Viewing: Chronic Illness and anxiety
July 28, 2016
To Melanie, from Your Future Chronic Illness
You’re an adult now, newly 18. You’ll leave for college soon and it won’t be easy. The adjustment won’t be too bad, you’ll make a few friends and earn good grades. But as the year progresses, the real difficulty begins. When you can’t use the restroom without crying because of pain and your mom comes to pick you up to... Read morePosted in Caregivers, Chronic Illness and anxiety, Chronic Illness and Diagnosis, Chronic Life | By Stacey Philpot
July 11, 2016
Have YOU Ever Had a Panic Attack?
Have you ever had a panic attack? The question hung between us like angry, rain-saturated clouds positioning overhead. For me, the answer was obvious. Panic attacks are a common, unfortunate part of battling with Lyme disease and coinfections. But my relationship with panic attacks pre-dates my relationship with Lyme Disease. I have been married twice. Twice I have picked out... Read morePosted in Anxiety, Chronic Illness and anxiety, Lyme Disease | By Stacey Philpot
April 21, 2016
Improbability Anxiety
I’m a worst scenario kind of gal. I wasn’t always this way. I used to be laid back, go with the flow, light hearted even. Having lead an easy, healthy, almost charmed life. What did I have to fear? But, becoming a parent and subsequently having a sick child began to chip away at my resolve. It conditioned me to... Read morePosted in Anxiety, Chronic Illness and anxiety, Faith, Relationships | By Stephanie Bishop
March 10, 2016
God Saw This Day
For most of us, life exists in the before and after. Before the call and after, before the doctor ushered us from the room and gave us the news and after before the ultrasound silenced the room with it’s stillness and after, before the text from the other woman came across his phone and after, before the crash of metal and... Read morePosted in Chronic Illness and anxiety, Chronic Illness and Diagnosis, Chronic Illness and Pain, Chronic illness and relationships, Faith, Love, Marriage | By Stacey Philpot
January 18, 2016
When its “All in Your Head”
You’ve been battling soul-crushing symptoms for months now. Desperate for relief, and terrified of the answers you’ve somehow managed to wait the agonizing three months it’s taken to see the specialist your primary care physician referred you to. After a battery of painful, expensive and frightening tests, it’s time to go over the results. The specialist looks you in the eye... Read morePosted in Chronic Illness and anxiety, Chronic Illness and Diagnosis, Physicians | By Stacey Philpot
November 16, 2015
5 Tips for Surviving the Holidays
For most people the holidays mean gathering with family and friends, sharing treasured family traditions, loosening the belt buckle to allow for a second helping of grandma’s legendary turkey and dressing and maybe talking some smack while watching the game. But for those of us who battle illness, the holidays look more like not being able to meet expectations, exhaustion,... Read morePosted in Chronic Illness and anxiety, Chronic illness and relationships, chronic illness; support | By Stacey Philpot
November 12, 2015
Steady Heart
What comes next? What if one day the RA becomes so bad I can’t brush my own teeth? What if the inflammation goes to my heart and kills me? What if. What if. What if. Your set of what ifs may look much different or the same. Unless you have a very different skill set than me, we have one... Read morePosted in Chronic Illness and anxiety, Chronic Illness and Diagnosis, chronic illness; support | By Stacey Philpot
October 30, 2015
Five Fears of the Chronically Ill
You will never be enough. Whether it’s pain or fatigue, anxiety or depression or even all of the above, it’s sometimes hard to think about anything but that lead weight in your bones, that fire, that ache, that scream that won’t be silenced. You try to balance even just a few relationships, keep a couple of symptoms managed, plates spinning.... Read morePosted in Chronic Illness and anxiety, Chronic Illness and body image, Chronic Illness and Pain, Chronic illness and relationships, chronic illness; support | By Stacey Philpot
September 21, 2015
You’re Not Crazy- 5 Tips For Coping With Anxiety
Got anxiety? Panic attacks? Maybe a little OCD sprinkled in for good measure? Yep, me too. These are things I’ve struggled with for most of my life, but I didn’t quite know what they were until about a decade ago. For the last several years, most of my “issues” have remained manageable and mostly under control, but only because I’ve... Read morePosted in Chronic Illness and anxiety | By Stacey Philpot