Life with Chronic Illness

Great NYT article about what to do/say for someone who's sick. I think you can apply it to some degree to any scary or chronic illness - some things are of course, meant for the extremely ill, but for the most part, I agree with pretty much everything on this list. (Except for "I should be going" - I took all the company I could get in the hospital and once I got home from each surgery!)

‘You Look Great’ and Other Lies
By BRUCE FEILER
Published: June 10, 2011

MY friend sat down and ordered a stiff drink. I didn’t think of her as the stiff-drink kind. An hour later, after our spouses drifted off into conversation, she leaned over the table. “I need your help,” she said. “My sister has a brain tumor. I don’t know what to do.”

Three years ago this month, I learned that I had a seven-inch osteosarcoma in my left femur. Put more directly: I had bone cancer. That diagnosis led me down a dark year that included nine months of chemotherapy and a 15-hour surgery to reconstruct my…

I read this just now after a very emotional day. Very strange. Thanks mom, Elaine, Adam and Andrew for being there for me today - I love you!

Aries Horoscope for Sunday, July 17, 2011
There is one very simple rule that you need to follow today: Ask for something, and you will get it. This includes attention from people you might think are too busy or too important to have time for you. Well, you're wrong about that -- right now, you may have an inaccurate idea of how you rank among your people. So if you need any type of support today, just ask for it -- you will get the help you need with little if any hesitation.

So far, July has not been a good month for me. As it turns out, I will NOT be going to school in August. Due to financial and ongoing health issues, I guess now is not the right time. It's been extremely hard to face that reality because it was one of the few areas in my life where I saw forward motion - it would've gotten me out of Plymouth and it was something I could be proud of and actually use my brain.

Instead, I'll be hanging out at my mom's while we figure a few things out.

In the last few weeks, my health has taken a nosedive. I started gaining weight again (seriously?), was diagnosed with asthma, and have not been able to sleep the last few weeks. I have TONS of swelling in my legs (and everywhere else) that I had been able to get rid of with salt and medication adjustments but now it's not going anywhere. Walking to my car at work results in increased swelling and shortness of breath. Not a good thing.

Because of all of this, I decided to see an…