Jen Giles

Joined February 2021

0 stories

Bio

Working through the craziness of life by writing it down with terrible grammar. Chronic illness, abusive relationships, traveling to see all life has to offer. I've experienced a little bit of it all and it has shaped who I am today.

Stories (5/0)

Talking to a dog that can't hear me
I didn’t know when I adopted him, but my dog Kluber is damn near 100% deaf. I know what you’re thinking: how could I not know right away that my new dog was deaf?! Well, he didn’t show any signs of having any problems during his short shelter stay, so they, and as a result myself, had no reason to believe that he wasn’t a fully hearing dog. Klubs, as I now call him, is an extremely observant dog when he wants to be and would use his other senses to notice and interact with the world around him. Couple that with the fact that he sharp as a tack doggo sister who already lived with me he could copy and we had a hard time figuring out that there was anything wrong.
By Jen Giles2 years ago in Petlife
Going out for a run and coming back with lupus
Almost 10 years ago (wow is that a crazy thing to say), I decided as a high school senior that I wanted to go for a run on a warm December day for some completely unknown reason. The run itself was a pretty average one, except that I felt a little more winded than usual. It was when I finished that I noticed something was wrong. I went upstairs to my room and couldn’t catch my breath, I laid on my floor for about an hour not able to get a real breath in. Yeah, running wasn’t exactly my favorite, but I had played soccer my whole life so I was use to it, bu had never experienced anything like this before.
By Jen Giles2 years ago in Motivation
Traveling My Way Through Grad School
I always knew that one day I wanted to get my Master’s degree, but I also knew that I didn’t want to get a traditional biology degree. Sitting in a lab running experiments and doing statistics (blegh!) was not my idea of a fun time. So when one of my mom’s friends mentioned that she was in a Master’s program where she got to travel to three different countries and learn from people around the world; I knew that was something I needed to look into. I want to tell you that I took a lot of time contemplating my other options but once I found Project Dragonfly at Miami University, well I didn’t look many other places. Three countries, all virtual classes, relatively inexpensive (by grad school standards) and, best, of all no thesis!
By Jen Giles2 years ago in Wander
So you're in pain...
Here is the sequel to my first part Signs of an Ovarian Cyst: how to stay comfortable with one. Pain is something I have been surrounded with since about the 6th grade when I started getting migraines and then it was made worse when I was diagnosed with lupus in high school. So sadly, I am no stranger to being in pain. But having an ovarian cyst was pretty high up there on my list of worst pains. But it’s an invisible illness, like so many today, so you have to put on a painfree face and get your work done like normal. So here are a few of my tips for keeping yourself as comfortable as possible.
By Jen Giles2 years ago in Viva
Do I have a cyst?
At 27, feeling pain in your stomach area is a lot scarier than when you were a kid, because now you have those dreaded medical bills to take into account. So when I felt what I thought was a UTI, I waited as long as I could before going into the doctor. But one appointment turned into four as we struggled to figure out what was actually wrong, because it wasn’t a classic UTI. After many pain filled days, we were finally able to figure out that I had an ovarian cyst and my urinary tract was totally fine (if not better than normal because ya girl got all the cranberry supplements). Having a cyst never even crossed my mind because I had no idea what symptoms to look for and some of them seem normal. So hopefully this list will save you an extra doctors appointment or two!
By Jen Giles2 years ago in Viva

Jen Giles

Bio

Stories .css-19zxm0z-Text{display:inline-block;color:var(--text-default-mute);}(5/0)

Talking to a dog that can't hear me

Going out for a run and coming back with lupus

Traveling My Way Through Grad School

So you're in pain...

Do I have a cyst?

Stories (5/0)