Author: esammarie

Pain’s a Real Bear
This one is for all the people like me battling pain. . .again, battling pain. . .still. (Note: it’s taken me two months to write this post, probably because the pain waxes and wanes, just as my acceptance of it …

Dear Mr. President
Dear Mr. President, As the leader of our nation, it behooves you to behave presidentially and yet, time and again, you choose to do otherwise, embarrassing yourself and the people you claim to represent. Millions of children look to you …

What’s Not Linked to Celiac Disease
Every week it seems I hear a new theory to explain the dramatic rise in autoimmune disease incidence in general and celiac disease in particular. I’m glad researchers are testing these theories, which seem to gain immediate traction and get …

Oh, Yes, Me, Too
The leaves finally began turning, not here, where I have rebuilt my life, but, rather, in the mountains linking North to South Carolina. Here, it’s still summer, with daily temps still well in the 80s. There’s no frost on the …

Wholly, Holy Gfree…Really!
The church my husband and I attend offers a gluten free option during communion; it was a major selling point when we were searching for a spiritual home. Sometimes the gluten free option was Van’s Everything Crackers and sometimes we …

Morality and Medical Issues, Part 2
Tuesday’s post challenged the notion, debunked by gobs of science, that illness and disability somehow are the results of moral failing. After I posted, I went running–it’s my primary treatment for fibromyalgia and for guarding against a host of other …

Illness Is Not A Moral Failing
Screaming loudly from more than a corner of the quest to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is this notion that moral, upstanding people take care of themselves and do not get sick; therefore, they do not need guaranteed …

Gut Instinct: Finding Stealth Gluten
I’ve delayed writing this post because I wanted a big reveal. Last post I talked about the surprising news from the gastroenterologist that my serology showed evidence of ongoing gluten exposure. I’ve been reeling, trying to find the source. Where …

Gut Instinct: In Search of an Answer
My gut has been roiling for the past two months and not because of national politics. I got worried about the persistent pain and the degree to which my abdomen appeared to be swollen, so I made an appointment with …

Complicit in Oppression: What I, a White Person, Must Do to Stop It
I have not written for this blog in the past year because I was busy being a newlywed. That silence ends today with a post that doesn’t talk about gluten. It talks about something even more sickening. This post sprouted …
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