The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey 💜
Where chronic illness, resilience, advocacy, and hope come together. Sharing stories. Building community. Inspiring hope.
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey 🌻 Same Infusion, Different Address, A Little More Peace
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey 🌻 Same Infusion, Different Address, A Little More PeaceToday marked my first Rystiggo infusion in my new home—a peaceful escape from the usual household chaos. Surrounded by plants,…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Going Back to Cali — One Last Trip With My Uninvited Roommates ✈️💜
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Going Back to Cali — One Last Trip With My Uninvited Roommates ✈️💜My Reno adventure spiraled into chaos—conference fatigue, questionable coffee, and stairs that tested my limits. Sleep vanished, and my goal…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 That’s Not Typical… Well, Neither Am I!
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 That’s Not Typical… Well, Neither Am I!When your doctor says, “That’s not typical,” but your body says, “Challenge accepted!” 😂💜 Living with Crohn’s Disease and Myasthenia…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 “How Are You?” — The Three Little Words That Aren’t So Simple
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 “How Are You?” — The Three Little Words That Aren’t So SimpleChronic illness turns ‘How are you?’ into a loaded question. Between exhaustion and unpredictable symptoms, the simplest answer hides complexity.…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Three Mammograms, One Biopsy, and a Whole Lot of Anxiety
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Three Mammograms, One Biopsy, and a Whole Lot of AnxietyThree weeks ago, a routine mammogram turned into a wake-up call: new findings required follow-up. The 3D imaging exposed unexpected…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Invisible Doesn’t Mean Imaginary — The Reality Behind the Smile
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Invisible Doesn’t Mean Imaginary — The Reality Behind the SmileBehind every smile lies the complexity of invisible disabilities—conditions that limit movement, breathing, and daily tasks. From inflammatory bowel disease…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 When Sleep Isn’t Enough — The Exhaustion Nobody Sees
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 When Sleep Isn’t Enough — The Exhaustion Nobody SeesChronic illness fatigue isn’t ordinary tiredness. Between Crohn’s disease draining my energy and Myasthenia Gravis weakening my muscles, even eight…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Moving with MG — When Everyday Tasks Become Extraordinary Challenges
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Moving with MG — When Everyday Tasks Become Extraordinary ChallengesNew beginnings come with unexpected hurdles: timing, process, and yes—even body function. I’ve hired movers but still handle personal items…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Some Weeks, Surviving Is the Victory
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Some Weeks, Surviving Is the VictoryFriday marks progress, and for many, surviving another week is its own victory. Chronic illness turns routine into a strategic…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Same Diagnosis, Different Journey — Why One Size Does Not Fit All
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Same Diagnosis, Different Journey — Why One Size Does Not Fit AllSharing the same diagnosis doesn’t mean sharing the same journey. From symptoms and disease severity to treatments and outcomes, every…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Whoever Has My Voodoo Doll, We Need to Talk! 😂💜
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Whoever Has My Voodoo Doll, We Need to Talk! 😂💜Living with Crohn’s and MG feels like cohabitating with unpredictable tenants. Crohn’s disrupts my digestion, and MG controls my movements—both…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 One Day, My Story Will Be Someone Else’s Survival Guide
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 One Day, My Story Will Be Someone Else’s Survival GuideCrohn’s Disease and MG crashed my life like uninvited roommates—neither pays rent and both demand everything I have. But through…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 The Truth Behind “I’m Fine”
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 The Truth Behind “I’m Fine”Dear Diary, “How are you feeling?” It sounds like a simple question. Most days, I give the simple answer: “I’m…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 The Healthcare System Is a Scam: When Insurance Stands Between Patients and Care
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 The Healthcare System Is a Scam: When Insurance Stands Between Patients and CareThe author recounts their frustrating experience with healthcare and insurance struggles after a medical emergency. They detail delays in treatment,…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 The AIP Diet—Helpful Tool or Restrictive Hype?
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 The AIP Diet—Helpful Tool or Restrictive Hype?Living with autoimmune diseases like Crohn’s and Myasthenia Gravis often leads to unsolicited dietary advice, particularly regarding the Autoimmune Protocol…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 When My Body Changes the Rules
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 When My Body Changes the RulesLiving with chronic illness requires constant mental assessments to navigate daily activities. Each outing involves careful planning around potential symptoms…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 A Letter to the Woman I Was Before I Got Sick
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 A Letter to the Woman I Was Before I Got SickThe writer reflects on life before chronic illness, addressing her former self with affection and understanding. She acknowledges the freedoms…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 The Hidden Cost of a “Good Day”
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 The Hidden Cost of a “Good Day”Living with chronic illness means that a seemingly good day often comes at a cost. Despite engaging in activities, the…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 High Pain, Low Tolerance
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 High Pain, Low ToleranceLiving with chronic illness brings unpredictable challenges, particularly on high-symptom days when energy is scarce. The author reflects on the…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Sometimes It Isn’t About the Small Thing
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Sometimes It Isn’t About the Small ThingChronic illness brings expected challenges like pain and fatigue, but it also incites emotions like anger, often overlooked. This anger…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Apparently, My Roommates Are Coming to Alaska
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Apparently, My Roommates Are Coming to AlaskaPreparing for an Alaska cruise means packing layers, medications, backup plans—and apparently two uninvited roommates. Crohn’s and MG refuse every…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 The Weight You Never See
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 The Weight You Never SeeEven when I speak openly about chronic illness, what I share is only a glimpse. Behind every post are the…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 When Remission Still Hurts
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 When Remission Still HurtsRemission may mean Crohn’s inflammation is controlled, but it does not always mean the pain is gone. This entry explores…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Who Holds the Strong One?
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Who Holds the Strong One?Being the strong one often means carrying everyone else’s burdens while quietly hiding your own. This reflection explores the strength…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 When Fatigue Isn’t Just Fatigue
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 When Fatigue Isn’t Just FatigueFatigue isn’t always “just being tired.” Living with both Crohn’s disease and Myasthenia Gravis has taught me that one drains…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome—When Autoimmune Diseases Don’t Come Alone
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome—When Autoimmune Diseases Don’t Come AloneMultiple Autoimmune Syndrome means managing three or more autoimmune diseases that do not take turns. This entry explores overlapping symptoms,…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 The Weight Behind the Smile
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 The Weight Behind the SmileSome days, “I’m fine” carries more weight than anyone realizes. This reflection explores the invisible burdens behind the smile, the…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 You Are Not the Burden
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 You Are Not the BurdenLiving with chronic illness may mean carrying heavy burdens, but needing help does not make you one. My diagnoses, symptoms,…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Why Me?
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Why Me?This morning, I asked God a question I’ve carried more than once: Why me? Why Crohn’s? Why Myasthenia Gravis? I…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 The Pictures That Matter Most
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 The Pictures That Matter MostI used to worry about looking good in pictures. Now I worry about the pictures my doctors are looking at.…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Learning to Travel Again
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Learning to Travel AgainA weekend in Las Vegas became more than a getaway—it became proof that healing sometimes looks like slowing down. Join…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻Through Steph’s Eyes
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻Through Steph’s EyesSometimes the people who love us see strengths we no longer recognize in ourselves. In this first installment of *Through…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜What Is Really Causing Our Autoimmune Symptoms?
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜What Is Really Causing Our Autoimmune Symptoms?What causes autoimmune disease? From hidden triggers and midnight Google searches to questions about COVID-19 vaccines, living with Crohn’s disease…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜The Things People Don’t See
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜The Things People Don’t SeeLiving with Crohn’s disease and Myasthenia Gravis means carrying invisible burdens that most people never see. From chronic pain and…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜The Hardest Person to Convince Was Me
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜The Hardest Person to Convince Was MeFor years, I shared the polished pieces of surviving chronic illness. The victories. The resilience. The hope. But there were…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 My Sensory Cup Was Already Full: Chronic Illness and Sensory Overload
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 My Sensory Cup Was Already Full: Chronic Illness and Sensory OverloadWebsite Excerpt: Some days, it’s not the bright lights or crowded spaces that push me over the edge—it’s a bag…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Dear Life: Open Letter to the University of Hard Knocks
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Dear Life: Open Letter to the University of Hard KnocksSome lessons in life teach us. Others practically require a dissertation. After decades of chronic illness, unexpected challenges, and enough…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🇺🇸Stars, Stripes, and Gratitude: A Fourth of July Reflection
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🇺🇸Stars, Stripes, and Gratitude: A Fourth of July ReflectionFor me, freedom isn’t always about grand adventures or elaborate plans. Sometimes freedom looks like breathing easier, having enough energy…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries|Kia’s Journey: 🌿Between Herbs and Hospitals: Finding Balance with Crohn’s and MG
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries|Kia’s Journey: 🌿Between Herbs and Hospitals: Finding Balance with Crohn’s and MGBut chronic illness has a funny way of making us willing to try almost anything in hopes of feeling better.…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries|Kia’s Journey: 💜The Story Before the Story: The Prequel to The Dual Diagnosis Diaries
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries|Kia’s Journey: 💜The Story Before the Story: The Prequel to The Dual Diagnosis DiariesA journey through childhood symptoms, family history, missed clues, and the decades-long path to understanding Crohn’s Disease and MuSK+ Myasthenia…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Who’s Is That?
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries | Kia’s Journey: 🌻 Who’s Is That?After a long and exhausting day, Kia pushed through fatigue to support a friend pursuing her dreams in a new…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: The Parts We Don’t Talk About: When Autoimmune Diseases Get Messy
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: The Parts We Don’t Talk About: When Autoimmune Diseases Get MessyLet’s be honest. Crohn’s Disease sucks. There. I said it. Not the polished version. Not the inspirational version. Not the…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: All My Life I Had to Fight: From Survival to Healing
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: All My Life I Had to Fight: From Survival to Healing“All my life I had to fight.” — Sofia, The Color Purple Recently, I was talking with my best friend…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: Just Strong: Maybe the Universe Was Sending Me a Message
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: Just Strong: Maybe the Universe Was Sending Me a MessageThis morning, during my usual scroll through Facebook, I came across an advertisement looking for Just Strong Ambassadors. For those…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: The Career They Saw, The Battle They Didn’t
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: The Career They Saw, The Battle They Didn’t“I have this weird relationship with my chronic illness where I spend 75% of my time trying to pretend it…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: When the Mask Slips: A Lesson in Leadership, Fatigue, and Grace
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: When the Mask Slips: A Lesson in Leadership, Fatigue, and GraceOne of the things I’ve become exceptionally good at over the years is hiding how I feel. When you live…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: Sometimes the Answer Is No: What I Learned at My Neurology Appointment
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: Sometimes the Answer Is No: What I Learned at My Neurology AppointmentYesterday, I walked into my neurology appointment carrying a list of questions. Questions about my thymus gland. Questions about the…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: The Leaders Who Help Carry the Weight
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: The Leaders Who Help Carry the WeightSometimes inspiration finds us in the most unexpected places. I was scrolling through social media recently when I came across…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: The Questions We Have to Ask: Thymectomy, Fatigue, and Life Between Rystiggo Treatments
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: The Questions We Have to Ask: Thymectomy, Fatigue, and Life Between Rystiggo TreatmentsLiving with Myasthenia Gravis often feels like navigating uncharted territory. Just when I think I have a handle on my…
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The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Autoimmune Disease May Be Invisible—But We Are Not
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≻: The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Autoimmune Disease May Be Invisible—But We Are NotWhy Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month Is About More Than Sharing a Ribbon Before my first diagnosis, March was simply another…