Final Thoughts on Living With Chronic Illness

In my culture, there is quite often a shroud of secrecy surrounding illness of any kind. This overall attitude will likely manifest into a sense of shame for the person who is ill. I strongly suspect this mindset was forged during slavery when a sick slave was viewed as worthless, even for the purpose of breeding.
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I personally refuse to be ashamed of something out of my control. Sure, we all have lifestyles and habits that could be better, but ultimately, the final decision regarding life and death is not ours to make. People who have never smoked a cigarette in their life often die from lung cancer. People who eat healthy and actually do run five miles a day die from heart attacks. My point is that not one person has the right to judge the life choices of another person. Most people are intelligent enough to know if they are faced with the consequence of a choice they made. I have found that these people accept their fate without complaints and move on with their lives.

I have met women who refused to take their medication because they would cause immediate weight gain. I have also met women who refused to tell their friends about her condition because her friends were all " so glowingly healthy, they would never understand!".
If you have someone in your life who is usually intolerant of those less fortunate or those who appear to be weaker in some way,,,they could frankly have a basic lack of compassion for anyone; including you. Why exactly are they a part of your life??
When you are faced with the everyday challenges of a chronic illness and all of the baggage that tags along for the journey, everyday is NOT a pom pom day. There will be days when you need a stiff drink and a box of tissue. A wise friend once told me to have a 15 minute pity party, and then send the guests that I had invited on their not so merry way. I  would wipe my tears away and prepare to move on to face another day. For me, that was/is quickly getting on my knees and seeking God's amazing comfort.
 I have many days when I am tired of being tired; but I have retired my' pity party hostess outfit '.

 Life is,,, quite simply,,, what it is.

We must remove the cloak of shame associated with illness,,it is a sad and dangerous fallacy.

We must do a better job of documenting and providing accurate medical history for our future generations, without any shame,,,they deserve nothing less.