I met a woman named Julie on Sunday. I was giving away yarn from my stash that I will never use and she knits hats for homeless people. She also has health issues and understands what it is like to change your life to accommodate your ailments.
Anyway, Julie is writing an anthology of stories of people who are living with chronic illnesses and is looking for people to contribute their story by September 15, 2015. You can find out more on her Tumblr site here.
I find the idea of me writing about life with chronic illnesses intriguing. I have written a lot about life with cancer and my cancers are probably more treated as chronic and not terminal illnesses. They are also not acute illnesses meaning they won't go away. My cancers are symptomless, for now but they could always return, which just adds to the fun.
Life with a chronic illness which is symptomatic is very different than one that doesn't cause a lot of pain. My life with degenerating disks started to cause me some pain in my back and hips. The my life with RA and fibromyalgia is loads more fun. I have pain in many more places and it has changed my ability to work more hours and my ability to get a good night's sleep, walk any distances, stand for more than a few minutes, and all sorts of basic things in life.
I think I will write something for Julie's anthology. If any of you feel the need, check her site and write something yourself.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Does blogging=journaling?
I just read this article about the benefits of journaling - taking pen to paper. The claims are it benefits your immune system, blood pressure and lung and liver function as well as allowing the right side of your brain to be creative.
It also gives tip for getting started. But I've clearly already started. As long as blogging equals journaling. While I am not putting pen to paper, I am putting hands to keyboard and my right brain is working (I hope).
The tips given are:
I would add to that - if you have a brain like a sieve (like me), you can go back and read what you wrote so you can remember what you actually did that day. And ignore whatever your high school English teachers told you. Mine told me I couldn't form a cohesive paragraph and would never be a writer. But she was old and cranky too.
It also gives tip for getting started. But I've clearly already started. As long as blogging equals journaling. While I am not putting pen to paper, I am putting hands to keyboard and my right brain is working (I hope).
The tips given are:
- write consistently
- consider starting each day writing
- never self edit
- write about the good, the bad and the ugly.
I would add to that - if you have a brain like a sieve (like me), you can go back and read what you wrote so you can remember what you actually did that day. And ignore whatever your high school English teachers told you. Mine told me I couldn't form a cohesive paragraph and would never be a writer. But she was old and cranky too.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Who reads your blog?
This is a real question. I started writing my blog to keep my family and friends up on my cancer adventures in 2007-2008. Very few of them every read it. I know my mother reads my blog. An old family friend who lives in France reads my blog. The rest of my family to the best of my knkowledge does not read my blog.
My husband does not read my blog unless I prod him but his point is that he is living it so I give him a lot of slack on that.He usually knows more about me than my blog does.
Of my closest friends, one who lives far away, reads my blog regularly. I have one good friend who lives locally who reads my blog regularly. Most of the ones who live closer do not read my blog. Its not like I talk to them any more often than I talk to the one who lives far away.Every so often, I find out that someone else I know reads my blog. Some facebook friends read my blog too.
I'm not complaining. I'm analyzing and thinking - even though its early in the day.
My intention was to have friends and family read my blog so I wouldn't have to write emails or answer calls on my on going cancer adventures. That did not work out.
My daily writing has helped me developed a coping mechanism where I am journaling my life experience through on going medical disasters. Since its not my friends and family who read my blog for the most part, it is my impression that the other readers consist of other bloggers, cancer friends who I have met online and complete strangers.
At first I was a little bit frustrated by the fact that my intention not to have to call and email people updates didn't work. But now I really do not care. If they say they are my friend and don't bother to ask me about my health and they know I have issues. Are they my friend?
For most people who breeze in to my life and call me up and ask how I am doing, I give them a vague answer because honestly its too complicated to answer a single question. What part do they want to know about - my latest developments, my RA progression, my fibromyalgia stability, my last blood work, my upcoming tests? Its not a one sentence reply.
So the people I had hoped read my blog do not. There are many people who read my blog and give me feed back. Sometimes posts get picked up here and there and more people read them. But that's okay. So who reads your blog?
My husband does not read my blog unless I prod him but his point is that he is living it so I give him a lot of slack on that.He usually knows more about me than my blog does.
Of my closest friends, one who lives far away, reads my blog regularly. I have one good friend who lives locally who reads my blog regularly. Most of the ones who live closer do not read my blog. Its not like I talk to them any more often than I talk to the one who lives far away.Every so often, I find out that someone else I know reads my blog. Some facebook friends read my blog too.
I'm not complaining. I'm analyzing and thinking - even though its early in the day.
My intention was to have friends and family read my blog so I wouldn't have to write emails or answer calls on my on going cancer adventures. That did not work out.
My daily writing has helped me developed a coping mechanism where I am journaling my life experience through on going medical disasters. Since its not my friends and family who read my blog for the most part, it is my impression that the other readers consist of other bloggers, cancer friends who I have met online and complete strangers.
At first I was a little bit frustrated by the fact that my intention not to have to call and email people updates didn't work. But now I really do not care. If they say they are my friend and don't bother to ask me about my health and they know I have issues. Are they my friend?
For most people who breeze in to my life and call me up and ask how I am doing, I give them a vague answer because honestly its too complicated to answer a single question. What part do they want to know about - my latest developments, my RA progression, my fibromyalgia stability, my last blood work, my upcoming tests? Its not a one sentence reply.
So the people I had hoped read my blog do not. There are many people who read my blog and give me feed back. Sometimes posts get picked up here and there and more people read them. But that's okay. So who reads your blog?
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Writing helps healing
I could have written this. A woman writes about how writing helps you heal.
A few points here:
- Serious upheaval in one's life associated with lowered immune function, an increased risk of heart attacks
- People who can write about life traumas seem to have fewer health problems, recover better
- Being able to see trauma from different points of view indicates a better mental state
The author is a freelance writer so she obviously has better writing skills than me (I was told by a high school English teacher that I had terrible writing skills) and she also had breast cancer. So she wrote an article about writing your way through medical issues.
Writing is something that allows us to express our thoughts and get them out there and out of our minds. Where I work, Center for Cancer Support & Education (www.centerforcancer.org) we have offered a writing program for those with cancer for several years. This year we are adding a second writing program focused on family members and care givers of those with cancer. This idea was brought to us by a journalism professor who said that she sees it in the kids that she teaches - their emotions come out in their writings and often they are about someone close to them who has or had cancer.
These are more formal opportunities for coping with the emotional aspects of cancer. But then there are blogs (like mine), or CarePages (www.carepages.com), many other services, and even written journals where people write their thoughts out. Many of them are started at their diagnosis and continue only through treatment. Others are continued for years (will I ever stop????). Others end badly, with a post by a family member of the unhappy ending.
But the written expression helps thousands each year in coping. It is not right for everyone and that is their personal choice. But emotional venting in writing seems to help us heal so I'm going to keep going.
A few points here:
- Serious upheaval in one's life associated with lowered immune function, an increased risk of heart attacks
- People who can write about life traumas seem to have fewer health problems, recover better
- Being able to see trauma from different points of view indicates a better mental state
The author is a freelance writer so she obviously has better writing skills than me (I was told by a high school English teacher that I had terrible writing skills) and she also had breast cancer. So she wrote an article about writing your way through medical issues.
Writing is something that allows us to express our thoughts and get them out there and out of our minds. Where I work, Center for Cancer Support & Education (www.centerforcancer.org) we have offered a writing program for those with cancer for several years. This year we are adding a second writing program focused on family members and care givers of those with cancer. This idea was brought to us by a journalism professor who said that she sees it in the kids that she teaches - their emotions come out in their writings and often they are about someone close to them who has or had cancer.
These are more formal opportunities for coping with the emotional aspects of cancer. But then there are blogs (like mine), or CarePages (www.carepages.com), many other services, and even written journals where people write their thoughts out. Many of them are started at their diagnosis and continue only through treatment. Others are continued for years (will I ever stop????). Others end badly, with a post by a family member of the unhappy ending.
But the written expression helps thousands each year in coping. It is not right for everyone and that is their personal choice. But emotional venting in writing seems to help us heal so I'm going to keep going.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Why does our health make us write?
But first, a minor detour:
I blog. There are probably 1,000,000 other people out their blogging about their health? There are some who are very good and there are some who are very bad. There are those who meant to blog and startd out with 'Today I have another big scary doctor appointment. I'll fill you in later on what they told me' and we are left hanging with no more blog updates - did they give up their blog, did they lose their internet connection, did the scary doctor give them good news, did they get hit by a bus, did they die (it would be nice to have some sense of completion here), or any other number of reasons? But we would like to know and never will.
Some blogs are funny like Baldylocks (watch her new video on the right!) or Babs (I want a Jillie if I ever have to deal with this again) and allow us to see the humor in all this crap we call cancer. Some are heart wrenching - like Emily - she's too young for this. Some just show us the human side of our health and getting our lives backtogether - like Linda. Some are just plain enjoyable reading - like Debbie or Whitestone. And some are inspiring like Jothy. I can go on and on and on. I read any number of blogs each day. (This is one of the many reasons the internet has become a giant time suck for me.)
I also read the health sections of CNN and the NY Times regularly. I find some writers more inspiring than others. Sometimes they write about an ailment that I don't have - yes there are some I do not have. Today I am inspired by both Elizabeth Cohen who writes the Empowered Patient for CNN and by Christopher Hitchens, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Elizabeth writes today about why she writes her column - because of the issues she went through after the birth of her child. Christopher writes about his feelings with his diagnosis with what appears to be late stage esophageal cancer (he never says what exactly his diagnosis is - this is my non medical interpretation on what I understand are the facts as he states them).
For whatever the reasons we write or means to write, it allows us to express our feelings as well deal with trauma, stress, our failing bodies, our repetitive trips to the kind doctors who send us off on multiple medical excursions that usually include the words 'its might be a little uncomfortable' or 'you will feel a small pinch' or 'hold still and move as little as possible for the next sixty minutes' (and then your nose itches).
We write because we need to reach out to the outside world and say 'don't forget about me'. Perhaps we also write to inspire others. Or to just say I'm still here and don't plan on going any time soon.
---------------------------------
Well, today we are back in southern MN. I slept well last night and am on my own today - which we know always leads to trouble. My friend went to work. I am at her place by myself. We are having her father and his new wife over for dinner so I do need to cook and stuff but this is my to do list I sent to her at work, in no particular order
1. Figure out the damn tv again - every time I shut it off I have to figure it out again.
2. Finish messing up your kitchen - she thinks I'm rearranging it. (she said I could)
3. Finish waking up - not sure if that will be before or after #2
4. make lemon curd - I found the whipped cream attachment for the mixer. maybe make some pureed berries to go in the layers of the trifle.
5. Roast vegetables for soup - worst case, you can't borrow a blender, what do you think the whipped cream attachment would do to the soup? (And find the damn soup recipe we saw in a TV show on line so it might actually be edible.
6. Weeding - do you have any gardening implements that would help with dandelion removal or should I just search the garage? (No she has clippers only.)
7. Go for a walk to the arboretum
8. Nap
9. Do some work.
10. Finish my blog before noon.
So far I have finished #10.
I blog. There are probably 1,000,000 other people out their blogging about their health? There are some who are very good and there are some who are very bad. There are those who meant to blog and startd out with 'Today I have another big scary doctor appointment. I'll fill you in later on what they told me' and we are left hanging with no more blog updates - did they give up their blog, did they lose their internet connection, did the scary doctor give them good news, did they get hit by a bus, did they die (it would be nice to have some sense of completion here), or any other number of reasons? But we would like to know and never will.
Some blogs are funny like Baldylocks (watch her new video on the right!) or Babs (I want a Jillie if I ever have to deal with this again) and allow us to see the humor in all this crap we call cancer. Some are heart wrenching - like Emily - she's too young for this. Some just show us the human side of our health and getting our lives backtogether - like Linda. Some are just plain enjoyable reading - like Debbie or Whitestone. And some are inspiring like Jothy. I can go on and on and on. I read any number of blogs each day. (This is one of the many reasons the internet has become a giant time suck for me.)
I also read the health sections of CNN and the NY Times regularly. I find some writers more inspiring than others. Sometimes they write about an ailment that I don't have - yes there are some I do not have. Today I am inspired by both Elizabeth Cohen who writes the Empowered Patient for CNN and by Christopher Hitchens, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Elizabeth writes today about why she writes her column - because of the issues she went through after the birth of her child. Christopher writes about his feelings with his diagnosis with what appears to be late stage esophageal cancer (he never says what exactly his diagnosis is - this is my non medical interpretation on what I understand are the facts as he states them).
For whatever the reasons we write or means to write, it allows us to express our feelings as well deal with trauma, stress, our failing bodies, our repetitive trips to the kind doctors who send us off on multiple medical excursions that usually include the words 'its might be a little uncomfortable' or 'you will feel a small pinch' or 'hold still and move as little as possible for the next sixty minutes' (and then your nose itches).
We write because we need to reach out to the outside world and say 'don't forget about me'. Perhaps we also write to inspire others. Or to just say I'm still here and don't plan on going any time soon.
---------------------------------
Well, today we are back in southern MN. I slept well last night and am on my own today - which we know always leads to trouble. My friend went to work. I am at her place by myself. We are having her father and his new wife over for dinner so I do need to cook and stuff but this is my to do list I sent to her at work, in no particular order
1. Figure out the damn tv again - every time I shut it off I have to figure it out again.
2. Finish messing up your kitchen - she thinks I'm rearranging it. (she said I could)
3. Finish waking up - not sure if that will be before or after #2
4. make lemon curd - I found the whipped cream attachment for the mixer. maybe make some pureed berries to go in the layers of the trifle.
5. Roast vegetables for soup - worst case, you can't borrow a blender, what do you think the whipped cream attachment would do to the soup? (And find the damn soup recipe we saw in a TV show on line so it might actually be edible.
6. Weeding - do you have any gardening implements that would help with dandelion removal or should I just search the garage? (No she has clippers only.)
7. Go for a walk to the arboretum
8. Nap
9. Do some work.
10. Finish my blog before noon.
So far I have finished #10.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Newsflash
The first newsflash of the day is that summer appears to be missing. I am not a fan of hot weather - actually being a New Englander I consider anything over 80 degrees hot. But this morning it is 50 degrees. Yes that is right 5-0. It is cold. It might hit the mid-70's today. It feels like fall. But actually its really nice out and I am going for a walk (but I'll be in a sweatshirt).Now here's more news - lots of cancer patients write blogs. This was reported in today's Boston Globe. (I actually knew this article was coming up and had offered to contribute but missed the deadline.) I do find it interesting how many people do have blogs or CarePages or whatever to chronicle their illness.
I am not sure how many millions of blogs are out there on the internet these days and I am sure that 90% of them consist of two entries: Day 1: 'I
started a blog. Be sure to check back on what's going on.' Day 37: 'I forgot to update my blog. I don't seem to have much going on in my life. Today I took out the trash before going to work and have tuna fish for lunch.' And we are now at day 542 with no further entries.One thing in the article I found interesting is that it corraborates my thoughts that writing for cancer or other medical patients is therapeutic. Over the centuries, when faced with illness many have documented it in journals or letters. Blogs are just the Web 2.0 way of dealing with medical trauma.
However in modern times, where privacy is much more of an
issue than before, many bloggers need to remember not to open up too much of themselves on the internet, not just in a blog but anywhere. Anything that is online can be read by anyone. If you write about your boss, your boss could read about it. If you slam someone, they could slam you back. If you give out your email and address, anyone, including the guy in some former Soviet Republic, could use them to steal your identity. If its on the internet, 
it might as well be on a billboard on the side of the highway in every city worldwide. So think before you write. I do. My mother reads my blog.
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