Hi there, I’m Kaley! I love walks in the sunshine, barefoot gardening, and tasty food. After getting my BA in Sustainable Food and Nutrition, life held a plot twist, and I began my journey of recovery from a variety of disorders and syndromes. I’m learning to live and love despite the challenges! Read more about me here.
Latest Articles:
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Recovery with POTS and CFS
It has been 8 months since graduating from the Mayo Clinic Pain Rehab Program, and I continue to be 85% recovered (depending on the day) from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). I never would have imagined that my health could make such…
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Making a Full Physical Recovery – A Day-by-Day Miracle
“You should exercise more.” A brutal statement. One I had tried to fulfill on my own, and time and time again, had failed. It was a frustrating piece of advice from my doctor, and felt so out of reach as I navigated my bouquet of chronic illnesses.
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Awesome Recovery News!!
I am so excited to report that after graduating from the 3-week Pain/Symptom Rehabilitation Center at Mayo Clinic in Rochester and continuing the program at home, I am nearly 100% recovered!
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What is the Valsalva Maneuver like?
The Valsalva maneuver is EASILY the most fascinating thing I’ve gotten to do in this entire medical adventure. On the surface, it’s a fairly quick and easy part of autonomic testing, but underneath, it’s one of the coolest and most complicated mechanisms of the human body that I’ve encountered.
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Surgery and POTS – Tips + My Experience
With postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (or POTS), life is already a bit of a balancing act to keep all systems running smoothly, so as I prepared for surgery this fall, I was a bit nervous about how my body might handle it. The combination of drugs, the general physical trauma to the body, the emotional…
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Sibling Interview: What It’s Like Supporting Someone With a Chronic Illness
My sister is a rockstar. I know I write a lot about my own journey with chronic illness, and I can often focus on the ways that I am able to manage my own symptoms and challenges. But what I don’t talk much about is the ways that my family makes it possible to have…
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Midodrine – The POTS Medication That Works for Me
Without a doubt, midodrine has been crucial to the management of my postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Now that I have been on it for 2 months, I can confidently say that I experience significant benefits, minimal (if any) lasting side effects, and am overall pleased with it.
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My 8 POTS Essentials
Living out the lifestyle changes that are recommended for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) can be easier said than done. Having POTS is hard. It’s inconvenient. It is not fun. And yet in the midst of daily limitations and hourly coping, finding small yet meaningful ways to make life easier
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Reviewing 6 Brands of Electrolytes for POTS
People with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) are notorious for drinking pickle juice, double-salting their fries, and even eating salt right out of the shaker. In the early days of having POTS, I certainly had a thing for salami, green olives, and eating plain lunch meat by the metric ton, followed by enormous amounts of…
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The QSART For POTS – My Experience
What is the QSART? The QSART (Also known as the QSWEAT) is short for the “Quantitative Sudomotor Axon Reflex Test”. The goal of this test is to get a better understanding of a person’s nerve/sweat function, which can be tested by stimulating their body with electricity and collecting data on how it sweats in response.
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Things To Do While Waiting For Medical Answers
Waiting sucks. Especially when it comes to waiting for medical answers that could very dramatically impact your life, your perspective, and everything about the future. While waiting for a full evaluation at Mayo Clinic for the constellation of symptoms I was experiencing, I often found my mind repeating “I am not ok. Something is wrong…
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Mayo Clinic for POTS – An Overview of My Experience
It finally happened y’all! I have officially received a comprehensive evaluation on my symptoms of autonomic dysfunction and the miscellaneous health issues that have been so debilitating. I was especially jazzed about this opportunity, because Mayo Clinic is known for their work with people who have postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)…
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The 30-Day MCOT Heart Monitor (For POTS)
When my postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) first started escalating, the most concerning symptoms included things like chest pain, palpitations (like my heart was flopping), and tachycardia (racing heart). Not knowing what was happening, my doctor ordered an echocardiogram, which is an ultrasound of the heart, as well as a 2-day heart monitor
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Life and Worship in the Midst of Apathy
I am driven by striving. In one conversation with a Christian mentor, the words blurted out before I could properly weigh them: “Striving is what makes life worth living.” I wasn’t completely wrong, but I definitely wasn’t right either. A more appropriate statement might have been “Striving towards a goal is life-giving to me,” and yet…
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POTS Book Review – “Tired Teens” by Dr. Philip Fischer
It blew my mind that our understanding of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) as a recognized condition is only about 30 years old. While there have been a few labels used to describe similar symptoms/conditions observed, such as “soldier’s heart,” “irritable heart syndrome,” or “orthostatic tachycardia,” it was…
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My “Quick” Tips For Living With Mental Health Challenges
Mental health isn’t something that is solved with 7 quick tips from a young person on the internet. I get that. The complexity of a person’s story and the depths of the needed healing are not concepts that are lost on me, and the more I live my life, the more I realize how little…
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A Fresh Batch of POTS Memes to Brighten Your Day
Memes are one of my favorite ways to express the humor, frustration, and experience of POTS. Check out my previous batch here. Enjoy!
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A Lament in Illness
When it comes to suffering or living with hardship things can get kind of complicated. When tragedy strikes unexpectedly. When there is no crime yet a punishment is inflicted. When the young feel old. When the hurt isn’t healing. What about prayer? What about Faith? What about “Be healed in the name of Jesus?”
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Is It Weird to Be Healed and Then Receive a New Diagnosis?
I am a human being who has been miraculously healed by God (here’s our documentary), and then a few years later developed crippling mental health problems and debilitating chronic illness. “Is it weird to be healed and then to get sick?” “Have you tried praying
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The Alarm Theory – Explaining POTS
There is a distinct sense of comfort that comes from explaining a person’s experience. We, as people, tell stories, create documentaries, write poems, and sing songs about our unique experiences as human beings to invite people to be one inch closer to understanding us. We
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10 (More) POTS Memes For You!
Memes are one of my favorite ways to express the humor, frustration, and experience of POTS. Check out my previous batch here. Enjoy!
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Fitbit or Analog – Managing Heart Rate and Staying Grounded
Starting Out In the early days of my POTS adventure, I was very intense about knowing my exact heart rate at any given moment. I bought the newest Fitbit with the most features, had a SPo2 monitor, and compared the two often. It was fascinating
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10 Counseling Memes For Your Enjoyment
I won’t lie – going to counseling is a wild ride. It has been incredibly impactful for me and I’m so grateful to have found my current counselor, but it also sucks and is hard. Choosing to laugh instead of cry is a fine art that I am learning. Please enjoy these memes inspired by…
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The POTS Community – Cari’s Experience
Today’s guest is my friend Cari. It was while listening to her talk about her experience with POTS and how it has served to draw her closer to God that I realized that living an “abundant life” is not synonymous with living an easy life. Rather, abundant life is a relationship with God. It is…
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10 POTS Memes To Make You Laugh
Every person, every symptom, and every day is different. But whether you’re a long-time potsy or just curious what it’s like, I hope you enjoy these memes – inspired by my journey thus far!