By Nice Speech Lady / December 15, 2019
Taking care of others; as clinicians, that is what we do. We evaluate, treat and focus on the needs of
others. Caring for this person’s need. Check. Caring for that person’s need. Check.
And, today, let’s us pose the question: “For those of us living with a chronic condition, or even multiple chronic conditions, how do we navigate treating others when we ourselves need to manage a condition we are experiencing?” Let’s delve into this topic together.
Chronic conditions or diseases are defined by the National Center for Health Statistics as “lasting three months or more,” cannot be cured by vaccines, cannot be fully alleviated by medication or treatments, and do not resolve on their own. The attempt in treatment for chronic diagnoses is “management” — something that requires adaptations, changes and modifications. These illnesses and disorders require flexibility in lifestyle to adjust to the condition.
A RAND Corporation study in 2017 found that 60% of Americans live with one chronic condition, and 42% of Americans live with more than one. This is startling. This means than chances are, more than one out of every two people who read this blog post may have at least one chronic condition — or know a clinician who does.
Examples of chronic conditions can be: heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, pulmonary disorders, auto- immune disorders, neurological disorders and conditions, cancer, mental health conditions, prolonged injuries, addictions, kidney disease, osteoporosis, HIV/AIDS, liver disease, and other conditions that do not fall into these categories.
Living simultaneously in needing to care for others while also heading a ship in our own specific care that goes beyond basic self-care — that can be a challenge. Managing a chronic condition is complex. And pouring out ourselves into others when we need to pour out into ourselves is depleting. All of the more reason to focus on this topic.
So, I ask you, if you fall in this category of having a chronic illness and you care for others — in the midst of it all, is caring for yourself a drudgery, or are you hitting it out of the park?
I would challenge you to ask yourself if you are fully doing all you can, as much as possible each day, to care for your own condition(s). If you are doing so, I want to congratulate you on that. It is a quite a feat. If you aren’t quite there yet (many of us are not), please consider these suggestions below:
§ Take inventory on a regular basis. Taking inventory of our strengths and our weaknesses in how we care for ourselves is vital. “Checking the facts” in order to hold ourselves accountable to look at ourselves straight in the mirror today and ask ourselves what we are doing effectively and what we are not doing effectively is important. There can be many methods in order to do this.
— One idea may be to take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle, listing on the right side all of the areas and manners that we are effectively caring for ourselves, and listing on the left
side all of the areas and manners that we could use some improvement. Are we more on the left side, or are we more on the right side? Then, we can take another color of pen or pencil, and write in action steps to take, starting today, next to the areas to improve.
— Another way to take inventory is to ask someone close to us for feedback. It is important, though, to choose wisely, and pick someone that will be a helpful asset in being honest — and also be encouraging in the process. Asking a close person in our lives to provide feedback in what areas in our life we lack in balance in taking care of ourselves in terms of our condition — in relation to our work, family and other commitments — can be helpful. It is suggested that we ask for constructive suggestions we can apply today on how to bridge between where we are currently, and where we can go to be in a more beneficial place.
— A final way to take inventory is to daily journal on the topic. Setting time aside each day to have a “check in” in order to assess the events of the previous day in where we are vs. where we want to be can be empowering. Writing about our feelings, and spelling out our specific goals we want to achieve on the topic can also be a beneficial tool in and of itself.
- § Prioritize medical appointments, recommendations and solutions. It is easy in the hustle-and-bustle of life to let appointments slip by us. Those “check-ins,” especially with providers who manage our chronic conditions as specialists, are really important. Prioritizing those appointments is a necessity when managing any chronic diagnosis. If it means a shorter workday that day, then so be it. Our health is at stake. It is not as if specialist appointments happen every single day, so we can make the sacrifice to commit to our health by keeping the appointments with ourselves and providers. Also, following through on recommendations that are made by providers are important. Trying our best to put them into practice is vital, and if it is not possible, we need to communicate back to our providers immediately to problem-solve another, “do-able,” option. It is also important to note that finding solutions to problems is our providers’ role, but it is also our own. We are part of our care team just as much as our doctor is, so we need to be advocating for what we need in our care. If it seems like a question isn’t fully being answered at an appointment — we could revisit that topic. If it seems like the diagnosis that was given doesn’t fully explain our symptoms — we could bring it back up and ask for more information and request that the criteria for diagnosis be re-explained. It is important to have the correct diagnosis in order to have the correct and indicated treatment, so the solutions cannot be found without first and foremost having obtained the correct diagnosis from a provider. Therefore, we need to be active participants in our care and take the lead in asking questions, offering ideas for treatment and finding solutions to new roadblocks that come up along the way. Considering alternative treatments in the midst of traditional approaches can also be helpful. We are meant to be equal partners in this process.
- § Consider and plan for effects of chronic conditions on mental health. We know that managing a chronic diagnosis is a challenge and due to potentially isolating factors, and complex natures of managing symptoms, etc. — there is an increased risk of mental health status being impacted. Perhaps our chronic condition is a mental health condition in and of itself — all the more reason to be seeking out support and assistance. Therefore, keeping tabs on risk-factors for mental health effects from the chronic diagnosis are important, especially in how it is impacted by the workplace. Please see the 2012 Mental Health and Chronic Diseases CDC Fact Sheet In particular, it is recommended to specifically read the section entitled: “What are the best practices for maintaining employees’ mental health and chronic disease status?”
- § Reduce stress in any and all ways possible. Many people talk about reducing stress — the benefits of it, that is. It impacts physical health as well as mental health. What are some “today steps” that we can take in order to reduce stress? Below are some suggestions, among many possibilities:
- § We can tackle problems that need to be solved “head-on.” It is best said to “avoid avoiding” situations that we know need to be addressed. Finding ways in order to resolve stressors in our environments is key. Continuing to endure the elephant in the room that causes us unhappiness and uncomfortableness is a problem to be solved — and this can come in the form of finding a solution, or change in a circumstance if a solution is just not possible. Life is too short to endure miserable situations. Reaching out for help when we cannot solve a problem on our own is helpful, if we are not yet doing so.
- § Little things that won’t make a difference a year from now — can we let them go? Asking ourselves “will this matter in a year?” May be beneficial in putting small stressors into perspective.
- § Stress reduction techniques and breathing patterns have been shown to help reduce stress. Whether it is exercise, music or talking to a friend, we all need to find out the “it” that helps us reduce intensity of emotion when it rises. Sometimes it may be trial and error. I can say that usually there is something out there new to pursue that we haven’t yet heard about, and there tends to be things to always grow from.
- § There are other, short, self-explanatory suggestions for us to consider: § Taking medications and treatments as prescribed;
§ Ensuring measures to provide for sleep;
§ Balanced nutrition; and§ Know our medications well and their side effects/potential for issues. - § Sacrifices. To do all of the above bullet points, it takes sacrifices. Sacrifices in time, possibly in income, it takes energy, and it takes sacrifices in others we care about so we have the support we need.
— We have to set aside the time for ourselves in order effectively perform all of these tasks in the midst of our work and home life schedules. This can be a challenge, and our health is worth it. We have to remind ourselves of that. It is all about choices. We choose and focus on what matters. We can make adjustments where it matters to us.— Sacrifices also can mean that we may need to expend energy focusing on something that is a challenge. Researching our condition might be hard to do, emotionally. The energy it takes to endure the treatment that is needed for our condition to be more effectively managed may require sacrifices in other areas — Sacrifices may also mean that others in the family and our network, our “dream team” may have to make sacrifices, or adjustments, too. Our person may need to be asked to take time to encourage us.It is important to note that not everyone is at the same place financially, support-wise in terms of assistance from loved ones and doing these above things may be more challenging for others. Of course, each situation is individual and every person has to find their solution in their own environment, giving all of the factors at play. Not all of the above suggestions are going to be possible for all people in all situations. However, some suggestions may be helpful to some people.Wherever you land in any of these situations, I am proud of you for what you have done. Remembering to celebrate progress in any movement forward is important, and we are all on this road together, taking each day, step by step.
I used “we” in this blog post a lot. I say “we” because I have a chronic condition that I manage. I would say that it has to be priority #1 to address our own health diagnoses.
We need to be around to continue to care for our patients. We need to be around to continue to care for our families. We need to be around to continue to care for ourselves.
(((Hugs))), friend. You can do it.
Bekah Wilson Nice, M.A., CCC-SLP, is the owner of nicespeechlady.com.
Nice created nicespeechlady.com as a platform for medical SLPs to have free access to practical resources on the site; she also enjoys blogging and writing news articles on medical SLP issues. She also works full-time as a home health SLP.