Hope

My mother and I got into a discussion last night about my TN and my ability to overcome it. While I try to keep as positive as possible some days are too difficult to be a happy-go-lucky girl…that saying I was wondering the ability of the others in the group to stay positive, happy, and keep the hope you need to overcome this illness. How do you do this and keep your head held high while everything around you is crashing down? While there are days where I feel hope and happiness, there are others I feel defeated in the most painful way! Are there anything ideas or methods you all have to offer to help inidividuals feel hope and happiness? I wanted to offer everyone the chance to explain their situations and feeling anf make sure I’m not the only one who is losing hope and experiencing defeat…I don’t want to feel like this illness is my life yet for right now it is–is it anyone else’s life as well or am I the only one that is feeling this way? Please let me know…
Have a pain free day!!! Or as best as you can

My situation is a long and complex one. I have battled my entire life with illness and sickness to the brink of death on more than one occasion. When I was 3 years old, my family and I were struck by an 18-wheeler in our car. This has left me with multiple problems that I have to deal with everyday. I’ve had to fight my way through the medical system just to get answers so many times that I get anxiety now just doing to the doctor. I’ve had to cope with the fact that at 16 I knew I would never be able to have children because of the accident when I was 3. I have a high tolerance of pain from everything I have been through in my short life.

When my TN first hit…my world came crashing down around me. I had been married only 2 months when this nightmare began. I know that a lot of people turn to faith in times like these. For me, when times get hard, like now, I close my eyes and look back at what I have made it through and say to myself “I CAN CONQUER THIS! THIS ILLNESS WILL NOT WIN!” I put a smile on my face and know that i have been to hell and back and all i have to show is a bad tan. So I rely not on a religion, but on myself and my family.

It’s nice to think that this will always work…but sadly it doesn’t…the pain overcomes and I sleep.

I feel the same way! Hope you are doing okay.

I feel the same way!! I feel defeated and weak alot. It is a very painful thing to feel. I had reumatoid arthritis since I was 1 year old and then it went into remission 9 years ago. It is one of the hardest things to accept on a day to day basis that I have a pain condition again. I try to be very strong and to not give up. Like we all know it’s alot easier said than done. I think on the days that the pain isn’t as bad it is important to hold your head up and assure yourself that when that pain comes on, and it will, that you can get through it. My life does revolve around this illness; if friends are having dinner outside- I can’t go or I’ll end up clenching my scarf to my face on the sofa inside. I am scared to go outside on windy days because it only takes one trigger to ruin the whole day. It sucks to get triggered in the middle of having fun, or by being kissed. There are so many parts of my life that are taken away or changed by TN so yes it does feel like TN is my life. All I feel that I can do is keep laughing and keep the endorphins flowing. Lots of dark chocolate on hand, and cheesecake lots of cheesecake. Anything that makes you happy, don’t loose those things even if it doesn’t make you as happy as it did before.

Keep happy and find releif as much as possible!!!

I think that we all feel depressed certain days. Those days are usually when the pain refuses to go away… I’ve realized that I hoped one day I would wake up and not be in pain, but it seems that will never happen.

The best thing you can do is hope for 15 minutes intervals of pain free living. I think we just learn to push forward and not let the pain control our lives. I think how easy it would be to just stay in bed and let the world pass by, but we cannot just let our world fall.

I recently started Grad School to try and find myself again. The studying helps keep my mind off the pain, but it is always there rearing it’s head. Most people do not understand, and never will. Yet, we just have to keep our heads high and say if I can just get 15 more minutes then I will feel like I won.