{"id":1650,"date":"2015-05-06T17:47:51","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T17:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1650"},"modified":"2015-05-06T17:47:51","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T17:47:51","slug":"chronic-pain-and-illness-priorities-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/chronic-pain-and-illness-priorities-priorities.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Pain and Illness: Priorities, Priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>If you find it difficult to prioritize responsibilities and activities while juggling the effects of life with chronic pain and illness, you’re not alone. I do, too, and sometimes I feel akin to a circus act – wondering if I’ll drop anything of importance while managing so many moving parts, especially when it comes to keeping my medical team up-to-date.<\/p>\n

Lists help us prioritize, as does consulting with our doctors and loved ones about their perspective on what we need to do when. But I’ve found that taking a realistic look at time is, for me, the key.<\/p>\n

I once had to rehab from a neck injury. The physical therapist was terrific, but each visit, she gave me more and more exercises. I finally counted up the time spent on each required exercise and it came to more than two hours – and I was supposed to do the reps each day! When I showed her the tally of time and explained that I was getting more tired rather than rejuvenated, she understood completely and modified the exercise routines accordingly.<\/p>\n

If, like me, your health condition brings on significant fatigue, it’s especially to be conscious of time commitments. If I have a particularly gruelling day of medical appointments or tests, I know that I’ll have to be still for a good while afterward – sometimes several days – to recover adequately. It can be frustrating, I know; we’ve all \u00a0had enjoyable opportunities pop up unexpectedly in the midst of a very exausting period. But instead of letting frustration take hold, I try to pray through it, believing that good friends will understand and God will bring joyous occasions no matter where I am or what I have to do.<\/p>\n

The past several weeks, for me, have been one infection after another, culminating with a very bad bug that kept me in for two full weeks. My energy reserves are still low, and more than ever before, I am finding I have to set priorities and dig in to keep them, guarding my need for long stretches of rest and quiet. But in that rest and quiet, even then, I know there is comfort, peace, and, yes, joy.<\/p>\n

No matter where we are, or how softly we have to walk through our days, God walks with us!<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1651,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650\/revisions\/1651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}