I’m a dreamer. A planner. A go getter. A wing-it cooker. A nerd. A cheesy joke lover. An outdoor enthusiast. An agricultural advocate. A Christian. A wife. A mom. A chronic pain sufferer.

Hello, dear friends! My name is Em and I am a 20-something year old living on a cattle ranch in central Wyoming with my husband J and our tiny human A.

My unexpected journey with chronic pain really began in high school after a horse riding incident injured my shoulder, but went undiagnosed and eventually into remission until my junior year of college. In 2015, I was officially diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD)/Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) after a crush injury to my thigh (I bet I can give most of you a run for your money for weird ways to sustain an injury, ha). The chronic pain and inflammation led to my shoulder flaring up again, as well as other systemic problems with complex migraines and gastroparesis-like symptoms.

The past few years have been a roller coaster to say the least. With my pregnancy and delivery of A, my CRPS has largely gone into remission (still not pain free by any means, but much improved). It’s impossible to say what the future will hold, but instead of allowing fear to take hold, I am declaring that this is where hope grows!

I hope you’ll join me on this crazy ride as I share how to live a joyful life through the highs and lows of chronic pain.