Chronic Illness and Disabled Nursing

 

Ovarian Failure, failure as a woman.

Menopause at the age of 29 years old. 

The time when I could have outworked any man. 

Suddenly, I was home, feeling ill and odd in my body. 

No yoga, no desire, just running hot and cold. 

Now at 38, Long-Covid and disability.

Struggling to stay afloat, 

Leaning into the disability community

Seeing joy and pain.

I am still tired and forcing myself to maintain,

being a disabled nurse.

Clocking in to work, 

keeping people alive from nine to five. 

Barely holding up my fork

Still, I strive to keep my drive to care for you. 

One response to “Chronic Illness and Disabled Nursing”

  1. Dee Avatar

    It’s a strange landscape you found yourself in. And to do your best looks different each day and at time from moment to moment. I pray you stay strong in Spirit and mind.

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I’m Casey-Lee

I have been an RN for over 14 years and have lived with chronic illness since 2019. While I have always fiercely advocated for my patients, I struggled to do the same for myself. I had to radically change how I viewed the medical system, adjust my expectations, and unlearn my tendencies toward people-pleasing.

Recognizing the challenges of self-advocacy inspired me to create this platform. The “radical” aspect is that we acknowledge the many systemic and personal factors that impact our community.

Many people experience multiple intersecting identities that create barriers to care. Such as being a person of color and disabled, a woman and disabled, or queer and disabled. Each requires unique approaches to self-advocacy.

Our resource hub will continually evolve to meet the changing needs of our community. I hope this space nourishes, empowers and provides practical tools for navigating healthcare as an advocate for yourself and others.

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