Sex, hugs and the chronic toll

Unfixed video

"Hm. Intimacy and chronic illness. Two things that don't naturally fit together in a sentence...and really don't fit naturally together in the real world either. We all know that intimacy is vitally important for a relationship but it’s constant effort when you feel like dog doo all the time."  

- Rachelle Alford, MdDS, Vestibular Migraine

I’ve never been a Valentine’s Day fan—nothing like a chocolate bomb of expectation to kill the mood. But dedicating a day to explore love, both personal and transcendent, how it hurts and how it heals, and with whom we choose to share the messy ride? Now that I can celebrate.

So in that spirit, I share Sex, Hugs and the Chronic Toll, hoping to restore a little balance on a day too often rose-filtered and Hallmark sweet.

In this special Unfixed episode, a handful of brave individuals pull back the curtain (and bedsheets) on their intimate lives. With sensitivity, humor, and vulnerability, they explore how chronic illness can dampen the vibe but through communication, honesty, adaptation and curiosity, they reignite their sexual and sensual selves in deeper, more profound ways. If you’re feeling an intimacy void today, I assure you, after watching this episode, a deep connection with the human family will come rushing in.

If intimacy is our loving embrace with the heart of the “other” can I not always be in an intimate state with the divine? I’m not talking about some man in the clouds, but to hold the whole world with love, all of existence, all of creation, all of life, and especially all our brothers and sisters of humanity. That for me, is the highest form of intimacy.

- Dylan Shanahan, ALS

A huge bravo and thank you to Dylan Shanahan (ALS), Rachelle Alford (MdD), Rene Morales (Trigeminal Neuralgia), Shayla VanTassel (Crohn's Disease), Johan Galeano (PPPD, Vestibular Migraine), Jen Trepanier (Lupus, Autoimmune Neutropenia) and Brianna Cardenas (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) for showing up for this important topic with great transparency and grace.