Support for Chronically ill struggles

Chronic illness sucks! It’s easy to want to put a fun, positive spin on something so trying and life changing, but it truthfully is debilitating and extremely frustrating when your body can’t do the things it used to never even have to think about before. I still find joy in the small things and love to capture the beauty of a moment, but I also have times when I just want to curl up and cry because that’s all I can do when my body constantly betrays me.

I’ve lived with chronic back pain for 10 years, going through physical therapy twice, getting all sorts of tests and scans done just to come out with no answers. My life had changed, the pain making things more difficult, but then a few years ago, my entire world got completely flipped when I started experiencing symptoms on the regular that were getting in the way of life. Since then I’ve been to doctors and specialists with who knows how many labs and tests (I know how many cause I have a binder) and still haven’t fully figured out what’s wrong with me. I was currently told I have fibromyalgia, but I have a whole slew of other symptoms that have yet to be addressed, and when you have one, you more than likely have multiple. Each year, my symptoms have gotten worse, making it harder for me to do the things I once used to think simple and would do without a second thought. I recently started using a rolling walker that has helped alleviate excess pressure and pain, but chronic means forever and no matter what, the pain is still there. As this school year comes to an end, I have been searching for jobs as I don’t have one in the summer as an aide for a middle school. I haven’t had to be in the job market for a while and when I had to delve into it, the lens through which I looked at each job has changed so much due to my changing body and conditions.

I have always had a hard time asking for help, not wanting to take away light from more important matters, but as summer comes, so does the anxiety about finances and making sure bills are paid and affording medical expenses.

even if you can’t donate, if you find my story similar to yours or my poems resonate with you, I hope you know you’re not alone, and for those who do not carry this burden, take life slowly and enjoy it! Anyone can become disabled at any time and I wish I would’ve savored things more when they were as they used to be.

The photos I included are a PowerPoint style presentation that I created because who doesn’t love a good PowerPoint, and I gotta make life fun where I can.

Thank you so much for reading my story and I appreciate each and every donation so much, no matter the size.