More than one ailment

So I read the news, a lot. And probably I read too much news and especially health news - searching for the elusive cures. But in reading the news, I see lots of different opinions and announcements as one would expect.

Two things caught my eye this morning. One reminds us that breast cancer is not the main killer of women. Its heart disease. While we cover the world in little pink ribbons for breast cancer, we need to remember heart disease and other ailments are out there as well and that also kill people.

Another article I read is about a woman who blogs about life with fibromyalgia. I read the article and then thought for a few minutes (a dangerous proposition I know). Yes she is struggling with fibromyalgia. But there are people out there, like me, that have fibromyalgia and additional ailments. So those struggles with fibromyalgia are piled on top of issues with other ailments or issues.

When we are diagnosed with an ailment, it becomes the hyperfocus of our lives. But we need to realize that we are not the worst off, there are many others who have their own pile of problems, including poverty, mental illness, and more and are in much worse shape.

Imagine life with your pile of ailments and issues and compound it with additional ones such as poverty, lack of health insurance or transportation, isolation, or other issues.

I make myself sometimes peel off my layers of focus on my life and keep the awareness of others who are worse off.

Retraining my doctors

One of the skills I have developed over my years of health ailments is to train my doctors. I can present as a unique patient with my many health issues. I have learned that I need to make sure they are taking all my issues into account without appearing as a paranoid patient. But its all about me when I am paying to see them.

Today I see my second new therapist. My original therapist dared to retire so she recommended a new one for me - who turned out to want to talk about herself more than about me. So I tried a different one and the jury is still out. She keeps suggesting support groups for me. I like the idea of support groups but honestly with my health these days, they can be hard for me to get to. I no longer go to evening events unless obligatory.

I plan on having a discussion with her that she can't just send me to support groups. I want a therapist I can talk to about my health issues and how they can be hard to cope with. I don't want someone to tell me go to a support group to handle your problems. I do not believe there is any support group out there for me because my medical issues are too complex.If she can't be retrained she will be replaced.

Do I use therapy as a crutch? I sometimes debate this with myself. Do I really need therapy? Sometimes I don't. But sometimes I really do. I am dealing with my issues right now that I need to talk about to help me cope. So don't talk to me about a support group, okay?