My Life Works Today!

I think it’s safe to say that we all have some heavy feelings these days – even after our new President has officially taken the helm – because we’re thinking about what 2009 will bring.  Many of us have new year resolutions that we’re struggling to keep (or even begin) and we can’t help but wonder if our health will either improve, remain the same or – knock on wood and hope it won’t – give us some grief.

This year offers (and threatens) us all with some changes ahead.  If you are new to lupus, you will experience change in a different way and what used to automatically represent opportunity becomes something more difficult to embrace.  Change really is opportunity, but life experiences coat the very process, sometimes disguising appearances or altering how things occur leaving us feeling lost rather than empowered.

For our nation, we will begin to see changes in policies that we will or will not feel supportive of.  We will find that our ways of living will change in response to the dominos falling around us as we wait for them to be placed back into some sense of order.  We may have to change jobs, addresses, vacation plans, college choices, budgeting practices, and our expectations on how we wanted things to be by now.

For us with illness, we may find ourselves unemployed and/or without healthcare providers.  We may have to try new medications (those that are not designed for lupus) and will maybe experience new reactions – good or bad.  We may go through changes in how our lupus expresses itself and find out that what we used to rely on in helping those symptoms no longer works. We may have to change some of relationships with some people in our lives because they won’t or can’t meet us halfway in learning how to avoid the shrapnel exploding from our illness.  We might have to change our views of who we are, perhaps kicking and screaming the entire way, and have to prepare in looking into a mirror not knowing where this person came from or is going to.

The one thing about change that we can count on is that it happens – sometimes by our own hands and sometimes not.  It is not only an inevitable occurrence while breathing, but it is also a chance for us to learn more about and build the lives we choose to live.  If you want to get through it, then it’s important to create a stash of valuable tools.

I’m going to be breaking down some items that are recommended for anyone’s lupus tool box in the next few weeks.  I know the posting here can be sporadic, but let’s hang in there and by all means please contribute to what you will read here through suggestions, questions and recommendations. By participating, you will reinforce your own abilities to prepare for change and will also help others in their goals to do the same. If you feel that your action plan or tool box is looking a little sparse these days or the tread on your lupus-managing tires appears worn down, then maybe it’s time to seek some structure in your assessments. 

For us who have lupus-related conditions and live in Oregon and Vancouver, there is a health management program currently available offering workshops geared towards managing chronic illness that may help you stay on track with your 2009 goals, health or otherwise. 

Living Well With Chronic Conditions Workshops

These workshops are based on the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program developed by Stanford University’s Patient Education Research Center . Each session is designed to cover some of the basic elements in managing chronic illnesses in general and aren’t specific to lupus or lupus-related illnesses.  However, as we all know, lupus has a way of leading to symptoms of other illnesses either through disease progression or stemming from the meds that we take.

Some of the targets include working with your medical or health care teams, dealing with medications, coping and communication strategies, eating and exercise recommendations and so forth.

There are a number of workshops held throughout Oregon and Vancouver varying in costs, which are covered by some insurance plans.  Some programs also offer scholarships to participants who are not able to pay the fees.

In my attempt to face 2009 standing up, I will be attending the workshop starting this Monday, January 26th at Tuality Hospital in Hillsboro called Living Well With Chronic Conditions .  I’ll be writing about my experience going through the workshop process throughout these six weeks.

This year, I will be targeting resources that you can look into here locally as well as highlighting some blogs that can help you define how you plan on tackling the changes coming.  Not all will be lupus or health related – because we are more than just people with lupus.

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Community Note:

On Saturday, January 24th, I will be attending the WACIPI Tenth Annual Traditional Powwow  at PCC’s Sylvania Campus in partnership with the Sylvania Multicultural Center.  The admission is free, but there will be vendors and food.  Although this may not be the best place to meet and greet for lupus networking, I do hope you will still attend and support our local Native American businesses/community.