{"id":540,"date":"2013-03-09T17:21:46","date_gmt":"2013-03-09T17:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=540"},"modified":"2013-03-06T17:47:10","modified_gmt":"2013-03-06T17:47:10","slug":"chronic-illness-seeking-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/03\/chronic-illness-seeking-answers.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Seeking Answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The process of getting a diagnosis for some illnesses can be fairly straightforward. But for some it can take years of testing and perseverance. Some lupus patients I know went 5+ years before their doctors determined the reason for their symptoms. Some people have problems that have defied explanation, even after batteries of tests.<\/p>\n

A lengthy period seeking answers to health problems takes not only time and resources, it takes a lot of stamina, energy, and spiritual resilience. Two things I found most helpful during the long time between when my health began to deteriorate and when I was finally diagnosed with lupus were an increased awareness of “the things going wrong,” so I would be able to specifically describe to my doctors things that might help in the diagnosis process (being more specific, for example, than saying, “I’m tired all the time,” and describing the feeling of the fatigue and when it occurred), and prayer. Not so much prayer for relief, but prayer for discernment, to know the right questions to ask and the people to consult. I didn’t know what lupus was before my diagnosis; it was only natural that I didn’t immediately know that my many “odd” health issues were related to it. So, discernment was key, and turning to God was a natural direction in which to seek at least enough wisdom to be able to articulate the questions on my heart.<\/p>\n

More acute discernment helps not only in the initial “seeking a diagnosis” phase, but also throughout life with any illness or pain – where some answers come, other questions are bound to follow! \u00a0But we can hold steady and take these with courage if we continue to nurture God’s presence and ask, humbly and constantly, for the wisdom to follow His guidance.<\/p>\n

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

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

The process of getting a diagnosis for some illnesses can be fairly straightforward. But for some it can take years of testing and perseverance. Some lupus patients I know went 5+ years before their doctors determined the reason for their symptoms. Some people have problems that have defied explanation, even after batteries of tests. A…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[252,308,442,96,443,444],"class_list":["post-540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","tag-diagnosis","tag-discernment","tag-finding-out-what-is-wrong","tag-prayer","tag-seeking-answers","tag-symptoms"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: Seeking Answers - 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\/03\/chronic-illness-seeking-answers.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: Seeking Answers - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The process of getting a diagnosis for some illnesses can be fairly straightforward. But for some it can take years of testing and perseverance. Some lupus patients I know went 5+ years before their doctors determined the reason for their symptoms. Some people have problems that have defied explanation, even after batteries of tests. 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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\/540","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=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":543,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions\/543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}