by benforred | Aug 15, 2022 | Advocacy, Health, Medical Providers, Medication, Symptoms
Self advocacy is often a trial by error skill that we learn out of necessity with chronic illness. Each encounter with a medical provider may be different and can be a teaching opportunity for us. Studies have shown that the more someone is motivated to be involved in...
by benforred | May 19, 2021 | Advocacy, Mental Health
When I look back on my life, I am drastically different now than how I was as a child and even how I was when I started Life’s a Polyp in 2012. My views about myself – physical and emotional have greatly evolved over time to culminate in a wonderful sense...
by benforred | Sep 17, 2020 | Advocacy, School
I was 9 when I had my first surgery that gave me an ileostomy for 6 years before undergoing a straight pull thru reversal. Throughout my academic career following my first surgery, I required accommodations for my learning due to my physical health. My parents...
by benforred | Dec 1, 2017 | Advocacy, Health, Review
We all have memories of things or times that we cling to from our childhood that fill us with nostalgia. For me, some of those things include the tv shows my mom watched. I’ve always had an adoration for the shows MASH, Golden Girls, Designing Women. I...
by benforred | Nov 21, 2017 | Advocacy, Cancer, Colon Cancer, Family, Medical Providers, Research, Support
The University of Michigan sponsored a Hereditary Colorectal Cancer Family Day this November in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This wasn’t the first year for the family day, but it was my first year to attend. I asked my mother, who also has Familial Polyposis (FAP), to...
by benforred | Apr 27, 2016 | Advocacy, Health, Support
“You don’t have anything wrong with you. You have no issue walking.” he said with dismissing disdain for what I had shared as I tried to empathize with him. My word alone that I have a chronic illness wasn’t enough for another person with...
