{"id":1959,"date":"2016-02-08T18:46:52","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T18:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1959"},"modified":"2016-02-06T18:58:11","modified_gmt":"2016-02-06T18:58:11","slug":"chronic-illness-in-advance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/02\/chronic-illness-in-advance.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: In Advance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Second<\/a>The tests I mentioned in an earlier post went very well, and I’m “out the other side” of that particular challenge! And one of the things that helped bring about smooth sailing was what I did in advance of even going out the front door.<\/p>\n

In my upcoming new book,\u00a0Don’t Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough\u00a0<\/em>(which is available now for pre-order on Amazon), I talk a lot about how we\u00a0prepare\u00a0<\/em>to meet crises. Not that we walk around thinking, “The sky is going to fall, I know it!” But that we take steps to make ourselves as strong as we possibly can\u00a0before<\/em> a crisis occurs (and we all know that one or more crisis will occur in each of our lives at some time!).<\/p>\n

For the tests I had to have recently, for example, I took some steps to bring a bit of comfort and something distracting. I’ve done this before; once, when I was first diagnosed with lupus and had to go through tests that took the better part of a day (with lots of waiting around time), I took decks of children’s card games (Go Fish!, Old Maid, etc.) and friends took turns visiting with me and playing the games. We were quite a sight – a group of adults intent on being the first to gather all the like card of Go Fish! \u00a0But the distraction helped tremendously, and the activity was a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

Anyway, this time, for comfort, I took a couple of snack bars, a container of warm water with honey, and a bottle of water, some socks and a cap for my head. For distraction, I took something to read that was far off-topic of the subject of my tests.\u00a0These preparations truly helped bring even more calm, and I also spent much time praying and thinking of far-flung friends and favorite places.<\/p>\n

With serious chronic illnesses, we usually cannot avoid long stretches of time in waiting rooms or undergoing tests, but what we do in advance can help take away much of the stress.<\/p>\n

Smooth sailing is a wonderful thing when you’re headed into choppy waters!<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

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

The tests I mentioned in an earlier post went very well, and I’m “out the other side” of that particular challenge! And one of the things that helped bring about smooth sailing was what I did in advance of even going out the front door. 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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\/1959","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=1959"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1960,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions\/1960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}