{"id":1949,"date":"2016-01-22T22:07:53","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T22:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1949"},"modified":"2016-01-16T22:20:26","modified_gmt":"2016-01-16T22:20:26","slug":"chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Is the Grass Greener on Another Side?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Second<\/a>During the Christmas holiday, I happened to meet a fellow traveler who was returning from a brief trip. He explained that he had a young family and hd been thinking for quite some time about moving out of state, to another place where he felt he and his family would have better educational and career opportunities. Rather than pick up stakes immediately, however, he had decided to take the time and money to invest a bit in the idea. He had taken time off of work to go to the “greener place” and look at housing, job opportunities, and school options way before physically subjecting the rest of his family to the move.<\/p>\n

What a good idea!<\/p>\n

I told him that he was being smart, to which he said, “I hope so.” Clearly, it was daunting to think of leaving the place where he had lived all of his life (and moving his wife and children, too). But he was also being caring and careful – qualitites that set him apart from many who might just think, “I’m sure life is better over there, so I’m just going to move there.”<\/p>\n

Sometimes, when we get frustrated with the medical care we receive, or the lifestyle that our surrounding area provides, we might also think, “It has to be better [fill in the location blank].” Some of us might actually move there, too. But the example of my fellow traveler is a good one for anyone who might be considering a drastic change of location: Know before you go!<\/p>\n

Changing doctors might not be as easy as you might think, especially with insurance considerations. In fact, insurance changes might not be seamless, either – another aspect of moving that is better to be tended to before the boxes and van depart. A faithful support system is another aspect of life that should not be discarded merely on a whim (but moving to someplace where there is a good support system, for example, closer to caring family members, might be a perfect solution to an imperfect situation where you are, now).<\/p>\n

More of life is becoming fluid across state borders. National pharmacies, insurance policies, and other tools of our health lives are making it easier to move from one end of the country to another – or in between. \u00a0But even so, being smart about moving can make the difference between a good course of action and one that, a few months afterward, leaves us thinking, “Oh, my, it was so much better back where I was before!”<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

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

During the Christmas holiday, I happened to meet a fellow traveler who was returning from a brief trip. He explained that he had a young family and hd been thinking for quite some time about moving out of state, to another place where he felt he and his family would have better educational and career…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1242,4,1047,1245,1246],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-food-for-thought","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-positive","category-uplifting"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: Is the Grass Greener on Another Side? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Food for thought if you're thinking of making a move\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: Is the Grass Greener on Another Side? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Food for thought if you're thinking of making a move\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-22T22:07:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-16T22:20:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2015\/10\/Second-close-up-of-picture-257x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chronic Illness: Is the Grass Greener on Another Side? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Food for thought if you're thinking of making a move","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chronic Illness: Is the Grass Greener on Another Side? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"Food for thought if you're thinking of making a move","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2016-01-22T22:07:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-16T22:20:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2015\/10\/Second-close-up-of-picture-257x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html","name":"Chronic Illness: Is the Grass Greener on Another Side? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2015\/10\/Second-close-up-of-picture-257x300.jpg","datePublished":"2016-01-22T22:07:53+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-16T22:20:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"description":"Food for thought if you're thinking of making a move","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2015\/10\/Second-close-up-of-picture-257x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2015\/10\/Second-close-up-of-picture-257x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/01\/chronic-illness-is-the-grass-greener-on-another-side.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chronic Illness: Is the Grass Greener on Another Side?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. 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\/1949","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=1949"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1950,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1949\/revisions\/1950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}