SMA Archives

SMA Pride Month: What I Bring When I Travel

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published:August 16, 2022
Post category:disability lifestyle
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Since I just got back from a trip to Charleston a little over a week ago, travel is still high on my mind. And since we drove to Charleston, what's also on the top of my mind is everything that I have to bring when I travel. Looking at the sheer amount of things that we fit into our car looks like a game of Tetris where none of the rows ever disappear. So I thought that I'd share the many different things I have to take with me each time I travel, whether it's for a short weekend trip or a week long one.

SMA Pride Month: Knowing My Limits

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published:August 9, 2022
Post category:disability lifestyle
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I have been living with SMA for almost 34 years now, so I'm pretty familiar with it. I (typically, at least) know how I feel when I'm getting sick, I know what I need help with so I can shower, get ready, all that stuff, and I know to listen to my body and what it's telling me. Sometimes, though, I try to push past and ignore the signs - I want to do one more thing, or stay up just a little bit longer, or go out one more place - and I always end up regretting it.

SMA Pride Month: My Life with SMA

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published:August 2, 2022
Post category:disability
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July and Disability Pride Month might be over, but the disability-related content isn't over! August is SMA Pride Month (or SMA Awareness Month - you may see it both ways). Just like I did for Disability Pride Month, I'm going to write one post per week about something related to SMA. For this first week, I thought I'd start at the beginning, and share a little bit about what my own life with SMA has looked like over the years.

Accidentally Adaptive: Beis Koozie Sling

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published:May 9, 2022
Post category:Accidentally Adaptive advocacy disability style
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I'm so excited to be back with another Accidentally Adaptive post! These are some of my absolute favorite posts to write - I love showing how mainstream products also have adaptive uses. This one comes courtesy of an Instagram ad that I came across while scrolling through my feed - for the Beis Koozie Sling. I actually almost scrolled past it and had to quickly backtrack so that I could take a closer look. And it looked so good that I ended up ordering it immediately!

Celebrating Rare Disease Day

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published:February 28, 2022
Post category:lifestyle Personal sma
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Today is Rare Disease Day - a day that acknowledges and celebrates the estimated 300 million (!!!) people with rare diseases. SMA is one of those diseases, so I'm one of those 300 million.

Feeding Tube Questions and Answers

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published:February 14, 2022
Post category:lifestyle Personal sma
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On Friday, I shared two pictures on Instagram for Feeding Tube Awareness Week. I've posted about my feeding tube a few times, I think - I had it placed in 2013, so I've had it for quite a while now! I think it's super appropriate to post about on Valentine's Day, because deciding to have my feeding tube surgery was possibly my biggest act of self-love, ever.

Accidentally Adaptive: Drybar

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published:February 8, 2022
Post category:Accidentally Adaptive disability lifestyle sma
Post comments:3 Comments

I'm so excited to be back with another "accidentally adaptive" post - I'm planning to turn this into a series! If you didn't see my first post about this puffer cape, the concept is that I'm sharing things that aren't technically meant to be "adaptive," but end up being accessible to me. The first one was a jacket, but this time it's a place, and one of my favorite places at that - Drybar.

Wisdom In Unexpected Places

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published:January 27, 2022
Post category:lifestyle Personal sma
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Last week, I got a piece of wisdom from a place that I did not expect at all - the Babysitter's Club reboot on Netflix!

Life Lately (Interrupted), January 2022

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published:January 18, 2022
Post category:lifestyle Personal
Post comments:2 Comments

I've been writing Life Lately posts for a few months now - sharing the day-to-day of what I've been up to; the things that don't necessarily make it to a stand alone blog post. I started writing them about a year ago now, because it felt like life was slowly starting to pick up again. But now, almost exactly a full year since my first COVID vaccine, I'm back to feeling stuck again.

Why I Hate Winter

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published:January 10, 2022
Post category:lifestyle
Post comments:2 Comments

I know that this post has a VERY strong title - but we had our first real snow in Pittsburgh this past week. And while it was relatively small - only two or three inches, it really reminded me how much I hate the snow and the cold!