My Spoonie Sisters
Welcome to My Spoonie Sisters! If you're wondering what a "Spoonie" is, it’s a term lovingly embraced by those living with chronic illnesses, based on the Spoon Theory. It’s all about managing our limited energy (or “spoons”) while navigating life’s challenges.
Each week, join us to hear from your "Spoonie Sisters" host, co-hosts, and our inspiring special guests as we share real-life stories, tips, and encouragement. Whether you're here to learn, connect, or feel less alone, you’ll find a supportive space filled with understanding, laughter, and strength. Let’s journey through chronic illness together!
Tune in and join the sisterhood!
All guests featured or mentioned in this podcast will be listed for your convenience. Don't forget to rate and subscribe to My Spoonie Sisters and follow @MySpoonieSisters on Instagram for updates on new episodes and more. If you have a story to share or want to be featured on My Spoonie Sisters, please email MySpoonieSisters@gmail.com. We eagerly look forward to speaking and hearing from all our Spoonies!
Disclaimer: While we are not doctors or healthcare Practitioners, we want to assure you that this podcast is a credible source of information. It's based on our guests' personal experiences and the strategies we've found effective for ourselves. However, everyone's body is unique, and what works for one person may not work for another. If you have any health-related questions, it's always best to consult your Primary Doctor or Rheumatologist.
Remember, our goal at My Spoonie Sisters is to connect people and provide them with the support and tools they need to live better lives.
My Spoonie Sisters
So, You're Newly Diagnosed Part 2
Have you ever been casually told about a serious medical diagnosis you didn't even know you had? That jarring experience is just one of the many challenges we explore in this heartfelt conversation about navigating life after receiving a chronic illness diagnosis.
We kick off by catching up on our summer experiences and current health challenges – from mysterious hip pain and shoulder inflammation to surprising diagnoses and upcoming surgeries. Each of us shares the reality of living with unpredictable bodies that sometimes feel like they're working against us rather than with us.
One particularly powerful thread running through our discussion is the frustration of medical miscommunication. When doctors casually mention conditions they assume you already know about, or when diagnoses remain buried in medical charts without proper explanation, patients are left feeling confused and unsupported. We offer practical solutions for taking control of your healthcare journey, including using symptom tracking apps and preparing thoroughly for appointments.
The conversation takes an inspiring turn as we explore the transformation from merely surviving with chronic illness to genuinely thriving. Andi & Linnea share the journey of intentional self-care, mindful stress management, and learning to work with the body rather than against it. This shift in mindset doesn't happen overnight but represents a crucial evolution in living well with chronic conditions.
We proudly share our recently published books – interactive guides designed to support others on their chronic illness journeys with journaling prompts, affirmations, and creative exercises. These personal projects reflect our commitment to creating resources we wish we'd had when first diagnosed.
Whether you're newly diagnosed or years into your chronic illness journey, this episode offers validation, practical advice, and the reminder that you remain a whole person worthy of compassion and joy, regardless of your medical conditions. Your diagnosis may change aspects of your life, but with the right support and mindset, you can create a meaningful life beyond the limitations of illness.
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So, You’re Newly Diagnosed:
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Welcome back to my Spoonie Sisters. We are kicking things off with part two of so you Are Newly Diagnosed. Hello, andy and Linnea, how are you today? Hello, hello, ah, it's so good to finally see you two. It has been. It's been a long summer.
Speaker 2:It has been. It has been a very long, extremely busy summer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for every single one of us. Andy, do you want to catch us up on what you've been up to the last several months?
Speaker 2:Oh, let's see, we did a summer elite performance camp for youth athletes. It was track focused. I went into volleyball season preseason and now we are in full season. So I've graduated some icons, I've picked up some new icons along the way. I'm in, as I said, full swing of volleyball season. I am just loving and nurturing my relationship with myself so that I could be present for others and I'm helping beautiful women navigate their paths to themselves at the same time. And so it's been busy kids back in college. But I am grateful for the busyness because it still allowed me for moments of stillness, because that was my non-negotiable. How about you?
Speaker 1:I have been busy too. Our son got married, my grandson came to visit. I actually have something big coming up. So, if people are interested, I am moderating a webinar for the Arthritis National Research Foundation. This one is for osteoarthritis. Since I found out, I'm newly diagnosed with OA don't know when I started presenting symptoms. Why not? Why not Lenia? What about you? What you been up to?
Speaker 3:I have had a much quieter summer than you two, but I did a lot of camping in June. I have been working on some blog posts for the podcast that we'll be posting soon, and then I have been working on my next book, but I've also been just taking time to just be and just relax and take time to heal and fight this flare that I am currently fighting very hard, so that's kind of my goal.
Speaker 1:Haley, that's a really good segue, because the three of us have been fighting our bodies quite a bit this summer. Yeah, been fighting our bodies quite a bit this summer.
Speaker 3:Yeah, lania, since you brought it up first, what kind of symptoms are you having with your flare? With this one, it started out, as most of you know, when you take your medication, right before you're due for your medication, you're like, yep, it's time, it's time for your dose and normally we start feeling better afterwards. I did not. I started feeling worse and I'm having a lot of shoulder pain, low shoulder mobility, swelling, a lot of heat in my shoulders and then as well as my hip, I'm having a lot of issues with and then which, when one starts, they all start getting frustrated and angry because everything's going haywire in your body. But yeah, that's where I'm at. What about you girls?
Speaker 2:My body is a mystery. That's it. It's a mystery. It's a crapshoot on any given day. Physically it literally is a crapshoot. One day it's my shoulder, but it's from repetitive use and I know it. You know hitting down balls at the kids. But some days it's things that I am not anticipating and out of all of the things that may flare, it has never been an arthritis thing for me, and so recently it's been hot hip and I couldn't figure out for the life of me why my hip felt like it was on fire. But it was like deep, deep, deep, deep, deep in there and it has not gone away. It rolled in when the weather started changing and it decided it wanted to hang out for a little while. And it's still here. My hip is on fire right now, you know my shoulders are like they're just.
Speaker 3:It's like somebody put like a hot prod in the coals and then stuck it in my shoulder like that's just that heat. And now my hip feels very full I don't know if you guys under, I'm sure you guys understand like when the joint just feels like somebody just filled it with water. It just feels heavy yes, heavy. Heavy is a very good word. What about you, jim?
Speaker 1:my flare began I think it was july. We've had a few faced, facetime chats where the three of us have talked through our aches and pains and flares this summer and they've gotten the joy of text messages about my toe and I'm still laughing because it's like a toe, but now it's two toes and it's part of my foot. So the update is October 2nd. I am having foot surgery to repair the bunion and fuse that joint. After speaking about it for a few appointments, what we've landed on is, he said, the best option for me is to fuse that joint because he said, with my rheumatoid arthritis the bunion can just come back. I can just have continued problems in that area. Let's fuse that joint and stop it.
Speaker 1:And so I'm like you know what I'm game because these injections suck it. And so I'm like you know what I'm game because these injections suck and walking around with a weird feeling toe sucks. I'm used to my hips, I'm used to my back, I'm used to my hands, but when it's a spot you're not used to and it's relentless. I think I described it as feeling like a hot needle was sticking inside of my toe. I feel like the biggest baby talking about one toe but it is what it is.
Speaker 3:It is what it is. In fact. There's 33 joints in your toe.
Speaker 1:Okay, I don't know if I want to think about that, yeah.
Speaker 3:And then, of course, my feet hurt so bad.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. My other update is that in July they told me I have osteoarthritis. She said it nonchalant. She said well, I don't think this is an RA flare, I think this is your osteo. It just stared at her and I was like when have I been told I have osteo? And she didn't even reply. So that's interesting. I mean, it just goes to show, even though sometimes we feel like we have the answers and we feel like we're a good patient that knows how to advocate for ourselves, sometimes we do have these experiences with a doctor where we just we let it happen, right, because I keep looking back and thinking all the things I should have said could have done and I didn't do. Do either of you have advice or even experience with being in a situation like that, like what? Particularly when the doctor has presented something that you didn't exactly know you had and what was your reaction? And did they even reply to you when you said, hey, why didn't? I know this.
Speaker 2:It's my everyday medical experience, jen. Every time. Every time they go well, did you know you had this? And I still go through it.
Speaker 2:The layers of hiding diagnoses in my medical charts is kind of insane, and that's my day-to-day experience. Out of everyone that I see, I am bound to have at least one provider that will notice something in a cross-reference in a chart and go well, it could be because of this. And my face will be like, hmm, and then their response is like, well, you didn't know that. No, I had no clue. That's how I got my lupus diagnosis. I did not know I had lupus, had all of the signs, was struggling for years and they found my lupus diagnosis while looking for something else, because it's never lupus. And so they found it.
Speaker 2:Oh, did you know you had lupus? Just like that. Come in, you've had it for years, you know. You know you had lupus, just just like that. Come in, you've had it for years. You know you have lupus and also you have this. But while they were treating me for a kidney infection, they were like oh, by the way, do you know you have lupus? So something as simple as you have a kidney infection was not, it wasn't.
Speaker 3:You have a kidney infection yeah, yeah, I've, I've did that with. They keep going back. For me it's between psoriatic, psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis and every time it's like one or the other. Like one time it's this, then the next time it's that, and it's like we just pinpoint or hey, did you know? This is going on, just like you girls, and it's like we just get consistent with what we're doing, because it's really messing with my head not knowing what's going on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, if I'm really honest with myself, this isn't anything new for me. I think I fooled myself into thinking that I knew all of the things that were wrong with me and that they communicated it well. But if I'm realistic, I remember a few years ago going what's osteopenia and why is that in my chart? You go and you look in your chart and you start noticing things that they haven't communicated Well that's exactly right.
Speaker 3:Even blood work. You're like wait a minute, Did you not notice that that blood work was really high? Did you know your other doctor takes care of that blood work? Why are we depending on other doctors to go for this blood work? If you see it, why aren't you pointing it out and going? You need to contact your doctor now and get an appointment, because this needs to be addressed. Not, they'll take care of it.
Speaker 2:That's a great point. That's a great point. So if you're, if you are still with us and you're, you're listening and you're newly diagnosed, the comprehensive care is so important, so important, and so your doctors should be talking to each other. You're going to see a lot of specialists. There is a likelihood that you get referred out, but your care holistically needs to be comprehensive, and all of the providers that you see should be on the same page so that they're not prescribing a medication that may trigger a side effect that triggers something else, and so sometimes that happens in the chronic illness world, where we see providers that the records don't cross and so you don't really know, and the medications don't play well with you or each other, so you spend a lot of time early in your journey feeling probably worse before you feel better, and so that is super important.
Speaker 2:If you're looking for ways to, it could be overwhelming. We're like I see all of these doctors. There are apps that can help. The Guava Help app helps you track all of the providers you see, and you can release the information to your doctor ahead of time if you're going to see a new provider or if you were tracking your symptoms. But it doesn't have to be as overwhelming and you get to go into the space way more empowered and less likely to be told it's all in your head.
Speaker 3:Yep, Yep, I have a doctor's Go ahead. I have a doctor's appointment today and I swear the Guava app has got me so prepared that I feel so confident going in there and saying prepared that I feel so confident going in there and saying A, B and C is happening. We've got to do X, Y and Z. Now We've got to do something, We've got to change course. But I feel confident in my knowledge of what's going on in my body now because I'm tracking it and I think that's so important for newly diagnosed people to be doing because they'll get help sooner and quicker maybe, hopefully, Exactly.
Speaker 1:I'm even looking over lab work right now from a week ago, and has my rheumatologist said anything about it? No, no, it's a trend that's been going on the last several months. I've talked to Andy about it because Andy was willing to explain it to me. Have they been concerned and saying we need to do something, or we're keeping an to explain it to me? Have they been concerned and saying we need to do something, or we're keeping an eye on it, or how are you feeling? No, no, but I'm looking at my mean platelet, which is very low, my neutrophils very low Sites very high. What else was off on here? I feel like there was something else.
Speaker 2:Your body loves stress. You want to hold on to it forever.
Speaker 3:Yep, and that is something I think with chronic illness, people that we don't realize that we do hold on to stress so much more and it makes us a little bit sicker and it makes us a little bit ickier. Yep, we have bad moments.
Speaker 2:We have bad moments, but it's not all bad. We still live very, very wonderful lives. Just sometimes our bodies don't play nice.
Speaker 1:Exactly so, andy. When did things start to shift from surviving to thriving, and what kind of changed in your mindset or routine?
Speaker 2:I'm very intentional about making sure I'm okay. First, I am very intentional about the pause so I could hear all kinds of things, and me being intentional about choosing me on purpose so that I could heal. I mean it meant that my answer had to be no, that I could not be show up Sally all the time, that it could not be. I got it, I'll do it. I'll go, don't worry about it, I don't need help. I literally had to sit with. I don't need to carry that. We get diagnosed and we go, but then people are gonna look at me different if I can't do this anymore. When we get the diagnosis, we get the diagnosis along with all of the things that we're not going to be able to do anymore. And then we research it and they're like, oh, so-and-so, ended up in a wheelchair, and we get all of the worst case scenarios about how we're going to lose dexterity or whatever, whatnot, and we spiral and as much as we say we don't believe it, we start automatically thinking that that's where we're going to end up.
Speaker 2:I lived that for years and I put myself in a bubble. I can't do that because I'm trying to preserve whatever little life I have left because I don't know how long I'll have. But then I didn't live, so I preserved myself to sit in a dark space. I am very intentional about how I talk to myself, how I care for myself. That includes my sleep, that includes me moving my body, that includes what I put in my body, but it also heavily includes the energy that I allow around me. I live in a very low stress state because I know what high stress does to my body and I know that, being chronically ill, the higher my stress level was, the longer I flared, the more. The rougher that flare was, the more miserable my mindset became, and so I started to watch the energy that surrounded me on a regular basis. Was I more anxious than not? Because if I'm anxious in these spaces, I can't be authentically me.
Speaker 2:And as I gave myself that love, my nervous system calmed down. And when my nervous system calmed down, my body calmed down. It stopped fighting me and started working with me, and I started working with it. But it was no longer it's this disease's fault that I can't do. I accepted it for what it is. I have this diagnosis. This man may have said I can't do, okay, well, you don't live in my body. Let me try it, but allow yourself the opportunity to live the life you've always dreamed, even if it looks different now. Your life didn't stop. God just put you on a different path to see the same beautiful thing from a different angle.
Speaker 3:I can attest to everything she's saying Because I have been working with Andy for the last six months and everything she is saying is true. I have been implementing all of those things into my life and that is why I feel more confident going into this doctor's appointment, because I truly feel like I know my body better today than I knew it a year ago. I know there's more going on, but I also know I have the confidence in me to tell the doctor exactly what's going on. I'm going to sit there until I get my answers today, where a year ago I could not have done that, I would have been okay, let's try this, give me the prednisone, let's go, try this. And I would have went home and I would have tried that.
Speaker 2:You don't have to do that more. I'm super proud of you. I'm super proud of you and I hope that you're proud of yourself, because you always deserve that version of you and she's always been enough and she's beautiful and she's fierce.
Speaker 1:There's been such a shift. The smile on your face, the way you carry yourself is so different. I mean, we've been friends for what? Like four years now. The last six months has been an incredible shift. You know, even on the hardest of days, look at you, look at how you're carrying yourself.
Speaker 2:That smile was genuine. Like your hip is busted and your shoulders are like trash, but you still have a glow that says I deserve to live and I'm fighting for it. Yep.
Speaker 3:I deserve to live. I would have been in the dark.
Speaker 1:You'd be tur for it, yep. I would have been in the dark. You'd be turtling, yep, yep. But you let us in, even on days like today.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, I don't think the audience understands how big this is.
Speaker 1:So this next question is for you, linnea If you could offer one survival tip to someone newly diagnosed right now besides pointing at Andy, I mean you that could be your tip, if you want. But what would your tip be? Find a community find.
Speaker 3:Don't deep dive on google. Find people living with what the disease you've been diagnosed with. Find people in the chronic illness community to talk to, because you can ask any one of us and we can say I don't have that, but I know who does and we'll direct you. I feel like if I would have had that community to begin with, I think I would have looked at my disease differently, because Google takes you down the rabbit hole and I'm saying this especially for my niece that is probably listening, because she is going down the rabbit hole of Google since a new diagnosis and I've told her you can't do that, it's not safe and you're going to find information that is not healthy and you're going to put yourself in a spiral like I did myself Because all those stories you can't do this by the time you're in 10 years you're going to be in a wheelchair. That is not true, not if you understand what you're dealing with and you make diet and exercise a priority, even when it hurts.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Guilty as charged.
Speaker 1:That would be my best advice for a newly diagnosed I can't speak for you, andy, but I know that lenia and I, when we got diagnosed, that was what we thought our future was. Many people think that that's their future, and that's that's not necessarily the case, and even if it is, you still have so much to offer the world yeah your beautiful self, just as you are, and I hope every single person remembers that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, next, I want to talk about something pretty cool. We got books out Redefining. Fine, let's talk about it, please, please, talk about it, andy.
Speaker 2:Well, what do you want to talk about? Well, let me just start with. This. Baby has a retreat that goes with it. February 26th Elevated Escapes Retreat in Sedona, arizona.
Speaker 2:So we are redefining fine for four days in the Red Rocks and we're talking all things what fine used to look like and what fine can look like now. But Redefining Fine is a book about bringing yourself back to you. It's a guide of all the things that you most likely don't consider when you answer a question in passing. How are you doing? And so I realized that I answered on autopilot and I was like I'm fine and I wasn't fine. I was actually freaked out, I was insecure, I was numb, I was exhausted, I was everything but the textbook definition of fine, which is to be okay, right, and at that point I wasn't even really okay and so fine was my shield and I felt like, after some trauma and acknowledging that I was in a space where I spent a lot of time intentionally hiding that fine needed to look different, and redefining fine was born and it's literally a guide of how I got out of survival mode, how my answer became anything but fine, that I actually named the emotion so I could tame the anxiety.
Speaker 1:I want to read a little snippet. Okay, change asks us to step into the unknown, and that is scary, but it also is where the magic happens. It is where we find the freedom to become the person we were always meant to be. I put stickers in the books in a purple places and this one says with all my heart, I believe in you and, for whatever reason, that day I wanted to put a bandaid there. So it's a bandaid sticker. But what is really cool is in the back there's this bonus stuff, and it has day one and reflection, day two, reflection journaling prompts, all the things, all the things. So be sure to go check it it out. We'll make sure her link is available in the show notes. You won't be disappointed because of the amazing person that she is. She, uh, coached us along the way to finally releasing our own books too. Ania, do you happen to have yours on you?
Speaker 3:because I don't have a moment I do.
Speaker 1:Do you mind telling?
Speaker 3:us about it Imperfectly. You Navigating your Journey with Compassion and really it's defining your personal journey. I have space for growth. I have affirmations, I have how to have a gratitude shift. I put a spot in there for you to write a letter to your future self. That is something Andy did with me, working with her, and it was hard and I'm going to tell you right now if you get my book, if all you do is that letter, so you can go back and read that letter in six months, so you can see how far you have come. You won't be disappointed, because I recently reread my letter and I was blown away by how close I am to everything I wanted. It's all because I found compassion within myself and I'm giving myself compassion and I'm not expecting it from anybody else now is truly from my heart and I put that in this, in this book, and there is going to be another one coming soon Stay tuned.
Speaker 2:Yay, all right, jen. So this one time we were newly diagnosed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we were this. One time someone by the name of Andy coached me into finally doing something about some of the work I put in, because I tend to create things and they sit there. So I opened it up to a page. It's called the Art of Falling Apart. I'm going to read you a little snippet from there. It says the Art of Falling Apart can be a difficult and painful process. It can also be a beautiful and transformative experience. It's about allowing yourself to break down, let go of the things that no longer serve you and embrace the unknown. It takes courage to face your fears and to confront the parts of yourself that you may not want to acknowledge, but it's worth it in the end.
Speaker 2:Change is inevitable. It's scary but it's inevitable. And change isn't bad. Change is us growing. Sometimes we outgrow people, places, spaces, seasons. Sometimes we are rooted in the season that we're supposed to be rooted in and it is so that we can nurture the roots. It's because we're not ready in the now for what happens next. Not every time that we feel planted are we stuck. We're just rooted somewhere so that we can nourish the roots, so we are prepared for what happens next.
Speaker 1:Exactly One thing that Linnea and I did not mention either about both books is, if you go into them, there's coloring pages, there's word searches, it's a whole activity.
Speaker 3:And it fits perfectly in your purse for the doctor's office. I have mine and I use it myself because I doodle, because I get so anxious at doctors, especially new doctors, and so I will just doodle in them. You can take it. You can actually take notes on both of ours for your doctor's appointments as well.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And, like you said, there's places to doodle and have some fun and be creative. Take your colored pencils with you. I even have. We all know that I love affirmations. I like to post them for people all the time. I've got pages of affirmations for you. There's also QR codes. Thank you, andy, for suggesting that idea. It's amazing. You can check out QR codes to all my favorite tools and things I've been featured in and all the fun things. So I could not be more proud of all three of us. I'm surrounded by women of greatness. Yeah, you guys always fill my cup. I know we all feel kind of crappy today, but just seeing your smiling faces brings me so much joy.
Speaker 2:I love seeing your face. I do. I love seeing Alinea's face. She's giggling. On the inside she's just like fighting it. You guys can't tell on the inside is cracking up, she is. She is giggling so hard you guys can't tell. But you can tell. Now, if you're like, if you get to see this beautiful video clip, you could tell that on the inside she was like you stay in there giggle, but on the outside it was, it was trying like yeah, I love y'all, you know.
Speaker 3:Giggle, of cry. I love you girls. Gotta laugh through it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love you. So before we end, I feel like we should have a how do we get here? Moment.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Okay. So how did we get here? This is my real life. So I was super excited I got to meet my new rheumatologist. It was a great experience. I walk into the doctor's office. I'm like this is awesome. Everyone looks like me, which is few and far between for me that I go into a provider's office and they're majority people of color. Okay, so I walk in here people of color. I'm like, yay, people that look like me Cool. Meet the rheumatologist. She's amazing. I'm like this is going to be so awesome. New patient appointments are typically 20 minutes. My appointment was at 820. She talked to me to 945. She was like we're going to get you some new labs. Let's do these things.
Speaker 2:I was like awesome, I'm excited, okay. So then I asked the question is the lab in this building? Do I have to go to another building? She was like no, it's upstairs. Great, even better, because it was hot outside. I don't have to walk across any parking lots, I don't have to weave through a hospital, I just got to get on the elevator. Cool, on the elevator, andy goes.
Speaker 2:Andy gets off the elevator, she is welcomed by a hallway of police officers and in my mind I'm like why are they here? That's wild. So I clearly look confused. I have the how do we get here? Face what's actually going on? Officer says are you lost? What you're looking for? And I say the lab. So he points to the lab.
Speaker 2:I proceed into said lab, sign in, sit down, cool, okay, this is where things are no longer like. Yeah, this is familiar. This is a great experience. Nah, it's a crap. Show in there. Fine, whatever.
Speaker 2:My name finally gets called, I go back there. I'm in the chair. Turn the kid on, let's go. Let's get these veins juicy, let's get in and out. I'm watching her miscount my tubes while looking at the label and I'm like skirt, let's go ahead and fix this so we get that situated. All right, it's time for IV draw. She's drawn.
Speaker 2:I see the nice little shuffle of a chain gang of inmates coming in and get lab drawn, which is fine, because they got to get health care too. So no judgment, literally. Except you are afraid of needles. Are you serious, fam? You're afraid of needles? Like that's the line. That's the line.
Speaker 2:So I'm sitting there, I see him shuffle on in Tattoos on the face, but we, scared of needles, just throwing it out there because it doesn't make sense to Andy. Fine, so they sit him down. He's jerking, he don't like it, I'm like, so I'm thinking I get to exit. She was like wait, we need urine. Great, of course you do. So. Now I go into this bathroom so I can give you this sample. As you know, I'm a girl, so I'm a girl, so I'm going to squat, not really sitting, got to get the sample in the cup, so it is what it is, except while I'm getting said sample in the world's most awkward position, hovering over essentially a public toilet in a lab, I hear don't make us tase you, we're going to go ahead and lock the lab down until we're done processing the inmates.
Speaker 2:What is Andy supposed to do at this point is the question the inmates, what is Andy supposed to do? At this point is the question okay, what is she supposed to do? I'm like, I'm in a bathroom, okay, and the question is how did we get here? How? The line in the sand you're non-negotiable is getting your blood drawn, but you got face tattoos that you most likely got from a shaved off spoon in a very dirty basement or maybe in jail, I'm not sure. But the thing that was for you was like nope, can't draw my blood, that's it. I'm about to rearrange furniture in this piece.
Speaker 2:I'm in a bathroom for 20 minutes. You got some drops of urine. That's all you're getting. You got some drops. It better be enough. So knock, knock, knock. 20 minutes later you can come out now. Can I? Can I for real, how did we get here? Is this a normal thing? I don't know if anybody else in this world has ever experienced being locked in a bathroom at a lab draw or any type of trauma like that, but I can laugh at it now. But seriously, what do you do with a clean catch cup in one hand and you just hear? You see what I'm saying. It has to stay a clean catch. So what do you? Do you just stand there and figure it out? Yeah, so that's, that's the. How do we get here for this episode? It's a real life Day in the life of Andy's lab draw.
Speaker 3:I am so glad my rheumatologist appointment this afternoon is in Sun City, Arizona, where it's nothing but 80-year-old people I'm the youngest one there. I feel so much safer.
Speaker 1:Eve. Some of our stories are so fantastical that you have to know we can't make them up. Yeah, and that is not okay, you can't make that up. That is a prime example of one.
Speaker 2:How did we get here? How did we get here? I will not be going back to that lab. I found out there's another lab that I can go to. That's not a walk-in lab, so I'll be going there. So I have less heart palpitations. While trying to give you a clean catch, you know what do you do. You're just like, okay, well, this was whatever. I couldn't get to my car fast enough, but anywho, if you guys are sitting in a space of anxiety about your diagnosis or getting a diagnosis, I want you to take a moment to just be with you, take a deep breath and understand that you are a whole human being before your diagnosis and you will still be a beautiful human being as you go through your journey and after you get a name to the thing that you feel. If you're spiraling today, if you feel like no one understands, we see you, we hear you, we validate you and we hold space for you today and every day going forward. We appreciate you spending time with us this episode. Until next time, don't forget your spoons.
