Weekly Inspiration: ProHealth - Coming of Age with Chronic Illness

Happy weekend! Summer has been so incredibly busy around here, with my adult sons in and out, all kinds of crises, and some travel (though very little actual vacation time!). I hope to post more on the blog in the fall.

Today, though, for my Weekly Inspiration post, I wanted to share my latest article, published this week on the ProHealth website: Coming of Age with Chronic Illness. You can read the full article at that link.

This is a topic near and dear to my heart, as my oldest son - who's had ME/CFS for about 14 years and 3 tick infections for the past 11 years - just graduated from college. He was mostly couch-bound during his last two years of high school and worked hard for six years to get an engineering degree. Besides our own experiences, for this article I also reached out to the wonderful group I run on Facebook for Parents of Kids & Teens (and Young Adults) with ME/CFS and Related Illnesses. Everyone agreed that maturing and becoming an adult with illnesses that are so limiting carries with it huge challenges, and the parents in the group came up with some great ideas and tips for helping your teen and young adult kids. I wish I'd read their advice about 10 years ago!

If you have sick kids, of any age, you might also be interested in an earlier article I wrote, When Your Kids Are Chronically Ill, which includes coping strategies for both sick kids and their parents.

And if your kids are healthy, but you are the one who is chronically ill, then check out The Challenges of Being a Sick Parent.

Finally, if you are wondering HOW my son managed to get through college with ME/CFS and 3 tick infections, it was due to our relentless (and somewhat successful) search for treatments that would help. He and I have both improved significantly and can now live fairly active, semi-normal lives again. This post on Effective Treatments for ME/CFS summarizes the treatments that have helped us the most, with plenty of links to more information.

I hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend, and that this information helps to inspire you and your family to improve your lives with chronic illness.

P.S. If you want to join the Facebook group, Parents of Kids & Teens (and Young Adults) with ME/CFS and Related Illnesses, please answer the questions that pop up after you click "Join" - that is the only way we have now to screen potential members (the group is for parents of sick kids (of all ages) only). We also have a separate group for teens and young adults who are sick, Teens with ME/CFS and Related Illnesses.