Welcome to Living an Unlimited Life by Julie Ramsay - Contents and Intro
Introduce yourself to the community in the comments of this article.
Welcome to Living an Unlimited Life by Julie Ramsay
In an attempt to organize my topics and make it easier for you to find what you’re looking for, I’m starting with this index-like article and will organize this site around it.
About Me
You can read more about me on this About page if you’d like. I’m Julie, I’m a wife, a mom, a doggie mom, a creative, a creative inspired to share my journey in the hopes it helps others. I’ve worked in the corporate world for over 30 years. My current role is as a software product development manager.
I started writing here in March 2025 and find it rewarding to help others as well as cathartic to put my journey on paper (digitally).
I started this publication as I’d like to share how in the world I feel I am living an unlimited life despite all of the (invisible) illnesses I deal with. I’m hoping I can make it easier for others in the same boat.
Likewise, for those of you who have some tricks up your sleeve for keeping upbeat despite the odds, I would love to hear how you survive and thrive. (See the Community section below.)
My Contents
My newsletter posts fall into the following 6 categories. As an article is posted in each category, the category title below will become a link so that you can find the articles for each category easily.
Invisible Illnesses - What are they?
Why do we care, and why is it necessary to recognize if my illness is invisible or not? What are the impacts on my life of having an invisible illness?
Chronic Pain - While I have many invisible illnesses, the chronic pain journey is the one I am on right now, and that resonates the most at this time.
I will write about my other invisible illnesses also, but you might say chronic pain has a special place in my heart right now (as sick as that sounds, pun intended).
Mental Health Challenges (associated with invisible illnesses) - This may be one of the invisible illnesses with the largest number of people able to claim it. All illnesses are hard to deal with, but mental health challenges are exceptionally difficult.
Also, most invisible illnesses are accompanied by mental health challenges. Note that mental health challenges associated with specific conditions are not the same as having mental health issues. Both scenarios fall under the invisible illness umbrella.
Caregiver - Like all the invisible illnesses, they escape being detected by the onlooking human eye. The caregiver is especially elusive because someone else is sick, not the caregiver.
The caregiver may even neglect to recognize they qualify for such a condition.
By the time the caregiver is aware they are in dangerous territory, the damage may be too far along. It was for my dad. After he died, my siblings and I became caregivers for my mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s.
Here I am with Richard Lui, MSNBC and NBC news anchor, at the Alzheimer’s Forum in Washington DC. Richard was a caregiver for his dad, who passed from Alzheimer’s in 2021. Now, he cares for his mother, who is showing signs of dementia. Alzheimer’s - This unforgiving disease is invisible, especially in the early stages.
This unforgiving disease is near and dear to my heart since we lost my mother to it after a 13+ year journey. This unforgiving disease got me doing all sorts of things outside of my comfort zone, including fundraising and talking to politicians about necessary federal funding and legislative asks to support finding a cure as part of my volunteer work with the Alzheimer’s Association.
In addition to talking about my journey here, I will also share the latest research findings about Alzheimer’s. I find I’m usually pretty skeptical when new news circulates about possible cures. I have the benefit of being able to confirm what’s legit with my contacts at the Alzheimer’s Association.
Mindfulness - There is one thing I’ve been hearing over and over lately and that is the benefits in the healing process of mindfulness and meditation.
While every invisible illness is going to have its own cures and healing journeys, mindfulness is a healing tool that spans almost, if not all, invisible illnesses.
Community
It’s my vision to grow a community of those of us impacted by invisible illnesses and those of you who are supporters of us. By bringing us all together here, we have a forum to share stories, successes and challenges.
And that through all of us, we can make each other stronger. What has worked for you and what hasn’t?
Let’s start by having you all introduce yourself in the comments below.
I know that when this article is first published, the distribution will be small. However, because this is the Welcome/Start Here article for this page, feel free to introduce yourself below whenever it is that you stumble upon this article. This is how we will grow this community together.
I look forward to getting to know you all as you find my space here.
Contact Me
If you have any questions or feedback for me, please reach out!
You can hit reply to any email you receive from me in your inbox.
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So good to see you yesterday, and to hear about this blog you've begun. I'm sorry for the reasons it exists, but also comforted by the knowledge that I am not alone.
I was a caregiver from a young age to my mother, who suffered from mental illness. Later in her life, she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, and eventually she died by suicide. I have PTSD as a result of caregiving and surviving my mother's suicide, and OCD also. Both are pretty well managed, but it took more than a decade of therapy to get there.
Two years ago, I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a type of autoimmune arthritis in my lower spine. This was after more than a decade of back pain that I thought was just from carrying extra weight. I felt guilty because exercise was painful for my back, so I avoided it.
I, too, do not like the difference in the air when people find out I have these invisible struggles. I'm grateful that you are sharing your journey (and that Dave brought you into our lives).
Very inspiring! Thank you for your vulnerability and sharing your experience.