My story of being chronical ill.
Prolonged disease affects many parts of your life, which means more than treating symptoms. You also have to deal with managing stress and emotions, get support, and to come to terms with loss. Finding what works requires often an experiment. Some techniques work better at some times than others or work for some people better than others. If one strategy does not work for you at some point, find someone else or try to do it differently. Prolonged illness requires you have to think about your life. You are not able to restore your old life or the life you had planned to live, but you can have a different kind of life before you became ill. In other words adjust your life to your illness.
I'm Verdickt Vicky (my real name) and since 2008 CFS ( Chronical Fatique Syndrom ) patient. And this is my story. I 'm a single mom with two up growing children. The youngest was five and the oldest was 8 at that time. When I was diagnosed, I heard thunder fall in Cologne. Yes, I felt for a while not comfortable in my skin. With the flu here and the flu there. After work coming home so tired and not able to fulfill my household chores. In the morning no energy to get out the bed to take care of the children. This went on for a while. I got fed up and dared not stay long sick, afraid to lose my job. I had a full time job and a newspapers tour and was still washing dishes in a restaurant to make a living. Certainly as a single parent, you have more responsibilities. When I entered into a conversation with a work colleague that I was always so tired, it was flashing a light. She told me that she also had those symptoms, and that it could be Fibromyalgia. She advised me to take a moment to stop by her rheumatologist.
Well he referred me straight to the CVS reference center. After many tests and interviews, I was allowed to follow the rehabilitation program. We learned what CFS is, how it works and how we can address it. Accompanied by a psychologist and sessions with other patients made me not only felt not alone and had someone to talk to about it. Because you encounter really much misunderstanding in your circle of friends, family, work, doctors ....For many people it is between your ears, but that's what the doctors also think. Luckily I had a doctor who understood me. Every time I had a hard time, she had a sympathetic ear. She was also open to alternative therapies. As I myself had already begun a homecourse in stress counseling and aromatherapy. Because of this I got myself understanding that I was sometimes crowded in small things. Gradually I learned a lot more perspective, but sometimes it's still hard to accept your illness as it is. After struggeling for the studies, my patience rewarded and got my certicate of stress councelor and aromatherapist. I wanted to learn about how the body works, just to inform myself, so I would know and understand what the doctors tell yoou about.
The packing of the disease on your social life is huge. When I found out that I had CFS, I had a relationship with Franky. A single dad with four children. He had clearly difficulties that I could not be as active in the household. The worst thing was that I could not accept myself that I could not do anything more. I, the busy bee, needed to rest after each achieved task to. If I did nottake some rest on time I was three days in bed, perish in pain with no energy.
