Invisible Illness Meme
Sep. 17th, 2009 04:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fabrisseFound this at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nyren's lj and realized it was an interesting PSA.
1. The illness I live with is: Supraventricular Tachycardia
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 1994
3. But I had symptoms since: Well, the heart attack I had at 27 may be related to it. Chances are good, I've had it all my life.
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Daily medication, monitoring my exercise. One side effect of the medication: Orgasm is more difficult to achieve, but it's more intense with the drug. It's actually a pretty good trade-off. *G*
5. Most people assume: I can't do strenuous exercise. I can, but I may have to pull back sooner than they think I should. Really, I'm not a wimp.
6. The hardest parts about mornings are: No real issues.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: There's one episode of House I really liked.
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: I prepare food with a mortar and pestle; I don't need no stinking gadgets.
9. The hardest parts about nights are: Before medication, I would get night sweats and/or night terrors from SVT episodes in my sleep.
10. Each day I take: half a regular adult dose of digoxin. A full adult dose caused problems.
11. Regarding alternative treatments: Not really any available. Digoxin is extracted from Foxgloves, though. -- Meditation and yoga have helped.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: Invisible. Not everyone needs to know my business.
13. Regarding working and career: There are occasionally issues. If I feel an episode coming on, I go to the ladies' room and do some breathing exercises. If it comes on too quickly, it can be embarrassing to faint or have to put my head between my knees in front of co-workers.
14. People would be surprised to know: Occasionally, I can't tell if an emotional reaction has brought on a tachycardic episode or if I mistook the beginning of a tachycardic episode for an emotional reaction. I've had both happen.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: I can't always trust my emotions. Fainting.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: Serious Yoga. I can hold poses longer because I'm more in tune with my body.
17. The commercials about my illness: The drug used is so old it's always been generic, therefore no ads.
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: I've considered certain exercises, like running, and rejected them as being foolhardy with this particular problem.
19. It was really hard to have to give up: Fortunately, none of my favorite things to do have had to be renounced.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: SCA, painting
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: I don't feel abnormal. I don't even feel particularly cautious except at a gym.
22. My illness has taught me: Things are unpredictable. Oh, and contrary to the image in 19th century novels, swooning is not sexy.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: After an episode: "Why didn't you tell us?" I always tell any exercise studio/gym that I join about it, but frankly it's no one else's business. Yes, it can be a little frightening for you to see me have an episode, but really, it is worse for me to be the one having it.
24. But I love it when people: Listen to me while I'm having a problem. That means not putting a blanket on me (cool air or a cold compress can help), don't call 911 unless it lasts for more than five minutes or I ask you to call. I've been living with this for awhile. I know what to do.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Do not run to catch your plane at Denver International. (Yes, that was my last major episode -- I didn't think about the altitude or the weight of my laptop. They pulled me from the plane so they could take off on time and put me on the next flight after the paramedics looked at me. Fortunately, Denver in December is cold.)
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: People can be very kind. The pilot of the plane was really sweet.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: Joke with me.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: It occurred to me, when I read this atnyren's journal that there are many more invisible illnesses these days than visible ones.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Curious about yours.
nyren's lj and realized it was an interesting PSA.1. The illness I live with is: Supraventricular Tachycardia
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 1994
3. But I had symptoms since: Well, the heart attack I had at 27 may be related to it. Chances are good, I've had it all my life.
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Daily medication, monitoring my exercise. One side effect of the medication: Orgasm is more difficult to achieve, but it's more intense with the drug. It's actually a pretty good trade-off. *G*
5. Most people assume: I can't do strenuous exercise. I can, but I may have to pull back sooner than they think I should. Really, I'm not a wimp.
6. The hardest parts about mornings are: No real issues.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: There's one episode of House I really liked.
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: I prepare food with a mortar and pestle; I don't need no stinking gadgets.
9. The hardest parts about nights are: Before medication, I would get night sweats and/or night terrors from SVT episodes in my sleep.
10. Each day I take: half a regular adult dose of digoxin. A full adult dose caused problems.
11. Regarding alternative treatments: Not really any available. Digoxin is extracted from Foxgloves, though. -- Meditation and yoga have helped.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: Invisible. Not everyone needs to know my business.
13. Regarding working and career: There are occasionally issues. If I feel an episode coming on, I go to the ladies' room and do some breathing exercises. If it comes on too quickly, it can be embarrassing to faint or have to put my head between my knees in front of co-workers.
14. People would be surprised to know: Occasionally, I can't tell if an emotional reaction has brought on a tachycardic episode or if I mistook the beginning of a tachycardic episode for an emotional reaction. I've had both happen.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: I can't always trust my emotions. Fainting.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: Serious Yoga. I can hold poses longer because I'm more in tune with my body.
17. The commercials about my illness: The drug used is so old it's always been generic, therefore no ads.
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: I've considered certain exercises, like running, and rejected them as being foolhardy with this particular problem.
19. It was really hard to have to give up: Fortunately, none of my favorite things to do have had to be renounced.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: SCA, painting
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: I don't feel abnormal. I don't even feel particularly cautious except at a gym.
22. My illness has taught me: Things are unpredictable. Oh, and contrary to the image in 19th century novels, swooning is not sexy.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: After an episode: "Why didn't you tell us?" I always tell any exercise studio/gym that I join about it, but frankly it's no one else's business. Yes, it can be a little frightening for you to see me have an episode, but really, it is worse for me to be the one having it.
24. But I love it when people: Listen to me while I'm having a problem. That means not putting a blanket on me (cool air or a cold compress can help), don't call 911 unless it lasts for more than five minutes or I ask you to call. I've been living with this for awhile. I know what to do.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Do not run to catch your plane at Denver International. (Yes, that was my last major episode -- I didn't think about the altitude or the weight of my laptop. They pulled me from the plane so they could take off on time and put me on the next flight after the paramedics looked at me. Fortunately, Denver in December is cold.)
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: People can be very kind. The pilot of the plane was really sweet.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: Joke with me.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: It occurred to me, when I read this at
nyren's journal that there are many more invisible illnesses these days than visible ones.30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Curious about yours.
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-17 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-18 12:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-06 03:40 am (UTC)I found this very interesting and informative. I tried to fill one out for me and maybe I'll post it someday (long after invisible illness week *g*), but I found it really difficult to be this honest. I really appreciate that you were!
{{{more hugs}}}
no subject
Date: 2009-10-07 03:15 am (UTC)Mind you, I think I had managed to keep my utter stupidity at Denver International secret. I really didn't think about the altitude, and my connecting flight was supposed to be at gate 40 something (I'd landed at gate 25) and they moved it to gate 93. With only a half an hour to make the connection, I ran for it -- which was unbelievably idiotic with a heart condition. *sigh*
I look forward to reading yours if you decide to post.