Why this blog?

Welcome! Thank you for visiting my blog!

This is my medical and recreational blogsite. Some of the entries on this blog are honest and quite vulnerable, as I wrote them at my lowest point. I try to keep a positive outlook on life, because no one wants to hang out with a downer, including me. Writing these entries has allowed me to see the world through a beneficial filter that allows me to appreciate every moment I have been able to experience in my life, even the difficult ones.

My husband Matthew and I LIVE when we can. I mean we suck the juice out of life, and we aren't ashamed of that outlook. It makes the bad times ok somehow because we took advantage when we were able. The pictures on this blog are part of that. I take pretty pictures of my sick body to boost my self esteem when I am having a difficult time seeing myself as a woman instead of a sick person. It is how I cope with my illness, and no one gets to judge how you survive your difficulties. So live on, and feed your souls.

Watch our story here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG_mrDJ10LM&feature=youtu.be


~ Tonia

I have decided to relaunch my Facebook Page, The Beauty in Illness. Along with the help of two other rare patient advocates, we are hoping to include artistic stories of struggle and perseverence through creative ways. Please check us out and let us know if you would like to contribute!




Hospital Me THEN (2012)

Hospital Me THEN (2012)
Dance like no one is watching!

Hospital me NOW (2015)

Hospital me NOW (2015)
Dance like EVERYONE'S watching

Post Transplant-1 Year (March 2014)

Post Transplant-1 Year (March 2014)
Mi Amor Studio

Pre Dialysis Pinup Shoot (2012)

Pre Dialysis Pinup Shoot (2012)
Dynamite Dames

Mid Dialysis Boudoir (March 2013)

Mid Dialysis Boudoir (March 2013)
100 pounds, and a week from transplant, chest tube tucked into bra like a lady. ;)

Non-Pinup Me Now (2015)

Non-Pinup Me Now (2015)
This girl has four kidneys

Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Life is good..well sort of

My first year of graduate school was hard as hell, as it is for most people.  I loved every minute of it.  I was so happy to be there.  I completely immersed myself in theatre and movement, learning stage combat all day, every day until I was sick of it.  I started developing my interest in my current specialty of intimacy during that year, when I thought of ways to translate stage combat into sexual choreography.  I wanted to come up with a way to make sex easier to experience for everyone on stage.   I loved choreographing it, and made it my life's focus.

This is where I met Matthew Ellis.  He was also a graduate student at VCU.  When I met him, he was trying to sell me the program.  I was thinking to myself, "This guy is awesome!  He has no idea but he is going to be my best friend."  Oh the things I didn't know then...

My health was rapidly declining during the summer after my first year.  I went to Europe and forgot I was sick.  What kidney disease???