Wednesday, February 17, 2016

#GratefulToday...and Good Doctors!

image from Photobucket
I've been having a rough week - my college son is home sick, a family member said some really hurtful things, and I'm not feeling great myself. I haven't been badly crashed but just very low energy and always worn out the past two weeks.

Yesterday, a very simple thing made my day and lifted my spirits! A doctor took the extra time and effort to investigate one of (my many!) mysterious symptoms and found some answers for me. He did extra research, searched online, and once he figured out that I had a rare condition (more on that in another post), he spent the time yesterday to explain it to me in detail, gave me a video online to watch, and asked me detailed questions to help figure out what's behind it and how he could help me. Ideally, this is what doctors are supposed to do, but we all know how rare it is to come across a doctor who goes the extra mile like this! I was so full of gratitude that I wanted to share my experiences.

Today, I had a visit with my primary care doctor over a non-ME/CFS issue (a rarity!), and  felt that same kind of gratitude. She's a gem, too - the first one to recognize that I had ME/CFS 13 years ago and always willing to try new treatments to help me.

Coincidentally this week, as I said, an insensitive family member made some cruel remarks that were very upsetting to me, so I have been making an effort to keep a positive frame of mind, to focus on all that is good in my life, and to be grateful for what I have. I resumed my daily Joy Journal, but I also wanted to focus more on gratitude.

Those two events brought a bit of inspiration! I'm going to start using #GratefulToday, on Twitter and Facebook, to share what I am grateful for each day. And I would love for you to join me!

You can start by leaving a comment below - tell me what YOU are grateful for today! Then, please share this - let's see how far we can spread gratitude! Use Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and other forms of social media to share #GratefulToday far and wide. Besides helping to spread a message of gratitude, we will also be helping ourselves - to bring a greater sense of peace and grace into our lives. Feeling better emotionally helps so much with chronic illness (just like those darker emotions can worsen our condition). 

Spread the word! #GratefulToday

I'm grateful for these wonderful, caring doctors I have! What are YOU grateful for today?


6 comments:

Ana said...

So grateful that my husband took our car to be cleaned at a local shopping centre. He resists spending money on luxuries like that but then the car is grubby and depressing! I am so grateful on two counts, his generosity and the sparkling car inside and out.

ABEhrhardt said...

Grateful and astounded that a CFS blogger (I think - otherwise huge coincidence) bought a copy of my novel with a CFS main character, and agreed that fiction can be educational.

One of my natural audiences, PWCs, doesn't have a lot of energy, and reading a long novel takes energy. Writing a review after also takes energy - and I am extremely grateful for those of my fellow sufferers who have done either or both.

I see a lot about POTS and NMH - but I also found information that they are not the only kind of OI. Which is good because when I stand my BP goes UP and my HR stays steady. NOT what happens to other people with CFS!

And I'm grateful I found your blog and the information on it - I'm starting to acquire a background that will help me figure out mine, and a safe way, if possible, to exercise to make myself a bit fitter. Slowly, carefully, and without exceeding 92 bpm. At least it may be possible.

Sue Jackson said...

How thoughtful of him! My car could use a good clean-out, too :)

Sue Jackson said...

Wow, lots of things to be grateful for, Alicia! So glad you are finding my blog useful and informative. Your kind of OI, where the BP goes up, DOES occur in other people with ME/CFS - it is just less common than NMH, where the BP goes down. Glad you found so much to be hopeful for today!

Joanne said...

I'm grateful my husband is home and we all have free time to enjoy a family outing together; even it is just to go bowling.

Sue Jackson said...

Wonderful! Those times together are so important. My boys are now 18 and 21 and we so value those rare times when all of us are together! Enjoy!