Rainbows and Narwhals

Hi all. I'm really hoping that some of you are "meeting" me for the first time. So, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Erin (aka. Latitude) and I was born in Champaign, IL and now reside in it's sister city, Urbana. I started this blog over 11 years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter, Ava. I had been working as an Emergency Department RN but was very sick during pregnancy and had to be on light duty. The hours spent in front of the computer back then made me feel like a "real" writer. My favorite poet/prose writer FOLLOWED MY BLOG, GUYS. He even sent me a personal message. I was hooked on having an audience read what I had to say. It was at the height of blog popularity and I followed lots of other bloggers, many of whom were pregnant and/or had new babies.
Over the years I spent all my time with my now two children, working and raising them and dealing with more health problems than anyone should have to deal with in one life, so the blog got left by the wayside.
As I became sicker and sicker this past year, and my life changed immeasurably for the better when my partner Chris moved 2,000 miles to be with me, I found myself in front of the computer with so much more of a purpose than I've ever had. I have written children's books already and can see the illustrations in my head. (My new blog with not much content, Always Ambidextrous is dedicated to that project.) I have journaled with fury on my computer and in whatever notebook was closest to me while I've been fighting for my life.
There's so much to say and explain on the medical side of things but I'll start my listing my most debilitating diagnoses. Gasteroparesis (stomach paralysis), Esophageal Spasm (completely benign yet debilitating chest pain), Bipolar Type II (ups and downs, highs and lows, complicates and confuses my brain). I also have a labral tear in my right hip that's been keeping me in a wheelchair for the last several months and I have a surgery coming up. Hopefully that explains that when I say "fight for my life" I mean it.
I have been spending the past several months sharing my GoFundMe link all over the place begging for help paying for my medical treatment, food, bills, you name it. I just spent literally my last $2 (I think there's 87 cents in my account now) promoting this website on Facebook. I know that a lot of people will not understand why I would spend anything on this when I don't have enough food in my cabinets to make it until my next income source arrives. However, I still need help. Right now that help could come in the form of GoFundMe donations but I do still look to the day I am a PAID WRITER! 😀 I will be running ads on this site if I get enough traffic, and probably there will be ads on my business Facebook page. But I want you all to know that I am SO much happier getting paid for what I can do rather than be given money for all the things I cannot do. I don't believe that my community should be paying for my medical bills. I believe the government should pay for all of our medical bills (single payer) but that's a rant for another day.
Right now I just want to say a deep and genuine thank you to everyone who has helped me (and us) get this far and look towards a brighter, more hopeful future. And if you haven't seen it before, a donation or share goes a long way. Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Insta. 💕
Rainbows and Narwhals for Erin's Recovery