Chronic Illness

You feel so alone in your suffering.

It’s not that no one else cares, but they just can’t understand what it’s been like for you.

Even you couldn’t believe this was happening to you for months. Hell, you still have dreams that everything is normal, only to wake up, feel the pain, and remember you are still sick.

You keep hearing, “You’re so brave.”

It makes it impossible for you to share your terror, not of dying but of another round of chemo and radiation. Another round of exhaustion so deep you can’t wrap your mind around watching a ‘soap,’ much less doing anything productive.

All your feelings are normal.

Sometimes you are so angry you could scream. If only you could have one day of feeling like your old self!

Every once in a while, you have a fleeting moment where everything feels like it will be okay… but they never last.

Then there’s the guilt. Half the members of your support group died. You’re still here…why? And you really would like to spend two weeks in Mexico. But every time you think of it, you think of the friends and family that have supported you. You can’t cheat them out of whatever time you have left.

Even the glimmers of hope create a fear backlash. Your energy is better some mornings, and you might be able to return to work someday. As soon as that thought comes, the fearful thought that you are tempting fate to even think about having a normal life comes snapping at hope’s heels.

Living with a chronic or terminal illness is a grief process.

Most of us understand that we will grieve someone or something during our lives. But not everyone has to grieve themselves while still struggling to stay alive. But those feelings of anger, guilt, hope, and so much more are part of your grief.

You had to give up the dreams of your career.

Your sex life is non-existent.

You often feel like you are half the person you used to be. And less than half of the partner you once were. You feel so bad about yourself that you have stopped connecting with everyone.

You are grieving who you once were and thought you might become.

In therapy, we will reclaim parts of you that your illness has cast into the dark.

There was so much to you before your diagnosis.

Let’s get you back to that place.

Your choice to enter therapy is a step back into a life focused on living without denying that we all must face death eventually.

You’ll learn pain management techniques and ways to lean into your body’s wisdom to help you cope with the toughest symptoms. Simple breath meditation will bring spaciousness to your waking hours that have been missing since your diagnosis.

As your day-to-day life becomes more manageable, we’ll explore the symbolic meanings of fantasy and dreams. You’ll discover more today than you knew about before your illness.

You can experience an unparalleled sense of wholeness even if your body has much going on. You will discover your highest and best Self, the part of you that will guide you to that experience.

You can experience peace and deep connection.

I know this because I’ve helped many people process their grief and rediscover a relationship to Self that became their bedrock for living.

I also know this from personal experience, as I spent years medically disabled and near death. It’s a long story, but I get it from the inside out.

Your illness doesn’t have to define you!

Get help now. Call me today for your free 15-minute consultation: (315) 876-4419.