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Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.
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Blog entries by Lisa
Two years ago, a little Winter Wren started frequenting our camp. We often see them in the bushes in the woods, flitting from one spot to the next without ever a having a care for the giant who stands watching them. They are so small, other than hummingbirds they are one of the smallest birds we...
For me, some days are good and robust, while other days are lack luster and wanting for more. Well, that isnt entirely accurate. Lately it feels more like some weeks are this way. A CFS crash can come in a variety of flavors. Sometimes it is less energy, sometimes more pain, but always an...
Living in the woods as we have been these last seven years sounds very daunting. Indeed, at times it makes me look back and wonder how we have managed to survive as well as we have. The first things that come to mind like this all involve winter and the times our usually mild climate here in the...
I have been taking a couple days to recuperate from the lengthy trip to see our doctor last Thursday. It was a very exciting day and also very exhausting because of all the excitement.
Timing in life really is very interesting to me. Here I am traveling most of Thursday, spending about an...
I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. It was a very relaxing day. Here are the things that made yesterday one of the best birthdays I have ever had:
Perfectly blue skies and sunshine.
A quiet hour spent at my spirit rock, contemplating the remarkable changes taking place in me in recent...
Eight years ago today saw one of the worst days of my life. The last two months had become an ever increasing nightmare as life started to plunge into the icy depths of serious illness. With chronic fatigue making it increasingly difficult to work even part time and chemical sensitivities...
Everyone who knows me will tell you that in all my emails, live chat, any place that allows for more one-on-one text communication, that almost without fail I will close with a hug. Sometimes I will even get carried away and there will be different variations of hugs, such as from bunnies and...
A star is born in the depths of space from nothing more than clouds of gas and dust drawn together by once inexplicable forces. From such humble beginnings did our own star form billions of years ago. The same star that provides warmth on a cold day, life to everything and everyone, once began...
I remember the very moment I first thought of building a house. It was spring in 2005. After spending the last two years in a constant battle with DSHS to retain our temporary state disability while applying for federal benefits, both Jeremy and I had just received notification our battle was...
Home is a tent right now. A medium sized tent, sitting in a patch of woods in the Pacific Northwest. Alders, maples, cedars, and other various trees shelter us from the world outside. A world that has now become too toxic for us to live directly in any longer.
Growing up I had seen my mom...
After living in these woods for five years, I had thought I had seen just about everything nature would throw my way. I have seen four foot snows dropped in three days, rain torrents that last for weeks without more than the briefest of breaks, and winds rattling the tree tops around me in a...
Overlooking the house I am building is a rock. A big chuck of granite unearthed from the very place my house now stands.
In the afternoon after the sun has warmed the surface with its loving rays, this stone feels like home, warm and inviting. It doesnt matter if I sit on it with feet...