Just a Pep Talk

When you’re diagnosed with a disease you should or will get prepped on what to expect and deal with, also just in general you’re going to have, to have a pep talk every now and then don’t you think? This blog I found is, very similar to my blog posts but yet also different. In “A Chronic Dose by Laurie Edwards is focusing on chronic illness, health care and writing in her blog post “Just Make It Work”.

The blog I followed is more or less for people who have a condition that I have or along those lines. In this blog Edwards also talks to several people about how they deal with there condition and also how it affects there daily life and routine. There is one specific sentence in where I feel as if it just sums up what this blog is about she says “It’s amazing what you can do when you have no choice.” That sentence to me is what I consider the thesis

There a lot of things I got out of this blog some things I agree with and others I do not. In this blog Edwards talks to some people about how they dealt or how they are dealing with a chronic illness right now. One big part that I feel is a very good point in this blog is Edwards interviewed a lady named Vicki with cystic fibrosis. Vicki said one thing that to me stuck out she says that people commend her on how strong she is and what she is going through, however she says its not that she chooses to but she has to, something healthy people do not always consider. In my opinion this is meaning that she did not choose to get sick nor choose to have to live with it but has to, she has to be strong for herself to push her self to get through it. Briefly speaking and giving a short explanation on what this essay is I would say it’s just dealing with it. Edwards talks to people about what they are going through how hard it is and how they do it. Believe it or not I am sure if you read this blog you will learn some things you did not know about or really even consider. With me being sick and having to deal with it everyday it’s a big deal to me that people learn and read or talk to someone who is dealing with a chronic illness and that is exactly what Edwards does in this blog post. There are many things in this blog that I can completely relate to and others that I just want to say “WHAT”? Me being a person going through a similar situation as those in Edwards blog some people had opinions that I had never really considered.

Edwards correctly notes how difficult it is to live a chronic illness by stating that “Chronic illness complicates the daily negotiations and moments where we just need to make it work that we all face.” I really like and agree with this statement because it is how I feel sometimes, I just want to give up and say I quit but really I can’t because to me I’m letting myself down. Having a chronic illness can complicate daily life in so many ways, for me it starts with having to remember my medicine every morning, I have to take around four pills every morning and every night before I go to bed it gets really annoying very fast, especially if I want to go stay with friends or go stay with my sisters I have to remember to take my medicine with me and I have to remember to actually take it because I don’t have my mom right there reminding me granted she usually will send me a text or something reminding me but I still don’t always remember.

There is one part in this blog I do not agree with and that is where she says that she had talked a lot about cancer mythology and says “the idea that having cancer makes you stronger, or more spiritual” because in my opinion sometimes people don’t always feel like they have gotten stronger they fell as if they have just gone down hill and there is nothing to look up to anymore because they think this is the end. Yes I agree that people should always look at the glass half full instead of half empty.

However sometimes when you are dealing with a sickness like this, you don’t think about looking at it half full you think this is the end you might as well give up, honestly with me being in the hospital several times I have just wanted to say “stop I don’t want to be sick I don’t want to go through this anymore”. I know that some people out there have felt the same that is why with that saying I disagree because people don’t always think they are stronger now that they are sick, however yes in some cases once your told you are sick it makes you realize that there are several things that you still want to do It makes you want to push yourself therefore you think you are getting stronger.

Edwards does a really good job in my opinion talking about chronic illness and talking with other people about it (there are some supprt groups out there that deal with chronic illness's you can go to and talk about as you see in my link). She makes some really good points and I feel as if it is really informative especially for people that don’t always know exactly what to think about it. She says its amazing what you can do when you have no choice which in my opinion I’m sure everyone can relate to that at some point in there life. At the end of the post Edwards writes “In the end, maybe this circuitous post is really nothing more than a pep talk”. I like how she puts this in because depending on how or who reads this it could be a pep talk for you, it could be a pep talk for someone who is feeling down about being sick or just a pep talk for someone being overwhelmed with the pain and all the stress from the medications and wondering will I ever get better.