: About Me

I am disabled with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and currently am battling cancer. I am a mother of two teenagers and recently separated from my husband of 21 years. I was a middle school teacher until my medical condition forced me to resign about two years ago. I am currently working on my dissertation in educational administration although I will not be able to pursue a career in that field as my condition will not improve.

My passion is ...

Living each day to its fullest.

I know too much about ...

Chronic pain, RSD, cancer, medication, illness, emergency room and medical procedures.

My parents always told me ...

You can face any challenge that is put in your way..but you only have yourself to rely upon.

My childhood ambition ...

Was to be a veterinarian.

My favorite memory ...

Christmas mornings when my children still 'believed', Easter egg and basket hunting, loose teeth, learning to ride a two-wheeler, trick-or-treating, and all those other special moments spent with my children.

Why I write ...

Because I must.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Anything by Kris Radish at the moment and the tv is alway on the Discovery Channel.

My first job ...

Working as a cashier at a drug store when I was sixteen.

My best moment ...

My life is not over yet; so how do I know if it has happened?

My inspiration ...

to write comes from my first writing professor and now a dear friend. He still challenges me to find my voice in every essay and in every piece I write.

Creative Writing > Memoirs Testimonies: Living with reflex sympathetic dystrophy

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I wonder if it's possible to ever fully prepare for what lies ahead. I am suffering with two distinct illnesses; Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and cancer. I could die from both; I may not die from either; but both mean that I am tied to a medical community that sometimes doesn't know anything more than I do about my own diseases. Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or RSD, as it it called, is a very painful disease. Some doctors claim the most painful disease known of in the medical community today. It has one common denominator amongst all its victims and that is pain; usually a fiery, burning pa...

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