I love my work on this blog! I am committed to providing quality information, support, and comfort to chronically ill patients and their loved ones. I am passionate about this blog!
I really like the quote below and decided to highlight it here today.
I'd love to hear your feedback (positive or negative) about my blog.
Has it helped you in any way?
Does it give you support and information?
Does it ever increase your awareness of environmental issues that impact those with chronic illness?
I would really love to hear from readers. What do you think of my blog? Is it meeting your needs?
Have a wonderful day and I'll sign off with that Quote of the Day I mentioned...
“When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.”
—Nancy Coey; motivational speaker
This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.
10 comments:
Jeanne,
I love your blog. I know you put so much time and effort into but SO MANY of your links and stories have really helped me. Just today, I read that article about Infertiles during the holidays and then was telling my counselor about it and how it made me feel better.
Thank you for all you do!
Alicia,
Thank you! I'm really glad you have found it helpful.
I think the more people get connected to others who can relate to their experiences, the better they feel.
In a perfect world, those who have not experienced a certain circumstance can still develop empathy for those going through it when they hear the profound effects others have experienced.
I think that too often people internalize things. I personally believe that bottling things up isn't healthy! Thus my "open book" format on this blog. :)
I'm really glad that the 'infertility & the holidays' post was useful to you.
I had intended to post it sooner but time got away from me with the business with my tooth!
I decided "better late than never" and that it's still holiday season (and many are still traveling to visit loved ones or hosting guests in their own homes).
Holidays can be stressful for just about anyone but I think the high expectations this time of year can be particularly tough on infertile patients who get oodles of cards in the mail with smiling childrens' faces and who go to family gatherings with lots of kids.
Thank you!
Jeanne
Jeanne,
Your blog is a valuable resource for those searching for information on chronic conditions, MCS, fibromyalgia, or endometriosis. Your take charge attitude when it came to the petition for more knowledge in the media for Endometriosis makes you the kind of blogger we need! Reading your blog is inspiring. I wish I had the time to invest in my blog the way you invest in yours.
Keep up the good work!
Endochick,
Thank you!
I have heard so many tales of suffering over the years from so many patients that I feel compelled to do anything in my power to help others with these illnesses!
After participating in endo support groups since 1992 and starting the local endo group (where I live now) in 2001, I transitioned into blogging last June.
(See this blog post for details about that transition):
http://endendoat.blogspot.com/2008/10/endometriosis-blog-obituary-of.html
I appreciate your kind words! I never dreamed when I started this blog that I'd be able to blog as much as I have!
With all of my various illnesses, I have some severe limitations... and didn't think I'd be able to spend as much time blogging as I have.
I must admit that blogging is a tad addicting. :)
Seriously, though, after numerous attempts to return to the workforce (all of which landed me in the hospital!!)...
I finally had to accept the fact that my life has changed immensely. I had to accept that I could not return to "normal". I have had to create a new "normal"!
Gone are the days of working 80+ hours a week. Gone are the days I used to be able to work on my feet. Gone are the days when I could work a standard "desk job" where I had to sit in one spot for long stretches of time. (Fibro makes that impossible).
The amazing thing about working on my blog at home is that I can be far more prodcutive than I had imagined I could be (after so many failed attempts to go back to work when I became so much sicker a few years back).
I had tried working from home in another capacity but I still had to "answer to" someone and still wound up very sick.
I just couldn't conform to a schedule that my body couldn't adhere to. The harder I tried, the sicker I got!
I have learned that when my body says NO it means NO!
Now I can make my own hours. If I need the bathroom (which IC, endo, and IBS make a pretty frequent event!), the bathroom is a few feet away and no manager will view me as a slacker for being away from my desk.
Not that any manager I ever had thought me a slacker! It was more about me being paranoid at how managers and co-workers perceived me because of things like frequent rest room trips.
If anything, I pushed myself WAY harder to try to compensate for anything I felt I could be "judged" on.
The great thing about blogging is that I can work when I'm well enough to. If I'm sick, I can rest.
OK. In theory this is accurate.
The reality is that I'm working on my blog 7 days a week and I do "push the edge" just like I used to when I worked at "regular jobs".
The good news is that I have learned from past mistakes of pushing myself way too hard. I have learned how to better listen to my body. (I'm still working at it)...
Do I ever push myself too hard? You bet. However, with blogging I have more control over when/how I work than any other job I've ever had.
The freedom to write anytime I'm up to it, 24 hours a day is a great opportunity for me. (I also need to be careful not to overdo it or let my insomnia nights get worsened by my blogging)!
All in all though, I think blogging has been good for my health, strangely enough.
Who knows? Someday I may even be able to make blogging into a career.
In the meantime, I think I'm helping people... and I know I have spent less time driving around from doctor to doctor (and not getting any real answers/help for my health problems) since I started blogging.
I have essentially replaced some of my doc appointment time and driving time with blogging!
I have to say that blogging agrees with me better than driving all over God's creation hunting unsuccessfully for doctors who can help me!!
Don't get me wrong. I still see my share of doctors. I have to say, though, that I have less frequent medical appointments now than when I started blogging and I feel slightly better overall.
Who can argue with less co-pays, some improvement of symptoms, and the rewarding opportunity to write about topics I know well from personal experience... while helping others??
I have been through a great deal of adversity. If I can make things a little easier for fellow patients by sharing what I have learned, that is very rewarding for me. :)
Thank you for your support!!
Jeanne
Jeanne, your blog is helping so many people, you may not even know the full impact, as most readers do not even comments. I've read that something like less than 10% of readers actually interact with blog authors.
I know you pour so much of your heart soul and energy into this blog. You really take care to seek out the best reliable FACTUAL info and that can't be beat.
If you will continue to grace the blogosphere with your topics I am sure you will continue to help and inspire.
Thanks so much !!
I know what you mean about feeling guilty about bathroom breaks, Jeanne. My diabetes insipidus makes me take very frequent bathroom breaks at work. Because of my other health conditions, and my meds to control them, I haven't been able to be on a morning dose of desmopressin only a nightly dose. This means for the 3 hours of work I do in the afternoon in public (!) I usually log roughly 3-4 bathroom visits. More if I'm thirsty or have endo pain. This isn't good if your head teacher and am NOT supposed to leave the room! lol I know only my boss and one other employee understand, too, which sucks. But I would rather do that than have an accident :-)
Jannie,
Thank you for your comments! You always have something nice to say... :)
Wow! Only 10% of readers comment, huh? No wonder I sometimes wonder what kind of impact my blog is having. (Those posts with zero comments are always a killer for me)!
Seriously, I guess it makes sense that most people who visit a blog read stuff but don't comment on it. I had just never heard the 10% stat before!
I really appreciate your feedback!
I just hope that all of the adversity I've had in 27 years of having endo (and in many years with so many other chronic conditions!) can be put to some good use or purpose!!
The notion that maybe I can make a positive difference for others keeps me going!
THANKS!!
Jeanne
Endochick,
It's just so difficult when so few understand!
No one should have to endure the horrendous pain of "holding it" or risk having an accident for fear of being judged by others!!
Yet so many patients live/work in this environment.
My last "out of the house" job was SO bad for this. There, I had to hunt down a manager to "cover for me" every time I left my work area! That was fun! Nothing like having to justify every trip!
I was in terrible bladder pain all of my shift, every shift. (This was before my IC diagnosis when I "had to go" 24 hours a day... including before I even finished washing my hands from the most recent trip)!!
It was just a matter of HOW MUCH pain I could withstand and/or whether I was at serious risk for having an accident. (I was always at risk of an accident. My job was to assess how much risk)!
The IBS was obviously a problem at work too... and those trips take longer.
Then the hemorrhaging I get with my endo... Well, I won't get too graphic but let's just say that I had major problems at work with this!!
Between all three of these conditions plus certain meds making me need even MORE frequent trips... it became a very serious problem!
It was just so awful!!
It was a combination of worrying I'd be perceived/viewed as a slacker (which is so far off the mark that it was probably total paranoia on my part because I'm no slacker & used to work SO hard to overcompensate for those darn bathroom trips!!), worrying I would have an accident, wondering how long I could put off trips, worrying what would happen if I got held up/trapped (i.e. if I were waiting on a customer and literally couldn't walk away), etc.
Like you said, better not to take a chance of an accident!
Jeanne
I do love your blog. I just love learning and seeing how others cope with certain conditions. I have my own things to deal with and it is refreshing to see how positive you are.
The quote is awesome by the way.
Mimi,
Thank you!
Isn't it great to hear other people's ideas, tips, and stories of inspiration? I have learned SO much from fellow patients!!
Thanks! I love quotes. :)
Jeanne
P.S. As far as staying positive, I subscribe to the "it's either laugh or cry" philosophy! I choose to laugh!! :)
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