April 2018 Writer’s Life: Shoulder surgery means less work [#yearofwriting]

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Well, where should I start with my April blog post? Let’s see… Oh right! I had a major thing happen this month: I finally got shoulder surgery after my 15th dislocation last fall. That’s right, since I turned 18 years old, I have dislocated my shoulder a whopping 15 times and it is FINALLY fixed.

Well, sort of. It’s not really as simple as all of that. I had to get a pretty intensive surgery that means many, many months of physical therapy and recovery. So far, two and a half weeks out, I am doing okay. I am making slow but steady progress in therapy and healing steadily. It’s not easy, but it’s happening. Of course, with surgery came a few work-related complications. Primarily, I didn’t work the entire week after my surgery and I was barely able to accomplish anything the week after that. So what has that all meant? A decrease in my income, as you can imagine.

How much I made: $2816

Last month, I did pretty well! This month, though… not so much. Part of that is because I only worked, like, two and a half weeks this month. So I can’t exactly be mad about it. It happens and I’ve been trying to deal with it as best I can. In fact, my therapist keeps reminding me weekly that I need to focus on healing right now.

Other than that, though, I do have pretty good news! This month I also started my new gig as the News Editor at 21Ninety and I am SUPER excited about it. It’s a wonderful site, from the creators of Blavity, that focuses on beauty, wellness and health content for women of color and I am thrilled to be a part of it. So, without further ado, here’s what I wrote and was published this month — including, of course, my first piece for 21Ninety!

What was published:

HipLatina, specifically: