Blurbal Perspective

Living with chronic pain and/or chronic illness can be grueling. The simplest tasks that you once did without even thinking about it (getting ready for the day, brushing teeth, getting dressed, going up and down stairs, etc.), are now the energy equivalent of climbing Mount Everest. Each activity of daily living causes extreme pain and extreme exhaustion. People in your life have difficulty understanding what life is like being chronically ill and/or suffering from chronic pain. They say, "Well, this natural remedy worked wonders for my cousin's sister's daughter's co-worker's wife!" People may look at you and ask you when you will be done with being sick. Some may even question how sick you are by saying, " But you don't look sick ." These comments are ones that Christine Miserandino constantly heard. Christine Miserandino is a woman who suffers from Lupus. One day, she was sitting in a diner with her best friend and her friend aske...

Chronic illness is a condition that is persistent. Illnesses such as Lupus, Crohn's Disease, Depression, Anxiety, Celiac Disease, and more are life-long illnesses. 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 wh...