10.22.08

As I surf the net...

"CHRONIC ILLNESS: A chronic illness is a disease that has a prolonged course, does not resolve spontaneously, and rarely is completely cured. "
(http://www.healthline.com/)

• "LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS
  Redefining 'normal':
  For those of us living with a chronic illness, there can be many ups and downs. Nothing is as it once was, and "normal" no longer exists in our vocabulary. Maybe this presentation will help you to redefine the term "normal" and learn to live with your illness as best as you can. If you've ever been on a walk in the woods, you know how varied the path can be — level areas covered with soft pine needles can give way to rocky descents or short climbs that require careful footing. In some ways, living with chronic illness is very much like going on a walk in the woods. You're never quite certain what lies ahead of you. If you live with a chronic condition, how you view the path you're on and decide to manage your day-to-day situations can greatly affect your quality of life.
• Serious illness is a journey, a hopeful journey, with an unknown destination. In illness the dichotomies are vivid. Hope is the space between symptoms and diagnosis, between diagnosis and prognosis. It is the wrestling match between science and compassion; between body and spirit, between pain and relief. It is the dilemma between fearing to be alone and hungering for privacy. Hoping is waiting - for test results, waiting for appointments, waiting for the organism to heal and the spirit to rekindle. Hoping is walking the line between the constant probing and invasions and declaring "No more," not now.
• Hoping is denying the statistics, reaching beyond the traditional, keeping open the possibility of being the exception. Hoping is listening to the unconscious, having dreams in the world of sleep and dreams in the world of consciousness, of wondering if there are miracles, of being fascinated with the little miracles, the words that heal, the memory that lets us forget. Hoping is having passion for life. Noticing life, wanting life, inching towards life, being willing to embrace life despite the risks. Hoping is recognizing death is not the enemy, never living is."

(http://aces_autoimmune.tripod.com/copingb.htm)

John and Kim say, indeed.
k