I would say that a good 90% of daily living wiith chronic illness is just unwillingly cataloguing all types of symptoms and sensations from data that your body sends you, and then trying to continuously describe that data in the most accurate and inventive way as possible.
As we age we collect all sorts of experiences: like the first time we feel what a muscle twitch is and looks like. The first time you see it, it can kind of freak you out. Then once you know what it is, it doesn't feel scary anymore.
Or the first time a girl experiences menstrual cramping. It's painful and scary and you don't know what it is or how to explain it. Until you do.
Even the common cold - each time we experience a new illness or sensation, we eventually learn how to identify it again later. Over time, you learn to tell the difference between stomach aches, muscle aches or cramping, menstrual cramps, maybe a stitch from physical activity, a sore throat, heartburn, joint pain, etc....
It's just that with chronic illness, there's so much more data to catalogue. Distinguishing types of pain, locations of pain, sensations that are uncomfortable but not classified as painful. The difference between inflammation of organs and muscle aches.
That's why you can find such detailed lists that ask you to differentiate between burning, stabbing, throbbing, or aching pain, etc...
Once you have felt all of the common sources of pain, then when you feel something entirely new, it feels like you have to come up with new descriptions and imaginative ways to relay those symptoms to others and to healthcare professionals. It can be exhausting! (It can also be kind of fun if you're the creative type).
The point is, a lot of my existence is cataloguing and monitoring symptoms and figuring out ways to describe it to others in language that will be as well understood as possible.
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