The Lessons of Chronic Illness

This is something I have been meaning to write about for a while, but it is a tough topic because these are things I'm still working on. Particularly the first thing, which is, listen to your body. In order to take care of our bodies we have to understand what they need. We have to stop pushing our bodies to do what we are willing them to do, but do what they need - eat well, exercise, rest when we are tired.
Learning about your condition may seem obvious, but sometimes it is easier to research other people's ailments than your own. It is important though, because otherwise you are dealing with a big scary blob - you need to understand so you can fully participate in your health care decisions. Which leads me to the next extremely important thing. Put together a really good team of Doctors - and talk to them. I cannot stress enough how vital it is to have doctors you feel good about. Once you have these people in place you have to remember to tell them the problems you are having. A good thing to do is to keep a notebook where you can write down any questions you have before appointments, and also take notes at appointments. Another helpful thing can be a symptom diary.
Returning to the internet, there are some great blogs out there that offer support - I find that it doesn't matter really if we share the same illness, it is the experience of illness. Some of my favorites are on the right side.
Find something you enjoy, that you can do even if you aren't feeling well. I used to do a lot of coloring back when I was taking a lot of pain meds and I wasn't reading much. (Very Adult designs with watercolor markers - no crayons, thank you!) Then I got into collage because I could do it in bits and pieces while Marley napped....The point is there is something you can do that will give you pleasure you just need to figure out what and do it - because you deserve some pleasure.