Chronically Sick without
Instructions
Look, I know that I’ve driven some of
you crazy over the years with my failing health stories. I cannot emphasize
enough how difficult and time consuming it has been for me to be trapped in a
body that keeps rebelling against me (my body’s keeper). I’m sure that you have
a thought or two over the years that I might be obsessed about my health
problems, and maybe you even wondered if I suffer from psychiatric condition.
But, have you ever considered how horrifying it has been for me to watch my own
health depleting and increased physical impairments coupled with the struggles
that I do not enjoy facing, all while trying to keep up with life?
I’m
sorry how years ago, I chronically and annoyingly vented about me going from
doctor to doctor looking for a reason to my growing list of health problems; a
simple medical name that would validate the insanity of chronic sickness that I
keep lugging around.
What a sense of relief you must have felt after my diagnosis. I'm positive that you harbored private thoughts of, 'I’m so glad that she finally got an answer to all of that health shit, because I was really getting worn out listening to her constant bitching and sob stories." I’m still discovering daily, that my emotional health is just as important as my physical health.
I’m sorry for the many times I haven’t answered the telephone when you've called and for my periods of isolation. Sometimes I need to withdraw and wrestle some of my own thoughts. These periods do provide me with more clarity to move forward. Please understand that I struggle with this unwelcome new way of living with chronic illness. That not only was I battling illness but that my mind was in denial about my new way of living.Please understand that upon my diagnosis I was not given an instruction manual on how to live with a chronic illness.
I'm sorry to have burst your comfort bubble years after my
diagnosis with me getting, well, more diagnosis and even more sicker. I assure
you that I did not plan this. I never scheduled this in to my calendar.
That even in most of my bitchy moments that I’m not mad at you personally, but that I’m fighting my own inner battles of acceptance and that I have a bunch of fear bouncing around inside of me! Please know that I do not intentionally want to hurt your feelings but that I am overwhelmed and that I’m struggling privately with admitting things to myself let alone to you! Please be patient with me as I continue to learn how to own my feelings in healthy and productive ways.
If anything, you need to know that
today I have a deeper appreciation of time and that I not only value it but
that I savor it. Please understand that my time here is precious and that if I
do not engage with you in certain discussions or activities, it is because I cherish
my time here.
I've
had to walk away from relationships with some of you because the relationships
were too toxic. Some of you had even been a parent and a few decades’ long
friendships. As uncomfortable, as it was to stay active in those relationships
it would have caused me even more emotional and mental harm to have stayed.
I'm learning that I am not obligated to stay in toxic relationships
and that I do not even have to
discuss my severing the relationship with you (because you wouldn't understand
anyway! Hahaha) The most mindful thing that I can do for my quality of life is
to love you from a distance.
While my illness does not define me,
it has certainly changed the way I live. Please be patient with me because each
day I’m still learning how to live, move and have my being in this bodily
state. I value your presence in my life
and your presence makes my life sweeter.
#SickChickPMA, #CNSGrrrl, #MindFulness, #QualityofLife
