Archive for August 18th, 2008

I thought Nancy’s email was poignant, because so often the person who has a chronic illness ends up in the situation where s/he becomes the cargiver to others in the family. Sometimes it’s a spouse with cancer, other times the caregiver for a child. We can live with illness for twenty years, and suddenly wake up finding ourselves being “the health-IER one” who is the person who has to pick up the pieces of the family when the chaos of illness sets in.

Are you a caregiver, despite being chronically ill? We’d love to hear your comments, feedback, and find out where you receive your support to “keep on keeping on.”

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I’m not a blogger and don’t have time to be one, but I wanted to share my story.

 

I have CFS/ME, Fibromyalgia, Degenerative Disc Disease, Neuropathy, Dysphonia, and Asthma as my primary illnesses that I live with. People now can easily see that I do have a chronic illness because I need surgery on my back again and can’t stand up straight.

 

The point of what I want to say is that I find myself as caregiver to my husband who has Bipolar Disorder, Early Dementia; and recently he had a pacemaker implanted, surgery to remove cancer from his lung, and now he’s going through chemo. 

 

Additionally, I provide care for a 12-year old grandson when he’s not in school and his parents are at work, which is nearly every day unless he stays with someone else. And I have an elderly dog and three cats. In my spare time, I help “a little” with a support group for people with ME/CFS and Fibro.

 

To say I am overwhelmed is an understatement. I didn’t see anything on  your blog about these types of situations although I know there are many of us… particularly young mothers who have chronic illness.

 

All I can say is that years ago I put my faith in God to see me through every situation that arises that I think I just can’t handle . Well, guess what! I can handle it with “His” help. After a while you feel like you are going in circles and accomplishing nothing. But that’s just the fatigue talking – both mental and physical. But with the Lord’s help we put one foot in front of the other and keep on keeping on.

 

I’d love to  see a blog from someonewho is coping with a similar situation, but from a wheel chair.  I know they are out there.

 

Nancy H.