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Hello,
and
welcome to “Have a Great Life! Perfect Health Not Required,” where each
month you’ll get tips, ideas, and suggestions to help you meet the
challenges of your illness and have a great, fulfilling life.
Just to try something different, this month I've replaced the tree that
usually
appears in
the upper left-hand corner of this ezine with a picture of my dog
Addie. Besides being cute, she's a pet therapy dog. When we have time
we go to our local hospital and Addie cheers up both children and
adults.
Last month I told you how you can get tips on how to deal with your
chronic illness using internet search engines. This month
I'll tell you how you can easily stay up to date on the latest
treatments that are being tried and used for your illness.
Here's how: go to
Google's home page (www.google.com) and click on the word "more"
that's above the search term entry box. That will open a drop down menu. From it, select "even more >>
"You'll go to a
page that lists dozens of Google's services and tools. Click on
"Alerts." This will take you to a screen where you tell Google the kind
of alerts you want. To get alerts about treatments for your illness,
enter the name of your illness and the word "treatment" (without the
quotes). Then tell Google your email address and whether you want
alerts daily, weekly, or as the news happens. Once you've done that
you'll get regular emails telling you about the latest treatments
for your disease.
Feel free to
forward
“Have a Great Life!” to others with chronic illnesses who could use
some helpful tips each month.
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Monthly Tip: When to not believe your doctor.
Let me say first that I'm not going to suggest that when your doctor
gives you a diagnosis that you should disbelieve him, or that you
should disregard his treatment recommendations. But I do
recommend that if your doctor tells you your illness is incurable
that you
don't take that as the final word.
Here's an example of what doctors sometimes say to their patients: In a
recent issue of an ezine that features people's stories about their
lives and how their chronic illnesses have affected them, a woman with
lupus told how she asked her
doctor if her condition would ever get better. His reply, with a sad
look, was, "No I'm
sorry, it won't."
I strongly feel that doctors should not say that to their patients,
because
doing so damages or destroys patients' hope, and because it may not
even be true. Medical science is
continually making advances which result in new, better, and more
effective
treatments for many diseases. A doctor who says that a disease is
incurable or that the patient's symptoms will never get better is
completely ignoring the possibility of those kinds of breakthroughs.
Also, although most doctors are reluctant to admit it, many of them
have seen or know of at least one case where the patient's symptoms got
better or completely disappeared for reasons they couldn't explain.
To summarize, if your doctor tells you that your illness is incurable
or there's nothing that can be done for you, don't let that discourage
you. Recognize that what he really means is that Western medicine
hasn't yet found a cure or an effective treatment yet, but remember
that advances are being made all the time. So don't give up hope, and
continue to do all that you can to live your life to the fullest.
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Introductory No Co.st Telephone Coaching Groups
Do you find yourself surrounded by "normal" people who don't understand
how difficult life with a chronic illness can be, nor how much harder
you have to work to either do your job or keep your
household running.
Would you like to spend some time with people who can really understand
what your life is like, and at the same time get some really great
ideas to help you deal with the challenges you face.
If so, I invite you to join me in one of my no co.st Introductory
Telephone Coaching Groups. Two groups are currently scheduled. Choose
the date that works best for you. Dates and times are Tuesday, February 7 at 7:30 PM
PST or Monday, February 13 at 5:00 PM PST.
If you would like to sign up, send me an email at intro_group_tele-coaching_signup@chronicillnesscoach.com
and include
the session date you're signing up for. Group sizes are limited, so I
encourage you to sign up soon.
For more information about all the services I offer, please see my website.
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Ask
The Coach
Brenda says: “I have
chronic fatigue syndrome. Since I don't look sick my young son can't
understand why some days I can't be the active, mostly happy mommy I
used to be. On my bad days I often get into arguing with him that I
can't do all the things he's gotten used to me doing. What can I do to
make him understand so we can stop arguing?"
Brenda, Let me say first that I encourage you to learn as much as
you can about chronic fatigue and find a health practitioner who is
familiar with the latest research and the most effective treatments.
Regarding the
situation with your son, I suggest that you
start by reassuring him that you still love him as much as you did
before you
became sick. You can let him know that you understand how much he
misses the
way you used to be, and that you wish you could still do all the things
you used to do.
To help your
son recognize and accept the fact that you're sick even
though you look well, you may find it helpful to have something to
signal your
good and bad days. A small green and a small red flag could serve that
purpose: the one that was up would let him know which kind of day you
were having.
I hope you
find these suggestions helpful. Raising a
child isn’t easy when you’re well. Raising one when you have a serious
chronic
illness is often much harder. I wish you the best.
If you have any non-medical
questions about meeting the challenges of
your illness and having a great life that you’d like answered, send
them to askthecoach@chronicillnesscoach.com.
Best wishes on your journey to having a great life!
 Sincerely,
Tom Robinson
Crohn’s Disease Survivor and Life Coach for People with Chronic
Illnesses
I know that what people with chronic illnesses want most is to be well.
I help them explore all
their medical options so they get as well as they possibly can, then
give them the support they
need and deserve to have something just as important: a satisfying and
meaningful life.
www.chronicillnesscoach.com
Email: tom@chronicillnesscoach.com
805-692-4053
5722 Encina Road Ste 6
Goleta, CA 93117 |
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