Drawing on her own deeply personal experiences, Ania Bula explores what it is like to live with unseen chronic disabilities. She paints a vibrant picture of what it is like to be diagnosed with two life-long debilitating conditions as a young adult and relates the challenges and frustrations of dealing with predatory alternative medicine practitioners, arrogant doctors, indifferent bureaucracies, and well-meaning friends and family who always seem to say either the wrong thing—or nothing at all. As she discovered, suddenly everyone’s aunt is a health expert and everyone’s fad diet a cure. Making matters worse, her physical torment quickly translated into mental stresses. Relationships became strained, while others, including all-important romantic ones, never had a chance to start at all. Wading through a constant stream of ignorance and lies, in a desperate attempt to find peace, to stop the pain, and to return to a more normal life, she submits to being stuffed with powders and magic potions, poked and prodded, and even “faith healed.” With honesty and humor, she shares her journey of pain, suffering, and, ultimately, coping, both to help others gain some understanding about what it is like to live with chronic illness—and to help those who might similarly suffer feel less alone, so that they too might start living again.

Ania Bula is a disabled, queer, wibbly-wobbly gendery-wendery, social justice activist who is pro-choice, pro–sex work, and manages to say all that in one breath. She lives in Ottawa with her wife, two cats, three turtles, several fish, and two dogs.

Details

ISBN: 9781634310734 (paperback)

SRP: $14.95 (paperback)

Page count: 224 pages

Trim size: 6 x 9

Pub date: May 2016

“The personal is political, and in Young, Sick, and Invisible, Ania Bula drills down into both. Whether she’s writing about medical neglect, victim-blaming, invisibility, or woo and snake-oil medicine, she tells her story with intensity, precision, and a clarity that resonates. If you want better understanding and greater compassion for people dealing with disabilities, I urge you to read it.”

—Greta Christina, author of The Way of the Heathen: Practicing Atheism in Everyday

“Young, Sick, and Invisible is an insightful look at one woman’s journey as she navigates the medical system, the expectations of others, and her own place in the world. This book is hard to put down!”

—Angie Jackson, professional blogger

“Living with illness and disability can be an isolating experience.

With her engaging, relatable writing Bula offers a kinship for those who are searching. This is an important read.”

—Kaleigh Trace, author of Hot, Wet, and Shaking:

How I Learned to Talk About Sex