I was talking to a good friend a few days ago... He has a Chronic Illness called POTS... We both agreed that since being diagnosed with these illnesses, we process life in a different way. We spend more time thinking about how things work, and look at the world in a much deeper way...
Chronic Illness also makes you realize how much you take for granted...
Things like having enough energy to watch TV, being able to run around and play sports at free will, making it through percussion rehearsal, and even walking down the hall to your room are difficult tasks for people with chronic illness...
With these illnesses, you lose a lot of things. My friend was a top ranked tennis player in the state, but ended up having to quit because of POTS. I marched saxophone in the Center Grove Marching Band my freshman year and absolutely loved marching, but decided to quit because of the pain it caused.
Luckily, one of the things neither of us lost was our love and passion for singing. When we go to choir on Sundays, it's the one place we don't feel sick.
For us, we can't escape the malaise. Some days, he is extremely tired and fatigued, and I'm facing excruciating back and leg pain... and it's currently impossible to change that fact.
But when we're up on stage with our choir, we're able to forget the sickness. We're no longer the community sickly child. We're no longer the one that's always in pain...
Choir gives us the chance to feel normal... We're surrounded by music and all that it has to offer. We get lost in the lyrics, and the beauty of the melody. We are able to be free... we can ignore the pain and fatigue.
No, that doesn't mean it just disappears. It's still there. It's always there. But it's a place where we can overlook the sorrow of chronic illness, and just be an everyday teenager..
I am truly thankful for this guy's friendship. He has helped me a lot... We completely understand each other on a level that few people understand. I am so glad God put such an amazing friend in my life... I am truly lucky to have met him, and I know that he will be a forever friend and Chronic Illness Buddy. :]
Chronic Illness also makes you realize how much you take for granted...
Things like having enough energy to watch TV, being able to run around and play sports at free will, making it through percussion rehearsal, and even walking down the hall to your room are difficult tasks for people with chronic illness...
With these illnesses, you lose a lot of things. My friend was a top ranked tennis player in the state, but ended up having to quit because of POTS. I marched saxophone in the Center Grove Marching Band my freshman year and absolutely loved marching, but decided to quit because of the pain it caused.
Luckily, one of the things neither of us lost was our love and passion for singing. When we go to choir on Sundays, it's the one place we don't feel sick.
For us, we can't escape the malaise. Some days, he is extremely tired and fatigued, and I'm facing excruciating back and leg pain... and it's currently impossible to change that fact.
But when we're up on stage with our choir, we're able to forget the sickness. We're no longer the community sickly child. We're no longer the one that's always in pain...
Choir gives us the chance to feel normal... We're surrounded by music and all that it has to offer. We get lost in the lyrics, and the beauty of the melody. We are able to be free... we can ignore the pain and fatigue.
No, that doesn't mean it just disappears. It's still there. It's always there. But it's a place where we can overlook the sorrow of chronic illness, and just be an everyday teenager..
I am truly thankful for this guy's friendship. He has helped me a lot... We completely understand each other on a level that few people understand. I am so glad God put such an amazing friend in my life... I am truly lucky to have met him, and I know that he will be a forever friend and Chronic Illness Buddy. :]