{"id":661,"date":"2013-04-27T21:03:59","date_gmt":"2013-04-27T21:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=661"},"modified":"2013-04-23T21:15:34","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T21:15:34","slug":"chronic-illness-determined-adaptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/chronic-illness-determined-adaptation.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Determined Adaptation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>Never say “give up!”<\/p>\n

That’s one of my mottos for life with lupus.<\/p>\n

The flare that was stirred up after I had to go off one of my lupus meds has also made me extremely sun- and fluorescent light sensitive, which made it difficult for me to spend much time writing over the past couple of weeks. And, what was a befuddling problem has now shed light (please pardon the pun) on yet another way in which many\u00a0us with lupus, or perhaps any chronic illness, must learn to make lemonade from lemons (with real sugar, please, not artificial sweetener!).<\/p>\n

For many “lupies,” the UV rays, particularly UVB, can stir up lupus flares. For years, I was told to limit my exposure to sunlight (I’m particularly sensitive), and if i did go outdoors during the sunny part of the day, I had to wear long sleeved shirts, long pants, broad-brimmed hats, sun block, and protective glasses. This most recent flare also keyed me into a problem that I hadn’t really thought of before. A few months ago, I’d purchased a new computer. As my flare worsened over the past few weeks, I noticed particular problems if I sat in front of the computer for any length of time. The culprit, for me, turned out to be that the monitor was an LCD (fluorescent) model which, of course, for me meant more exposure to the very thing that could stir up a flare even more. Live and learn!<\/p>\n

I have since purchased an LED monitor and am much more comfortable with it. Not so much the flare, which continues along its way. But, at least, one thing that was in my control has been handled!<\/p>\n

Sometimes, “one more thing” can be the proverbial straw breaking the camel’s back. But by digging deep and holding onto determination, other times we can find ways to adapt, to take a bit more control, and to help ourselves along.<\/p>\n

“Determined adaptation.” I like the sound of that. And, I like how it looks on my new, better monitor, too!<\/p>\n

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

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

Never say “give up!” That’s one of my mottos for life with lupus. The flare that was stirred up after I had to go off one of my lupus meds has also made me extremely sun- and fluorescent light sensitive, which made it difficult for me to spend much time writing over the past couple…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,383,379],"tags":[542,29,543,2121,500,541,19,18,30,540],"class_list":["post-661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-heart-health","category-lupus-2","tag-adaptation","tag-chronic-illness","tag-creative-adaptation","tag-determination","tag-flare","tag-fluorescent-light-sensitivity","tag-illness","tag-lupus","tag-pain","tag-sun-sensitivity"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: Determined Adaptation - 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\/04\/chronic-illness-determined-adaptation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: Determined Adaptation - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Never say “give up!” That’s one of my mottos for life with lupus. 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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\/661","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=661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":662,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions\/662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}