Life With Chronic Illness

Life with chronic illness can be challenging, to say the least.  The path can start off rocky, especially for those who suffer from an invisible chronic illness.  Symptoms begin to develop, they know something is wrong, but nothing shows up on medical test after medical test.  Many symptoms of chronic illnesses can be vague and non-specific, meaning they could be symptoms of hundreds of different diseases, making it challenging for doctors to identify which disease is present.  It can often become a process of elimination, because the disease is trying its best to not stand out.  There can also be multiple diseases making an appearance at the same time.

To make matters worse, patients with invisible chronic illnesses often don’t look sick.  This can sometimes make it difficult for those around them to believe that anything is actually wrong.  Pretty soon they might start hearing things like, “You’re just stressed”, “It’s all in your head”, or “You just need to take a vacation.”   Over time, they might start to believe these things and begin to question if they are, in fact, crazy.  For some it can take weeks, months, and even years before they receive a definitive medical diagnosis.  For those who have lived with questions, the day of diagnosis can be a day of elation, relief, and feeling vindicated.   It wasn’t all in their head!   Funny how the day someone receives a medical diagnosis for a chronic illness that they might have to live with the rest of their life can feel like a celebration. 

But inevitably, there comes a day when reality starts to sink in.  They have a real medical diagnosis for a real chronic illness, yes.  But the word chronic of course refers to the fact that it is an ongoing illness that tends to not have a cure, at least not yet.  The reality, no matter how bad the doctor wants to cure them, is this is something they might have to learn to live with.  Accepting that reality can take time, and they often need to grieve the loss of their health before they can start figuring out how to live their new life. 

They begin to work together with their doctors and others to figure out how best to manage the disease and symptoms.  It’s not all bad news.  There are treatments that can help control and even subdue the symptoms of some chronic illnesses.  And some illnesses can and do spontaneously go in and out of remission.  But there are definitely challenges.  Learning to live with uncertainty about how they are going to feel on any given day, wading through oodles of unsolicited advice from those who want them to feel better, learning how to listen to their body’s warning signals about potential flare-ups, figuring out if they need to change their diet or lifestyle and how to do that…  The list goes on and on. 

It can take time, but it is possible to learn how to navigate life with chronic illness.  It is possible to live well with chronic illness.  If you are living with chronic illness, know that you’re not alone and life can be good again.  This journey cannot be rushed and it may take some time because everyone is different.  Be gentle with yourself.  Allow yourself to experience self-compassion.

If you know someone living with chronic illness, remember they have likely been on a difficult journey, and they might just need a shoulder to cry on as they grieve and begin to figure our their new life.  And when they are ready, you can be there to cheer them on as they pick up the pieces and begin to build that new life. 

If learning to navigate life with chronic illness is something you feel you are struggling with, and you feel stuck, consider seeking out professional help.  Individual counseling can be helpful and so can participating in a counseling group or a support group focused on chronic illness.  Worth of Souls Counseling Services offers individual counseling and a counseling group for those who are learning to live with chronic illness.  Click the links for more information if you are interested in participating.