PotsieSpoons

[Comic of Potsie and Susan watching the news. The reporter says, “Experts are reminding the public to wash their hands, avoid physical contact, and to steer clear of large crowds.” Potsie gasps! She swings a blanket around herself with a dramatic flourish then stands on the couch, poised like a superhero, and proclaims, “My time has come!”]

It’s the age of 🧼🙌🧼 germaphobic introverts 🧼🙌🧼

[First image is a comic of Potsie, carrying tea to her studio—the teacup begins to wiggle as she gets random hand spasms! But she is able to successfully place the teacup on her desk before accidentally spilling or dropping it. The second image says, “Thank you, Peeps! Model Warren, Sandy Athey, Autumn Duran, and Rachel! Want to join the club? Come support me on Patreon! www.patreon.com/PotsieSpoons]

One day I’m going to drop something fragile AND important and be surrounded by Shards of Sorrow™️

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Aaaaand my Patreon is now live! You can find it here! 

If you want to directly support the work I’m doing, this is a great way to be an active participant in helping me raise awareness, educate others, and encourage even more people! So give the link above a little click and check out some of the cool bonus content you can get each month!

Thanks for all your support over the years, everybody--I really appreciate it!

Hey Anon!

Congrats on getting a diagnosis! It can be such a battle to get to this point, and I’m glad you finally have a name to put with the symptoms you’ve been experiencing!

As for your question...POTS is a form of orthostatic intolerance and a primary symptom is tachycardia--so I’m just as puzzled as you are with this one! I’m glad you’ve got a call in to your doctor, and this serves as our friendly reminder that I am but a simple comic artist doing my best to make complicated topics more understandable. 😅 

Hey there, @maknaebias!

Unfortunately, this is a very common issue anyone who uses a mobility aid faces. For some reason, it seems to be socially acceptable to ask for a person’s complete medical history as soon as they start using a mobility aid?? I can’t tell you why, and I can’t even tell you how to properly respond in every situation, because there’s no “right” answer. 

BUT I can reassure you that you don’t owe people an explanation. If they’re a total stranger, you have a right to just not answer. It’s really not any of their business anyway! If it’s an acquaintance who sees you out and about, you can simply say, “Nothing happened--these just help me get around better. Have a nice day!” and continue on with your day. 

Whatever the situation, I lean towards kindness, because the world needs more kindness in it. But you can be kind without giving a full explanation to everyone who asks, because it really isn’t their business. You control how much you tell them in that situation--if you feel like educating them about your condition, go for it! But if you just want to get on with your day, then remember you don’t owe them an explanation. 

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Exciting news! I’m starting a Patreon soon! 🥳 Here’s a quick comic to explain what Patreon is and a bit about how it works. I’ll post the link to my Patreon page when it’s live! 🙌

[Comic of Potsie and Susan. Susan says, “A new decade is upon us! So, what are your plans for tomorrow?” Potsie replies, “I dunno. Probably pretty much the same stuff I did today.” Susan says, “Yeah same I guess.”]

[Comic of Potsie and Susan in their Halloween costumes—Susan, finishing up her 80s inspired outfit, asks Potsie, “So, are you finally going to tell me what you’re dressing as for Halloween?” Potsie says, “Only the most terrifying thing known to humankind...” She spins around and makes a scary face and says, “A primary care physician who says your symptoms are all in your head!” Susan is surprised for a second—then squints as Potsie smiles. In the second image, Susan puts her hands on her hips and says, “Nobody’s gonna get that—” while Potsie sadly says, “I know.”]

[Comic of Potsie and Susan--but it begins with a daydream scenario in which Potsie is walking beside Tom Hiddleston. She says, “So everything your body does automatically, a POTS patient’s body does improperly or not at all.” Tom Hiddleston says, “Incredible! Please, do continue.” Susan asks suddenly, “Hey, Potsie... What are you doing...?” Potsie replies, “Daydreaming.” She then goes back to her daydream.]

[An animated version of my “What is POTS?” comic!]

[Comic of Potsie and Susan. Potsie says, “Sometimes, someone says something super dumb, and I have to ask--is it really worth the jail time?” Susan sips her tea and glares at Potsie, then turns towards the reader and says, “I keep telling her it’s not, but she won’t listen to me.” Potsie grins.]

[Image that says “Types of Palpitations: *The gentle tickle *The hummingbird flutter *The cough-inducing THUMP *The “I think a horse just kicked me in the chest”]

[Drawing of Potsie at a table, drinking glass after glass of water. Another girl cheers her on, “Chug, chug, chug!” Above them are the words “POTS Problem #1: Hydration!”]

[Drawing of Potsie dressed up as Harry Potter, looking into the Mirror of Erised--her reflection is holding a spoon. Above her it says, “Harriette Potsie and the Sorcerer’s Spoon”.]

“The spoon chooses the spoonie, Harriette...”

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NASA has done a lot of research on what happens to the human body in space, and here are some of the things they’ve learned:⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 1) Microgravity alters where your blood likes to hang out—on Earth, blood travels down and it’s our bodies’ job to pump it back up, but there isn’t really a “down” in space! Because of this, there’s more blood hanging out in an astronaut’s head, and this can cause changes in vision, along with feelings of dizziness, motion sickness, or even syncope (fainting). ⁣Astronauts also experience a decrease in blood volume, exacerbating these symptoms.⁣ 2) Because they don’t have to support their own weight in microgravity—or anything else, for that matter—astronauts lose muscle mass pretty quickly! They also lose bone density super fast—which are just a couple reasons why astronauts spend about two hours a day working out. 💪 ⁣⁣ 3) Astronauts also experience cardiovascular changes, because their hearts don’t have to work as hard to circulate blood. Exercise is very important for them. 🏃🏻‍♀️⁣⁣ 4) Living in the International Space Station means astronauts only see the same few people for months—they’re super isolated, and they have to learn to deal with the psychological effects of that isolation. ⁣ 5) After astronauts return to Earth, they may experience a change in cognitive function. Astronaut Scott Kelly spent a year aboard the International Space Station, and once he returned, researchers documented that his cognitive speed and accuracy declined.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Life in space creates a lot of symptoms in the human body—and POTS patients experience many of these same symptoms! ...but for totally different reasons, of course. 😅 ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ I’m hopeful that more research on how the human body reacts to space—and how to help reduce the changes astronauts face during spaceflight—will help POTSies here on Earth!⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ But I also wonder if learning about POTS—what causes it, and how to effectively treat it—might benefit astronauts in space. 🤔 If we have such a wide overlap in symptoms, maybe there’s a way we can learn from each other... ⁣⁣ Just a thought, NASA. 😉

[Comic of Potsie and Susan--Susan says cheerfully, “Remember, the only disability in life is a bad attitude!” Potsie stares at her and, slowly, it dawns on Susan until finally she says, “Ugh, I wanna punch myself in the face.” Potsie says, “I knew you’d get there.”]

I sketched this comic a while ago, almost immediately after I saw this phrase in a comment...that was like legit on a disabled person’s post...and I was just like...so mad I didn’t know what else to do. 😬 

This phrase is awful for a very serious reason: It invalidates actual disabilities that really do limit people. Our culture is so obsessed with “you can do anything you put your mind to” that it forgets that, actually, we can’t. Even if I REALLY REALLY WANT TO, there are some things in this life that I am physically incapable of doing—and that’s totally OKAY. Really, I am quite fine with it. I am—dare I say—happy, even! 😱 It’s not wrong or bad or shameful to be limited in some areas—it’s just life, and we need to start treating it as such. 

So maybe, instead of invalidating people’s experiences with disability, we just need to start listening to them to learn what their lives are really like—their triumphs and struggles and frustrations and victories, all together, whole and complete.