Women Veterans PTSD Meetups Huntsville

Women Veterans PTSD Meetups Huntsville

Women Veterans PTSD Meetup Huntsville

Beginning January 13, 2025, Invisible Warriors will begin holding in-person meetups in Huntsville for women veterans with PTSD, MST, and other invisible illnesses. This is an opportunity for our women veterans in the greater Huntsville area to meet each other and just talk. It can be hard to walk this path alone. Being able to come together to share stories, build camaraderie, offer support, and encourage each other can make the journey less lonely.

The meetups wlll be held in a private room at 11:00 am at the Clayton E Moneymaker American Legion Post 237 which is located at 2900 Drake Avenue, Huntsville, Alabama 35805 (at the corner of Chasewood Dr. and Drake Ave). Enter from the back of the building for privacy. There is no cost for this meetup although food and drink are available for purchase from the American Legion.

These women veterans PTSD meetups will be monthly and facilitated by a kind and caring woman.

Women Veterans PTSD Meetups Huntsville

Invisible Warriors

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2025 Silent No More Gala

2025 Silent No More Gala

2025 Silent No More Gala

a Celebration of Hope and Caring

On June 14, 2025, 5:00 – 7:30 at the Holiday Inn Research Park,
join Invisible Warriors and help us give women veterans a voice.

The Silent No More Gala will be raising funds for MST retreats, creating safe spaces for healing and connection. With your support, we can stand with women veterans facing PTSD, MST, and other invisible wounds.

We have great keynote speakers lined up as well as the Twickenham Jazz Band to perform for us all through the evening. Plus there will be a silent auction with amazing gifts to bid on and yummy hors d’oeuvres to snack on.

Dignitaries will also be on hand to issue a new proclamation honoring Women Veterans Recognition Day, making Alabama the 21st state to recognize the 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act.

Women Veterans Recognition Day, observed annually on June 12, honors the contributions of female veterans, often seen as “Invisible Warriors.” Alabama’s proclamation highlights their unique challenges and achievements, ensuring they receive the respect and support they deserve. This recognition fosters community appreciation for the dedication of women who served in the military.

2025 Silent No More Gala

Invisible Warriors

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Art Contest 2024

Art Contest 2024

Art Contest 2024

What does life look like living with an ongoing invisible illness?
Each year, Invisible Warriors runs an Art Contest fundraiser. By participating, you provide hope and help for women with autoimmune disorders, ongoing illnesses, and invisible disabilities, especially women veterans suffering from MST and PTSD.

We invite you to submit your artwork and donation to support Invisible Warriors to help meet their needs – physical, mental, and emotional – so they can thrive, not just survive.
Here’s how the contest works
Take pictures or create art of “real life”—people living every day with some chronic illness—and submit it with a $25 donation to Invisible Warriors. Photos, drawings, and paintings are all accepted. (NOTE: you’ll need to submit a photo of any drawings/paintings.)
For more information or to submit a photo or your artwork
Click the Go To Art Contest button below and follow the instructions on the website about how to create your contest page. Then invite people to vote for your entry by sharing your new page. Each vote is only $1. The top twelve winning submissions will be featured on a custom 2025 calendar, our website, and our social media.

Art Contest 2024

Invisible Warriors

Want to know more about Invisible Warriors? Sign up for our newsletter to receive regular updates. Contact us HERE. Or click the button below to schedule a meeting with Founder Nancy Becher!

Validating an Invisible Illnesses

Validating an Invisible Illnesses

Validating an Invisible Illness

Kathy had been feeling really rundown and achy for months. She went to see her primary care doctor multiple times, but each time the doctor dismissed her concerns saying things like, “You just need more rest” or, “It’s probably just stress.” Thus her journey for validating an invisible illness began.

She knew something wasn’t right, though. The fatigue and pain she felt was not normal. But the doctor made her start questioning herself and wondering if maybe she was just being dramatic.

Trying her best to push through and live a normal life, it became harder and harder. Simple tasks like going to work, cleaning the house, or running errands left her utterly exhausted.

Finally, after nearly a year of suffering, Kathy found a new doctor. She explained all her symptoms – the fatigue, body aches, brain fog, and more. This doctor actually listened. They ran some tests and eventually diagnosed her with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that causes widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue.

Finally relieved to have an answer, she was also frustrated that she had been dismissed and gaslit by previous doctors who made her feel like her very real symptoms were just in her head. With proper treatment and management, her symptoms became more under control, but it was a long journey to get the care she deserved.

Asserting Your Rights as a Patient

Self-advocating at the doctor’s office when they are not listening or taking your illness seriously can be extremely frustrating, but it’s important to persist if you have any chance of validating your invisible illness. Here are some steps to follow:

Come Prepared
• Keep a detailed symptom journal tracking when issues occur, their severity, triggers, etc. Having concrete data helps validate your experiences.
• Bring research on your suspected condition from reputable sources to educate the doctor.
• Make a list of your key concerns and questions so you don’t get flustered and forget anything important.

Be Respectfully Assertive
• Don’t minimize or downplay your symptoms. Describe their full impact on your daily life.
• If the doctor dismisses you, respectfully reiterate the facts and that you need them to take this seriously.
• Ask them to specifically explain why they think your symptoms are due to another cause.

Bring Support
• Having a spouse, friend or family member attend appointments can provide a second voice corroborating your symptoms.
• They can also take notes, ask questions you may miss, and advocate on your behalf.

Know Your Rights
• You have the right to view test results and records to ensure critical information isn’t missed.
• You can request a second opinion, either from another doctor in the same practice or elsewhere.
• If you feel you’re still being dismissed, you can change practices entirely. Your health is priority.

Self-advocacy takes persistence, but don’t give up until you find a doctor who truly listens. Getting a proper diagnosis and treatment plan can make a life-changing difference for your well-being.

Ways to Better Explain What’s Going on in Your Body

Sometimes we aren’t clear enough about what we’re feeling. Here are some examples of how to clearly and effectively describe your illness to a doctor:

Symptom Details
• “The fatigue I experience is completely debilitating. Even after nine hours of sleep, I wake up feeling just as drained as when I went to bed.”
• “The joint pain and stiffness is worst in my knees, hips, and hands. It’s severe enough that some days I can barely get out of bed or grip objects.”
• “I get dizzy spells and headaches almost daily, usually worsened by standing for too long.”
• “I’ve noticed this red, butterfly-shaped rash comes and goes on my cheeks when I’ve had a symptom flare.”

Impact on Life
• “This illness has caused me to miss 12 work days in the last two months because of symptom severity.”
• “Simple household chores like vacuuming or doing laundry leave me utterly exhausted for the rest of the day.”
• “I’ve had to stop exercising and attending my weekly tennis matches, which was a big stress-relief activity for me.”
• “My symptoms make it difficult to concentrate, so I’m struggling in my college courses right now.”

Tracking Patterns
• “I’ve noticed I tend to have flare-ups of muscle weakness and fever about a week after getting a virus like the cold or flu.”
• “My symptoms seem to be cyclical – they’ll be manageable for a couple weeks and then I’ll have an intense flare that lasts 7-10 days.”
• “Certain foods like gluten, dairy or alcohol appear to trigger more joint pain and brain fog within 24 hours after eating them.”

Using descriptive details, keeping a log, and quantifying the impact can all help the doctor better understand your unique condition. Don’t hold back – honest communication is crucial for validating your invisible illness.

Validating an Invisible Illness

Want to know more about Invisible Warriors? Sign up for our newsletter to receive regular updates. Contact us HERE. Or click the button below to schedule a meeting with Founder Nancy Becher!

Come to the Table with Dr. Ann Hester, MD

Come to the Table with Dr. Ann Hester, MD

Come to the Table with Dr. Ann Hester, MD

You are warmly invited to join our regular event, Come to the Table, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at 12:00 ET/11:00 CT. This peer support group is part of the Invisible Warriors Club where women feel loved and supported, valuable and worthwhile. All women are welcome.

Special guests, discussions, and training about ongoing invisible illnesses and autoimmune disorders provide a sense of not being alone. At Come to the Table, we talk about all things life and invisible illnesses, but in a kind and uplifting way – never moaning and groaning.

This month we have as our special guest, Dr. Ann Hester, MD, Internal Medicine Specialist with 30+ years in practice. Dr. Hester’s passion is patient empowerment. For over two decade, she has worked diligently to educate healthcare consumers on powerful, easy-to-understand methods to optimize their health (and their health care) and lower their medical bills. Dr. Hester is also the author of Patient Empowerment 101. (Learn more HERE.)

Dr. Hester is also a syndicated columnist as part of the Price of Business Digital Network. Patient empowerment is her theme, of course. “What else could it be? Few things in life are as motivating and satisfying as empowering people to live stronger, longer lives,” says Dr. Hester in her LinkedIn profile. (Follow her on LinkedIn HERE.)

Topics for this Come to the Table include:

  • how to better prepare for upcoming doctor visits
  • optimize doctor-patient communication to optimize your care and save money
  • how to be “respectfully assertive”
  • the importance of having a health advocate

Come to the Table online with Invisible Warriors founder Nancy Becher and Dr. Hester on Wednesday, May 15th by clicking HERE to join the Zoom at 12:00 ET/11:00 CT.

Come to the Table with Dr. Ann Hester

Want to know more about Invisible Warriors? Sign up for our newsletter to receive regular updates. Contact us HERE. Or click the button below to schedule a meeting with Founder Nancy Becher!