A Woman I Met Today

[Tracy68]

Hi
Wasn't really sure where to put this. I just wanted to share this with you really about something that happened today.
I woke this morning feeling really crappy, i had every disease under the sun, and that was on top of the fact i was convinced i was going to have a heart attack. Anyway dragged myself off to work as normal and when i got there me and a colleague sat there moaning about everything, how stressed we were, how life was not fair...you get the picture. Anyway during the morning a customer came in (i work in a shop), I'd seen her in there before but as we weren't busy we all got talking. This lady was 41, pretty and seemed so full of confidence but what a shock i got. Don't ask me how but the conversation got round to health and she told us that she suffers with MS. She was diagnosed when she was 21 but was determined not to let it ruin her life. About a month before christmas she was out with a friend but not feeling that well. The next thing she knew she woke two weeks later, she had been on life support due to a seizure that she had. Apparently for years she had been on the wrong tablets which caused the seizure. During those two weeks, she suffered with blood clots to the leg and lungs. Anyway she told us she now had to take warfin to thin her blood, some other tablet can't remember what and another to stop ulcers forming in her throat and on top of that the RIGHT tablet for her MS. We were chatting for about an hour and all the time she was smiling saying this won't beat me. When she left i just stood there totally gob smacked at the bravery and courage of this woman. It made me think what the hell have i got to be stressed about, why do i have panic attacks etc etc when this woman has been through so much. Made me feel silly really.
Anyway just a bit of a story i wanted to share with you.
Take care
Tracy
xx

[bluebottle]

Mental/Physical both as important. Both as relevant. Yes this woman was an inspiration for fighting her illness but so are we who fight our mental illnesses.

Never think you are "silly" because it just isn't true.

Regards,

Blue
--
Japanese Proverb:
Fall seven times; stand up eight.

[KW]

I know how you feel Tracy. I often compare myself to others that are in some kind of suffering and feel guilty that i think about myself so much, but then like Blue says our problems are just as important.



KW

'Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire'
- JEAN DE LA FONTAINE

[jude]

Hi Tracy,

Do you not find that when speaking to strangers, you put on a brave face, paint on that smile and pretend the world is a wonderful place.

Reading your post, I wonder how this woman seems when talking to her family and close friends, people she can confide in and 'be herself'

On the other side of things, before the birth of my last daughter, I almost lost my life with an ectopic pregnancy. I was very ill for a while afterwards, but found it much easier to cope with a physical illness than a mental one.

Be proud of yourself, we cope with something very frightening every day and probably appear quite happy to everyone in the 'outside' world.

Hears to us brave souls!

Jude x

[linjane]

Hi Tracy,

I have a friend who has MS and possibly another illness the docs can't even diagnose and like the lady you met, she has never let it stop her doing anything and (touch wood) at the moment she is still coping really well and not letting the illness interfere with her life. As others have said, though, we also have to cope with our 'illness' and usually most of us have had at least one major life trigger that has caused us to be how we are. I have had five bereavements (including losing a baby boy at five months and my mom when I was six months pregnant with my first child) and also been through my husband having an affair. I am not seeing a counsellor and when he looks back on my life - I'm 38 now - he says these are the reasons for my symptons now. I hope you get what I am trying to say but I think you just let yourself feel guilty and you shouldn't have done, we have all been through so much and different people handle things in different ways. Take care (hope I didn't ramble too much!)
Linjane

[jo-jo]

Hi Tracey

Hey, no need to feel silly, what we experience is every bit as real, but you're right, sometimes it is good to meet with someone like this and it does indeed provide inspiration :)

Best wishes
Jo xx

"courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear"