In this heartfelt episode, Rachel sits down with Julia Edelman to discuss her seven-year journey with uveitis, an autoimmune disorder affecting the retina. They explore the roller coaster of emotions Julia has experienced through the medical challenges and numerous surgeries. She expresses difficult emotions, such as feeling like a burden to her caregivers during her procedures, but also shares uplifting experiences like finding creative outlets through her newsletter, dancing, and building online community spaces to support others facing similar health challenges.

😊 Julia's Eyewitness Newsletter: https://juliaedelman.substack.com/

🐙Julia's resource recommendations:

• Between Two Kingdome: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
• Isolation Journals, Suleika Jaouad's Substack

🔥 Rachel's Substack, Inner Workings: https://raekatz.substack.com/

✨ Ladies Illness Library written interviews: https://raekatz.substack.com/s/ladies-illness-library

🎶Music "Upbeat Defiant Challenge Funky Groove" by Uroboros Music, licensed through Audio Jungle

What does life look like when frequent migraines sap your energy? How do you find meaning in this context? Host Rachel Katz explores this question with Substack writer Amber Horrox, who shares her journey with chronic illness in her newsletter, Warrior Within. From grappling with the inability to work to overcoming medical skepticism and chronic illness grief, Rachel and Amber cover topics like medical research and trusting personal experiences. Amber's shift in mindset from "control to creation" inspired us to reframe the experience of managing chronic illness and hope that it does the same for you.

😊 Amber’s links:

• Warrior Within newsletter: https://warriorwithin.substack.com/
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-horrox-69a94010/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amberhorrox/
• Yoga class for writers: https://warriorwithin.substack.com/p/a-yoga-class-for-writers
• Case study: https://warriorwithin.substack.com/p/warrior-unleashed-a-shedding-of-self
• Amber's list of resources: https://warriorwithin.substack.com/p/resources-that-shaped-my-recovery

👁‍🗨 Conference: Migraine World Summit
Learn from the Migraine and Headache Experts - Migraine World Summit

📕 Books:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, Stephen R. Covey. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/36072

Finding Peace with a Devastating Disease: Reflections on Endometriosis: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/57210352

🔥 Rachel's Substack, Inner Workings: https://raekatz.substack.com/

✨ Ladies Illness Library written interviews: https://raekatz.substack.com/s/ladies-illness-library

🎶Music "Upbeat Defiant Challenge Funky Groove" by Uroboros Music, licensed through Audio Jungle

Ema Hegberg is the extraordinarily thoughtful writer behind Peace of the Whole. She has spent over a decade with varying symptoms, from upper GI issues (feeling like food was getting stuck when she swallowed) to chronic gut problems to Lyme disease and adverse reaction to antibiotics and panic attacks and more. Ema talks eloquently about body awareness and cyclical living, and how she has slowly shaped a new life around those concepts. There is a lot of hope in this conversation, and I am thrilled to share it with you.

🔥 Rachel's Substack, Inner Workings: https://raekatz.substack.com/

✨ Ladies Illness Library written interviews: https://raekatz.substack.com/s/ladies-illness-library

🎶Music "Upbeat Defiant Challenge Funky Groove" by Uroboros Music, licensed through Audio Jungle