Chronic Disease
Breathe Your Pain Away
When I’m in pain, I have a little trick I use, when I can no longer count on distraction to avoid it. Put me on a ski slope with herniated discs and sciatic nerves screaming and I’ll forget all about them. But sometimes you just can’t shut out that...
read moreChapter 10 Living Well
1. Will your personal philosophy change? No one passes through the eye of a storm unchanged. You cannot expect to experience chronic disease and all it encompasses without changing as a person. A few people I have encountered who are dealing with chronic conditions have not weathered the experience...
read moreChapter 9 Your Support Team
1. Who makes up your support team? It should become obvious in the early stages of your disease the people around you are unique individuals. Each has strengths and weaknesses. It would be silly for a Hemophiliac to ask someone that faints at the sight of blood to be...
read moreChapter 8 Lifestyle Changes
1. What changes are needed at work? a) Negotiating new terms For months, maybe years before you are diagnosed, you may be struggling with the symptoms of the chronic disease attacking your body. Eventually this will affect your performance in the workplace. You will reach several points when...
read moreChapter 7 Emotional Impact
1. What emotions are common to people with invisible disease? a) Anger “Anger too becomes chronic and gets tedious.” Phillipa Gail: I get angry that all these nasty diseases keep happening to me. I wonder what I did to deserve them. Bad luck? A freak of genetics? Anger is...
read moreChapter 6 Mental Impact
1. What is the mental impact of chronic disease? a) The stages of grief Carrie: In the beginning, I felt devastated. I sheltered myself. I pulled back from people – if you don’t touch me I’ll be fine. I felt like if the people I knew became involved...
read moreChapter 5 Managing Pain
1. What is pain? Sylvia: When I was in hospital this last time, it was because I could not get past the pain. I became debilitated with it to the point that I could not even function and take care of myself in my own home. At the time...
read moreChapter 4 Physical Impact
1. What are the symptoms of “Invisible Diseases”? a) List of Symptoms Exhaustion – you experience an increasing inability to find the energy to meet the demands of your day. It is caused by an accumulation of stress, sleep disorder and the need foryour body to fight the antigen,...
read moreChapter 3 Educating Yourself
1. What do I want to know? Let’s look at what the gastroenterologist told me during his diagnosis and my responses to what he said. It is obvious that we were not communicating well. A lot of harm was done in this first interview. HIS words MY thoughts You...
read moreChapter 2 Diagnosis
1. Are tests necessary? Almost always it is necessary for your physician to send you for specific tests, or to a specialist who will ask you to be tested, in order to find the cause of your symptoms. Testing is not fun. At a minimum it is a chunk...
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