Category: Chronic fatigue

  • Ep 41 When you get it this young, you have it forever with author and editor Heather Taylor Johnson

    When she was diagnosed with Ménière’s disease at age 25, one of the many things it meant for Heather was that she’d have to quit skydiving – though not until she’d injured herself trying to hold on the person she was before. Heather Taylor Johnson is a writer and editor. Born in Minnesota and now living […]

  • Fruitys for Life*

    The people in the computer Your work has started a conversationTeeth over teeth tattoo Live fast, die pirate Think of good things 15 seconds plus, think about how it made you feel! Chuck black high heelsCupcake with bowFruitys for life Thanks to the health professionals and all other essential people.Addicted to hair Snake bite speeding […]

  • The relative shape of a human

    When I first met up with Monica Michelle via Zoom and asked how she was, she replied “A relative shape of a human.” I recognised the feeling. Monica hosts Explicitly Sick, one of the podcasts from the Invisible Not Broken network. She lives with Ehlers Danlos Type 3, fibromyalgia and POTS, and after having to […]

  • Ep 28 Burning out with Dr Yumiko Kadota, author of Emotional Female

    Yumiko Kadota was a junior doctor and working hard towards her goal of becoming a plastic surgeon in NSW. But the demands of her workplace became increasingly extreme, and she found herself dealing with bullying, sexism and racism, as well as unreasonable hours. If anyone should know how important sleep is for the body, it […]

  • The secret to fighting project inertia

    Recently I was invited to be a guest author at the Sutherland Shire Fellowship of Australian Writers, who are an absolutely lovely bunch of people. You don’t need to take my word for it. Just look at the How to Be Australian themed afternoon tea they put on. If you’re wondering, I didn’t have an […]

  • Ep 20: Up against the limits of medical knowledge with author Josephine Taylor

    “I was pretty well bedridden, unable to move very easily for about the first year … I’d sort of have to shallow breathe into the tops of my lungs.” When Josephine Taylor first began to experience chronic pain, she started to reduce her commitments. She was a career woman and a mum. But gradually, she […]

  • New Year’s resolutions for 2021

    If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that there’s no point making plans. I planned all kinds of things last year, including that I would be in Canada over this holiday season to finally visit my family after four years of CFS making the journey impossible. Instead I’ve spent three damp and soggy holiday weeks in […]

  • Ep 16: Living in different universes with Ada Palmer, author and historian

    In episode 16, James and I interview author and historian Ada Palmer about living with chronic pain and studying the past to imagine the future. She offers excellent advice to those managing invisible illness, while also acknowledging how hard it can be. Ada is an author of science fiction and fantasy, a historian at the […]

  • Ep 14: Moulding stories like clay with Elizabeth Tan

    Australian author Elizabeth Tan’s second short story collection, Smart Ovens for Lonely People, is full of humorous and poignant stories laced with pop-culture references and techno-slang, and set in an uncertain dystopian future or surrealities. Elizabeth’s comedy leaps out from story titles such as ‘Shirt Dresses that Look a Little Too Much Like Shirts so […]