humans are wired for connection, and friendship, love and socialization… one of the most challenging things I have experienced through my chronic illness however has been maintaining social connections. I was forced to move to a new city hours from where I went to college and worked in my career for medical care, because the small city I was in at the time didn’t offer any doctors who specialized in my rare illness, so I lost many of the friendships and connections I had. Then in the years living in this new city, I have not been in the workforce, and been mostly home-bound due to illness making it near impossible to get out in the world and make new connections.
On top of all those challenges, I find it increasingly difficult to even socialize with people my own age, because our lives are so vastly different… them raising children, or at the peak of their careers, traveling, vacationing, enjoying the rewards of 20+ years hard work adulting… me home-bound, struggling to walk and perform simple self-care, on medical disability, barely holding onto part-time work, barely making enough money to finance my medical appointments, supplements, prescriptions, and facing the scary reality of having to plan for long-term care as my condition continues to progress with no promise of a treatment in time. It is hard, one of the hardest parts of the illness to be honest… I feel I constantly must walk this line of managing my illness and all the tremendous burden and baggage that comes along with it, but also live, act, and be as normal as possible so I can still have a place within society and have opportunities to connect with those around me. It is an ongoing challenge, and at times, like me, you may be tempted to just withdraw and shut the world out, but it is possible to find the balance, and it is so worth it for your emotional health to connect to others in meaningful ways when you can, and when the people in your life are positive for you!
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