'I am the only one charting the map between my seemingly disconnected complaints. There is more to me than my ovaries. At least, there used to be. The person dissolves in the patient. The whole is broken into parts.' #endometriosis awarenessmonth #endometriosis #chronicillness

'I don’t know whether to scream or cry; either would give them the data to support their assumptions. I am a malingering, drug-seeking, non-mother with high standards and insatiable career ambitions. Bias is blinding.' In Pangyrus Literary Magazine, I show healthcare can make or break a person.

February issue of Immigrant Strong is out! featuring Matt Ortile Grace Loh Prasad 駱信惠 Ani Gjika Kristina Kasparian, PhD Lauren Markham + more

immigrantstrong.substack.com/p/immigrant-st…

'It still astonishes me how bad my bad days can be, even if I have a reliable toolbox to help me navigate them. I still mourn losses, still feel fear, and still think I can’t possibly deal anymore.' 🔗medium.com/invisible-illn… via Kristina Kasparian, PhD

#ChronicIllness #ChronicPain

'I live on the fault line at the intersection of two axes—illness and wellness—and two planes: what is and what could have been. My body is the most unpredictable factor in every day'

on solo travel w chronic illness by Kristina Kasparian, PhD for Longreads longreads.com/2024/02/06/tra…

'The story of city and self is often intertwined; where we loved, where we lost, where we came alive. When my nostalgia swells, I wonder what I’m missing: the back then of Milan, or of me?'

Kristina Kasparian, PhD #longreads #travel #disability #italy

longreads.com/2024/02/06/tra…

'Sadly, though, French has changed my vowels and endo has changed my bowels.'

What happens when you return to one of your favorite cities in a different body?

New on @longreads, by Kristina Kasparian, PhD: longreads.com/2024/02/06/tra…

'Milan is my timepiece, my meter of selves past. I was prepared for my return to sting.' | For Longreads, I take you with me back to the city that once knew me best, before my body and mind changed. longreads.com/2024/02/06/tra…

'My seat on the train into Milan has me going backward. Fitting, I think, to be pulled into my city in reverse, my life on rewind.'

Kristina Kasparian, PhD revisits Milan—a city that shaped her—and writes beautifully on aging, ableism, and self-acceptance. longreads.com/2024/02/06/tra…

Longreads Kristina Kasparian, PhD This piece is yet more proof that it takes potent prose - and not an endless stream of 'simple,' elementary, mediocre diction - to properly capture and convey a story's innate profundity and full livelihood. You don't put in the power as a writer this way, you pull it out.

I wrote most of this personal piece in my journal when I returned to Milan for the first time in 10 years and grieved all the ways I've changed since I lived there in my 20s. To see it published by Longreads is surreal! Thank you to my brilliant editors!

I came out of hibernation to write this op-ed for IRPP/Policy Options on why improving healthcare in Canada depends on *actually listening* to what people with chronic illnesses and disabilities have to say about system failures

policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/janu…

For An Injustice!, I wrote about how hard and how beautiful it is to live where illness and wellness intersect, where grief and relief share the same heartbeat.

#endometriosis #chronicillness #invisibleillness #mentalhealth
aninjusticemag.com/living-well-wh…

'For many of us, there is no pre and post to toggle between — there’s just a knob that is cranked up and down and up again, fears and flares between acute and chronic, with little reprieve in between.' 🔗medium.com/an-injustice/l… via Kristina Kasparian, PhD

#ChronicIllness #ChronicLife

For Newsweek, I wrote about why my family will never see me pregnant and why I'm super okay with that.

#surrogacy #eggdonation #endometriosis #mentalhealth

It is not enough to win a war, make thousands of deaths and an ethnic cleansing. It is important for dictator Aliyev to be filmed and photographed while trampling the flag of a minority he has just erased.

For fodorstravel, I shared tips on how to travel peacefully with chronic pain. fodors.com/news/photos/ti…

I enjoyed contributing to this Yahoo Life article about egg freezing and how not all eggs always survive the thawing process. Thanks @prisblossom! ca.style.yahoo.com/egg-freezing-d… via Yahoo

This endometriosis treatment can be life-changing to late-stage patients. Few can get it today.com/health/womens-… via TODAY

For Italy Magazine, I wrote about the raw beauty of Calabria and the generosity of the locals I met. Thank you Mary Gray for your thoughtful edits!

The entire summer issue is dedicated to this undersung region! Read it in full here: italymagazine.com/product/bellis…