{"id":1874,"date":"2015-11-12T19:23:30","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T19:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1874"},"modified":"2015-11-12T19:23:30","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T19:23:30","slug":"chronic-illness-just-starting-out-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/11\/chronic-illness-just-starting-out-part-one.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Just Starting Out, Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Second<\/a>Life with chronic illness tends to go through stages, and probably the most difficult one is when you first leave the doctor’s office with a diagnosis. Perhaps, at first, you feel a bit of relief.\u00a0Finally<\/em>, you might exclaim, there’s a definite name for what I have!<\/i><\/p>\n

But then, as the news sinks in, you might find yourself frozen with questions, such as:<\/p>\n

What does this diagnosis mean?<\/em><\/p>\n

How will my life change?<\/em><\/p>\n

What else might happen to me?<\/em><\/p>\n

How can I live with the new constraints\/expenses\/pain?<\/i><\/p>\n

Is this diagnosis real?<\/em><\/p>\n

I quickly realized, when I was diagnosed with lupus, that I couldn’t find answers to all of my questions all at once. In my book\u00a0Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness<\/em>, I liken this phase as much like peeling away the layers of an onion. It’s hard, brings tears, and takes time to get to the core of all it will mean.<\/p>\n

But as confounding as this stage might be, it is also a hopeful (yes, hopeful!) time. Where once there was a mystery, there is now\u00a0some\u00a0<\/em>kind of path to a definition and perhaps treatment. More than ever before, there is information available to us to learn about our diagnosis and all that it might mean (or not mean) to us, personally. Also available is the possibility of a second opinion (which I pursued when one rheumatologist first said, “I think you have lupus.”) Especially if you are wondering about the validity of the first diagnosis, a second opinion can make the situation more definitive still.<\/p>\n

Above all, it’s important to write down your questions and take them in to your doctor appointments. As each question is answered, or at least addressed, you can move to the next, thus “unfreezing” yourself from the rigidity of feeling overwhelmed with only questions and no resolutions. Also, as I discovered, as questions are answered, life does move ahead. It becomes more possible to start to adapt to new and more healthful lifestyle habits. It becomes more possible to see light and feel God’s comfort.<\/p>\n

When we’re first diagnosed, we might have all sorts of questions. But we don’t need to be frozen by them. Peel them away, one at a time, and be encouraged that you are farther along than you were before your doctor said, “You have…”<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

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

Life with chronic illness tends to go through stages, and probably the most difficult one is when you first leave the doctor’s office with a diagnosis. Perhaps, at first, you feel a bit of relief.\u00a0Finally, you might exclaim, there’s a definite name for what I have! But then, as the news sinks in, you might…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,379,1245,1247,1246],"tags":[29,1944,252,1947,1945,1946],"class_list":["post-1874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-lupus-2","category-positive","category-rising-above-tragedy","category-uplifting","tag-chronic-illness","tag-diagnosed-with-a-chronic-illness","tag-diagnosis","tag-faith-and-chronic-illness","tag-questions-about-diagnosis","tag-second-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: Just Starting Out, Part One - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When you're first diagnosed with a chronic illness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/11\/chronic-illness-just-starting-out-part-one.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: Just Starting Out, Part One - 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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\/1874","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=1874"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1875,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874\/revisions\/1875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}