As a person with a disability I have first hand experience with many health and wellness issues. Chronic pain, bowel disease, and mental health problems are rampant, affecting more and more North American's every day.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a disease most commonly diagnosed in young boys. However, as more and more research is being done, girls and women are finally getting the diagnosis, and help needed to battle this alarming mental health problem. ADD affects every aspect of a persons life, from the way they perceive the world, to how they struggle to fit into that same world.

By definition Fibromyalgia, or FMS breaks down as a syndrome causing pain (algia) to the soft tissues (fibro) and muscles (my). Painful sore muscles, ligaments, and joints, fibro fog, memory loss, spams, and depression are all attributed to this disability. As of yet, there are no cures. Pain management techniques such as massage, and epsom salt baths, only give momentary relief. Hopefully as research progresses, sufferers will be offered more choices in the future.

The following personal essays and articles are a reflection of my personal experiences as a person with IBS, FMS, and ADD.

Unpolished, unedited, thoughts and essays on living with AD/HD - set up in the form of a journal or blog. Updated sporadically when inspiration, or frustration hits. Topics include house cleaning, wonder drugs, making lists, background noise, and others. Take a look into the mind of a person with ADD.

• An ADD Life, musings from an ADD brain @ blogger.com

Have you ever woke up with a horrible flu? Your whole body ached, you couldn't tell if you were boiling or freezing, you were nauseous and dizzy, etc.. Now imagine feeling like this every day for the rest of your life. This is the truth of day to day living for a person with Fibromyalgia.

• Life with Fibromyalgia @ wowwomen.com

What are you supposed to do when you are a child with a disability who has no advocates? Where can you turn when no-one believes you are ill? This is a personal essay tackling my struggles with disabling illness from my childhood through adulthood. Feelings of not being accepted or believed, and facing chronic pain, fatigue, and nausea. This essay poses questions that to this day go unanswered for me.

This essay is just under 900 words. It would be best suited to a general interest, women's, or health related publication. A compelling story that questions parents, teachers, doctors, and others who should be there to provide a support system for every child.

A story of reaching for your dreams, even when the goal may be an impossibility. Learning to strive for the best can be a difficult road, especially when your body fights you at every turn. Despite fear of failure, and the chance I'd fall on my face, I worked my way into the conformation ring - and achieved a life long dream.

This essay is currently undergoing revisions. It will be completed and ready for publication by the end of June 2003. Upon completion it will be between 1000 and 1250 words. It would be best suited to a general interest, health related, or canine publication.

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Nose Licks & Tail Wags, it's contents, all images, artwork, and photographs, as well as the articles and book clips are © TD Yandt, 2003. All rights reserved. Website hosting costs provided by doteasy. Visit doteasy.com for your free hosting needs.