Friendship and Chronic Illness

By: Lydia Andrew

Friendships are an important part of life. Some come and go but the ones that remain or that are formed in the most challenging of circumstances, are the ones that make life worth living.

I used to think I had lots of friends. It turns out that actually I only have a few and a lot of acquaintances. That may be true for a lot of people but I think having a chronic illness, like myself, complicates relationships. Being my friend presents challenges that healthy people don’t have to consider. On a practical level,  I always have to think about any social event I’m trying to participate in and prepare in advance for. It is difficult to be carefree and spontaneous. There are always meds, kits and appointments to work with and I often have to cancel plans last minute. I carry this burden that I can be a constant disappointment. It is hard to explain the severity of my situation to anyone without feeling I am burdening them with the worry and responsibility if something were to go wrong. I long to be able to travel freely, but the reality is everything has to be planned. Having chronic illnesses makes you grow up fast and I often feel much older than my years. I worry that I am not the fun person I’d like to be or that people want me to be.  

Given all of this, I really appreciate the friends that I do have and I am sad about the ones I have lost along the way. I think it must be hard for people to know how to play it, what to say and how to be around someone that is sick. I feel perhaps some people would rather not deal with it than have to try and think around my needs. But at the end of the day, if I am a friend worth having, communication and empathy surely is key.

Most people don’t understand how life feels on toxic medications, how could they? Invisible illnesses are perhaps the most difficult to understand.

The advice I would offer is embrace the person, don’t be frightened or offended.  I am living my life to the best of my ability and not everything around me is heavy or difficult.

I have an amazing friend that has travelled this journey with me since we were at school. She isn’t ill herself, but she is like a sister and I can always count on her for emotional support. She always goes above and beyond; we message each other most days, she cancels plans if I need to see her and understands the enormity of my situation. She doesn’t just contact me when she knows I’m ill or in the hospital. She recently sent me a message about the differences between Validation and Hope and Toxic Positivity and knowing she understands to this level, is invaluable. The important thing for me about our friendship is the normality of it. I also have a few chronically ill friends that laugh and cry with me, and no explanations is necessary… they just understand.

Below is the chart that my friend sent me from @sitwithwhit.

MIGA Blog- Chart

 

Comments

  • Posted by Veronica Fabio on

    ALL THANKS TO TROJANHACK CYBER SECURITY COMPANY.

    I’m veronica 54 years old from Venice, Italy.

    I was finally able to recover my lost USDT and some BITCOIN I sent to a Fake Forex Guru I met on Facebook some months ago.

    As a financial market enthusiast. I was thrilled at the results ( profits) they do post on their Facebook page every day.

    I decided to give it a try and I sent them a private Message which took them less than 24 hours to reply.

    After the discussion I had with them and more results of investors shown to me, I was convinced they are genuine and I decided to invest the sum of 40,200 USDT for a start.. i signed the agreement and all necessary document with MOU ( memorandum of understanding).

    After the first 3 months I got returns on investment as agreed.
    Then I decided to add more funds to my portfolio with them with the sum of 12,000 USDT in BTC conversation.

    After another cycle to get my returns on investment, they came up with stories, demanding I needed pay certain amount of money before I can make withdrawals of which was not the case on initial withdrawals and wasn’t also on the agreement.

    I was so confused, dumbfounded. after several attempts to get back my funds and to which i couldn’t. i decided to open up to a colleague about the incident and he made me to further realised i’ve been swindled. On trying to look for a means to get my funds recovered if it’s ever possible.

    I was lucky to trip over TROJANHACK CYBER SECURITY COMPANY’s testimonies by a blog post online and i contacted them.

    After reaching out to TROJANHACK with effective communication, providing necessary information. They were able to recovered my lost USDT AND BITCOIN within a week. I’m forever grateful to them for bringing restfulness back to my life and finance.

    They are special and I highly recommend them for anyone battling with such situation. You can reach out to them via their email:

    Trojanhack@qualityservice.com

  • Posted by Pricilla Rogers on

    An amazing, talented, and informed team. They made it possible for me to recover my money back in full. They were honest and realistic about my options and kept me informed at every stage. I would definitely recommend Wizard James Recovery to friends, family, and anyone else who has lost money on scam websites. I want to express my gratitude once more for your much-needed and valued help. Get in touch with Wizard James Recovery right now by WhatsApp or email.
    Wizardjamesrecovery@usa.com
    +447418367204

  • Posted by Zilpah Philips on

    The Wizard James genuinely saved my bacon by helping me retrieve my $237,000 from an online scammer who directed me to Publicip Vip, a cryptocurrency trading platform. The man had given me coaching over Telegram, walking me through the process of creating an account and transferring funds. Within six months, I transferred $237,000 in total to this website with the hopes of making a sizable profit. Even though I complied with all of their requests, I was regrettably unable to withdraw any money.  A wonderful internet review led me to Wizard James Recovery, and I chose to collaborate with them. Since everything was resolved and my money was returned in less than seven days, I must say that I am really fortunate. They can be reached by email at wizardjamesrecovery@usa.com.

Leave a comment