4 Tools To Help With Medication Management
Two things that are true at the same time: 1. I take multiple medications a day; 2. I have issues with my memory.
As such, I’ve had trouble making sure I’m taking my meds. I’ve experimented with a few different ways of tracking if I’ve taken my meds so I don’t miss one or accidentally double dose (in case I can’t remember whether I took it or not), and I wanted to share some medicine tracking methods with you.
Before we get into it, I will say that oftentimes the best solution (for me at least) is to use multiple methods to make sure I’m taking my meds. I’ll talk more about that at the end of the post.
Am I Chronically Ill, Disabled, or Both?
Most identities we have are pretty black and white. Some we are given: we are raised with our cultural identities, our race is determined by our genetics, and the language we speak is dependent on where we grew up and the language of our caregivers. Clear lines are also drawn between our acquired identities: musician or not, religious or not, film buff or not. Sure, there's wiggle room-- you can love films and not be a film buff; you can play music as a hobby and not consider yourself a musician. But most identities we know pretty easily if they belong to us or they don't.
Disability isn't like that. At least, not for everyone.
Some people don't question if they're disabled. With some conditions, it's very clear. But what does it mean to be disabled, and what does it mean to be chronically ill?
In addition to exploring how people in these communities find and define these identities, I also want to explore what these identities mean for people with different disabilities and illnesses.
a brief introduction
The average person doesn't consider how much the world caters to able-bodied people because they've never had to navigate the world with a disability and it's not something that is often talked about. As a society, we're uncomfortable talking about disability. Maybe this is because we fear offending people because we don't know what language is appropriate; maybe we're uncomfortable with what is different than us; maybe discussing disability forces us to confront our internal ableism; maybe it forces us to realize how fallible our bodies are and reckon with the fact we could become disabled at any time.
The reality is, not talking about disability and how ableism pervades our society is what keeps us from moving towards a more accessible and equitable world.