Even “healthy” people need time to recover

September 6, 2015

We get so used to dealing with pain every day, it’s easy to forget what a huge effect an acute incident can have on our health.

It’s easy to see “healthy” people and assume they heal quickly and easily from every malady. I get a “cold” that knocks me on my ass for a full week, with fever, chills, congestion, and plenty of other symptoms. The friend who gave me the cold goes about their regular routine while dealing with the sniffles for a few days. So when I react poorly to a new condition, I always assume someone “healthier” would have healed quickly.

That’s why I was giving myself a hard time this week. The incident involved my own clumsiness, a chef’s knife, a visit to the emergency room, and stitches. The day of the incident was horrible. The pain was horrific. The fear was deep. The next day was much better, but still painful. The day after that I assumed I’d be fine, so I was shocked when I wasn’t. I’m used to dealing with pain, so what was the problem?

A friend reminded me that “healthy” people need time to recover from something like this, so I should give myself time, too. My uncle reminded me of having to care for my aunt (his wife) last year when she had a biopsy in a location similar to where I was cut and spent 3 weeks recovering. And her operation was planned, whereas mine was clearly more physically traumatic. Story after story reminded me that “healthy” people take a while to recover from these things, so I should give myself a break, too.

After 3 days at home, I went out briefly yesterday. It was exhausting, but it felt good to be out and around people. Today, though, I’m resting again. I’m exhausted. I’m in pain. And I know I need a break.

I don’t have to worry about rushing to a job. I have enough food to last me a few more days. Sure, I have things to do. I’d like to cook and do laundry and read and work on a few projects, but I’m giving myself a break. Because if a “healthy” person needs time to recover from something like this, then I need even longer.

How do you handle acute injuries? Do you give yourself recovery time, too?

Leave a Comment » | Expectations, Fatigue, Frustration, Isolation, Limitations, Pain, Rants, Symptoms | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

Feeling sick from imaginary germs

August 31, 2015

It isn’t always absurd. If a friend tells me she’s sick, and we just saw each other the day before, it makes some sense that I might worry I’ll get sick, too. Of course, what doesn’t make sense is when I immediately start feeling symptoms.

What makes less sense is when a friend mentions on Facebook that he’s sick and I start feeling sick, even though he lives 3000 miles away and we haven’t seen each other in a year.

It hasn’t always been this way, but somewhere along the lines, my anxiety about health issues snuck up on me and now I often feel sick at just the mention of illness.

Tonight was even worse: I felt sick as I listened to the narrator in the audio book I’m listening to describe feeling ill. She’s a fictitious character in a novel, and she probably isn’t even sick (or if she is, I’m guessing that it’s relevant to the plot in a very specific way, but I digress) and even those imaginary germs from a character in a novel got me feeling queasy.

It’s absurd. It makes no sense. But it happens all the time.

If anyone can explain this to me, I’d really appreciate it. Maybe if I understand it, I could learn to somehow avoid it!

Leave a Comment » | Expectations, Frustration, Gastrointestinal, Rants, Support, Unpredictable | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

This isn’t the last good day

August 29, 2015

Sometimes it’s hard to miss out on good things. Ok, it always sucks to miss out on good things, but when you have a chronic illness and you miss a lot of them, it can be really hard. After all, it’s not like I’m missing out on one good thing because I’m busy with something else. No, I’m missing it so I can sit at home in my pajamas and feel lousy.

I’ve been handling these days better lately, and the trick for me is to remember that this isn’t the last day of good stuff. Yes, I know I would have had a lot of fun at my friend’s birthday barbecue in this absolutely perfect weather. And tomorrow I’ll probably miss out on several things that I know I would have loved. But I’ll have other nice days. There will be another day with friends, another day of good weather, another day of sunshine. It won’t be the same, but that’s ok.

I’m sure this approach won’t work for everyone, but it works for me. Today I’m missing something I’d been looking forward to for ages. But next week or next month or some other time there will be something just as good or better. I just need to look forward to that.

And until then, there’s tv and food for comfort.

Leave a Comment » | Expectations, Frustration, Isolation, Limitations, Symptoms, Unpredictable | Tagged: , | Permalink
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Knit 1, Purl anything

August 23, 2015

One of the hard parts about being unable to work at a job is feeling like I’m not doing anything substantial. Sure, I do favors for friends and offer advice online and do other intangible things, but it’s rare for me to do anything I can point 2015-07-09 12.01.45to and say “I did that” and be proud of it.

I started knitting as a child. My grandmother made such beautiful things, and she loved knitting so much, that I thought I should try it, too. At the age of 6 I learned the basics. Unfortunately, I never progressed much beyond those basics. Then a few years back a friend taught me to crochet, and I really got the hang of that. Before I knew it, I was making some complex items.

I spend a lot of time sitting on my ass. It’s sort of inevitable when you have chronic fatigue. So while I’m sitting and watching tv, sitting and listening to an audio book, or sitting and talking on the phone, I’m also knitting and crocheting. I always have multiple projects in the works at any given time, and I love creating them. The best part is, I’m making something useful! At the end of each project I have a physical, tangible item that I can say I made, and I can be proud of it. I sell some things and donate others. It feels good to donate hats and scarves to a local homeless shelter and know that I’m helping people.

Last year I taught a friend with chronic illness how to crochet. Like me, she knew how to knit, and wanted to learn something new. Now she feels the same way I do: excited to be able to make something, especially because she can no longer work.

Crocheting and knitting doesn’t solve all of my problems. But it solves one problem. And I’m grateful for that.

What do you do to feel a sense of accomplishment? Please comment below so we can get ideas from each other!

10 Comments | Expectations, Fatigue, Frustration, Isolation, Job, Limitations, Raves | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

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