{"id":473,"date":"2013-02-08T17:29:18","date_gmt":"2013-02-08T17:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=473"},"modified":"2013-02-04T17:54:36","modified_gmt":"2013-02-04T17:54:36","slug":"chronic-illness-how-can-we-ever-plan-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/02\/chronic-illness-how-can-we-ever-plan-ahead.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: How Can We Ever Plan Ahead?!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Sound familiar? You plan to do something, having been planning for weeks. And then…Here it comes again. Wham! Fatigue like a brick squashing a tiny bug. And no matter how much encouragement others might try to give, all those plans\u00a0are shredded and gone. You feel bad because you can’t do something enjoyable. You feel bad because you think you’ve let others down. And you feel bad because, well, you feel bad from the flair and the disappointment and the sense that no matter how hard you try, your “normal” life just seems to always fall apart.<\/p>\n

If you have chronic illness, how do you ever plan ahead?<\/p>\n

I’ve found the simple answer to this is, “You can’t, definitely.”<\/p>\n

But the longer answer is a bit more complex.\u00a0 I do make plans. But I couch them with the caveat that I might not be able to follow through, even at the last minute. (Yes, there have been times when I’ve been nearly out the door, but haven’t gone out because of that sudden, crushing fatigue.) I also try not to pack too much into one day (learned this the hard way – still learning, in fact!). One fun thing at a time – so there can be other things at other times. And, I try to plan ahead with people who will truly understand; there is no need to heap guilt upon disappointment on ourselves, planning activities with people who don’t have compassion for what we’re going through.<\/p>\n

Traveling brings up problems of its own, of course.\u00a0 I recommend (and get) trip insurance just in case and allow for rest days on either end of a trip. I also reserve a wheelchair at the airport; I don’t need it each time, but having it there has more than once made the difference between holding extreme fatigue at bay and not.<\/p>\n

If I’m really looking forward to an event, I know that there will be a certain amount of “positive stress.” We lupies and others with chronic illness need to take this into account, too, because stress is, after all, stress, and we have to manage that as we do other not-so-positive stress. All part of planning ahead.<\/p>\n

Even with the “best laid plans,” illness can bring us down.\u00a0 So, we do best to cultivate a strong and willing spirit, one that accepts all that God brings and all that happens as part of a whole, wondrous life. When I plan to do something, I always remember that, where there is God’s will, there will be a way. And if it isn’t meant to be, I give myself permission to rest and give thanks for friends who understand and the times ahead when plans will become activities and, afterward, cherished memories.<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

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

Sound familiar? You plan to do something, having been planning for weeks. And then…Here it comes again. Wham! Fatigue like a brick squashing a tiny bug. And no matter how much encouragement others might try to give, all those plans\u00a0are shredded and gone. You feel bad because you can’t do something enjoyable. You feel bad…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4],"tags":[29,44,279,16,405,406,407],"class_list":["post-473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","tag-chronic-illness","tag-chronic-pain","tag-disappointment","tag-fatigue","tag-planning","tag-plans","tag-travel"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: How Can We Ever Plan Ahead?! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\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\/2013\/02\/chronic-illness-how-can-we-ever-plan-ahead.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: How Can We Ever Plan Ahead?! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sound familiar? You plan to do something, having been planning for weeks. And then…Here it comes again. Wham! Fatigue like a brick squashing a tiny bug. And no matter how much encouragement others might try to give, all those plans\u00a0are shredded and gone. You feel bad because you can’t do something enjoyable. 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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\/473","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=473"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":476,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions\/476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}