with pain and how you engage with it afterwards. If you answered yes, feel free to elaborate on your circumstances in the tags!

(reblog for a bigger sample size etc)

How can chronic pain patients be “addicted to pain meds?” That’s like telling someone with a prosthetic that they’re addicted to their prosthetic. Or a cardio patient that they’re addicted to their pacemaker. Or a diabetic that they’re addicted to insulin. What is the thought process here?

the world wants me dead so I live. the world wants me miserable so I find joy where I can.

instructions unclear, I’m celebrating disabled wrath month

Everyone needs to see this. Just because terrible people have adopted a pre-existing trend doesn’t mean it’s unusable. Fly that labrys flag! Wear red laces! Do what you want!

Incomplete list of the funniest disability experiences I've had

Pissed a little too enthusiastically once and the pelvic muscle contraction dislocated my tailbone and that sudden unexpected pain made me inhale sharply and choke on my own spit and start coughing and then the muscle contractions from coughing popped the bone back into place

Got home after being discharged from a weeklong ICU stay and immediately collapsed onto the floor too weak and exhausted to move so my roommate at the time cheerfully rolled me onto a rug and dragged me on it from room to room belting the magic carpet ride song from Aladdin

Ran into some people I'd known in college but hadn't seen in a couple years, after I got too sick to continue and dropped out, and they stared at me in shock and one of them said "oh my god I totally thought you died"

Fainted at work and fractured my spine from the fall but went "it's probably fine" and finished out the work day and then continued walking around with a broken spine and increasingly severe chronic pain for six months going "it's probably fine!" until finally I stopped being able to walk and my girlfriend made me go to the doctor

Got my oxygen cannula tangled in my sword while sword-fighting someone and accidentally yanked it out of my nose and my opponent, already unsure on the ethics of sword-fighting a girl with an oxygen cannula, stopped and dropped his sword to go "oh shit are you okay do you need a second" and I took the opportunity to beat the shit out of him with my sword and then blacked out a little

Shortly after I started using a wheelchair I was wheeling down the sidewalk and some random person driving by slowed down and rolled down their window and shouted "HEY GIRL, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" and I shouted back "I HAVE A NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER!" and they yelled "WOOHOO!!! YEAH, GIRL!!!!" and revved their engine and sped off. Still not really sure what to make of this interaction but I do enjoy their enthusiasm

My cardiologist made me do a cardiac rehab program for a while because my heart did not work and he hoped specialized physical therapy might strengthen it (it did not). The cardiac rehab program was largely attended by octogenarians recovering from triple bypass surgery and I was a perky young nineteen year old who looked like I did not get enough to eat, so all my fellow patients collectively decided to adopt me as their grandchild and collaborate to smuggle me home-baked goods when the nurses weren't looking. I had the best blondie of my life while on a treadmill hooked up to an EKG

*points to Tsumugi*

She’s just like me! For real for real!!!

There’s just something about drv3’s meta exploration of what fiction truly means that just scratches my brain the right way hahahahaha

Need to draw more pregame stuff!!!

When children stare at me and my mobility aid: 🤗🤗🤗🤗😎😎😎😎😎!!!!

When full grown adults stare at me and my mobility aid (absolutely rubbernecking me, not even saying hello or waving or anything-- not even acknowledging me really just Staring at me with their expressionless or disdainful eyes, no sign of whimsy or curiosity. Just staring.):😒😒😒😐😐😐🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🫢🫡🫡🫡😒😒🙄😮‍💨😤😤😤

I can't think of any disability patch ideas. Like there's the basic "Disability Pride" or maybe just "crippled Punk" but I feel like those are too soft when placed next to "punch Nazis" and "rather a Faggot than a fascist" you know. Any ideas?

time to go use my punk disabled bestie roommate whos an ambulatory wheelchair user for ideas

'Ill run u over' if ur mobility aid has wheels

Paint two canes crossed like swords 'ill smack a bitch' or smth about hitting bitches

'tired but angry' for hidden disabilities because hidden disability ppl be tired

'Your ableism is exhausting' they were so proud and went wow aliteration both of those start with a's. upset telling them thats not how its spelled lmaooo

August 24, 2022

There's a new recall that I would like to spread awareness of: Great Value Shredded Hashbrowns have been recalled for possible contamination with listeria. Listeria can cause food poisoning and flu-like symptoms in healthy adults, but it more commonly affects infants, pregnant people, senior citizens, and the immunocompromised. In these groups it can also lead to more severe infections including sepsis, meningitis, and encephalitis, and symptoms of listeriosis can appear up to 2 months after a contaminated food item has been consumed. This recall currently only includes 64 oz bags with the following date codes and UPC, but if you're seeing this on any date other than the one listed above please make sure to check if the recall has been expanded:

Description: Great Value 64 oz Frozen Shredded Hashbrowns

UPC: 7874215557

Dates: 7/25/2023, 7/26/2023, 9/14/2023

This recall hasn't yet been reported by the FDA and at the moment this information is only being communicated by email to people that Walmart has records of having ordered Great Value Frozen Hashbrowns within the past 6 months, so if people wouldn't mind reblogging to spread awareness (especially among disability and parenting circles) I would greatly appreciate it. The current direction from the company is to discard affected bags and request a refund from the store, but I would caution against accepting any compensatory gift cards from the store in addition to your refund because they may try to claim it as a settlement if you need to sue for medical bills or damages later on

self portrait.

this is a cripple punk post [also focusing on all kinds of HSN disabled folks]; ableds must tag reblogs with #i’m able bodied

for the record

i generally shower exactly once a week & wash my hair the same day

sometimes i can’t change undergarments for a few days, sometimes i change them multiple times a day

i rely on several adaptive tools to shower, period

i do need to shave/trim pubic and body hair for my hygiene, and can’t keep clean otherwise

in winter, i often can’t wash my hands unless i have lotion with me or they’ll crack painfully

i change clothes once or twice a day to make up for most of this the best i can

i’m saying this because all of those things are very common issues for many disabled people (especially high-support ones), and because i feel like if i’m going to talk about destigmatizing hygiene struggles, i should at least be open about my own.

hygiene is very difficult and energy consuming. it involves a lot energy that many of us can’t access.

not being able to maintain one’s personal hygiene doesn’t make anyone selfish, disgusting, or undeserving.

if you can’t be kind and supportive and not say “ew” when you hear about one of the most common impairments moderately to severely disabled people experience, you don’t support disabled people. if you don’t support disabled people who smell bad or have dandruff or cracked hands or un-exfoliated skin, you don’t support disabled people.

yes, even if you have sensory issues. yes, even if you’re germaphobic. your disabilities are not an excuse to be ableist to others. find a way to be kind anyway.