To the uninitiated, it sounds like such a simple question: “What did you do today?” And really, it is simple. It’s the answer that’s complicated.
Some days the answer is complicated because the day was spent dealing with symptoms, but other days the complication comes from a reality that is so different from that of my peers. That’s how it was one day last week.
I’ve started dating someone, and I’m trying a new approach: honesty. Ok, filtered honesty, but I’m trying not to filter too much. The filter is limited to certain symptoms. There’s no need to mention pooping my pants at this stage of the relationship, for example. I’m trying to share everything else. But that gets complicated.
I asked “What did you do yesterday?” in an email this morning and he responded by telling me about getting together with some friends after work. Yeah, that’s what my answers used to look like, too. Not now.
When he asked me last week, I answered honestly: I bought groceries, did some medical research, pulled together paperwork for my food stamps application, and washed a bunch of dishes. I did a few other niggly things, but those were the main ones. Groceries and dishes are familiar to most of us, but medical research and food stamps? Um, not so much. He was surprised when I mentioned the food stamp paperwork (actually, it’s called SNAP now, but whatever.) But when he thought about it, of course he realized that if I don’t have much income coming in, then of course I qualify for and need food stamps. As for the medical research, he has no idea how much time I spend on that. I tried to explain a little bit. He loves that I’ve taken matters into my own hands by doing my own research. He just doesn’t understand how hard it is. He doesn’t know about brain fog. I’ve tried to explain it, but he hasn’t witnessed it (it hasn’t been too bad since we started dating, and I usually hide it well.) Besides, you can’t really understand brain fog unless you experience it yourself. He doesn’t see how exhausting reading can be. He doesn’t know that I don’t just read an occasionally newspaper article – I follow blogs and Facebook groups, I read news articles and web sites. I read entire books from the library. I spend so many hours on this, it would shock him. He’ll learn in time, I’m sure.
And that was just that one day. He hasn’t asked about today yet, but it’s a similar mix: I cooked (ok, I threw ingredients in the crockpot, but it counts, right?) I rescheduled two doctor appointments, I’m writing on this blog that he doesn’t know about yet, I prepared paperwork for my fuel assistance meeting tomorrow, I prepared paperwork for my medical appointment tomorrow, I looked up the best routes to get between the two appointments (I can’t remember the last time I had two appointments in one day!), I pulled my winter clothes out of the closet and packed away my summer clothes, and I rested. I rested a lot. Because all of that was exhausting! I still have so much more to do, but I know it won’t get done. If I can muster the energy, I’ll do my physical therapy exercises tonight. I have done them in a while – not since before my grandfather died. I need to try. Maybe in a few days I’ll find the energy to finish going through my clothes. Right now, my suitcase and duffle bags are are open on my bedroom floor with clothes spilling out of them. My drawers are too full. I have sweaters on top of the dresser because I haven’t found a place to keep them yet. I have pants on the bed that I need to try on. What I don’t have is the energy to deal with any of that.
And yesterday? Yesterday I straightened up my apartment just a bit, did a bunch of dishes, went to a doctor appointment, bought a new winter coat (yay!), and then came home and collapsed in exhaustion. Somewhere in there I also managed to write a blog post about the suckiness of this month and probably do a couple of other things that I have since forgotten about as those memories have been lost in the fogginess of my brain.
And those are just three sample days. Sure, some days I deal with less health-related stuff. But other days I deal with so much more. Friends are surprised when I mention yet another doctor appointment, picking up more meds, or any of the other random acts that I no longer consider unusual. Actually, what surprises them is not that I do these things – after all, they know about my health problems – but my nonchalance. They can’t understand my attitude when I mention getting bloodwork in the same way that someone else would mention picking up milk at the store. But that’s just it. For me, they are the same. Medical care is more than just routine. It’s like breathing.
No, wait, I was wrong. They are different.
I can’t drink milk.
Now it’s your turn. What did you do today? Or on some other typical day? And how to friends react when you mention it?