JoJoisms

The Chronic Illness Balancing Act

Written By: JoJoisms - Feb• 16•15

1+1=2It is said that life is a balancing act. We balance work and play.  A balanced diet has some veggies, some meats, and only some dessert because too much of even a good thing is not good.  In math and chemistry, you have to balance the equation.

When I worked, I remember having to balance my vacation days against when my dd was sick. Should I take her out of school and loose a vacation day?  I’d use this question as a measuring stick…”How sick is she?”

A chronic illness sufferer’s life is a balancing act as well…only we try to balance our good days with our bad days.  Unfortunately, some of us have far more bad days than good.

The Chronic Illness Balancing Act also extends to our hormones, our energy, our meds, our reactions, our symptoms, and our bank accounts.

This post is short this week because I’m balancing my time. 😀

What do you need to balance?

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” -Romans 15:13

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Chronic Illness Secret: Unexplained Bumps and Bruises, Cuts and Scratches

Written By: JoJoisms - Feb• 09•15

hand3There are so many things nobody tells you when you are diagnosed with a chronic illness.  Doctors certainly don’t tell you these things. These are chronic illness secrets: things you only discover by talking to others who have chronic illness.  After 35yrs of dealing with this, you’d think nothing would surprise me anymore, but you’d be wrong.

So a few weeks ago, I discovered bruises, scratches and cuts all over my fingers and legs.  I’d wake up and just notice them having no earthly idea where they came from.  Did I sleepwalk into a dresser drawer?  Was my dh beating me in my sleep?  How did I get a big bump in the middle of my forehead without knowing it?

I didn’t think anything more about it until two weeks later when it happened again.   The placement of the cuts and bruises were even odd.  What did I bump into that high up on my thigh? Am I being abducted by aliens for experimentation?  Each morning I’d notice a new cut on a different finger or a new bruise on my leg.  So I posted a query in one of my chronic illness groups on Facebook and got an avalanche of responses!  Each one reported the very same thing!  Some had even worse experiences much more painful and troublesome than my own!  And NOBODY knew how they happened or why.  It made me feel better to know I wasn’t losing my mind…(or being abducted by aliens.  Whew!)  LOL  And I am comforted in knowing I’m not alone.

I have several scars from various surgeries over the years.   My left middle finger crisscrosses over my ring finger due to a car accident last year.  I’m 52 years old, have a turkey neck and very little muscle tone from a lack of various vitamins and hormones.  At this point, what’s a few strategically placed purple bruises, cuts, scrapes and scratches?  So I guess my modeling career is over. LOL

Well,  if I’m destined to have bumps and bruises, cuts and scratches appear on my person, things could be worse.  Purple IS my favorite color!

(Disclaimer: This is a picture of my hand after the car accident last year. I did know when that one happened.  My current bruises are in an area best left off camera.)

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I Have Chronic Illness: What’s a Comfort Zone?

Written By: JoJoisms - Feb• 02•15

afraidI had to look that up because I wasn’t familiar with the concept.  I might have misplaced my comfort zone.  I’m not sure I ever had one.  This is something I often see online or mentioned in high-powered, self-help books and seminars:

“Ya gotta step out of your comfort zone or nothing will ever change in your life!”

“Nothing great was ever accomplished inside your comfort zone!”

“If you want to achieve incredible things, you HAVE to get out of your comfort zone!”

Where exactly IS my comfort zone? I’d like to claim this piece of real estate.  In fact, I’d like to vacation there on a semi-permanent basis.  I’ve been searching for it for the past 35 years, but I never have located it.  I don’t remember ever being there, even as a kid.  The only thing comfortable or stable about my life has been how often it changes.

Two weeks after I was born in Colorado, my family moved out of state.  Florida was a two year engagement, New York was a eight or nine year gig, but part one was in the city for a while, part two was on Long Island for five years and part three was across town for another two.  I did an 18 month stint in Virginia followed by several years in California.  From 1977 to 2008 I lived in seven different California locations.  I never saw my comfort zone there or in the desert heat of ARIDzona where we were for 5.5yrs and, so far, it hasn’t turned up in the 10 months we’ve been in the deep freezer of Indiana either.

I was always the oddball in school. I was the new kid on the block who liked to read, was very shy and didn’t know why the guy at Dairy Queen on the corner was the butt of all the jokes. I was the one who didn’t know how to get around school, couldn’t find her way to the mall or understand the latest fad.  I wore the wrong jeans (which I called dungarees), had the wrong purse (which I called a pocket book) and didn’t even know how to pronounce the names of the streets (SePULveda which my family pronounced SepulVEda for the first few months in southern California). Try using the “wrong” terms or pronunciation with teens and see how comforted you feel.

In college and just afterward, this shy gal had several sales jobs.  I sold real estate, pay telephones, videos and teddy bears.  Sometimes I had three jobs, but I wouldn’t describe any of them as comfortable.  It was a bit scary and not only because I had to talk to people.  Some of the people I had to talk to were in a part of town that was downright scary and the business owners didn’t easily give me any credibility.  Ever try to convince a Middle Eastern male business owner to take you seriously when you’re a 5′ nuthin’ female?  Not comfortable in the least.

I did time: 8 years in customer service. Got off for good behavior. LOL  If you think that job is easy, remember how many people call customer service because they are HAPPY.  But all that aside, a co worker, for reasons unknown to mankind,  decided I was a threat to her moving up in the company and took it upon herself to trash my work and reputation to the entire office.  She stood up in the middle of the office and yelled at me about how I was doing a horrible job and how I was trying to keep her from getting promoted.  Management came out and, instead of stopping her, they just watched. Later on we were both called into the office where they told me that I was on thin ice there.  ME? She began putting notes in all my files accusing me of poor performance and talking about me to all the staff.  I was eventually told they wanted to demote me. I told them they could fire me, but I wouldn’t take a demotion.  I never retaliated as God told me to do what was right.  Later on, I left the company because I started my own business and could work from home and be with my dd.  A year or so later, I went back to visit a friend there and was told that the gal who trashed me had a nervous breakdown in the ladies room after they all realized what she’d been doing.  Trust me, that wasn’t my comfort zone either.

Later on, I made decisions that either weren’t very popular or easily understood.  I was challenged to prove why I homeschooled and the fact that it wasn’t illegal or immoral.  I was the only Christian in my family. Not a comfortable topic of conversation.  In addition, I had to justify why I had my own business instead of getting a secure job with a steady paycheck like most people did.  I worked my tail off at my  business and built it up to where I was earning $3000/month only to have the bottom fall out of the economy in 2008 and virtually wipe out my income.  Comfort zone? I think not!

You all know how our first year here in NW Indiana went. If you don’t, you can read it here.  The weather outside is frightful and thunderstorms are not delightful…or comforting.

Then there is the matter of dealing with chronic illness. I know my readers are intimately familiar with this one! If you don’t know my story, you can listen to my video here.  Chronic illness often leads us out of our comfort zone, if we ever had one.  We struggle to do things most people take for granted.  I talked more about this in my recent post, Looking Back: I Used to Run.

So all this to say, I think many of us who struggle with chronic illness or other chronic issues can’t find our comfort zone, but we wish we could! We wish we were comfortable, but the pain is too severe.  We wish we could live at ease, but we struggle just to get through the day.  How many of you would like to find your comfort zone?  What would you do there?

For many years I was frustrated that I wasn’t afforded a comfort zone, until I realized that God is my comfort zone.  He strengthens those of us without a comfort zone.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” –Matthew 11:28,  Sounds like a good comfort zone to me.  How about you?

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The Year of Faith that Never (Always) Was

Written By: JoJoisms - Jan• 26•15

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I’ve said it before: God has a sense of humor.  Sometimes He gives you EXACTLY what you pray for, but it’s not exactly HOW you envisioned it when you prayed.  It all started in late 2013, after much prayer, when I declared that 2014 would be The Year of Faith over at Art of Eloquence, my business of almost 10 years at the time.  My thought process was that I would write a series of blog and newsletter articles about sharing the good news of the Gospel and even post some excerpts from my book, Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith.  I was excited to give fellow believers the tools they need to feel more confident and comfortable when sharing and defending their faith.

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us;” 1 John 5:14  God hears us and He always answers our prayers. He just doesn’t always answer them in the way we thought He would. We’ve heard it said that sometimes God says yes, sometimes He says no, and sometimes He says wait.  But there is another way in which God answers prayer.  Sometimes He says yes, but…

In December, we found out that we would be moving across country for my dh’s job.  In scrambling to make arrangements for the move, finding a house and Christmas activities, I didn’t have much time to write but a few of the articles I had spent the last few months planning.  In January, after hanging upside down from our seatbelts after rolling over in a snow storm, I found I had broken my hand and couldn’t type.  That put a bit of a damper on my article writing process.  The stress of the move along with the additional aches and pains that come with broken bones caused a severe flare up of my chronic illness which left me no choice but to delay, and then finally put an end to, my Year of Faith plans and all other marketing for Art of Eloquence.  I thought the Year of Faith had ended before it had begun, but I was wrong.  I had a year of faith.  It just wasn’t the kind I had prayed and planned for.

Instead of teaching others how to share the faith, I spent the year learning how to have more.  A rather humbling experience, I must say.  So what did I learn and how did I learn it?  I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you in the hopes that you can learn from my life without having to go through it up close and personal yourself.  I pray God uses me to give you more faith by reading instead of having to live it.

1. I’ve learned to have faith through scary weather

God isn’t our fair weather friend. He’s always with us, even when we go through trials.  Ever notice how people talk about bad times as bad weather? The Storms of Life, they call it. Well, here in NW Indiana, we’ve had some bad weather…some really bad storms.

This summer brought severe thunderstorms, lightning strikes and flash flooding to my immediate attention.  I became intimately familiar with the look and sound of lightning and thunder.  It’s a sound like no other.  When lightning strikes that close to your house, it does so with incredible decibels.  The sky and your entire house lights up, you can feel the thunder at the exact moment the lightning strikes and you can smell the burning electrical outlet from all the way downstairs.  Your heart pounds as you wonder what will come next. You pray as you cling to your family and wonder if your house will be standing there when the next thunder roars.  The devastation of a lightning strike is felt for months as you discover more and more items that were zapped into electronic heaven or left limping along to crawl to their cyber death months later.  The house is still standing and so are we!  And although we have had many years of financial struggles, because of God’s amazing grace and orchestration of our lives, we were able to afford to repair or replace all of the damaged electronics.

Along with the sights and sounds of thunder and lightning came the familiarity with what water can do when it’s dumped on the earth.  That next month my dh was driving through another thunderstorm when he ran through a flash flood masquerading as a common puddle. The engine sputtered as he limped along home, but after a few days, it was evident that there was probably a good reason for Indiana law requiring all cars with water that leaked into the cabin be deemed a total loss.  We were still upside down in our loan at the time such that after the insurance pay off, we owed money on it.  Well, the insurance company found that our vehicle was in such incredible condition that they valued it higher than even the adjuster initially thought he could and we ended up owing very little on it and because of the promotion and money in the bank, we were able to get another car with ease.

*Now this next part has a caveat as it is the one issue I am still struggling with.  You see after the Big Car Snowball Roll of 2014, I had some fears I am still working through.  At first I was nervous about being in a car, especially when making tight right turns. And there are a lot of them here in NW Indiana!  When I was finally able to work through my fears on dry land, it began to snow!  As I write this, we have about 4-5 inches of snow on top of a layer of ice and there is a Wind Chill Warning that any exposed skin is subject to frost bite within just a few minutes.  It’s currently 4 degrees and feels like 22 below on its way down to 39 below (real feel) this afternoon.  My ideal plan for dealing with this was to avoid driving til April, but I was willing to white knuckle it if I HAD to go out for co op or drs  appointments.  I can’t say I was disappointed when they cancelled co op and Bible study today.  So, yes, I’m still working through this one, but I am willing to trust God to work through my fear.  I can’t say that I like it any, but I’m willing.  😀

2. I learned to have faith through illness

After more than 35 yrs of chronic illness, God found me a wonderful dr here in NW Indiana!  I already feel much better, sleep more and have more energy than I have had in YEARS!  I posted about this in my previous update and my recent update so I’ll leave this with you.  If you think God won’t help you with something simply because it’s been a long time, you may be wrong!  Always have faith that either He will bring you healing or joy in using what you are going through. And sometimes, if you are very blessed, you will have both!

3. I learned to have faith with my finances

I found it interesting timing that we had the funds to repair/replace all of the items zapped by lightning.  God has incredible timing!  All our previous 27 years of marriage were troubled by financial struggle and just when we needed a large chunk of change, the money wasn’t a problem.  Thank you, Jesus!  And the next month, it wasn’t financially difficult to replace my dh’s car.  And the next month, it wasn’t much of a financial burden to have to pay for a $5000 health insurance deductible for my gallbladder surgery.  In fact, what’s even more incredible, we actually HAD health insurance for the first time in years just a few months prior to the surgery!  How’s that for incredible timing?!  Just months prior to my symptoms, my dh’s company changed their health care plan that provided more coverage for less money making it worth the monthly payment for the first time in about six years.

4. I learned to have faith in how God would use me/my testimony

After having to all but let my business of 11yrs go, I wasn’t sure what God wanted me to do.  So much of what I did with Art of Eloquence was a ministry–things I gave away for free.  I had to find a new way to serve Him, but I had no idea how.  At the time, I couldn’t type, was too sick to concentrate or go out anywhere.  What was I to do now?  Well, in time, I relearned how to type-how to stretch my fingers on my left hand to reach the keys with more accuracy.  While I still have pain and I can’t type as much as I used to, I am able to work through it enough to write a weekly blog here at JoJoisms.com.  And here is where I realized I could serve.  God leads me now to share my health journey to support and uplift those who struggle with chronic illness. I wrote about this a bit more in a previous post called Looking Back.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” –Proverbs 3:5-6  Sometimes we don’t understand why God answers us the way He does, but we know that He always has our best interest in mind when He does.  Be careful what you pray for!  You just might get it…but it might not be how you wanted it to appear in your life.  My advice to you is to trust Him.  Use it, however you can, to your own benefit and also for the benefit of others.  And to God be the glory!

Have you had a year like this?  A year when you prayed for something and God answered your prayer only not the way you had envisioned?  Please share it here.

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To give you hope…

Written By: JoJoisms - Jan• 19•15

good hair day1“Several of you asked me to please post updates on my health journey and I will continue to do so, but with this caveat: while I love to hear that my posts have been an inspiration or a support to my readers, I don’t want you to think that there is a one-size-fits-all answer to these chronic health issues.  I don’t want you to look at what has worked for me and count on that to work for you. I made that mistake all too often myself. Every one of us is a unique creation with a unique set of issues and a unique physiology.  Even if you have the same diagnoses as someone else, your body is different, your stage of the disease may be different and your other health issues may play a role in what will be an effective treatment for you.

“But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.  Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:” -1 Corinthians 12:20-22

So much of chronic illness is specific to the individual. It makes finding a solution or even relief from some of the symptoms very tricky.  You need to find a dr who will treat you as an individual and treat the underlying causes rather than spitting out a general treatment plan for the masses.  I’ve found that dr.  He is an MD, but he also believes in alternative medicine and doing things naturally.  He is old school and works with his patients to create a treatment plan just for them using all he has learned in his many, many years in medicine.  So many of you were not yet blessed to find a dr who will (or can do) that for them.  This is my story.  Your mileage may vary.  May it be an inspiration that tells you that it is possible to find some answers and feel better–even after waiting over 35 years.

It’s been about six months now since I began seeing my new dr and I’m happy to report he has made a TREMENDOUS difference in the quality of my life!  I have much more energy, I get fatigued much less, I recover from fatigue much more quickly, my hot flashes are almost gone, my hair is growing back healthier, my eyebrows are growing back, (the bad news is the hair on my legs is growing again so I have to shave more often, but hey…).  My nausea is gone (was due to taking so much ibuprofen), my severe burning muscle aches are less, I’m sleeping more (still wake up several times, but I sleep better), and he should be able to wean me off of all the various 12 or 13 meds/supplements he has me on.  (My wallet will like this!)

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” -Psalm 139:14

The bad news is that a few things did get worse the past two months, but my dr says at the beginning of every appointment, “I can fix that!”  He says he has to tweak things in response to how my body is reacting. It’s a process, but we are getting closer.

For those of you of the female persuasion and significantly over the age of consent, you may relate to The Peri-Menopause Hormone Hustle.  You know…that’s where you get no periods for a month or two or four and then get one lasting practically all month long! In my most recent battle, my hormones have provided me with no less than four visits from Aunt Flo in the last 45 days that lasted over the obligatory five days.  My dr has decreased the hormone levels in my bio identical cream in the hopes that I will still be Hot Flash Free but also send Flo packin’.

A few other old issues came back the last few weeks including my heart rhythm issues: fluttering, flip flopping and feeling like they skip a beat every once in a while–usually when I wake up.  AND the restless leg syndrome where your arms and legs jump up and down just as you’re trying to get to sleep.  He says these are also hormone related so I should notice them stopping again once my new cream kicks in.  He’s pretty confident that is the cause, but if I don’t feel these symptoms go away by my next appointment, he’ll order an EKG.

He also said I’m not getting enough oxygen and I need to reduce stress.  He says that, due to my pain and fatigue (and maybe my age), I’ve been slouching which is making it difficult for my lungs to get enough oxygen.  He suggested Yoga, but I have something at home that says it improves posture so I’ll use that.  As for reducing stress…well, I’ve been working on that all year!  If I’ve been able to unsubscribe from the Catastrophe a Month Club I inadvertently joined in 2014, I think I’ll be well on my way this year.

My left hand is very painful these days apparently the car accident made the arthritis worse such that I now have these attractive red bumps on my joints that just love to make themselves known throughout the day.  The dr says that, once the supplements for inflammation-which have been backordered for over a month-come in, it should help.  Anyone want to place your bets? And that brings me to another bit of bad news.  Several of my supplements are currently on back order.  It seems at least one or two of them usually are.  Hey, lab guy!  I’m trying to feel better over here!

The biggest issue I have right now is Acute Sinusitis, which was bad enough on its own.  I have had really bad headaches that seem to start at the base of my skull and go into my sinuses and down my back.  The dr prescribed an antibiotic which is the poster child for the phrase “the cure is worse than the disease.”   This thing came with a (and I am not exaggerating in ANY way) TEN PAGE booklet of instructions and warnings!  That should have been my first clue.  But, after calling the pharmacist and my dr’s office (twice), I was given instructions for how to take them.  After just one dose, I was so dizzy I couldn’t even sit up.  I got nauseous and my stomach no longer wanted to be part of my anatomy.  I couldn’t eat much of anything or even stand much for several days.  His office did advise me not to take the antibiotic anymore, but I still have the sinus infection.  He did ask me if I was allergic to any medication and this isn’t one of them so I doubt the dr could have known.  This reaction to the medication along with having my period for the fourth time in 45 days caused a flare up of my chronic health issues that fortunately is already beginning to subside.  I think mostly due to the treatment I’ve been getting from my new dr.  My advice to you though is, if it comes with a ten page instruction and warning manual, THINK TWICE!  lol

At the end of every visit, my dr gives me a hug and tells me it will get better.  He’s very caring and thorough.  I just wish his office staff was.  It’s been five days and despite two calls, I have yet to receive a call back with further instructions.  Ah, well.  You can’t have everything…and I am feeling better.  It’s a process.

I pray that this will give you hope that your day will come when you will be feeling better too.  Don’t give up!  Keep looking for that health professional or dr who will make a difference for you.

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” -Romans 15:13

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My prayer for 2015

Written By: JoJoisms - Jan• 12•15

Happy New Year!

2014 and my prayer for 2015:

 

As most of you know, 2014 was a very difficult year for my family.  While we did have many blessings (new friends, church, co op, dr), we also had a moderate to severe catastrophe just about every month of the year.  From our car accident in January to our cross country move in March. From repairing or replacing all 24 (last count) of our electronic items after a lightning strike to replacing our car that was totaled after my dh drove through a flash flood masquerading as a puddle.  From my three week battle with gallbladder disease where I got down to 98lbs to my subsequent surgery that came with a large insurance deductible…and those are just the highlights.

So my prayer for 2015 is to find a year of peace and healing.  Even if it isn’t complete healing or complete worldly peace, I pray for the joy that is the hope that is in Jesus and peace that surpasses all understanding as God is with me during the struggles I face in 2015.  “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:7

How many of you have the very same prayer?  Or a different prayer you’d like for 2015?  I’d be honored to pray for you.  Please share your prayer request for your 2015 here.

God bless you and your family this year!

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Looking Back: I used to run

Written By: JoJoisms - Jan• 05•15

With the New Year comes the inevitable looking back so I thought I’d do a little looking back of my own and take you along for the ride.

I wrote this about a year ago, but never published it. It’s interesting to read it now that I have found a dr who is helping me get back some of what I once was.  Thought many of you could relate to my thoughts then and I wanted to give you hope that how we feel now, even if we’ve felt that way for a VERY long time (in my case here over 35 yrs), isn’t necessarily how we will always feel.  Sometimes God will lead us to the right dr, the right treatment, a better situation.  So here’s…Looking Back.  P.S.  I really did feel this way at the time. I haven’t changed a single word.

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407I’ve been fighting my Hashimoto’s and Fibro and all the other health issues I have for a long time…trying to get back to the me I used to be. Determination and stubbornness got me so far, but it can’t bring me back to where I was. I am having to face the fact that I may never be the me I used to know ever again. I’m a control freak and I don’t like things being out of my control. It’s why I don’t drink…even a sip.  Trying to accept that and give in without giving up.

I’ve been fighting my Hashi’s and Fibro. Trying to do what I could do before it got bad. Having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I may never be able to be who I was. The person who ran up the stairs instead of walked and juggled three things at once is not here anymore.

I’m tired of being tired.  I’m tired of not sleeping.  I’m tired of being in pain.  I’m tired of having to explain why.  I’m tired of having to plan everything out.  I’m tired of feeling guilty for what I can’t do or for choosing not to do things I could push myself to do.  I’m tired of not being in control of my life.  But most of all, I’m tired of fighting it.

For more than 35 years, I’ve known something was wrong, but all the drs and tests said otherwise.  So I pressed on.  My personality is one of action.  I feel like a slacker unless I’m doing at least three things at once.  I was always able to push through and go on…until recently.

Several years ago, I was diagnosed with a non specific thyroid problem, Fibromyalgia and peri menopause.  A few years ago, it was specified as Hashimoto’s Disease and I was told I also had adrenal fatigue and reactive hypoglycemia—all of which were causing my insomnia.  I was hopeful that I could find a dr that would help me put my life back together.  A life I remember where I never walked up the stairs; I ran.  A life where I juggled motherhood, a business, housework and homeschooling.  A life where I was in control.

Over the years, the times I couldn’t control became more difficult and frequent, but through those times I always believed I’d find a dr who would find a cure.  I did everything each one prescribed without hesitation and without cheating reasoning it would speed up recovery.  But each time it didn’t, and I felt worse, I lost a bit of hope.  And each time I found a new hope, I’d give it all I could to get my life back.

I fought the fatigue, even to the point of exhaustion.  I muscled through the pain so I could accomplish what I set out to do.  Eventually, I found that I couldn’t do all I wanted.  I scaled down my projects and to do lists, but I resented having to do it so I often put things back into my schedule just to spite my illness.  At one point (aside from housework, homeschooling and running a business), I was writing three newsletters per week, a weekly blog, running a weekly online radio show, guest blogging, writing guest articles for various publications, running a yearly online convention and writing several ebooks per year.

I have to come to terms with the fact that there isn’t a cure for Hashimoto’s and my life may never be what it once was.  I guess I have to accept that, but I don’t want to give in.  It feels like defeat.  I have life left to live and a young son who needs his mom.  I just haven’t figured out what it means to let go of the fight while taking control of my life.  Maybe when I find a dr who will make a difference in how I feel on a daily basis.  Maybe then I can think clearly.  Maybe then I can learn to give in without giving up.

It’s time to think what God wants to teach me in this.  What can I do with it?  How can I get out of the way and allow God to use me and my situation to help others?  It’s time to let go and not be selfish and see the bigger picture.

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That time came when I repurposed this blog to minister to those struggling with chronic illness and other chronic issues. And my vision for 2015 is to reach even more people who are dealing with chronic illness and let them know they are NOT alone and someone cares and God wants to give them strength as He has given me, especially this past year during all my struggles both health and non health related.  Being able to minister to them and hearing how my writing has helped them know they are not alone and God loves them has truly been the blessings of my pain.

Since I wrote this, I DID find a dr who has worked hard to help me regain some of the me I used to be when I used to run up those stairs.  I have had times recently when I was able to run up the stairs as I used to do when I was young.  And, while I still have times when I need to rest because of fatigue and I am in pain due to arthritis or fibro or the result of my car accident, my quality of life is markedly better.  So here’s to more times this year when I feel good and less times when I feel bad.  And here’s to the very same for you.

 

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Chronic Illness New Years Resolutions

Written By: JoJoisms - Dec• 29•14

Happy New Year!We’ve all heard of the new years resolutions nobody keeps.  Mostly people seem to lose interest or resolve long about January third.  But those of us with chronic illness have our own new years resolutions we never keep–but it’s usually because we can’t.  Here are some of the ones I’ve had over the years. Please share this link with other chronic illness sufferers and add your own chronic illness resolutions to the comments section.

10. Quit Drugs

Before you go there, I mean prescription! LOL  So many of us are on prescription medications that have some difficult or dangerous side effects.  We long to find a doctor who will replace them with safer alternatives or even to recover sufficiently to get off of them altogether.

9. Get Out of Debt

Chronic illness usually means mounting debt from medical bills. Either we seek out alternative medicines and doctors who are not covered by our health insurance or we have co pays and deductibles that have far outweighed our bank accounts.

8. Help others

I want to be the one who welcomes the new neighbor and brings her a pie.  I want to be the one who volunteers to help an elderly church member with her housework.  I’d love to be able to go shopping for a friend when she is too busy to pick up a loaf of bread at the store.

7. Travel

When I feel better, I’ll visit Aunt Mary.  When I have more energy, I’ll take that trip to the Grand Canyon.  When I have control of my pain, I’ll climb that mountain or go caving.  Alas, for many of us, that day never came.

6. Getting Involved in Church or Ministry

Many of my peers with chronic illness miss being involved in good works-helping out with the church or at work or at our children’s school.  No energy often means these things get pushed aside each year.

5. Sleeping Through the Night

Insomnia is a constant intruder at night.  I’ve had it for over 15yrs. I think if I ever slept through the night, I’d think I woke up in heaven.

4. Not  Sleeping Through the Day

Napping has become an Olympic event in my house and I’m the Gold Medal Winner!

3. Housework

So many of us with chronic Illness resolve to be more consistent with our housework.  I, for one, had always done all of it on one day of the week. I became too tired to do it all in one day so now I try to do a little of it each day.  Even when I manage it, I find that the house is never really clean.  Monday’s dusting is only an imperceptible improvement by Thursday’s vacuum day.

2. Spend more time with family

Many of us feel guilty about not being able to spend more quality time with our family.  Either we can’t go out to be with them or we aren’t real good company when they come over.  Some of us feel badly about not being able to do things for or with our kids.  Some of you out there have expressed feelings of guilt over how much your kids have to do for YOU.

1. Loose weight

Whether you’re hypothyroid, peri menopausal, have fibro, adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue or something with similar symptoms, you will relate to this one.  As soon as I feel better, as soon as I have more energy, as soon as I can control the pain, as soon as I find a routine I can do that doesnt’ send me to my bed for a week, I’ll exercise.  It’s a vicious cycle: I can’t exercise because I don’t have energy and I don’t have more energy because I don’t exercise.

Don’t see yours on this list?  Post it in the comments section.  Have an experience you’d like to share?  Sound off!  Post your thoughts in the comments.  And please share this blog post with others who might be in need of understanding and a quick giggle.

Happy New Year!

Posted in Laughing Through Struggles , , , , , , | 12 Comments »

Countdown to Christmas: More Inspirational Videos

Written By: JoJoisms - Dec• 22•14

JoJo's Video Countdown to CHRISTmas

JOJOWHANDSThis is the last week of the JoJoisms Countdown to CHRISTmas.  Here are even more inspirational videos for you.  I hope you have enjoyed the countdown to CHRISTmas this year.

My prayer for you is that each time you view or listen to these this week, you will be uplifted, feel a strength, light hearted, and a peace this CHRISTmas.  I pray your pain is light, your fatigue is minimal, and your joy is abundant.

Please share the blog with others who are hurting and are in need of uplifting this CHRISTmas season, especially those suffering and struggling with chronic illness and other chronic issues.

 

Christmas Shoes by Newsong

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Christmas Offering by Casting Crowns

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Carol of the Bells by George Winston

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Random Act of Culture Hallelujah

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Pentatonix: Little Drummer Boy

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Silent Night by Selah

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Where’s the Line to See Jesus by Becky Kelley

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Another great one from Pentatonix with their version of Carol of the Bells

Which of these videos was your favorite?  Please leave a comment below with your vote.  Do you love a video that wasn’t posted this year on JoJo’s Countdown to CHRISTmas?  Post a comment below with the link. It just might show up on next year’s countdown.

Merry CHRISTmas!

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Countdown to CHRISTmas: Inspirational Videos

Written By: JoJoisms - Dec• 15•14

JoJo's Video Countdown to CHRISTmas

JOJOWHANDSContinuing with the JoJoisms Countdown to CHRISTmas I have a week of inspirational videos to bless you this CHRISTmas season.  I pray you have been inspired, uplifted and blessed by these posts each week and especially these fun and inspirational YouTube CHRISTmas videos!

My heart is to bring you giggles and inspiration at a time when you may need uplifting the most.  The holidays can be a stressful, tiring and frustrating time for those of us struggling with chronic health issues.  I advocate taking time to reflect on the blessings we may not readily be able to see through the pain and fatigue.  Take time each day to view these videos. Play them in the background as you go about your day or while working on the computer.

Please share these CHRISTmas blog posts with others you feel need some uplifting this holiday season.

 

Lindsey Sterling: What Child is This

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Barlow Girl: Hallelujah

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Trans Siberian Orchestra: Christmas in Serajevo

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Eclipse 6: Do You Hear What I Hear?

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Piano Guys: Oh Come Emmanuel

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Third Day: Angels We Have Heard on High

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Trans Siberian Orchestra: Christmas Cannon

Which one of these videos was your favorite this week?  Please leave a comment (below) with your favorite.  Have a CHRISTmas video you love that wasn’t included here? Post a link to it in the comments below as well.  I might just include it next year.

Merry CHRISTmas!

 

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