September is Pain Awareness Month

September is Pain Awareness Month


My 30 Things - Better late than never!

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

1. The illness I live with is: Chronic migraine, fibromyalgia, lupus, and more.
2. I was not diagnosed until after I sustained a TBI.
3.  I had symptoms since: my menstrual cycle began.
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: letting go of the old me.
5. Most people assume: I look OK, so I must feel OK.
6. The hardest part about mornings is: waking up. I wake each day with head pain.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: House
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: iPad
9. The hardest part about nights is: falling and staying asleep.
10. Each day I take more pills than my 83 year old mother.
11. Regarding alternative treatments: I've tried almost everything except acupuncture. None have helped with pain, but have helped with stress.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: Neither.
13. Regarding working and career: chronic daily pain prevents me from having a full time career.

14. People would be surprised to know: I am in pain every day and hide it very well.

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: not being able to do want I feel I should be doing.

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: have the honor to help others who experience chronic pain.
17. The commercials about my illness: make me laugh out loud.
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: doing whatever I want, whenever I want without any pain.
19. It was really hard to have to give up: sleeping in on the weekends. Doing so makes my head pain much worse.

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: making card.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: I have to think about that one.
22. My illness has taught me: I'm resilient.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: "Oh, it's just a headache."
24. But I love it when people: how can I help?
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: this too shall pass.

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Hang in there, and get support.

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: how many different people I've met.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: put me to bed and covered me with blankets.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: education.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: inspired. Thank you for reading.

Thank you to MyMigraineLife for the reminder!