When people are diagnosed with a chronic illness, their lives change. Not necessarily in a bad way, but because chronic illnesses never go away, the changes often become part of our daily routines.
Depending on the circumstances of your illness, it could feel like your life is changing for the worst. Some of the changes come on gradually, while others change quickly. These changes can be overwhelming and frightening!
For example, if you are diagnosed with diabetes, most likely you’ll be given a chance to change your diet and exercise regularly. If that doesn’t help, your daily routine could involve insulin shots. Nevertheless, it’s a change that is required without a lot of time to prepare.
After being diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), activities of daily living became huge hurdles! Simple things like putting on socks, starting a car and walking through a parking lot caused me to question my self worth.
The loss of my independence was one of the most difficult hurdles for me. Asking for help is hard when it pertains to household chores, shopping, work and traveling. But it is even harder to ask for help with personal hygiene. This is when humility reaches its peak.
For men and women, asking for daily help when showering, styling hair, grooming, dressing or trimming toenails can be humiliating. But when it comes to more personal matters such as shaving (face, legs, underarms, etc.), monthly cycles and extremely private matters, it can be down right devastating!
Since I am in my 23rd year of living with arthritis and I have experienced so many ups and downs, I’ve gotten used to the changes. That doesn’t mean they are any easier, but they are not as shocking as in the beginning. Changes in activities of daily living have become such a routine part of my life, now I expect them.
As my pain and limitations increased, so did the comments. In an attempt to make me feel better, friends and family made it sound like I was the lucky one. Since household chores became a challenge, I often heard things like, “hire someone,” or when I had to give up my career, people said they wished they could stay home every day.
There is a big difference between choosing and not. If I decided to have someone clean my house so I could have more time for other activities that would be a luxury. But having to have someone clean it while I sit there and do nothing is not luxurious. And knowing I cannot do it because of pain and limitations makes me feel worthless.
When I had to give up my career, it was not because I wanted to sleep late or sit at home and eat bon-bons. It was because my chronic illness disabled me and kept me from following my dreams.
What changes have you had to make? How did you handle them?
Leave a Comment