| Believe that positive thoughts can fix genetics
| Want information about specific conditions (I'm not a doctor)
| Cannot stand anything less than perfect grammar
| Sarcasm is not a language you're familiar with
| Pinterest worthy photos only

No

| You are chronically ill or give care to someone who is
| In a relationship or want to be
| Need a space to be with those who "get it"
| Enjoy goofy and sometimes even dark humor
| Real, raw, honest content about chronic illness and family

Yes

Is this content right for you?

My most asked question. It's difficult to explain, but due to congenital deformities in the vessels in my brain, a traumatic brain injury, cervical instability, and hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome I have a unique condition where my blood either pools in my brain or doesn't enter my brain at all. This does not happen every minute of every day, but when it does, it deoxygenates my brain quickly. I use supplemental oxygen (aka, my tank named Stanley) to calm the spasms in my brain  to prevent hypoxia related Dystonic Storms (conscious seizures) .

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do you wear oxygen inconsistently?

How long have you been sick?

That's always up for debate between me and my doctors, but I claim 10 years (they usually claim longer). For me, my clock starts 10 years ago when I no longer could live the way I had been living my life the way I was used to living it. Does that make sense? Clear as mud, I'm sure. Growing up, I was kind of a sickly kid; very skinny, asthmatic, uncoordinated, and caught every cold that ever came around. I had two intense abdominal surgeries when I turned 16 years old.

The first was to remove a 2.5 liter cyst (the size of a basketball) from my left fallopian tube, leaving me with an 8 inch scar down my belly, The second surgery happened only 4 months later to fuse my collapsing spine, leaving a 5 inch scar down my back. When I was 20 years old I received a blow to my head that gave me a brain-bleeding concussion and I struggled with amnesia for about 18 months. In that time I happened to be living in an apartment riddled with black mold and became allergic to all food. All of it. I puked everyday and was a miserable mess. But nope, I don't claim chronic illness until I had barely crossed over into my 23rd year of living.

I was working on a farm at the time and was driving home when I got into a car accident and received another concussion. I didn't think much of it in the moment, but two weeks later, my nervous system shut down and I've never recovered. It's this condition that I've lived with for 10 years now that affects my every day living.(And it can get really severe if I'm not careful). After writing that all out, I guess I can see why doctors want to say it's longer than 10 years, but I don't know...my heath wasn't the best before my nervous system crashed, but at least I could still drive, I could still hike, I could still run around with my friends. Now? Every decision every day has to be weighed with so much care to prevent extreme pain, and it's been that way for 10 years, so that's why I claim 10. 

What is your diagnosis?

I'm hesitant to answer this questions because I don't want anyone to believe that just because we don't have the same diagnosis doesn't mean we can't relate to each other on so many levels. We may not have the same diagnosis, but we are living a similar discordant existence. My husband believes though that I need to add my "street cred" since I'm a chronically ill content creator, so I'll do my best to explain what I can.  

This list is what I have been diagnosed with - but doesn't explain everything I deal with since much of what i deal with hasn't been given a name yet. 

Dystonia, hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury, mold toxicity, Dysautonomia, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, MTHFR gene mutation, Drop Attacks, cervical instability, many food and life allergies (suspicious of having MCAS at this point), hereditary pancreatitis, complex PTSD, ADHD, and congenital deformities such as Spina bifida occulta, deformed veins in my brain and neck, and a deformed frontal left lobe in my brain.  

What inpired you to create a chronic illness blog?

A few reasons! I started creating Social Media content in March of 2025. My husband has been creating Law Enforcement Content (a lil' @tasedandconfused plug right here) for years and I've watched him enjoy it and really grow into dreams he never thought would be possible. I am so proud of him. Watching his growth and success made the idea of creating content appealing, but not so much to get me up off my constantly fatigued boo-tay and take the energy that it takes to create a brand. So what finally got me creating?

You see, in December of 2024 I met with a Neurosurgeon in Florida who told me my brain was inoperable. Another Doctor that I believed would have the answers simply didn't and my world began to split apart. My friend who came with me said "Kodi, maybe its time to accept all of this - to learn to live with it." Live with what? A reality I couldn't cope with? Strange and mysterious medical episodes that land me in the hospital more often than I can afford?  Accept the fact that I likely wont have my family on this Earth for as long as I would like to?

That night I cried myself to sleep.

The grief and confusion of who I am and what my purpose is supposed to be erupted out of me. Accept what? That I was sick? I had never done that before. In fact, I had never considered myself chronically ill. Plus it was December and I really didn't have much time to think about Acceptance. I had to focus on Christmas and my Dad whose mental health had suddenly taken a terrible turn. It was Busy Season and I needed to stay focused. I would contemplate Acceptance once the Season was done.

I slipped back into routine, keeping my frayed reality buttoned up as best as I could. I just needed to get through the next three weeks. But before I ever got to decide what was True about my Acceptance, my Dad died. Two days before Christmas. Of his own volition, in case you were wondering. The experience has stripped me down to the bare bones. It has made me take a harsh look at what is true about me. A reality I had never faced. I began making Content to find what is Real for me and my life - especially in the world of Chronic Illness.

In that journey on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok I have met so many wonderful people that it has led me to now create a Blog to have a space to give more voice to this voice inside of me that still has so much to learn and also so much to share. To give space to questions and answers that, truthfully, each of us in the chronic illness world have searched for, but can't really find because no one is really speaking about it. So that's why I started making content and that is why I am now starting to make a blog. And obviously I never know how to make a long story short.