I wrote this manuscript because my Councilor told me I should. Well - it was and wasn't quite that simple! During an appointment with this Councilor I was upset that I seem to have difficulties with the same issues over and over again. I would think I had put issues behind me and they would rear their ugly heads again. She explained to me that having a chronic condition meant having continual (new) issues to deal with and that I only had to remind myself that I already had all the tools I needed to deal with them. She said, ...
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I wrote this manuscript because my Councilor told me I should. Well - it was and wasn't quite that simple! During an appointment with this Councilor I was upset that I seem to have difficulties with the same issues over and over again. I would think I had put issues behind me and they would rear their ugly heads again. She explained to me that having a chronic condition meant having continual (new) issues to deal with and that I only had to remind myself that I already had all the tools I needed to deal with them. She said, "You are so good at it that you really should write a book." This book was developed by drawing from my own experiences and emotions and from talking with people I met with chronic illness, asking them about their experiences, emotions and reactions to situations. Everywhere I went in the disabled/chronic illness community I listened to what people had to say and when I heard the same themes time and again I knew I was on the right track. People want to know they are heard "emotionally" and they want useful ideas or tools to help them deal with their emotional struggles. Having people who care for them, or care about them, gain an insight into what they deal with daily is the added benefit. I thought about whom I would write for and in the beginning I wasn't sure. It became more evident the further into my writing I got and the more I listened. I was writing for everyone with a chronic condition, caregivers of a person with a chronic condition, family members of a person with a chronic condition, and friends of a person with a chronic condition. This is about living with a chronic condition and being on the emotional roller coaster, or 'cerebral malfunctions' as I call them. We live with a continual spectrum of loss, grief, acceptance and denial. When we think we have it figured out the condition may perhaps go into remission or it may progress into more loss and we begin again.
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