Taking Care of Myself, Too

With chronic illness, there are mountains of details to manage. Since my husband, Tim, became ill with a chronic pain condition, I spend hours each week completing forms, scheduling and rescheduling appointments, tending to emails and phone calls. Over the years I have learned a lot about how medical systems and insurance processes work. At this point I can pretty much do this stuff in my sleep.

Recently I developed a small issue with one of my hands. Nothing serious, but I needed to have my doctor look at it. My doctor decided to refer me to a specialist. After several weeks, I still hadn’t heard from the specialist’s office. Tracking down the referral and making the necessary phone calls felt insurmountable. I do this kind of thing for Tim all the time, but somehow doing it for myself left me feeling exhausted.

I don’t always recognize how tired I am until it comes time to take care of something for myself. In those moments, I’m learning how to do something restful like take a few breaths, go for a long walk and spend some time with God.