When diagnosed with any illness you have two
options. Option one; feel like your life is over, be sad and let the illness
take over your life and everything you once enjoyed or option two; look at the
positives, focus on the things you can control and try your hardest to wake up every
day with a smile on your face and remember 9 times out of 10 there are still
worse things that could have happened.
Obviously, you are going to have days where its
hard and you will be tired, emotional and just want it all to end and go away –
this is normal and you need to remember that. Especially when you first get
diagnosed as you are still discovering it all for yourself but there will
become a point where taking medication and having your standard symptoms become
the norm. and that is the point where you learn to accept this is your new
life.
I know it doesn’t make sense to most people but if
I am sitting at work with a headache or my eyes start to hurt it is such a
common response for coworkers to say “why don’t you just go home?” If I was to
just go home every time I had pain or symptoms I would never be at work and that’s
just it, you need to keep going. Yes there will be days when it would be so
much easier to just call in sick, roll over and go back to sleep but you would
be surprised mentally how much better you feel when you get up, get ready and
go to work – yes you may be in pain but it is so much better for your mental
health staying in constant contact with others and even just being around
others vs. hibernating at home alone.
Another thing I find really helps is exercising.
Now don’t get me wrong I’m not perfect and I certainly don’t train every day of
the week but even if it is something simple like waking up half an hour earlier
so you can go for a walk will do big things for your mental health. Not only
does it help if you are on medication like steroids as it is highly important for
us to stay active to try and combat some of the weight gain that naturally occurs
from our medication it also helps clear your mind and feel good about yourself.
Lastly, think about your future, make some plans
and a list of goals you would like to achieve. If you have other things to
focus on and look forward to it helps take your mind off your everyday issues. It’s
all about looking at the bigger picture in life and not forgetting how lucky we
are to still be breathing and alive – although its hard it could always be
worse. I am lucky to live in Australia with such a great healthcare system
where although at the moment it seems like a struggle to get the medication
right and actually find a drug that works, I am extremely lucky to live in a
country where the government subsides a hell of a lot for me. So yes, it’s
unfortunate that I have a disease that could potentially take my vision and is
something I will never get rid of but when I have such a good support network
with a great specialist, loving family and friends and a great healthcare
system fighting for me to get better why wouldn’t I want to look at the
positive side of life …
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