B-I-N-G-O! What good is a chronic illness if we can't have a little fun with it? Today we're playing Long COVID Bingo! Instead of numbers on the squares of our cards, we've got the questions, comments, and bits of "wisdom" most commonly shared with Long COVID patients. There are classics like, "What's Long COVID?" and, "Are you still sick?" And of course everyone's favorite, "You look perfectly fine!" and the ever-popular, "Sorry. That treatment isn't covered by your insurance." Play along! Let's have some fun!

Follow along and get your own LONG COVID BINGO card at ⁠https://amyblackstonephd.substack.com/p/long-covid-bingo⁠

Have you ever struggled to admit you need help? Do you ever resist the very thing you know you need? Have you ever felt the simultaneous push-pull of gratitude AND resentment? Given your druthers, would you choose the role of care-R over care-E? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this episode is for you! If you didn't, listen for insight into how the other half of us think!

ACCEPTING YOUR CARE*

The carnivorous plants in our house landed there against their will. Or not so much against their will as un-consulted. They're there whether they like it or not.

But they can thrive. And thrive they do. On one condition:

They must accept your care.

You check them daily. You are incessant about tending to their needs.

I wonder, do they ever resent you for it? Do they ever resist the very thing they need in order to survive?

What if one day they just said "no thanks" to the specialty water you faithfully order, pay for, and lug up four flights of stairs for them?

Well, we know "what if."

So they accept your care. And you give it. Willing. Lovingly. Daily. Typically even gladly.

And you will continue giving it.

And they will continue to accept it.

And they will thrive here, with you.

*After Max Ritvo's "Your Voice in the Chemo Room"

Continues at ⁠https://substack.com/@neverthelesspersisting/note/c-114664731?utm_source=activity_item

Here's Part 2 of our ALL ABOUT FOOD episode (a.k.a., The More Colors That You Eat). This week, we hear about Lance's relationship with food as related to too much, not enough, intolerances, moderation, illness, wellness, and philosophy. Not necessarily in that order. And we revisit the semaglutide question.

THE MORE COLORS THAT YOU EAT

... In the After Times, since I’ve been sick, I have thought about food more than I’d previously imagined possible. I have tinkered with my diet in all of the doctor-recommended, nutritionist-recommended, thin-person-recommended, expert-looking-person-recommended ways possible. I have targeted all of the bad guys - sugar, gluten, alcohol, processed foods, saturated fats, trans fats, my own fat.

Guess what?

I’M STILL SICK!

In 2023, I heard a talk by a doctor who has been deep in the COVID research trenches from the beginning, a doctor I respect deeply (as do many others, including his peers). This doctor presented early findings and hypotheses from his research on Long COVID.

Among those hypotheses was the idea that fat tissue might contribute not only to the ceaseless mental torture of women raised in modern-day Western cultures (my addition to the hypothesis), it may actually serve as a cozy little resting place for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Continues at ⁠⁠https://amyblackstonephd.substack.com/p/the-more-colors-that-you-eat⁠