What it is like to live with chronic illness.
With it being Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month, I wanted to write about what it is like to live with chronic illness. While each of us have our own unique struggle, we share one common characteristic: life with a chronic illness is, indeed, a struggle.
Imagine a war between your immune system and your body. While both are supposed to be on the same side, your immune system has gone rogue. Everything in the body: your skin, your organs, your cells, everything is the enemy and must be destroyed. In the meantime, the person suffers the wrath of this epic battle. This is a real-time picture of what happens to someone with a chronic illness, every minute of everyday.
We may look as if we are in good shape, but inside, life is deplorable. We are tired. We are in pain. We are sick. Half the time, we don't know what the hell is going on. For some of us, it's a miracle if we get out of bed and put clean clothes on.
In my situation, I live with 4 chronic illnesses, and chronic pain from a spinal injury. My body is working in overtime. I am tired constantly. Some days, I have just mild to moderate pain and I'm able to do a few things. Other days, I'm lucky if I can get out of bed. With my spinal injury, there are days when I have trouble walking. When you throw in a Crohn's flare up, or a Celiac attack on the same day, it sucks.
When all of this first happened to me, I took it hard. I became severely depressed. I worked through a lot of that depression and it makes the days go by easier. The thing that really gets me out of my own head is my love to laugh.
For the past 2 months, I been battling an illness that I cannot shake. The other day, I had the pleasure of dealing with a Crohn's flare, moderate to severe back pain, and this lingering illness, all at the same time. I was exhausted. I'm still exhausted (and still sick, lol).
Dealing with chronic illness is a huge battle, and it's a battle to survive. The thing to keep in mind is, just because a sufferer is smiling on the outside, it doesn't mean that they are cured. Most of the autoimmune diseases I have discussed this month have no cures. Symptoms come and go as they please.
Our loved ones need to understand that we require patience and understanding. We (sufferers/warriors) need to make sure we don't shut someone out who is trying to understand. The worst thing that we could ever do is isolate ourselves.
For my fellow chronic illness warriors:
