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203 Posts

Chronic Illness

In this section you will find all articles related to chronic illness, which is a major focus for this website. Topics span from rare diseases to new diagnoses, chronic pain, brain fog, societal issues and more. Articles are a collection of patient perspectives, both my own and others from the chronic illness community.

Chronic Illness ⸱ Sheryl Chan

Why I Need to See More Than 10 Different Types of Doctors Regularly

From 10 to 15 Different Types of Doctors on My Healthcare Team I was reading this post the other day, and realised that I had originally written it 10 years ago. Back then, I was 'only' seeing around 10 different types of doctors on a regular basis. Now,
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Home & Lifestyle ⸱ Sheryl Chan

We Want to Have Fun Just Like You, But Here’s What it Takes with Chronic Illness

Do We Even Want to Have Fun at All? So your friend with chronic illness has rejected your party invitation…again. Or they’ve included a list of T&Cs just in case they have to bail last minute. What’s up with that? Do they hate you or
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Chronic Illness ⸱ Sheryl Chan

Dating with Chronic Illness (and What I've Learned)

Dating with Chronic Illness – A Thorny Topic Dating with chronic illness is no easy, straightforward feat for either party. Questions like this are all over Quora and Reddit: “Would you date or marry a person with chronic illness?”. So I thought I’d share my perspective, as a person who’
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Chronic Illness ⸱ Sheryl Chan

My Personal Experiences with Epiphrenic Esophageal Diverticulum (Plus Tips to Help Cope)

Two New Diagnoses - Epiphrenic Esophageal Diverticulum & Mitral Valve Stenosis Whilst I haven’t heard much good news in a long time, I did not expect 2025 to be a harbinger of such terrible news. It seems like I will need to get two major surgeries done, one for
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Chronic Illness ⸱ Sheryl Chan

Learn More About the Super Rare Disease — Esophageal Diverticulum

Why am I Writing About the Rare Disease, Esophageal Diverticulum? The short answer is because I was recently diagnosed with it, although symptoms have been accumulating for some time now. I had simply assumed that all the regurgitation and vomiting, even in the middle of the night, were due to
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Chronic Illness ⸱ Sheryl Chan

Tell Me You're Chronically Ill Without Telling Me You're Chronically Ill (Chronic Illness Memes)

Darkness Needs Lightness for Balance... All of my recent posts have been extremely ‘heavy’, so to speak. First, there were the two knee injury series - one on resources for post knee surgery, and the other on things you can do whilst bed bound. Then, there was the Antiphospholipid Syndrome
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Antiphospholipid Syndrome ⸱ Sheryl Chan

How Does Antiphospholipid Syndrome Affect The Body? (Beyond the Blood to Major Organs)

You may have heard of the rare blood clotting disorder, Antiphospholipid Syndrome, but did you know that it isn’t ‘just’ about the blood? This article is part of the Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) resource library that I’m building up on my site from a patient perspective. It consists of
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Antiphospholipid Syndrome ⸱ Sheryl Chan

The Lowdown on Medications and Antiphospholipid Syndrome (Warfarin, Enoxaparin, DOACs, NSAIDs & More)

This article is part of the Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) resource library that I’m building up on my site. In this post, we will focus on medications and Antiphospholipid Syndrome. In particular, warfarin is a key medication for the management of APS, especially if you’ve experienced blood clotting events
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Antiphospholipid Syndrome ⸱ Sheryl Chan

Latest Research on Antiphospholipid Syndrome (2024 Edition)

The bad news about Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) is that it’s chronic. The good news is that there are quite a number of exciting new treatments in the works. This article is part of the APS resource library that I’m building up on the site for patients, as a
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Disability ⸱ Sheryl Chan

Useful Things to Do While on Bed Rest After Surgery: Education, Advocacy & Volunteering (Part 5/5)

This post is part of a series on my knee surgery and recovery journey, and how I coped with all that down time. I spent a good part of a year bed bound, in pain, and also bored. Afternoons were the toughest, as it felt like a state of limbo,
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Disability ⸱ Sheryl Chan

Uplifting Activities to Do While Recovering in Bed (Part 4/5)

This post is part of a series on my recovery journey from a spontaneous bilateral patellar tendon rupture, which left me bed bound for nearly a year. In this article, I will share some uplifting activities to do while recovering in bed. You can also find more tips, resources and
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Disability ⸱ Sheryl Chan

Fun Things To Do While Recovering From Surgery: Hobbies, Crafts & Games (Part 3/5)

This post is part of a series where I share my recovery journey from a spontaneous bilateral patellar tendon rupture. Both my knees were broken, and I was bed bound for almost a year, with the first 6 weeks spent trying to keep my legs as flat as I could
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