In last week’s post I threw in a line that I didn’t think too much of at the time.
And you, your life depends on how bad the weather is that day, or how long it takes you to recover from standing in line at the DMV, or whether or not the doctor screwed up your prescription.
One of the comments reminded me that these little insignificant things can be a huge deal to anyone with a chronic illness or chronic pain. These everyday things that might annoy a healthy person have the potential to destroy our whole day. Take the DMV for example. Most people dread the DMV and it’s a huge inconvenience. When went to the DMV a few years ago I had to get up at the crack of dawn to avoid the lines, and this exhausted me for the rest of the day. Then when I got there I realized that the line (the one I was trying to avoid by getting there before it opened) was OUTSIDE, in TEXAS, in AUGUST (I feel this qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment, but clearly the state does not). So not only was I tired from getting up early and having to stand in line for an hour, my entire body was shaking from standing in the blinding sun and the 100 degree temperatures. Not to mention that I was on antibiotics at the time and was supposed to avoid direct sunlight, and how was I supposed to know going to the DMV required sunscreen? To a normal person this would have been a huge inconvenience. To me, the person with chronic illness, it was a catastrophe.
little insignificant things can be a huge deal to anyone with a chronic illness or chronic pain. Click To TweetSo what are some other things that healthy people take for granted?
- Cleaning
I wrote a whole post dedicated to cleaning with chronic illness for a reason. When your body isn’t functioning well cleaning is exhausting. I have a huge living room floor that I almost never mop because it’s draining me completely. It takes me a good 45 minutes to clean and then I’m pretty much done for the rest of the day. Unfortunately for me, my floor needs to be cleaned a lot, and I can never keep up. So it isn’t unusual for someone with chronic illness to have a house that isn’t spotless.
2. Weather
Where I live the weather yo-yos back and forth so fast you practically get whiplash. While this is inconvenient for healthy people (it wreaks havoc on allergies), it’s even harder when you live with pain. My pain levels are always higher when the weather does this. Heat and humidity also raise my pain levels significantly and many people with chronic pain struggle with winter and lower temperatures.
3. Getting ready for the day
I often tell my husband that getting ready to go somewhere is worse than actually going somewhere. Although I’ve loosened up on my perfectionist standards of appearance since I got sick, there are still lots of social rules I feel obligated to follow. Just a few examples of the basic tasks that can be daunting to someone with chronic illness: showering, blow-drying hair, putting on makeup, and wearing socially acceptable clothes that don’t make the pain worse.
4. Regular sickness
For healthy people getting a cold is miserable, for people with chronic illness it can take over your life for weeks even months. When you’re barely functioning as it is, additional sickness can knock you out completely.
5. Driving
A normal everyday task that most people take for granted. When you have a chronic illness driving can be agonizing if you are forced into an uncomfortable position and it can cause vertigo if you suffer from it.
6. Going shopping
Very few people like going to the store, but for someone with chronic illness, it’s exhausting. Not only does it involve getting ready, but parking and walking to the store, walking around the store, dealing with the bright lights, bending over to get things from shelves, carrying heavy groceries etc.
There are so many everyday things that are taken for granted by healthy people, but present large obstacles to people in pain. Because of this those in pain are in need of understanding and support. No one wants to cancel an event because they are too tired to get ready, but sometimes they have to.
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Weather is one of the worst for me. A weather change can ruin my whole week because of migraine!
Again, you nailed it. There are so many things I took for granted before I was ill. It impacts our families too – tonight I went with my daughter to watch my grandson’s soccer practice. As we went out to the car (Michigan weather, 20 some degrees) my daughter told my grandson to wait and let me in first so my pain didn’t flare too bad from the cold. When I got in the house my husband grabbed my heating blanket and tucked me in on the couch. I’m glad they have come to think of those things but it’s also sad of how much they have to accommodate me.
I am a little envious.
I sympathize with those who have chronic pain. My back was injured in a 2011 car accident and I have migraine headaches at least three times a week. My BFF has them daily. I know many people have it worse, much worse than I. I am sorry so many people suffer.
You are so spot on with how these ‘normal’ everyday kinds of activities become a challenge. I used to take all of this stuff for granted because I just did it. I got ready and put an effort into going out and enjoyed going out, I’d do the shopping and walk around town for hours on end, I’d clean with music on and do the house top to bottom and enjoy it (weird, I know!) and now…? Very different story entirely. Fantastic topic to cover! x
For me, laundry just about kills me. For budget reasons, I live on the second floor apt so a flight to the first floor, then another flight to the basement for each load. I used to actually like doing laundry, such a good feeling when it was finished and put away. Now, not so much.